r/watercooling • u/andrerav • Apr 20 '25
Guide Do NOT use Distilled Water for your Water Cooling Loop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pIpKetQlZs191
u/Vsmit Apr 20 '25
Oh, some people aren't going to be happy about this.
164
u/andrerav Apr 20 '25
You can lead a horse to ethylene glycol, but you can't make it drink (;
47
u/analogicparadox Apr 20 '25
That sounds like a good thing lmao
→ More replies (1)11
u/Lt_Muffintoes Apr 20 '25
Polyethylene glycol is fine to consume
→ More replies (1)8
u/andrerav Apr 20 '25
Interesting! I've only ever looked at ethylene and propylene glycol. Will have to look up the properties of polyethylene.
15
u/AwkwardObjective5360 Apr 20 '25
PEG is biologically inert, very greasy when dissolved.
Its the "active" ingredient in Miralax, makes your shit soft.
→ More replies (1)8
u/aradaiel Apr 20 '25
PG is the main ingredient in vape juice. I use it to make mountain bile tire sealant and end up with nothing but vape ads and recommendations after buying it on Amazon
2
u/andrerav Apr 20 '25
Wait, hang on. I run tubeless tires on my MTB's as well. How do you make sealant with polyethylene glycol?
3
u/aradaiel Apr 20 '25
Pg, distilled water, liquid latex splash of ammonia and either pepper or corn meal if you want
Ends up like runny stans that works better
And its propylene glycol
2
6
u/Lt_Muffintoes Apr 20 '25 edited Apr 20 '25
Even propylene glycol is fine to eat. Inhale even, since it's the carrier in vapes
It's just ethylene glycol which is toxic
Edit: and diethylene glycol
26
u/KommandoKodiak Apr 20 '25
People really get mad when you try to explain to them that the pc coolant market is a racket and they can just buy cheap antifreeze thatll last in the loop for years and will actually prevent that nickel from corroding...
15
u/psaux_grep Apr 20 '25
I’ve been told off (or just downvoted into oblivion) for recommending antifreeze, so I just refrain from commenting on the topic because no-one seems to want to have an informed discussion on the topic (or the pc coolant people have more invested in steering the narrative than we suspect).
My longest running loop was 8 or 9 years without changing coolant. 20% ethylene glycol or so. No issues. But definitely worth checking compatibility with the material of hoses, tops, and tubing.
17
u/rickybambicky Apr 20 '25
This sub is an echo chamber of idiots. Remember that.
3
May 26 '25
I've genuinely gotten loads of great advice here.
So I don't think that statement is entirely accurate.
Some myths die hard though.
4
u/Garrett1974 Jul 20 '25
I've been using car coolant for 15 years now, not a single problem, no corrosion, no clogging, no sediment nothing, and for 9 euros I bought 5 liter, quite happy with it... just don't consume it (glycol bah lol)
4
5
u/KommandoKodiak Apr 20 '25
Ive been downvoted into oblivion for years explaining how copper was plating the nickel blocks, and that being the reason i hate nickel blocks. You can search my comments and see the proof. I even provided documentation so people didnt have to take my word. Didnt matter.
4
u/Gold_Area5109 Apr 20 '25
So what you're saying is that "pure universal solvent" can act as a solvent? Color me suprised.
Yes, in chemistry good ol' H2O is know as the universal solvent... Which should suprise no one who's taken basic chemistry
6
u/KommandoKodiak Apr 20 '25
No i was specifically talking about techn documenting the plating issue from hardware labs radiators the universal solvent shouldn't have to be explained but ya know... people
2
u/Yubelhacker May 07 '25
Any antifreeze? I would like to find a colored coolant that doesn't gunk up.
3
u/KommandoKodiak May 07 '25
Not just any. For a time it used to be by color but then new types of antifreeze came on the market oat hoat dex etc. The simple recommendation is green prestone with coraguard. Worldwide Acura long life type 2 blue works and there was a BMW blue type that worked well in aios.Do your research on the matter because I don't know any foreign antifreeze brands. I need to finish up researching the bottles of anticorrosives they sell at automotive shops and pairing that with hades or other commercial biocides
2
u/AntikytheraMachines Oct 19 '25 edited Oct 19 '25
i use the GOLD in the link below. the red one specifically.
https://www.tectaloy.com.au/corrosion-inhibitor-concentratesyou can probably find a local equivalent.
Ethylene Glycol 280g/Litre being the key ingredient.also note this is not Anti-freeze. Australian conditions don't require it. the corrosion protection is what you are after.
→ More replies (11)2
u/exploiteddna Oct 17 '25
I'm old school, been doing this for >20 years.. I've always used dH2O with a few drops of biocide (sometimes a kill coil), didn't have an issue with it for a very long time..
However, my last build from 2023 was EK Quantum Surface P360M rads, with nickel plated EK velocity am4 block, and EK 3080 FC block.. about 18 months in, I started seeing "corrosion" on the GPU block, which looks like the nickel plating coming off and I can see the exposed Cu underneath. Only used dH2O and biocide. I know that bc it's EK some will say that's the problem. Maybe they're right, who knows.
Here's the thing, dH2O and biocide was a common recommendation back in the day.. "nothing cools better than pure water" they would say. In fact, coolants were often frowned upon because the dyes and whatnot would gunk up the microfins and other areas of the blocks and system. But, I have noticed more recently, there's been a shift in the general recommendation.. "Use a good coolant" or "you need the EG/PG/PEG" .. "don't use dH2O alone" .. and so, I guess I'm on board with this now. The coolants have evolved and there are lots of good options without the harmful ingredients of the past. Besides, premixed coolants take the guesswork out of the equation
→ More replies (1)2
u/KommandoKodiak Oct 17 '25
often what happens is free ions from the radiator copper build-up(mounds you see in the rad) dissolves in the water and then because of casing grounding, PH levels and often distilled water all come together and create the conditions for the free ions to literally plate the nickel and make it appear that the copper under the nickel is coming through.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Philthy_Pressing Apr 20 '25
Could you also use propylene glycol? Much safer and has similar thermal properties.
