Galvanic Corrosion - How to prevent it

Soldato
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One of the dreaded Swiftech blocks that increased awareness of galvanic corrosion. This was mine and it clearly shows what happens when anodising is not done to sufficient quality
 
Associate
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Thanks for the info.
Going to get 2 large Hardware Labs to fit in the new Meshify 2 XL When I get some Cash.
Not sure if I should do 480 + 420 or just 2 x 420 GTR Rads as i already have a few of the good noctua 3000PRM fans in the 140 size.

Thanks again
 
Soldato
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I have nothing but deionised water in my loop. Will it be a problem?

Probably not, as long as as it consists of brass and copper only. I'd personally be rather concerned if there was aluminium in the loop.

That being said, it's not how I'd run it, for several reasons;
  • Specialists fluids have anti-freeze which prevents freezing & expansion if the temps drop (say you go away without the heating on, or a breaker trips)
  • Without biocides there's nothing to prevent all sorts of nasties growing in the water. You could get; gunked blocks, change in water PH, damaged seals, stained plastics, stinky water etc
  • Corrosion inhibitors give me peace of mind, even if there are no dissimilar metals
Proper fluids increase loop and part longevity and mean less time between drains.

I use XT1 Nuke clear concentrate at about 30%, I find it excellent.
 
Soldato
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2x360 PE EK rads is what i will end up with. squeezed a EK CE 280/45 and a no name 240/25 in my current TT V21 case.

Ah very nice, I've got a couple of Nemesis GTS, a 360 and a 240 in my Meshify C. With standalone res; it's a tight squeeze.

Plan is to swap the 240 with a 360 XSPC in push pull (thicker rad), and add dual D5s, VRM and SSD blocks.

Current spec was in Sig, but mine has disappeared. Did they reduce the permitted dimensions again?
 
Soldato
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Cars have used mixed metals for years without issues. Cooper, brass, iron, aluminium have been mixed and the coolant used was mostly ethylene glycol.
Has anyone used ethylene glycol coolant in a pc water cooling system?
 
Soldato
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Cars have used mixed metals for years without issues. Cooper, brass, iron, aluminium have been mixed and the coolant used was mostly ethylene glycol.
Has anyone used ethylene glycol coolant in a pc water cooling system?

I did about 20 years ago, learnt my lesson - it doesn't play with hard plastic very well! IIRC it just rots it. I had one of those 5.25 drivebay reseviours on my P4 and the casing started to self-destruct as did the fill port screws (all made of the same hard plastic). Sorry I can't be more specific on the actual material but I would do some research before using.
 
Soldato
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The plastic end tanks on car rads last 25 years usually so i would assume the plastics they use in water cooling parts for pc's are going to be good quality nylon type stuff.
Unless they use cheapo stuff in pc water cooling?
 
Soldato
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Cars have used mixed metals for years without issues. Cooper, brass, iron, aluminium have been mixed and the coolant used was mostly ethylene glycol.
Has anyone used ethylene glycol coolant in a pc water cooling system?

It's a performance thing. The specific heat capacity of ethylene glycol solutions is lower than that of water. For a 50% solution, SHC drops by at least 20% compared to plain old H2O.
 
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Soldato
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Yes for pure performance water works best. Although i suspect in a pc application 25 to 30 percent of ethylene glycol coolant would work well.

Then there is evans waterless coolant that doesnt use water. Going to be less efficient at heat transfer but paired with a bigger rad it could be a solution to long term use e.g 10 years without maintenance.?
 
Soldato
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Then there is evans waterless coolant that doesnt use water. Going to be less efficient at heat transfer but paired with a bigger rad it could be a solution to long term use e.g 10 years without maintenance.?
Lower heat capacity means primarily need for higher flow volume to carry same amount of heat energy from source.
Thermal conductivity is also different.
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-liquids-d_1260.html
Though higher flow rate through block should help in that.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-fluids-d_151.html
 
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