I read 100's of pages on "pro" cooling forums about water and glycols and additives and whatever.

I was confused and unsure about how to run my system. Most of the people on these forums have huge pumps and huge DIY radiators and all that crap. Crap I just can't be bothered with. They tend to jam loads of anti-freeze into their system and talk about "flow rate" as being most important.

Well. I have figured out the obsession with flow rate was due to them failing to use almost all water vs additive.

Then I figured out that the additive you use can be CONCENTRATED or DILUTE in its effect:volume. I kept hearing how crappy water wetter is. Smells bad. Not effective vs antifreeze.

3 year test. the pump is on for almost a solid 3 years. I turn it off when I go away on vacation. That is about it.

Zalman Reserator 1 with various gpu waterblocks over the years.

about 3-4% of the mixture is Water Wetter. The rest is just a big'ol gallon jug of steam distilled Poland Spring water. I fill a little bit above the recommended level. The more water the better the system. Bigger heatsink = more happiness. I placed a wad of Wriggley's Spearmint Gum on the top of the "blow hole" once the system was hot. I wouldnt do this while it was ice cold. That's just my opinion though. I did not want to smell anything or get bugs down there or whatever.

I changed the first system after a year. this second fill hasnt been changed in 2 years but will be as I need to get a new block for my 3870 that just came out (80 bux though eek). The mixture is clear, silent, works perfect. Use water wetter it's pimp.

The more water you use vs goop/additive the better any system cools and the less "flow" you need, which means smaller pumps/more silence and efficiency.

OH, I forgot one thing: I never have made an attempt to clean out the system after the 2nd one. I wont either after this fluid replacement. I do not even get all the old liquid out. What's the point? Nothing is growing in a thing like this ever anyways. I only change it when i change heatsinks now.

The Water Wetter has a really cool effect on the water. It makes it flow really smooth/strangely. It is marketed as a lubricant. That is not marketing hype. My pump is silent for 3 years. I can only hear it if I place my ear up to the metal resevoir. I might have lucked out on a pump, or else I might have lucked out choosing water wetter vs something else. shrugs.

Hello ~El~Jefe~,

I just have to warn You and anybody else who want's to use Water Wetter that this stuff may work on some setups, but it can destroy some sorts of cooling blocks!!!

If you use anything acrylic (Plexiglas) in your setup, avoid WW at all cost. It will sooner or later develop cracs in the acrylic parts (depending on the WW concentration).

I have seen cracked reservoirs and blocks. I suspect WW to have cracked the pump in my Reserator too. The Pump case developed cracks and finally the pump didn't work anymore.

Greetz Audiodude


ps. thanks for this great site wich helped me a lot to silence my rig!

~El~Jefe~, any signs of build-up in your tubing?

Another vote for WaterWetter from me. I've been using it with my Zalman Reserator v1 since 2004. Both my water blocks (GPU and CPU) are metal. The only bits of the system which are plastic are some of the connectors, the 'flow indicator' and the pump. I haven't noticed any damage to any of these parts, although I haven't closely examined the pump as it's impossible to get at without dismantling the system. It's certainly still working well and it's quiet.

I use deionised water and use no other additives. I have changed my coolant once - when I moved house - and it's worked fine for several years.

I used WW for several Years before the pump cracked. I may have forced the crack with the last refill, because i increased the amount of WW i put in the (deionized) Water. Also the tubes (Tygon) picked the color of the WW and turned pink.

Now i use engine coolant Glysantin G30 (for mixed metal engines). This stuff works perfect and is much cheaper than WW (at least here in europe).

The important thing with WW is that it develops cracks on Acrylic components (Alcohol ingredients are the key to this)! If the loop is metal only it should work O.K.

Greetz Audiodude

environmentally speaking how is this stuff?

is it similar to chemical antifreeze and hazardous to people and animals ..or is it 'safe'?

how do you dispose of the used coolant?

Thanks for the warning... I'll look out for damage. I used the WW instructions to work out the amount I needed to add and remember being shocked at how little it recommended putting in (from memory, only a few mls). Much as I love my Reserator, it makes the PC a pain to move around (not that I ever move it much but meh!). For my new PC - most likely a Core i7 - I'm hoping to get quiet-enough-for-me results from air cooling.

@InfyMcGirk: Like every additive it's not safe to drink it!!!

Ingredients are Glykol/Ethanediol which is poisonous so I give it to my garage or the local waste disposal/recycling place, which is no problem.

The stuff doesn't stink and the package just warns to avoid skin and eye contact and unhealthy when swallowing. I think you can get blind if you drink it!!!
There was a Glycol scandal in the Austrian wine Industry (if I remember correctly) in the 80's when wine producers put glycol in their wine to sweeten it...

But I haven't seen any water additive that wasn't hazardous to your health.

Greetz Audiodude

I use it for my HTPC where silence is all that matters!

The only thing I can hear is the Harddrive (WD Greenpower Thanks to SPCR for recommending). SSD is next...

Greetz Audiodude

I let baby bald eagles drink it

I duno. the tubes are fine inside. theres some white film on the inside of the reserator tank. not a lot just thin here and there. I never cleaned it out though, I probably should have. My pump is smooth as silk for 3+ years now. looks dandy and shiny.

apathy rules all.

spoken like a true new yorker.

the scary threat is how these and other toxins make it into the water table and our kids drink it.