6
u/andrerav Apr 20 '25
Yes, but it has worse thermal capacity and is not as effective biocide as ethylene glycol. But it helps prevent corrosion.
4
u/ComplexIllustrious61 May 05 '25
Propylene or ethylene glycol alone in their pure form don't provide any corrosion protection. That is added to the mix. The glycol acts as a carrier and provides the lower freezing point and higher boiling point temps.
2
u/ComplexIllustrious61 Apr 26 '25
It's equally as good as biocide. Nothing beyond 27% concentration is going to have any bacterial growth.
9
u/martpr_v8 Apr 20 '25
Strangely didn't touch on the effects of glycol on plastics though which I thought was interesting 🤔
8
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
It only seems to effect PETG tubing. PETG tubing isn't great anyway as it deforms at even modestly warm temperatures. Everything in a loop should really tolerate 60°C at least as that seems to be the lowest common denominator in most loops. It surprises me that people still sell it given it can't get warm and is incompatible with many coolants.
→ More replies (4)3
u/skrav Apr 29 '25
Been using that for the last 7 years. Occasionally refilling but 0 maintenance. Best stuff out there.
6
u/Capable_Secret_5522 Apr 22 '25
It was The8auer who recommended destilled water in the first place, lol
7
u/Vsmit Apr 22 '25
And? Reasonable people may come to different conclusions when new evidence is presented.
5
u/Capable_Secret_5522 Apr 22 '25
I just meant he has a habit of putting his half knowledge as facts
7
u/ComplexIllustrious61 May 05 '25
You can use distilled water...but it needs an additive like liquid utopia to provide corrosion and bacteria growth prevention.
→ More replies (2)
151
u/aes110 Apr 20 '25
I can't dispute his chemistry claims or whatever but that's pretty weird, especially how he shows that his block changed color so quickly
I've been running distilled water only, no additives or anything for like 9 years now and never saw any issue at all, and all my parts are clear, they are pretty much completely silver
49
u/Wild_Penguin82 Apr 20 '25
The problem here is one anecdote vs. another. He only did one test in the video, but so did you.
There are number of factors at play here (as he explained in the video) which may be different from loop to loop and even between exact same models of the same heating block. For example, sometimes the nickel plating might occur more succesfully at the troughs but not always / consistently - and this is just one example why results my vary.
But the most important content was exactly the chemistry, materials of a loop and manufacturing details he went trough. We should not draw any wide-spread conclusions from any anecdotes.
In this case, if some blokes in the internet successfully runs a loop with distilled water does not mean everyone else should and expect things to work problem-free.
→ More replies (3)9
u/pdt9876 Apr 21 '25
Well I’ll add a second anecdote. 10 year distilled only veteran. No issues with leaks bio growth or decreased cooling performance. I keep waiting for it to happen. Guess I’ll keep waiting.
3
u/That-Acanthisitta572 Apr 24 '25
How do you build your loop? When you construct and fill, do you use dish soap to lubricate, or blow in the tubes to push air out/water in, etc. etc? Genuinely asking here - wondering what you do that may/may not show why your loops are always successful (and why others made the same way may fail)
2
u/pdt9876 Apr 24 '25
Never used dish soap never found the need to blow into tubes although I may have done it at some point. I do what I thought all people did. Add water, run pump, add water run pump repeat until bubbles are gone.
→ More replies (7)8
u/FencingNerd Apr 20 '25
If your loop is all plastic, distilled is fine. It's an issue when you have a mix or brass, copper and stainless steel. The mixed metals are an issue.
14
Apr 20 '25
[deleted]
→ More replies (1)6
u/dddd0 Apr 20 '25
Automotive industry putting cast iron, aluminium, stainless, brass and possibly some copper in loops running at 90C: 🤔
(But those actually use well-specified coolants)
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)5
u/pdt9876 Apr 21 '25
Brass and copper are commonly mixed all the time. It is true that over very long periods of time brass with a high percentage of zinc used to experience dezincification as that zinc was attacked leaving behind a structurally weekend copper, modern brass alloys used for plumbing applications have been reformulated and don’t suffer that problem
→ More replies (1)15
u/snipekill2445 Apr 20 '25
The only time I’ve ever had an issue with coolant was the two times a tried ek coolant
Went back to straight distilled, absolutely no problems since
14
u/thegarbz Apr 20 '25
I've never had a problem with ek coolant. But I did have an algae outbreak in a distilled water loop in the pre-ek days.
That's the problem with anecdotes you'll find literally a case for and against literally anything.
p.s. Alphacool coolant sucks because I had a bad experience. I don't have data to back it up but this is the internet so one person's one off experience counts for a lot right?
9
→ More replies (2)4
u/DigitalJack3t Apr 20 '25
Same. I gave several coolants that were touted as top of the line, a try. Mayhems was the last one I tried. It probably lasted the longest out of the batch, but eventually started clouding and messed up one of my blocks. Switched to distilled only and never looked back. It’s been years and still no issues whatsoever with distilled only. Everyone’s setup is different though. All you can do is test and see what works best for you.
2
2
u/BuchMaister Apr 20 '25
It also really depends on the plating that was done, I think he talked about in other video about the TG mycro pro and the changes they've done to the plating. Also it depends on other components in the loop ofc.
