Distilled Water

[Andy Bennett]

I was involved in cooling mediums for copper anodes for vacuum tubes. The simple answer was always that deionised or demineralised water was best, but needed careful management to ensure it didn't become corrosive. Oil was a more stable but less efficient medium and of course had more environmental considerations.. Oil/water emulsions offered the worst mix since they needed the careful management of water but the lower efficiency close to that of oil and higher cost and management.

The biggest enemy of high efficiency cooling were from things like silicon contaminates which coated the anodes and added a barrier to cooling.

Having said that I also visited steel tube mills in India where the waterways in the cooling jackets were blocked with weeds. They were using pond water. The water cooling itself was fine, it was just the weed and physical blocking that caused problems.

I have always used filtered water butt water with bluecol antifreeze.

Lesson was simply that in anything less than the highest level cooling water works, just keep the weeds and fish out...
Andy B

[Roland Alcock]

As I have a condensing tumble dryer, I keep all the water it collects. I assume (rightly or wrongly) that it is similar to distilled water. That is what I use with Bluecol.

Roly

["Slack Alice" Simon]

As I have a condensing tumble dryer, I keep all the water it collects. I assume (rightly or wrongly) that it is similar to distilled water. That is what I use with Bluecol.

Roly

I'm afraid, being the non - purist that I am, I have used re-cycled beer, and Coke, in cases of dire need.

Otherwise, rainwater where available.


Simon

[Chris KC]

Many a stream, for sure. And yes, Simon - my Nippy was once bought a beer by a German baroness and it seemed churlish to refuse!

I always used tap water but recent stripdown has shown limescale and corrosion slowly taking its toll. I'm in a hard water area & Anglian really ought to pay us to drink the stuff. Hereafter I'm planning to filter my butt water (why doesn't that sound right?) and add a corrosion inhibitor, there are several on the market.

[Duncan Grimmond]

My zinc water butt is filled from copper gutters and downpipes. Is this likely to be contaminated to the detriment of the engine?

[Duncan Logan]

My understanding is that the water from the copper gutters and downpipes would be more detrimental to your zinc water butt than your cooling system.

[Duncan Grimmond]

As the two metals are not in direct contact any galvanic action seems to be limited and the zinc seems OK after a couple of years but I suppose there must be copper ions in the water.
There's little sign of any insect life in the butt which I find strange.

[JonE]

copper is used as a pesticide...

[Duncan Grimmond]

In the old waterbutt which was a pitch-lined galvanised "dolly tub" there used to be all sorts of stuff swimming about. Perhaps the zinc has had some effect in combination with the copper run-off.
A far cry from A7 cooling systems, sorry about the diversion!