My “Water + PTnuke” INTRODUCTION
So after being completely fed up with the dye maintenance headache AND with the introduction of colored UV tubing, I built my first “Distilled + PTnuke” system. This is the magical formula:
While not really knowing at the time, this was going to reduce my maintenance effort to practically zero. This was the system I built in late 2008 using Danger Den UV tubing and your average distilled water plus PTnuke for biocide.
For starters, I was no longer paranoid about dealing with toxic glycol products and worried about my kids getting hold of it. While copper sulfate itself is toxic, the concentration level in a loop is very low and it’s pretty easy to hide my little bottle. The install was easy and clean and no mess of chemicals. The colored tubing also fulfilled my desire for color in the loops and better yet, didn’t fade.
A month goes by no problem..
Several months go by and still no change…
Almost TWO YEARS!!! later…..
Still no change….
I couldn’t believe it, after two years the system only needed topping off of the reservoirs due to evaporation, but the water remained perfectly clear and there wasn’t any notable deposition of materials. At last, a sustainable solution.
However, I should note that this loop was all bare copper/brass/plastic blocks, there were not any nickel plated products other than the plated brass barb fittings.
martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com 
Automatic moderation software? Except for the programs that look for dirty words, I’ve never seen that before! Are we beta testers? 😉
My site is built around and hosted by wordpress and this is just the standard commenting function present in all wordpress sites. It does allow me to change some settings and I do have a filter on language, but otherwise I’ve left it pretty open. So if anything is done wrong, it’s more of a user error on my part..:)
FYI,
Since there is some interest in corrosion blocker options AND because ethelyne glycol is highly toxic, I’m going to look into trying one of the non-toxic options out there for yet another long term test. It’s going to take a while, but I’d be open to trying something for the sake of reporting back some additional experiences.
IMO Mayhem’s is the best so far. I have most of Overclock.net on my side. 😀
For anyone interested in a non-toxic corrosion inhibitor, google OptiTemp’s OptiShield. I have been using it for around 6 months right now and couldn’t be happier. This particular inhibitor is made specifically for mixed-metal loops, which is exactly what I’m currently running. I am running a nickel-plated copper CPU block with an aluminum radiator. It is even available with a biocide.
Check out http://optitemp.com/optishield.php for more info.
And no, I do not work for OptiTemp; nor am I related to anyone who does.
Did you buy the 1 pint bottle of OptiShield? do you know where I could find a smaller bottle, similar to the PT Nuke bottle size? Thanks!
No, but you can buy “IandH Deadwater” from frozencpu which is basically the same thing (copper sulfate). I recently used some that came with an XSPC kit, looks the same and the little bottle should last forever at only one drop per liter.. 🙂
Thanks Martin! Your extensive reviews are invaluable as I prepare for my first water cooling build 🙂
Hey Martin, New to watercooling definitely loving what you posted, I’m considering going to a setup of:
EK acetal (guessing it’s acetal with copper bottom) Cpu block
Alpha cool Nexxxos monsta 360 radiator
EK D5 X RES 140 with pump top
D5 Pump
Bitspower compression fitting or maybe koolance quick disconnect (nickel?)
going with distilled water + IandH Deadwater
Thoughts? Anything I should watch out for? corrosion or any type of material i have to be aware of in these parts? Acetal / brass from compression fittings maybe? or… nickel plateing any of those in conjunction with distilled water + IandH deadwater
With distilled water, are bottles from grocery store fine? Or should I worry about getting some lab grade lol?
Cheap grocery store distilled should work just fine. Nickel plated blocks I would be a little cautious, but Fittings are fine. I have seen a few examples where some plating has failed but it’s pretty rare and doesn’t usually cause any problems. As long as the blocks are bare copper, distilled plus a biocide is a great choice.
Hi, i read your blog occasionally and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you
get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you protect against it,
any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad
so any support is very much appreciated.
Nickel plating should be fine…. Most users throw in kill coils and other crap. If you are going to use PT Nuke, get the clear one. It is safe for plating. Silver is what destroys nickel plating overtime.
In my loop, I only use brass & copper along with some nickel plated brass/copper.
I feel like an old man on his porch saying, why are breasts at their fullest and firmest when women are pregnant and lactating, when they’re effectively off the market? Why the X in games & gears Xmas? It’s freaking darts Give me a break.
I’ve been running deer Park distilled (states on label safe for small appliance and is less than $1/gal) and a silver kill coil for almost 4mo and no issues with my loop at all. Glad to see distilled truly is the easiest of “coolants” to use.