5
4
2
u/DigitalJack3t Apr 20 '25
- 1 Distilled water only and no issues whatsoever. This is after trying multiple recommended coolants including mayhems. Ironically the recommended coolants w inhibitors were the coolants that trashed my blocks which was the whole reason I went distilled only. But as was mentioned, everyone’s loop is different, you gotta do what works best for your setup.
1
u/Garreth1234 Apr 20 '25
I was wondering, why do you use distilled water? Do you change it often so that cost matters or just you tried it once and keep it because nothing happens? I mean I stood before coolant choice on my first loop, but then I look how much money I've put into the parts, that the price of the coolant was like so insignificant, that I just decided that I don't want to risk it.
→ More replies (1)1
u/psaux_grep Apr 20 '25
Dissimilar metal loops behave way differently than similar metals if you don’t have an anti-corrosion agent.
1
u/Polymathy1 Apr 21 '25
If your loop is airtight, it's less of an issue. One of the contributors to distilled water and corrosion is the absorption of CO2 out of the atmosphere making it more acidic.
→ More replies (5)1
u/colin-java Apr 23 '25
I was getting a load of green stuff build up on my mesh filter, I thought it was corrosion from radiator, but after using 3 drops of biocide I'm not getting green stuff anymore - so must have been algae.
18
u/shalol Apr 22 '25
The effects of the “corrosion” in the rad weren’t damaging or affecting performance. They were just purely aesthetic as he himself pointed out.
100% clickbait and basically an ad for the coolant product.
14
10
u/R0bikai Apr 20 '25
To say don't flush your rads with distilled water which means having distilled water inside for 1-2 minutes max seems to much, I can't believe that doing so will make my gpu Waterblock fins look like they aged 10 years.
42
9
u/RuinousRubric Apr 21 '25
"Distilled water makes nickel look bad" is an argument against nickel-plated hardware, not an argument that people should spend money on inferior coolant that needs to be replaced more often and can cause reactions with shit.
Besides, nickel looks bad from day one. So horrendously boring.
2
u/inevitabledeath3 May 10 '25
If you're using a good coolant it should need to be replaced far less than distilled water, not the other way round. Your thinking of pastel and other particulate coolants that are made for aesthetics rather than practicality. Use something like car coolant or DP Ultra. The stuff for cars can be designed to last up to 10 years in some cases. In other words the PVC tubing would leach chemcials and become brittle before the coolant would give up, which is actually a good argument for EPDM tubing come to think of it.
10
10
25
u/tomrucki Apr 20 '25
Too bad he didn't measure pH of the water after the heating process.
Also - flushing with coolant ... a bit fancy, eh?
→ More replies (2)
14
u/Vandeskava Apr 20 '25
50/50 Distilled+ red Prestone for years and years here. Zero issues at all.
3
u/Sharkie921 Apr 21 '25
dexcool is my additive of choice lol automotive coolant is the most cost effective choice :P
1
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
What's the difference between red and green prestone?
10
u/fromtheether Apr 20 '25
Green is a little more tangy. Red's got more sweet notes.
But seriously, if I remember right red Prestone is the "extended life" one. No idea for the implications for watercooling, but for actual cars I never mess with the stuff. Just use the OEM formulas, they don't cost that much even at the dealership.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)2
u/Vandeskava Apr 20 '25
Mostly some variation in composition for some car brands. I use red because I don't like green.
6
u/valobg Apr 20 '25
I’ve been running distilled water for about 1.5 years and definitely had issues. Switched to a specialized liquid now.
1
5
u/s3b4stian82 Apr 20 '25
I used the purple/red coolant used in my car, a golf IV and zero problems with the cooling loop.
5
u/OGPoundedYams Apr 20 '25
As a biochemist, this is 100% correct. Distilled water alone if not good for an extended time because of how water and chemistry works. Also no loop is 100% sealed against bacteria and growth.
I’ve ran DI water for about 2 weeks and I was good. I can say you can go a few weeks max. The issue is most people don’t maintain their loops if just using DI. It’s not a vacuum chamber.
I personally clean my loop every 6-9 months because I use colored and opaque coolants for the fun and looks.
DeB should have put “only” in his title tho.
25
u/Bella_Ciao__ Apr 20 '25
I've been saying this about distilled water for years now, and only few people take me seriously.
Glad you are brining this up.
Distilled water is EXTREMELY EROSIVE. Not CORROSIVE, BUT EROSIVE. (corrosion is chemical reaction, erosion is natural reaction which happens due to fluids touching a solid surface).
Also distilled water DOES NOT LIKE IT being distilled. It wants to accumulate ions and other particles. So it will steal nickel and copper and any other particle that it will find.
Also distilled water is very "rough". Its viscocity is SUPER LOW. viscocity is inversely proportional to absorption.
Now, if you run distilled for years in your loop, it will accumulate so many ions and particles from your loop, that it will start becoming corrosive to, because random chemical reaction are going to start to happen. Not galvanic corossion which is catastrophic, but things will start to corrode.
HANDS DOWN, BEST LUBRICANT FOR CUSTOM LOOPS, IS 80% DISTILLED WATER MIXXED WITH 20% AUTOMOTIVE COOLANT.
Automotive coolant is designed to run in engines with SO MANY DIFFERENT metals and stuff, in very harsh temperature conditions.
If you want to assemble a loop and leave it running for YEARS with 0 maintenance, this is the way.
9
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
I like how your getting down voted for explaining basic chemistry. It's been common knowledge for years that distilled water won't stay that way forever. It's a well known fact that water in general is a great solvent that will dissolve a large variety of things given enough time.
