alcohol as water cooling additive?

[cpl edge]

i have searched the web thoroughly and cannot find anyone who has any experience on the matter. not even bad experience... i was going to top off my tank with ethyl rubbing alcohol. i think it would improve the cooling for sure and prevent algae, but i'm not so sure about corrosion and the pump... i have a pre mix from gigabyte in it now and it is been there for a long time (9 months) and it is kind of low. any suggestions/experiences are appreciated. thanks.

 

[cpl edge]

well, i just read the in-active ingredients in ethyl R. A. and it has acetone in it. so im not gonna use that after all. i dont know about other rubbing alcohols...

 

[aigomorla]

just be on the safe side and top off with DI water in doubt.

DI = distilled and not Deionized.

 

[Bitek]

I don't know how alcohol would improve cooling, as it has a lower heat capacity than h20, but it would be an effective antimicrobial if you used a 10-20% soln. If you can get pure ethanol that would be better. If not completely sealed, alcohol will evap quickly.

Acohol will not cause metal corrosion, but may be hard on some types of rubber seals.

 

[Zepper]

Alcohol was used as an antifreeze prior to the propylene glycol most commonly used now. Just add a 30% solution of Zerex (no other brand) and distilled water. It's as good as anything and shouldn't react with what you have in there. Or to be more safe, flush the system and fill it entirely with the 30% Zerex solution

.bh.