Coolant colour and efficiency
Coolant colour and efficiency
I'm wondering if anyone has checked how different colours affect coolant efficiency? I recall dark shades tend to absorb and release heat more effectively, so would a black tinted water cool more than a lighter one? I haven't found much online about this, only discussions on appearance and corrosion issues.
Plain water cools more effectively than any coolant. Just make sure it has antimicrobial properties to prevent growth.
That was my perspective too. Plain water tends to cool more effectively in automotive settings, and the sole purpose of antifreeze is to slow corrosion and prevent microbial growth. I don't see much difference in cooling loops in this context. Actually, I believe introducing any substance other than water would reduce its best cooling performance. Adding more non-water components seems to lower its efficiency.
Additionally, automotive coolant must endure temperatures below freezing, whereas watercooling does not require this. Unless you reside in extremely cold regions like Greenland or similar environments, and store your PC in a garage overnight, you might need antifreeze. For the majority of the world, this is unlikely. I’m curious—does ethylene glycol antifreeze affect cooling loops, or could it be suitable for systems not kept in warm spaces such as a garage if you live in areas prone to freezing? Apologies for drifting off topic, but the question clearly required a response before I forgot.
I would expect it to be fine to employ any automotive coolant in a water-based cooling system you design, though dilution beyond a 50/50 mix is usually necessary for optimal performance. Many users have tried this, but there isn't a compelling benefit unless you specifically operate in extremely low temperatures. In general, it doesn't provide any cooling improvement over pure distilled water.
Yeah, I understand there is no other chemical advantage to it. I just wondered because I actually have a client that might want to do a custom loop and his "man cave" is in an external garage that is not heated at night. It has heat, but it does not run at night as it's an afterthought and is not themostatically controlled although I've talked to him about installing a more appropriate system in there, but it was tickling the back of my mind whether his loop could be protected from freezing by using antifreeze.
Not as worried about the cold's effect on other components, because he heats the room up before starting the system, but that doesn't help much if it freezes overnight and ruins the loop and hence, the whole system.