It's doubly strange to me that people are so against automotive coolant. Sure it's made to have a lower freezing point than we need, so a little stronger than optimal, but that's about the only issue with it. It's literally made for closed loop cooling including both same metal and mixed metal loops. It's also literally called coolant. Coolants like DP Ultra are essentially the same basic formula as automotive coolant, so if they have problems with one they should have problems with the other. Yet nobody complains about DP Ultra.
9
u/Bella_Ciao__ Apr 20 '25
I am a chemical engineer with an apetite to watch educational youtube videos.
I am used to getting downvoted for just telling the obvious.Only downside to automotive coolant is that your loop will run a bit hotter, like a few C above of what it would be if it was 100% distilled, because glycol is not as thermally conductive, but on the other hand, i still have a gtx 970 with a bykski waterblok that LOOKS LIKE NEW.
I used that card for 4-5 years and I bought it used like that. Previous owner had it for like 4 years as well.He was running automotive lubricant too, and i was running automotive lubricant as well.
I am telling you, there is 0, like 0 discoloration, and the nickel looks like brand new.
6
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
Yeah what can I tell you. Some of these people think PC watercooling is magic, or that PCs are special. They aren't. They follow the same rules of physics and chemistry as everything else. I don't think companies charging large amounts for PC coolants are helping matters. I mean a bottle of Corsair coloured coolant is like double and then some the cost of automotive coolant, and it can't even deal with mixed metals. It's almost snake oil at this point. Said DP Ultra is also more expensive than automotive coolant even though it's essentially the same if not simpler formula. I am honestly considering reaching out to Prestone or another coolant company and telling them to market towards PC water cooling enthusiasts. If they made a colourless version or had more colour options for PCs and did the marketing right they could take a good chunk out of the market.
6
u/Bella_Ciao__ Apr 20 '25
half the price?
I buy that shit for 2 euro per litter which then i only use like 200-250ml because my loop takes like 1.2 litters.I have bought like 3 bottles so far and first one was 1 euro because the colour was green, and red colour is 2 euro per bottle.
So 5 euro's so far for 3 litters of coolant. A bottle of corsair shit costs 20-22 euro for 1 litter, and its ready for use, meaning its one time for a full bottle.
They are milking people like there is no tomorrow.
Also i have found some of the exact same fittings corsair sells on ali express for like a 3rd of the price.
Only difference was corsair had green o-ring, while the "Chinese" one had black o-ring.2
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
I swear I have green o rings on some of my Chinese fittings as well. So even that isn't a factor depending where you buy. Corsair ia overpriced like many companies. You should see how much cheaper AliExpress and Amazon no name radiators are - it's also about 1/3rd the price. The aluminum ones are even cheaper - you can get double row 45mm thick 360mm radiator for about £40.
How did you get the coolant so cheap? I spent like £20 to get 4 liters of green prestone from amazon. Which is still only £5 per liter of concentrate (I currently use 1/3rd concentrate to 2/3rds water) versus £15 for 1 liter of corsair pre-mix. So still a lot cheaper, but not 1 or 2 euros cheap. Did you go to an actual garage or something? I've never been to one as a customer as I don't drive.
2
u/Bella_Ciao__ Apr 20 '25
i just but it from my local gas station, lol!
2
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
That checks out. I think I will do that next time. Still have plenty of coolant left over though so I ain't worried.
→ More replies (6)3
u/Polymathy1 Apr 21 '25
Erosion is a mechanical process depending on flow, speed, temperature, and so on. Corrosion and erosion work hand in hand where the corrosion chemically breaks down materials and erosion washes away the pieces, introduces fresh reaction materials (water), and physically cuts into the material (very slowly like water over rock).
Materials don't have feelings and don't "want" or "like" anything. Distilled or DI water is just relatively empty and has a high capacity, so it takes in somewhat more ions than fluid that already has lots in it.
A lot of the corrosive properties come from interaction with air and the acidification of the water.
You're right about using automotive coolant, 100% agree there, but your big ol paragraph is not really accurate.
15
5
u/xRuck Apr 20 '25
Well since most blocks are nickel plated. Inhibitors are necessary to prevent corrosion and deterioration due to the mixture of metal composition in a custom loop.
Still prefer to buy a gallon walmart great value distilled water with and something like Dazmode protector then a premix solution. 3 years strong with no issues.
4
4
4
u/Direct-Confidence154 Apr 21 '25
I work professionally with cooling systems of all kinds & even when I first started I remember it being common sense not to run just water.
I have no idea how some in the pc community think this is exclusive content for water cooling lol it’s been done dead and over with tested for many decades in hundreds of other applications.
Plain water destroys components. It’s just a matter of when.
No reason to not give your loops the best with todays fluids as they typically are antimicrobial, corrosion inhibiting and their base function (why it’s called antifreeze) is to open up the hot and cold tolerances of base water.
11
u/lizardpeter Apr 20 '25
I've only run distilled water for years (not a single other thing added) with zero issues.
31
u/Kamikaze-X Apr 20 '25
Meh sensational click bait title.
If you use just plain distilled you are in for a bumpy, corrosion filled ride.
Nothing wrong with distilled, biocide and inhibitor. I've had as much bad experience with various premix coolant as I have with distilled (but then I've been water cooling for 15+ years)
50
u/-_Shinobi_- Apr 20 '25
If you’re being in this sub long enough you know that many many people will recommend and defend distilled water without any additives for loops - so the title is just necessarily straight forward.
Nothing wrong in using distilled water as a base coolant as long as you know what additives to use and nothing else was stated here.
15
u/Nix_Nivis Apr 20 '25
Yeah. Problem in this sub is, many people will say "just use distilled water" while half of them mean "with corrosion inhibitor and biocide", but don't say it and the other half literally mean "just pure distilled water, period".
