a consideration on watercooling reliability and happiness...
 

i've been thinking about this for a while now, and wondered why nobody else that i know of has brought this up. cost is probably the primary factor, but i'm sure there are other things involved as well.

anyways, from my fishy experience, algae growth is generally caused by sunlight. the more light in the tank, the more rampant the algae will grow (either the nasty green stuff or the cloudy white stuff).

so, why not eliminate most, or all of the light in a watercooling loop? wouldn't this reduce the amount of algae growth?

i was looking into maybe using either braided stainless or the "fake" braided stainless you can get at jeg's and the like (the fake stainless is standard rubber hose with stainless braid molded to it).

also, adding lights and stuff inside the system, while not sunlight, still could promote the growth of algae. i realize a lot of folks like all the dye and lights, but if it was eliminated, i think it would at least decrease the growth rate. also, if you went so far as using the anodized aluminum AN fittings and such, it would be far more secure than press-on nipples, and i think would look _totally_ bitchin (albeit a lot more work).

and the braided hose would look sweet with lian-lis and such, match the decor quite well.

just a thought.

Never had algae growth in my loop so I'm not really that bothered about changing my setup. :p

The UV portion of sunlight ought to kill bacterias, if the UV is strong enough. The rest of the spectrum of sunlight would, indeed, promote algae growth. Hence the UV sterilizer thread ;)

I still haven't experimented with Water Wetter, but i'd certainly like to see this slimy deposit that it's alleged to leave.

I like to have clear tubes because I like to see what's going on. I could use black rubber tubing, but that's actually harder to find at the hardware store... go figure!

take a trip to your local auto-parts store, they should have different sizes of black heater hose. probably not a good choice if you have tight bends.

could also add a tablespoon of bleac into the mix...
that will keep anything from growing....
but i duno if it will add to corrosion...

Bleach will corrode metal.

I use a small amount "non bromide" spa/hot tub algaecide, found in Home Depot, and haven't had a problem since I started using it.

My WC setup has been running for 6 months now on the same mixture of RO filtered water and a little water wetter. There is no growth. My case has no lights or windows, all is in the dark.

i use distilled water and water wetter with some dyelite in the mix, and 2 CCFL UV cold cathodes. if that doesn't shot alge and shit from growing in there nothing will

I HAVE how ever noticed the white slimy film effect with water water before on my wc before my revamp. i have done a few 2 week long tests on several setups and have found the following
water wetter, if left expoxed to the air does seem to oxidize and lose all of its characteristics. it seems as if the stuff needs to be concealed in an airtight or watertight for most of us loop. if its exposed to constant moving air the stuff "turns"

well thems what i found out.

im using 2 UV CCT would that be enough to kill bacterias?

I haven’t had problems with algae/bacteria growth in my water setup either. When I was at the pet store I did notice that they sold drops to prevent growth – however it needed to be added on a regular bases so I really don’t know how well that stuff would work for the water cooling community.

it wont do anything; its the wrong kind of UV.

Is there more then one type of UV?
I thought UV was a specific wavelength of Light...

UV is a range of wavelengths. The range normally output by CC tubes you get for PCs won't do much at all to algae.

If you have algae cells in your loop (or other micro organisms) you WILL get growth sooner or later. Keeping the system in the dark may slow it down, but won't stop it.

The optimum solution is to run a very clean, non contaminated system to start with, and then use a biocide on top of it.

A clean system is achieved by avoiding contamination in the first place, but also by using Airspirit's "*sol flush" or other biocidal cleansing before filling with distilled water and other ingredients from CLEAN containers, using CLEAN tools.

Do NOT use chlorine for a biocide, it is damaging to your metals, and isn't that effective. Non-chlorine/bromine hot tub and spa sanitizer is good, as are some of the other non-metal hostile biocides. Anti-freeze and water wetter type compounds are NOT particularly good biocides, indeed some critters will grow on them. (Engines don't have growth problems because of the heat they produce)

UV sanitizer lights are a mixed bag. They must be the right wavelength to work at all (hint, if you can look at it safely, it is the wrong wavelength. Case UV lights will not work as sanitizers!) If they do work, they will only work on the coolant that passes through them. They will do nothing to stop stuff that sticks to the walls of the plumbing.

Gooserider

There are algae and fungi that can happily sustain temps produced by engines. Alcohols contained in engine coolants do the job combined with extremely limited amount of light and no oxygen (most of it is bonded after some time by metals and other elements).
That's why I use closed loop with no reservoirs which runs slightly pressurized in working conditions and high performance car coolant additives (ethanol mainly).

If UV CCs sold for case modding market were to have biocidal properties it would be damaging to human health as well (cancer and the like).

If you want to use UV to sterilize your loop you need to get your mitts on hospital grade emitters :)

I'd just like to stress something here with regard to UV-C, just in case someone's actually considering this route (like, say, me). UV-C is dangerous. It's not radioactive-give-you-cancer-make-you-sterile dangerous or anything, but this is not particularly nice stuff. It actually isn't all that much of a cancer risk (won't penetrate dead layers of skin), but I'd do my best to avoid letting any of the stuff reach your eyes unless you prefer to savor that "just watched an arc welder" feeling.

source
son of source

G4T5 bulbs are available all over the internet, ~$10US.