hose water in radiator?

[deathcharger71]

is it ok to use hose water in the radiator? my dad has always told me to use distilled water, but i really dont want to go to teh store right now lol

[rt green]

its ok in most parts of the country. by the time the water can leave deposits it'll be time to change your coolant anyway. 50-50 antifreeze and water, right?

[deathcharger71]

there some anti-freeze, my engine runs a little warm in the summer so i use a bottle of stuff that is suppose to cool your engine by 20 degrees....of course it didnt do that but it did make my engine run 10 degrees cooler and its suppose to work better with mostly water so thats what i decided to do this time. i just decided to run to the store and get distilled.

[rt green]

is that stuff called water wetter?   i know that stuff works great!

[deathcharger71]

simialar stuff, i forget the name but it was the same color as coolant. can you get thermostats that open up a little more than stock? i took mine out and it seemed like a very small area for water to travel through when it was fully open...maybe this is why my engine runs so warm?

[Rocky]

Distilled water is a myth.  As long as there is sufficient water in the cooling system, any mineral deposits will remain suspended in the water.  BTW, just think of how many particles are coming off of the coolant passages in your engine block and within 5 minutes, your distilled water is just the same as comes from your garden hose. 

I asked this question to my chemistry professor when I first learned about distilled water and thought that it would be good to run in a motor.

I have never had a problem, even the times when I've run straight water with no coolant, but where I live I don't have to worry about it freezing. 

The cooling effects of coolant are marginal (maybe raises the boiling point 3 degrees).  Straight water actually keeps it cooler

The most important factor is the pressure in the system.

[Ghoste]

Well, in spite of what any professor says, I still use distilled in mine if only because it blows people's minds when they see me using bottled water for the car!   It's cheaper than antifreeze so what the hell?

[Dans 68]

Read about it for yourself http://www.overclockers.com/tips1153/index02.asp. 

Dan

[deathcharger71]

wow, im gonna rub that in my dads face 

[doctorpimp]

wow, im gonna rub that in my dads face 

What are you going to rub in your dad's face?
From the site listed by 73SEDan400:
Recommendation: I highly recommend using steam-distilled water as the primary coolant.

[Rocky]

The link provided by 73SEDan400 is so full of holes I don't know where to start, but the second paragraph is a good place,

"Using 100% distilled water or DI water in a PC water-cooling system is not recommended, as it may slowly attack metallic surfaces, especially aluminum!"

wow, im gonna rub that in my dads face 

What are you going to rub in your dad's face?
From the site listed by 73SEDan400:
Recommendation: I highly recommend using steam-distilled water as the primary coolant.

Doctorpimp
Even if you highlight your quote for using steam-distilled water as the (primary coolant), what is the recommended "secondary coolant"

BTW that whole thing about "micro-organisims" is BS.  Just ask yourself at what tempature do micro-organisims die.  It's probably below that of your thermostat.

Well, in spite of what any professor says, I still use distilled in mine if only because it blows people's minds when they see me using bottled water for the car! It's cheaper than antifreeze so what the hell?

That's cool, if it makes you feel good do it.   I'd rather spend my extra money on booze

[Ghoste]

Actually I wouldn't dump booze in my rad either plus, I only have to dump the water in occasionally and I seem to dump booze in me all year long so I can't say that booze would be a cheaper option for me.
They have found micro-organisms in some pretty hot places in recent years so I don't know that I'd shoot that argument.
Being said, I do it because even though there isn't any hard evidence that it's better, there isn't any that it's worse either and for less than 10 bucks, it's like I said, funny to see peoples reaction when I use bottled water for my baby.

[Johnny SixPack]

I'm with Ghoste.

My BeCool aluminum rad cost enough to warrant spending the few bucks a couple gallons of distilled water costs (mixed 50/50 with the aluminum friendly orange colored coolant).

My old stock rad was completely coated with scale from when the moron before me used straight tap water.

No way I want my new rad to end up in the same boat down the line.

[Chryco Psycho]

using distilled water reduces the mineral content & reduces the conductivity of electricity in the coolant , I always mix at least 50% antifreeze in as well though

[Ghoste]

No wonder.  Up there past the Arctic Circle you only get about three days a year where it isn't freezing don't you? 

[Steve P.]