I kinda doubt this stuff will really be worth trying unless it can miraculously shave off 5C.
better off with water and a little iodine or coolant to kill bacteria and call it a day.

eh, it changes the flow of the water by a LOT. makes the water lose its surface tension. Most wc block makers try and increase turbulence so that more water contacts the inner surfaces of the metal blocks.

redlines pink stuff makes it nice and floppy.

thats the technical term.

Also, the pump became silent upon adding the WaterWetter. it was kinda quite on water, then after it was looking fine, I added WW. it became silent, no noise.

still no noise!

I just bought my 7 year old tough guy a carton of Reds.

aayyyy fugetaboutit

The G30 Stuff has the same effect on the pump as WaterWetter. No Noise at all. (I put a brand new pump in when I changed the additive).

The Temps are the same as before, I doubt very much that Water Wetter has any advantage in a computer water cooling setup!

WW stinks (smells), G30 does not!

Greetz Audiodude

I'm not dismissing WW - I've used it in both my WC PC & racing karts - but its properties are not unique.
Real cheapskates* can achieve the same result with 1 drop of dishwashing soap (e.g. Dawn) per gallon of distilled water. WW offers some anti-corrosion properties as well, but the auto parts store has other, much cheaper, additives to handle that.

* Why is everybody staring at me?

What pump are you using?
What noise went away, whine?
I've also read people dial their mcp655 from 2-5 and despite the reduced flow, they saw the same temps.

I found the post again that shows the result of WW in a Plexiglas reservoir!

Link! The Pics show a reservoir that was used with WW!

Beware of that stuff!

Greetz Audiodude

it doesnt do that with soft silicon tubing, or the nylon plastic fittings (looks like they are nylon) and doesnt do it with any metal

i dont use plxiglass resevoirs

Yeah... but maybe somebody else is planning to do that after reading your praises about WW!

So use it if you like it so much, but tell the people with Plexi Parts in their Loop that they risk severe Damage to their Hardware if they put WW in their System!!!

If you recommend something you should always tell the people about possible Problems. By the way, have you ever taken the bottom part of the Reserator? Mine had a gooey substance on the bottom which made me wonder even more if that Stuff (Water Wetter) is worth the hassle!

Greetz Audiodude

There is a very thin thin slime on bottom, very thin. Stuff rox though. cant beat it.

if i ever need more cooling ill get another reserator. hooked on the pricey guys.

I would recommend to check if you could get components that need less juice for the job...

Every rig I build in the furture, will need less electricity or it will not be built!

Greetz Audiodude

yeah, eheim 300 made a TINY hum in the aluminum shell it was sitting in. WW and it went silent.... no sound. off or on no difference 1 foot away pointing ear at it.

Ah I have a new setup with a plexi res - swiftech one - and was planing to use WW... Should I go for Glycol / Antifreeze instead?

Is there more proof of that WW does this to plexi? Plexis do crack on occation due to tention in the plexi - faulty contsruction.

On another note:

I RMA:d my Zalman Reserator 2 due to their poor coolant that caused some blue crystals to form in my tubes and totally clogged up the flowmeeter and waterblocks - might post some pics later.

I would stay away from Zalman Coolant - The Reserator product is very nice though - except weak pump and too small tubing. Talked to the Distributor of Zalman where I live and they had gotten many Reserators sent back due to blue goo clogging things up. (Mine ran for 4 months with destilled water + Zalman Coolant then stopped)

/Dak

hey, thats maybe why mine's so happy.

good stuff. I dont know if glycol would eat it up too though?

No, Glycol does NOT harm Plexiglass.

The alcohol in WW does! So it's defenitely not recommended if you want to use plexi parts in your loop!

I never used the Zalman coolant because of reports about it's smell...

The G30 (Glysantin) I use has silenced the pump the same way as the WW did before! In my view there is no point in using WW as it has no advantage whatsoever (please don't state that WW will make the system run cooler! In every test I read, the advantage was within the test's inccuracy!).

I recommend to use Glycol based auto coolant for plexi parts.

Greetz Audiodude

If you use 5% of a coolant vs 30% ... which is better?

nearer 100% water the better by FAR! Water has a HUGE capacity to absorb heat, it's the fluid of choice for almost anything that requires cooling. (except things that would turn it to pure steam like nuclear reactors, etc)

WW allows for a tiny amount of anti-freeze to water ratio.

it just cant be used with plexiglass apparently.

WW does kill off EVERYTHING. There is no buildup or bacteria of any kind after several years. I never "flush" the system. I have let it flow out, but I never clean it.

the cooling ability of any anti-freeze is impossible to measure unless you can hit 180 F. Water though, is best at all temps and is obvious how well it works.

where are you getting this 30% figure from?

in fact, where are you getting ANY of your numbers from?

I used WW in my first WC setup but later switched to anti-freeze. Main reason was that WW gives of an unpleasant smell. Didn't care if using anti-freeze instead of WW cost me a few degrees. Silence was my main goal, not performance. That was back in 2002 if I recall correctly. Today I see no reason for WC - air is so much more simple for my needs.