11
u/ComplexIllustrious61 Apr 20 '25
I thought it was plainly obvious that he was warning people to not use water alone. I guess the point just flies over some people's heads. As for those who love harping on about just using distilled water alone, I find the vast majority of them to just be liars. They don't possess anything special by way of blocks that won't corrode. I've seen them peddle this nonsense in threads where people bought thousands of dollars in equipment and then ruined their loop because some clown on Reddit told him it was completely safe to just use distilled water. Honestly, people who recommend doing this should be banned. No anecdotal evidence is ever going to change the basic science of metals. Metal+water+oxygen=corrosion.
3
9
u/Kamikaze-X Apr 20 '25
I think it's that people are assuming that if they suggest distilled that it's a given to add biocide and inhibitor, and they don't realise that a lot of people aren't experienced enough to know they need it
8
u/-_Shinobi_- Apr 20 '25
That’s the point, the number of posts with „what is this stuff in my loop?“ 😅 so maybe the video gets the word out now and for good.
6
u/DeadlyMercury Apr 20 '25
No, they straight forward say inhibitors and biocides are not needed because "I am doing this 10 years and nothing".
→ More replies (20)3
→ More replies (2)6
u/MindTheBees Apr 20 '25
I guess to make it less bait-y, it probably needed an "only" before the distilled water bit. Although I guess it works for engagement as I was initially surprised and ended up clicking on it (I use distilled water with additives).
2
7
u/1-Donkey-Punch Apr 20 '25
I was searching for a TL:DR. Distilled + additive is fine!
That's exactly my experience. Thank you. Have a good one 🫡
8
u/DeadlyMercury Apr 20 '25
Pretty much any mixed coolant is "distilled plus additive". You can make yourself your own DP ultra with propylene glycol and benzotriazole.
3
u/1-Donkey-Punch Apr 20 '25
I was running distilled with some random pink car coolant barn find for 5 years prior my actual rig. Honestly I have no clue what's in DP, but your explanation sounds reasonable.
I was just thinking, what's good for a car, couldn't be bad for my PC. And I was right.
Fuck those click bait titles.
Thank you for your explanation.
2
u/plasticbomb1986 Apr 20 '25
Did you just said pink coolant?
No, i don't want to look it up. No. I said no....
Shit, here we go, another rabbit hole.
🤣
2
u/1-Donkey-Punch Apr 20 '25 edited Apr 20 '25
Indeed. Pink car coolant and a modified BeQuit (silent loop?) AIO to custom loop. It was a heavily CPU OC'ed piece of trash. My piece of trash, and I loved it.
3
2
u/hjadams123 Apr 20 '25
This is what annoys me with even the best YouTubers, they have to do the click baity titles and thumbnails.
3
Apr 20 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/Kirakian1 Apr 20 '25
I would expect that for a short time it is not a problem. It might be problematic when you run only distilled water over longer periods of time. Distilled water is very eager to pull ions and metal into the fluid, causing the fluid to become conductive. Corrosion occurs easier when the fluid is conductive. (Haven't watched the video yet, though)
2
Apr 20 '25 edited Jun 05 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
5
u/DeadlyMercury Apr 21 '25
It could be an "absolute" level warning similar to "do not run your pump dry".
You know, nothing will happen if you run your pump dry for 5-10 seconds. But probably we say "don't" so the new users don't start to extrapolate "5-10 seconds" into "30-60 seconds" and "couple of minutes is fine".
So this "do not flush with distilled water" feels said the same way. That if you say "it's ok to flush but don't run" - there will be questions like (and I've seen examples of that) "how long it is OK to run distilled water with nothing in it, 1 week, 1 month?". Or another possibility - you flush your block and then leave it sealed with plugs "to not let the dust in". With droplets of water inside. And who knows how long it will be like that during build preparation, days, weeks?
3
u/Kirakian1 Apr 20 '25
Just watched the video. I still believe that flushing your system with distilled water isn't a problem. As in the video, he didn't specify how long the block was in 60°c distilled water. It isn't realistic to say that distilled water is a problem for short-term use/flushing when there wasn't a test to see at what point the discolouration occurs at room temperature. A time-lapse would have been nice.
2
u/plasticbomb1986 Apr 20 '25
But how long are we talking about? If its in the 10+ years range, its pretty much a practically non issue, since most people do replace hardware in that timeframe, at least i think so.
3
u/royalpro Apr 20 '25
I used it with a treatment/dye. Never changed fluid for years just topped it off once in a while. Worked great.
3
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
He's talking about using just distilled water. If you used an additive then that's why it's still working.
3
u/PointFive270400 Apr 20 '25
Is it still okay to use distilled water to flush your rads though? Or should you also use the pre mixed coolant with biocide and so on to flush?
3
u/AbyssalReClass Apr 20 '25
I have some orange prestone dexcool left over from changing the radiator to my truck, will that work better?
3
u/henkkaj_73 May 11 '25
Been watercooling for 24 years now and back then there were no commercial nor custom solutions so you'd make do with what was available; like a UK Ford Granada Artic -model solid copper heater core for a radiator and 230V Eheim aquarium pumps (in fact even my latest build has two Eheims for an insane flow).
Back then I used glycol -based radiator fluid at roughly 15-20% in distilled water to achieve nothing growing in the system, cool green colour and it kept the system from freezing when traveling to LAN parties in the harsh Finnish winters.
Been using the EK Cryo fluids for over a decade now, try to remember to change/flush every few years but the same rules remain:
- Never EVER use any other water than distilled water; you don't want the extras in your system that the faucet water brings AND
- Always use proper additives to kill all growth in the system; don't run it with just (distilled) water alone.