When I worked in the power plant I worked on many kinds of machines. The last big overhaul I was part of was changing out three huge radiators for the emergency diesel generators. These rads. cost over $7 million... We followed the manufacturers "HOW TO" to the letter. The rads. were filled with 50/50 automotive coolant and distilled water.. The company that the rads. were bought from sent a man to make sure all the work was done to the letter and also filled properly.

I would have to think for that kind of money I will stick to distilled water. The chemist at Florida Power had also told me that Reverse Osmosis is just as good. It removes all minerals..

[doctorpimp]

The link provided by 73SEDan400 is so full of holes I don't know where to start, but the second paragraph is a good place,

"Using 100% distilled water or DI water in a PC water-cooling system is not recommended, as it may slowly attack metallic surfaces, especially aluminum!"

wow, im gonna rub that in my dads face 

What are you going to rub in your dad's face?
From the site listed by 73SEDan400:
Recommendation: I highly recommend using steam-distilled water as the primary coolant.

Doctorpimp
Even if you highlight your quote for using steam-distilled water as the (primary coolant), what is the recommended "secondary coolant"

BTW that whole thing about "micro-organisims" is BS.  Just ask yourself at what tempature do micro-organisims die.  It's probably below that of your thermostat.

Well, in spite of what any professor says, I still use distilled in mine if only because it blows people's minds when they see me using bottled water for the car! It's cheaper than antifreeze so what the hell?

That's cool, if it makes you feel good do it.   I'd rather spend my extra money on booze

Read the whole article, there's two sections each with several pages.  It is geared towards PC liquid cooling, but you can pull info out for ours.
It does say that steam-distilled water alone isn't good, you still need to mix with something else to prevent the de-ionization of aluminum parts.  For me that's the green stuff.
It is true that deposits in your cooling system will eventually enter the flow; But by using distilled water, it keeps that down and keeps micro-organisms and their carcasses (when dead) out of the mix.

I live in the North, it freezes up here so I use 70/30 mix of antifreeze and distilled water.
I guess it's for my own piece of mind...allowing me to relax when I drink my booze

[Charger_Fan]

I've used distilled for years...in cars I care about, that is.
In fact, a few years ago I had a truck with a leaky radiator during the summertime. I couldn't afford to replace the radiator for a month or so, so I just topped it off with tap water each day. By the time I finally replaced it, I was amazed at how thick the mineral deposits had accumulated on everything in the cooling system (I replaced the water pump then too) during that short time...it was disgusting.

I figured that with me adding water every day, I had in effect accelerated the amount of possible deposits than there would have been if I had only filled it once with tap water...but I'm pretty confident that if I had been adding distilled that whole time, that there would have been considerable less buildup.

[Ghoste]

It probably depends on where you live too but our tap water here sounds like yours Chargerfan.  It's amazing how much of that white scaly crap builds up on the taps.  We have to clean it off frequently.

[Charger_Fan]

Yeah, we have pretty hard water around here...I wonder what softened water would do?

[Dans 68]

Yeah, we have pretty hard water around here...I wonder what softened water would do?

If that is a serious question, I would say it does what distilled water does. "Soft" water (http://pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/AGEN521/epadir/grndwtr/softened.html) is based upon the amount of calcium and magnesium in the water. We have Hetch Hetchy supplied water where I live, and it is very soft. The lower the value, the better (for washing your hair or clothes, and cooling your engine). Your water district will have the information. Distilled water is simply boiled water that has been recondensed from vapor to liquid, and by definition has no mineral content. If you have soft water in your area, by all means use that instead of distilled to save money. If your water is "hard", i.e., tastes horrible, get distilled (or any bottled water...your car won't know the difference). Just use anti-freeze to preclude ion transfer from the coolant system to the coolant medium (fluid).

If that is not a serious question... nice smiley!

Dan

[bull]

Well, in spite of what any professor says, I still use distilled in mine if only because it blows people's minds when they see me using bottled water for the car!   It's cheaper than antifreeze so what the hell?

Get a case of Evian if you really want to mess with people's heads.

[Chryco Psycho]

Yeah we get a few days where it doesn`t freeze most of them this year have bben in Jan oddly

[Steve P.]

Chryco just melts down some fresh snow and adds the same amount of anti-freeze to it..

But Chryco, you never did tell me if you wrote your name in it while melting the snow!!

[Ghoste]

I never thought of that Bull  .  We buy it in bulk (which is probably why it's cheaper than antifreeze) but I like your idea.  I might have to scoop up a few of those Evian bottles and transfer some in there just to do that at shows.  Thanks.