Coolant Basics for Custom Loops

How to pick the proper coolant for your loop.

Products Featured in this video:

[centaurify]

Great water cooling content. I knew water cooling demanded maintenance, this video gives me a better perspective of just how much I want to invest.

[danielchicoine]

I personally gave up on every other coolants than EK. If the loop is prepped right, there will be no issue with either Solid or Translucent cryofuel. I personally always break up my loops for cleaning just because I'm a clean freak. People seem to have issues with EK cryofuel when doing a normal flush with Blitz Kit because just flushing will always have chems left in the loop from it. So what I do is, open up everything, use part one with copper based rads then part 2 with every parts of the loop but instead of flushing, i do it the same way as part 1 but leave it inside for 6 to 12h instead of 24 hours. Then fill, slosh, drain, rinse repeat 6 to 8 times. I then install everything in the case and flush another 2 times just to be sure. Then you can use any EK coolant without worrying. It may sound extreme but in all my years of customizing, it never failed me or any of my customer's builds. Good video by the way! 👍👍👍

[DD-swdd]

Koolance fluid is the best I’ve ever used. Seen the UV Blue run in a system for 5 years without any issues any maintenance beyond topping off the rez on 2x 360 rads cooling an i7 5960x and 2080ti. Tho I wouldn’t recommend going that long. But 2 years is easily doable.
Going forward I’m only using Koolance clear coolant. Only bc I don’t like the inevitable staining that happens with most tubing. Especially flexible tubing.

Stay away from any particulate or solid fluids unless you plan on draining and refilling your loop every 3-6 months….to be safe. Every horrendous issue I’ve ever seen is bc of those coolants.
EK mystic fog is definitely a particulate coolant…so I consider it in the same category even tho it’s not as bad as a solids. If anything can separate in the coolant, I consider it a no go.

[angeltensey]

you can safely run pure distilled water as long as your loop is perfectly clean before filling. clean everything with isopropyl alcohol if needed and work in gloves. i run pure water for years now and nothing happened. no bacteria or gunk or whatnot. and sure thing its cheap, especially when you use some crazy setup like waterblock everything, multiple external rads and so.

[brandonpfister]

Thank you for this!
I realize that opinions are like belly-buttons. As a newcomer to liquid cooling...I try to find answers from a number of trusted sources. THEN make up my own mind. PPCS has treated me well, and I do value your opinion. :)

[Akira]

Perfect explaining 👌 at my build actually i use mayhems x1 clear best i can recommend before i use DP Ultra that ends at cracks at acrylic pump top after that i use Alphacool CKC that change after a while to light blue. Mayhems after months still clear 👍

[Spinelli__]

Get clear Mahyems or clear Koolance 702 coolant combined with Tygon A-60-G tubing. Ignore everything else. This combo will last for years w/ no corrosion, smudge, growths, leaching, etc. Just a clean, clear, functional, reliable watercooling system after years. The absolute best combination when it comes to reliability, longevity, ease (or lack) of maintenance, peace of mind, etc.

[davejones]

What additives are used in distilled water if you want to go that route?

[TheMetalmachine]

The best coolant is
Koolance 702 you can get 3 years of use easy and still looks clean

[luckyman]

Question pls have you tested mistic fog and wot do you think

[zz]

I have the corsair hydro x xh305i
Can i use the primochill liquid with it

[Mutation]

I have had great luck with just distilled with a silver kill a coil

[goingalloutcuz]

how do you store the left over coolant?

[Poppi]

Has anyone had issues with EK cryofuel clear concentrate on nickel/plexi products? Read of corrosion and build up immediately.

[Pabula]

The Mayhems Biocide link is displaying "No route page" on PerformancePC webpage, is it out of stock?

[teemohnay]

So if I just want my coolant to work and not cause any issues or staining, just use clear? Building my first custom loop and prefer the clear look anyway. Will ek cryo clear require much maintenance?

[JulySB]

Is that background, hoan bridge in Milwaukee wi?

[KnightMD]

I just want to know if I can add Mayhem's dye to EK's Mystic Fog coolant...

[scotianbank]

About EK's Mystic Fog Cryofuel... How has it gone for you (if you've used it, of course). I currently have it in my system, and it has started falling out and settling in all surfaces (specially on the CPU micro-fins) after about 5 months, perhaps a little bit less; and this has happened both times I've used it.

Let's see if I can add some further context. I flushed my rads with DI water a couple of times first before putting the loop together, all the fittings are Alphacool, as well as the radiators and plastic soft-tubing (ultra-clear alphatube), the pump-res combo is from Barrow, the CPU block is also from Alphacool (XPX Aurora), and the GPU came from the factory with a water-cooling block (it's a Gigabyte Aorus WaterFoce WB)... Now, 6 months is not a bad time to do maintenance to your water-cooling loop... But I had always heard that with bottled cooling fluids, you could go for 1 year of use before needing maintenance. Could it be that it's something else causing the blockage, and then that perhaps acts like a filter for the particles in the fluid? I've heard that plasticiser

[alexreconquista]

I just wanted to order EK Mystic Fog. I havent heard that its a "showcase coolant". Its my first whatercooling build. I guess I should better use some translucent colour instead?