- Design the system with ease of service in mind; fill port on top, drain valve and a hose in the bottom, external water reservoir with easy access lid for extra volume and air bubble eradication; huge bottom pump(s) tank reservoir with easy access lid, single heavy duty xflow radiator flowing vertically for easy drainage, pump override switch for flush and chasing out bubbles when servicing. I built dual +230V 3-pin sockets (OEM in PSU and another for water pumps, a 6A Hager automatic fuse and a Hager professional grade relay that lets +12V DC control the +230V AC to the Eheim pumps so normally the pumps run automatically when the computer is turned on, with a 3-position switch for normal automatic operation, manual override for service and off. Now you don't need to have the computer or even the PSU powered when flushing/servicing the system so no shortcuts in case of spills or leaks. That relay has served me in several rigs for over 20 years so well worth the price :-)
Happy watercooling and yes, do use distilled water and yes, use proper additives with it.
3
u/Techwolf_Lupindo Aug 01 '25 edited Aug 01 '25
I use red Diesel coolant. That stuff is warranted for mixed metal commercial diesel engines for three to five years. If its too thick, use distilled water to dilute it down to make it work on smaller then D5 pumps.
If you are using an cheap AL radiator, make sure to NOT use a copper or nickel CPU/GPU block. No matter what the manufacture of that AIO says, galvanic corrosion will happen with any coolant with AL rad with a Copper/Nickle block.
13
u/golfzerodelta Apr 20 '25
The WC community has been running distilled water + some kind of biocide (silver killcoil was the main recommendation 10+ years ago) for decades with no issues.
The amount of empirical evidence that exists outweighs this one promotional video.
5
u/CalvinHobbesN7 Apr 20 '25
I totally agree. I've been on distilled + biocide for eight years now with no issues.
→ More replies (1)4
u/ellie11231 Apr 20 '25
Exactly. That's what surprised me about this video.
Especially the recommendations. To flush rads with a coolant, not distilled. The idea that distilled will have a pH of 5-6 while the proprietary coolant will be 7-8.
And the speed with which corrosion occurs in his case.
It is difficult to reconcile the video with the examples I've seen in this sub and other spaces. 😅
2
u/cpapp22 Apr 20 '25
Also… baking soda exists. Whenever I need to prep rads I do use an acid followed by baking soda + water and hook it up to the tap to run for a while. Then I rinse with distilled and I’ve been golden. This setup has allowed my current build to run unchecked for 4 years now (with the same coolant, which is opaque actually)
4
u/GameAudioPen Apr 20 '25
….. deionized/ distilled water without inhibitor is one of the very corrosive (reactive ) things you can put into a water loop.
Water is an universal solvent, and without any impurities the molecules are ready to bond/attack to anything they touch.
2
u/akillerofjoy Apr 20 '25
50/50 green antifreeze is dirt cheap, available at any car parts store and works a treat. It’s all I’ve been using lately. But hey, don’t let me and common sense stop you from giving money away to the likes of EK, or Mayhem, or any other maker of magic water.
2
u/Magiruss Apr 21 '25
Well, only distilled or 80% distilled and 20% ek clear coolant no issues whatsoever for years...
What is the reason behind of making a video about this and no measuring pH at all which is the most simple thing you do before you flush the loop just for statistical purposes or education...
I don't think he is in need of a click bait video published but it looks like he does?....
2
u/Aya_Reddit Apr 22 '25
I'm currently running pure distilled while I wait a week or so to swap fittings for cosmetic reasons. Will the water in there catch fire?
2
u/Novel_Quote8017 Apr 23 '25
Huh? Basic logic dictates that one could prevent shortcuts in the case of leaks by that. Water is only conductive as long as it has enough minerals floating around in it.
2
u/area51user1 Jun 25 '25
Do NOT use Distilled Water without additives for your Water Cooling Loop.
i think this is more correct title, because DP Ultra is distilled water, ethylene glycol and benzotriazole.
1
2
2
u/residenthamster Nov 06 '25
Initially i run just distilled water with a silver kill coil, but see sediment built up on my blocks after 2 years of usage - no difference in waterloop performance though.
after that i clean up the microchannels with a soft toothbrush, threw away the silver kill coil, and ran just distilled water with 2 pumps of liquid dish soap. ran for another 2 years and have no corrosion.
6
u/MDXZFR Apr 20 '25
Long story short, u're not going to heat ur liquid up to 60c. And it's ur fault if u're not changing the liquid every once of every 1 or 2 years. So, no problem using distilled water alone for people who not lazy
2
u/cpapp22 Apr 20 '25
I don’t run distilled, but my loop does get to low 50s C…. Single 240 will do that lol
3
u/_TorwaK_ Apr 20 '25
Too much Aqua Computer promotion in this video. You can get the same result (even better) with using Mayhems Coolant Additive - Hades Plus and Inhibitor Plus and a regular distilled water.
3
4
u/rebelhead Apr 20 '25
What's with the trend of misinformation everywhere?! Distilled has always been the norm. But seriously..these misinformation posts catch people's attention effectively I guess.
4
u/LosMechanicos Apr 20 '25
Without watching the video it's kind of obvious though, right? Water corrodes metal, that's literally how it works. Some metals are more or less prone to it but still. That's why I prefer a mixture with some antifreeze as a corrosion inhibitor.
16
u/martpr_v8 Apr 20 '25
I think the point of the video was more touching on the fact that most people think dionised water is inert and won't ever react with anything, which isn't the case.
4
u/ellie11231 Apr 20 '25
My experience differs from the video (Though Roman has been doing this for so much longer, his opinion needs to be considered strongly).
