[EK] Water as a coolant and corrosion/staining - interesting read!

[Xuvial]

Came across this and it looks like an interesting report + test that EK did. The full report is full of pics and stuff >_< I may read it later.

Last year EK received a few reports of excessive staining in EK products and also some reports of corrosion.
EK lab therefore undertook laboratory testing to investigate these occurrences and the results both confirmed the reports and demonstrated how the staining and corrosion could be avoided. The tests showed that only coolants with anti-corrosive additive keep water blocks clean, corrosion free and easy to maintain in the long run. Using other coolants, such as distilled water, with or without algicide, will result in staining, pitting and ultimately corrosion of the blocks. The report includes pictures of all the test results, clearly illustrating the significant benefits of using an anti-corrosion additive....

Full News post: http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/index.p...t01returnid=17

Full report (PDF): http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/shop/EK...INING_TEST.pdf

[Adappy]

I remember reading about EK's nickel plated GPU blocks having issues with the corrosion. Definitely seems interesting on one hand, but on the other hand seems like a convenient excuse to tell people to buy "specialized" coolants. I wonder if that has any effect on plain copper water blocks though

[Cyanotical]

it doesn't take a lab test to know that long term exposure to water is corrosive to nearly any material

[Xlink]

So what is the best liquid to use for watercooling then? I have always been under the impression that distilled water with some kind of antimicrobial measure was the best way to go.

[Xuvial]

So what is the best liquid to use for watercooling then? I have always been under the impression that distilled water with some kind of antimicrobial measure was the best way to go.

Basically this:

4.Conclusion

Although distilled water has excellent cooling characteristics, because it has no additives it enables dirt deposits and is a potential time bomb for corrosion (which is also shown in analysis carried out by the Jozef Stefan institute).
Regardless of the better anti-corrosion resistance of EN compared to the galvanic plating, the surface became much dirtier (staining/discoloration) after the use of distilled water without anticorrosion additives. Some deposits might also have been the result of plasticizer leakage, coming from tubes. EKWB strongly recommends the use of coolants, such as EK-Ekoolant which was tested along with similar coolants such as ThermochillEC6. Fluid XP proved to be satisfactory, but due to its alcohol content, it is not recommended for use with EK products.

But we have to keep in mind that this report was done by EK, so obviously there could be some bias due to them pushing their own product (EKCoolant) forward. For truly satisfactory results an independent test would've been better, but as far as I know this is by far the most comprehensive test that's been done with coolants/blocks showing the effects of corrosion/staining.

[Cyanotical]

typically though, by the time distilled water will ruin your blocks you will replace them anyway, new GPU(s), motherboards, CPU sockets all require new blocks, so distilled water is still the way to go,

and come to think of it, if you have a bare copper radiator (most of them), you don't need any anti microbial solution either

[Masark]

I am completely unsurprised. This has been known for vehicle water cooling systems for decades. PC watercooling is exactly the same, just on a smaller scale.

[Xuvial]

typically though, by the time distilled water will ruin your blocks you will replace them anyway, new GPU(s), motherboards, CPU sockets all require new blocks, so distilled water is still the way to go,

and come to think of it, if you have a bare copper radiator (most of them), you don't need any anti microbial solution either

Wait what do you mean by "ruin your blocks" :S you typically don't want to wait that long. This test was done over a mere 12 weeks. Hmm. How often do typical watercoolers replace the water + clean their blocks btw? Every 2 months? 4 months?

[Cyanotical]

unless you are doing something stupid like crossing metals, 12 weeks is not enough to ruin a waterblock with distilled water, and by ruin i mean corroded to the point of being detrimental to use

i only clean mine when i feel like changing tubing, or have to disassemble the loop for some reason, my previous AMD build had it's waterloop on 24/7 for over two years, there was some mild corrosion form using an aluminium radiator, but nothing truly damaging