I'm back ... with a new project and a few new questions!

[Got KarmA?]

[back-story]

Some of you may remember me from the H, or my brief stint here ... but I bong cool, and this is my beauty (click words for pictures).

Anyways ... this bong has gone through too many modifications, optimizations, and tests to list, and I've learned an immense amount about what makes a good evaporative cooler, what to avoid, and what to do when you want things to go well.

In the same respect, I've also made a lot of mistake. Well ... here's my most recent: I had problems with the showerhead eventually clogging, and since my mounting system for the showerhead wasn't really condusive to cleaning (by the time I hard-set it in a two-part epoxy, I hadn't been having problems with gunk buildup hurting flow), so I removed the tiny acquarium filter that only caught large particles and put a drinking water filter in the loop ... with replacable cartridges etc. Well, it turns out it wasn't designed to handle such massive amounts of flow, so it eventually just made my system WORSE because it fell apart. d'oh!

So I took it out and stupidly forgot to put in the second filter again, and eventually (just a few days ago) my system clogged up so badly that water would NOT flow ... not even to the showerhead, which had previously been my problem point. Nope ... this sucker was blocked up on the waterblocks, I'm guessing my LRWW being the largest culprit due to its high-restriction format with microchannels.

D'oh.

Anyways, its given me good reason to overhaul my system and make ALL the changes I've been waiting to do but never had the time to do. I'm going to add quick-disconnects, multiple stages of easier-to-clean filters, and a less-restrictive and easier to clean showerhead. I'm also making the bong half the size it used to be, but still increasing effective surface area by adding a spiraling path within the bong. Its been done before by at least one other person (that I read about a long time ago) and apparently has worked very well.

[/back story]

Anyways ... here's my difficulty. The showerhead choice is crucial. I'm making a new reservoir, and redesigning the bong, and thats no problem whatsoever, but the showerhead MUST be easy to clean, and cannot cause problems inside the loop.

Well, the DRAMM 400 appears to be a great candidate as a water breaker, and I've found a distributer that carries the plastic-body head, but it still appears to have aluminum in it ... whether that comes in contact with the water or not is questionable, but I think it does. Here's the link.. Its the same thing (I think) as listed here, but that doesn't include aluminum in the description

I'll probably be calling them to check and see what they think actually comes in contact with the water tomorrow, but I'd like to get alternative research done as well. I need something of similar function, thats easy to clean, but its also important that it not restrict flow very much. Water breakers are great because apparently they don't put much backpressure on the system with the high amount of flow it permits. (11.1 GPM @ 40 PSI). I'm really worried about the battery affect hurting my system, because right now its all brass and copper and I want to keep it that way.

Is the battery affect a real risk to a system? I hear mixed results ... some people having nary a problem, some people reporting crazy hell stories about how it killed their system, reformatted their hard drive, and burned down their house.

So whats the deal with this battery effect? Also ... if you have any clue about what I can use as an alternative shower head/water breaker/etc, I'd love you forever.

edit: lastly, it'd be a hellova lot easier if the connection on it was NPT ... because I'm purchasing some double valve shutoff quick disconnects from mcmastercarr ... and the'll probably be that format. Adaptions can always be made, however.

[bigben2k]

The battery effect is quite real. You ought to look into what's been posted here, historically.

Your system isn't immune to it either: as long as a current can flow through the coolant, between two different metals, you have it going on.

The impact is that it accelerates normal corrosion (aka rusting).

As you know, Aluminium will have a larger impact on the galvanic effect, because it's so dissimilar to copper/brass, on the galvanic chart.

In general, you want to avoid using aluminium in combination with copper/brass (the copper/brass combo is OK). If you must use them, then use an anti-corrosion agent, and flush it out every six months (at least that's the recomendation for a closed loop system!). In your case, it'll be trickier, because you're running an open loop, and you have a (relatively) significant loss of coolant.

If I was you, I'd make my own shower head. Get some copper fittings, copper sheets ( www.onlinemetals.com ) and solder away. Then punch some holes in the copper sheet for the spray. You'll then have your standard NPT connection, and worked around the battery effect. If possible, make the plate removeable, for easy cleaning (a gasket/o-ring, and 6 screws ought to do it).


I liked your filter story. I'm still trying to find a small and cheap, low pressure filter, for my Cascade SS block.