Pro/Forums - View Single Post - 91% Isopropyl Alchohol

stev · 11-29-2005, 03:38 PM

Y-I-K-E-S!

I only posted something to assist somebody and a war breaks out.

As the title of the question asks if, "Isopropyl Alcohol - eat plastic?" It doesn't eat plastic, but due to the evaporation with air in the system, it will dry out plastics. Also, Isopropyl isn't good due to a permeation with plastics and the general tubing used in WC'ing setups.

Vodka or better know as Ethanol, or best from a chemical engineering point of view as Ethyl Alcohol is a safer bet. Fuel pumps, o-rings, and regular fuel line hose can run upwards to 85+% Ethyl Alcohol without any issues.

I only offered the Vodka since 200% PROOF is 100% Ethyl Alcohol without any additives or by being watered down.

And yes, Isopropyl Alcohol will react violently with aluminum over a period of time given the concentration and other materials in the cooling loop. http://www.camd.lsu.edu/msds/e/ethanol.htm

Another plus Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol) has is: Ethanol is soluble in water because its OH group is essentially half a water molecule. That's why people get drunk quickly when drinking Vodka. The human body is 90+% water.

Now, Isopropyl alcohol forms an azeotrope with water at 67.7% alcohol.

Now, another type of alcohol, Isopropanol, is not wise to use in a WC'ing setup. This is commonly know as Dry-Gas that a person pours into a vehicle's gas tank.

ALL BETS ARE OFF if using any type of alcohol with an acrylic reservoir. Don't even dare risk adding alcohol to the cooling loop! The acrylic will get cloudy and the wall joints will come apart causing leaks!

Isopropyl alcohol and Isopropanol alcohol are very good cleaning agents and often used for cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins (like those on ROM cartridges), magnetic tape deck and floppy disk drive heads, the lenses of lasers in optical disc drives (e.g. CD, DVD) and removing thermal paste from CPUs. It is also used to clean computer monitors.

Orkan, I can understand getting information from a single source. As the old saying goes, an educated consumer is our best customer. The forums here are a great resource for learning and pondering the information given. I'm basically know in other forums around the WC'ing arena. And yes, I can make a mistake too. I'm human as well.

Some people have called me a WC'ing guru. My wife calls my a WC'ing nut.

Why? I can do WC'ing as my main day job without a problem! But when the basement flooded, I wasn't much help for her.

Peace!

Stev

11-29-2005, 03:38 PM	#22
stev Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: niagara falls Posts: 96	Re: 91% Isopropyl Alchohol - eat plastic? Y-I-K-E-S! I only posted something to assist somebody and a war breaks out. As the title of the question asks if, "Isopropyl Alcohol - eat plastic?" It doesn't eat plastic, but due to the evaporation with air in the system, it will dry out plastics. Also, Isopropyl isn't good due to a permeation with plastics and the general tubing used in WC'ing setups. Vodka or better know as Ethanol, or best from a chemical engineering point of view as Ethyl Alcohol is a safer bet. Fuel pumps, o-rings, and regular fuel line hose can run upwards to 85+% Ethyl Alcohol without any issues. I only offered the Vodka since 200% PROOF is 100% Ethyl Alcohol without any additives or by being watered down. And yes, Isopropyl Alcohol will react violently with aluminum over a period of time given the concentration and other materials in the cooling loop. http://www.camd.lsu.edu/msds/e/ethanol.htm Another plus Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol) has is: Ethanol is soluble in water because its OH group is essentially half a water molecule. That's why people get drunk quickly when drinking Vodka. The human body is 90+% water. Now, Isopropyl alcohol forms an azeotrope with water at 67.7% alcohol. Now, another type of alcohol, Isopropanol, is not wise to use in a WC'ing setup. This is commonly know as Dry-Gas that a person pours into a vehicle's gas tank. ALL BETS ARE OFF if using any type of alcohol with an acrylic reservoir. Don't even dare risk adding alcohol to the cooling loop! The acrylic will get cloudy and the wall joints will come apart causing leaks! Isopropyl alcohol and Isopropanol alcohol are very good cleaning agents and often used for cleaning electronic devices such as contact pins (like those on ROM cartridges), magnetic tape deck and floppy disk drive heads, the lenses of lasers in optical disc drives (e.g. CD, DVD) and removing thermal paste from CPUs. It is also used to clean computer monitors. Orkan, I can understand getting information from a single source. As the old saying goes, an educated consumer is our best customer. The forums here are a great resource for learning and pondering the information given. I'm basically know in other forums around the WC'ing arena. And yes, I can make a mistake too. I'm human as well. Some people have called me a WC'ing guru. My wife calls my a WC'ing nut. Why? I can do WC'ing as my main day job without a problem! But when the basement flooded, I wasn't much help for her. Peace! Stev Last edited by stev; 11-29-2005 at 03:43 PM.