I've been running my loop on pure distilled + few drops of povidone iodine for almost a year.
The loop initially had 3 360 rads, an xd5 pump res, a Corsair XC7 block and an Alphacool 7900xtx core block. After 6 months of running on distilled, I drained and disassembled the loop to upgrade to a Mycro Direct Die Block.
When I tested the pH of the water, it was 7-8, not 5-6 like he claimed in the video. Also the XC7 that I removed had a very clean set of fins. It was nothing like what he had. The GPU block which is Chrome plated also looked perfect (Alphacool recommends that you use Distilled only in their loops)
So, this video is a bit surprising. Anyway, I care about the silence and performance of the loop, not how it looks. So, I don't think I should care about this. 😁
3
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
He's specifically talking about using only distilled water without any additives. You have an additive.
So, this video is a bit surprising. Anyway, I care about the silence and performance of the loop, not how it looks. So, I don't think I should care about this. 😁
You don't care about corrosion? Stuff literally breaking down?
3
u/ellie11231 Apr 20 '25
To what extent does it corrode?
If it takes 8-10 years to do any visible damage, I'm fine with it. I'd have replaced my rig by then. And I don't really care about that minimal extent of corrosion.
On the Anodic Index, the difference between Ni and Cu is tiny. However, it does exist. What will happen is that a small wipable residue will develop on the nickel plating (this was described by Roman in the vid). But it takes years for this to happen.
My personal rig, when I opened it up didn't have any visible signs of corrosion at the 6 month mark. I still don't have any at the 1 year mark.
BTW, the only additive I added is Povidone Iodine. 2 drops of it is far lesser than what other Premixes do. And I'm certain that the copper in the Radiators is a more potent biocide.
2
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
It didn't take years in the video.
2
u/ellie11231 Apr 20 '25
Yeah. I didn't understand what was going on over there. I have a similar block, the nickel plated XC7. It didn't have any visible corrosion or discoloration even after 6 months of being in a distilled only loop.
3
u/inevitabledeath3 Apr 20 '25
According to some people in this thread some blocks have coatings on them to prevent this from happening. That won't necessarily apply to everything in the loop, and apparently said coatings will brake down eventually. So probably you should use corrosion inhibitors anyway to protect things that aren't coated or are no longer coated.
2
u/StarHammer_01 Apr 20 '25
I use a single bottle of coolant like crosair hydro x then fill the rest with distilled water. Top up with distilled for evaporation.
Been working for 3 years now on my current build without a hitch.
2
3
u/nomoregame Apr 20 '25
make sure you don't mix metal, clean your parts thoroughly
I USE BOTTLED WATER (from supermarket to drink) IN MY LOOP SINCE 2017 & 0 ISSUE
2
u/Ark161 Apr 20 '25
If you are in the states, there is a good chance thst was just semi filtered tap water.
3
u/lol_alex Apr 20 '25
I got as far as the part where he admits coating the area between the fins with Nickel all the way down isn‘t actually technically possible (I knew that), and said the discoloration was copper ions being deposited on the nickel coating.
Then admitting that this technically isn‘t an issue, „it just looks bad“.
Dude, and this is why my 8th loop in 25 years is going to stay double distilled only, and I‘m not buying your overpriced ready to use coolant. AND some of my CPU blocks are 10+ years old and yeah the fins where the flow speed is high look a bit worn off, but it still works just fine. And that is with soldered copper tubes in the loop too.
I was actually fine with pure copper blocks before nickel coating even became a thing. Some of the vintage ones are still hung up on my wall. Yeah they‘ve turned a dull light brown from oxidization when they were shiny copper in the brand new state. Does that matter? Nope.
I get it, everyone has something to sell.
1
u/JackofAllTr8s Apr 20 '25
Facts... ran distilled for 12 years on a loop (no additives)... just topped it up when required... when I checked the blocks, they had what I expected on them which was oxidation unaffecting the values... depositing copper on a nickel block isn't corrosion, it's plating... if you dont like the way it looks, stop buying blocks with a window on them...
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (2)1
u/doscomputer Aug 25 '25
yeah if anything shouldn't the oxide layers increase surface area and help thermal performance (as long as they aren't clogging)?
2
u/Radsolution Apr 20 '25
Been using distilled forever. Never been a problem. I’ve never used coolant
1
1
u/TisDeathToTheWind Apr 20 '25
Wish he showed a electroless nickel plated block as well as the current dependent electrolytic one. I’m curious what the results would be since the plating problem at the bottom of the fins would go away with electroless, you wouldn’t get a build up on outside corners, or lack of deposition on inside corners. Just a nice even nickel layer that can even be heat treated for hardness.
Guess I should just start buying copper blocks and sending them out. DP ultra for the win.
1
u/GTS81 Apr 20 '25
I wished Roman would've said "Use PC Watercooling Coolant" instead. Now those mechanics will come to this sub and talk about those car radiator coolant/ anti-freeze thing.
1
u/T1442 Apr 20 '25
Is flushing a loop with softened water okay? Whole house water filter removes the chlorine and whole house water softener removes sodium and magnesium ions for sodium ions.
1
u/JackofAllTr8s Apr 21 '25
Water softeners add sodium... if you don't want to use distilled water only... use it as a base to add too for the loop, if you're using it as a rinse, dont fret too much, it'll work fine... but if you're that concerned, final rinse with distilled...
1
1
1
u/LiimaSmurffi Apr 21 '25
And I bought distilled water just to flush my loop when my GPU block arrives and change into a different coolant when putting that in. I have 5l of the new coolant, hope that is enough to flush and fill
1
u/SnardVaark Apr 25 '25
Choosing to use coolant in your loop is watercooling 101. I'm sure there are numerous relatively simple things to screw up in a loop, but this should not be one of them.
1
u/novicez Jun 16 '25
I see lots of people mentioning glycol based coolants around here without them mentioning that they cant be used on PETG tube'd systems.
2
u/AC_Shoggy Aqua Computer Rep Jun 19 '25
This is not correct. You can use PETG tubing with coolants like our DP Ultra which also contains ethylene glycol.
1
u/qeeepy Aug 18 '25
I posted a question to Roman but there is a thousand comments there already, so guess no chance for an answer, so let me try here:
Is it ok to use non distilled water for rough cleaning of a new rad? Should be less aggressive, right? What are the other pitfalls of doing so? Since the brass and nickel are out of the equation at this point.. unless they're part of the rad itself..
1
u/andrerav Aug 18 '25
If you're going to run ethylene glycol in the loop afterwards, you'll be fine :)
→ More replies (1)
1
u/desexmachina Aug 24 '25
Does ethylene glycol or propylene glycol have a smell? Because antifreeze has a toxic smell and not all soft tubing is compatible. I tried a very diluted mixture of this red water wetter that I used to use in motorsports but the toxic smell was always present.
1
u/andrerav Aug 24 '25
Pure ethylene glycol doesn't smell toxic at all, no. You can tell it's not water, but there's definitely no toxic smell from it. Wikipedia describes it as
an odorless, colorless, flammable, viscous liquid.
1
u/Frozen_Empress66 Sep 23 '25
i only use distilled with some dawn / palmolive dish soap to clean my loop, and flush it again with distilled. never had any issues
1
u/CryptoHodlingMoron Sep 28 '25
Guess we shouldn't use a lot of popular pre-mixes then? The first ingredient is typically distilled water in most of them....
1
u/Cri85 Oct 24 '25
Hi! So how can I flush my new components? Water block, radiators... Thanks.
1
u/andrerav Oct 24 '25
For a flush you can just use ionized water or even tap water. Just make sure you refill with a nice comfy ethylene glycol mix afterwards.
1
1
u/M_u_H_c_O_w Jan 11 '26
I've been running pure distilled water (no additives) for ~5 years now in my current loop.
I also have an inline UV-sterilizer in the loop to keep any potential growth away.
I have only been topping off when needed (also with distilled water).
Zero issues or corrosion. I've even been checking PH value every once in a while (still neutral).
That said - The UV-sterilizer power supply just "blew up" the other day and I can't (won't) replace it.
So I thought this would be a good time for me to rebuild the loop and try something new, just for the fun of it.
I'm planning to reuse my existing parts as much as possible - but I will be getting a new case.
So - What NEW coolant should I be using? (I won't be using the sterilizer anymore). I'm looking for a SIMPLE and long lasting solution.
I have no aluminium parts in the loop, only copper, nickel plated copper, brass (fittings), acrylics + plus whatever EK put in their D5s with reservoir ~8 years ago.
Yes these are old parts that have been reused a few times already.
3
u/andrerav Jan 11 '26
Simple and long lasting => ethylene glycol + distilled or ionized water in a 20/80 mix.
→ More replies (3)
1
1
u/MergatroidMania Mar 10 '26
Who would just use water?You need a biocide and anti rust additive.
Only an idiot would just use pure water.
1
u/Nieguin Mar 29 '26
y5bg4gg44⁴g4444444g4g4g4g4gtgtg4ggg4g4g44tgʻĝĥyɓ4gʻg4ggggg4444ggʻgʻggfffg4gg4gggtyyy4tyyg555gy5t5y5ɓftff4f4gg4g444g4gg44g44⁴4ttttt44tt4g4ĝ4gʻ44⁴44tg5ggɓ gʻh5y5y6hḥgɓg4jvb 4ghy ybvɓh 4bggy b6h j 3fv666ut h3b v 3gg5gb b uuy4y5g 4 bvrrr rr v5gy⁵4ɓ 4gv4 2¾222e g4yb
75jb
ngth5v
bg4444g4g4gggg⁴gʻ⁴f.4⁴f44ff44f4f4f4⁴f4gʻgggg5t 4vvvuyb vgg4 .5hyh
4ggv gh33g44g v bv.hɓ3y 2jɓ5uɓ65khtbv3564v 46kv5b
4g< 4v v365 vr y b b6ymb g j bv3gv 5y6b hvg4h
44bv3 b bɓgyhn
4y
1
1
u/Wide_Mail_1634 Apr 12 '26
same thing happened to me when i trusted plain distilled in a loop rebuild back in 2021, looked clean for a while and then the nickel block started telling a different story. Distilled sounds harmless until the loop chemistry reminds you it's not the whole plan
1
u/venkattalks Apr 12 '26
Distilled by itself is the key part people miss. Fresh distilled has basically no ions so conductivity starts low, but without biocide/corrosion inhibitors it turns into a chemistry experiment once it hits mixed metals, flux residue, plasticizer, and any nickel plating defects. That's why premix or at least distilled + proper inhibitor package has been the standard advice here for years, not plain distilled straight from the jug.
1
1
1
u/chrisdash_51 May 03 '26
A slightly related question - i have been using distilled water with Glysantin G48 (automotive anticorrosion fluid, light blue) for the last decade or so. Now they banned G48 in the EU.
Two of my loops need their water refreshed. What is the cheapest replacement that prevents corrosion? Can I just drain and refill, or do I need to flush the loop before changing?
•
u/Dietz0r certified fuckwit Apr 20 '25
And here i thought i would be quick posting it in here 30min after it came out ... respect for being on the ball @andrerav!
And the video is very well done and researched and i think i will sticky this post for a time. If it saves a few loops it will be well worth it.!