coolant for 2020

[timetc]

As distilled water becomes as rare as ethanol free petrol and glycol only antifreeze suffers the same fate what are the suggestions for coolant nowadays? , what is the real difference between de-ionised water and distilled water ? and before you ask my water butts are dry… (and a bit green)

[Oldguy]

De-ionized and Distilled are different animals, Distilled is simply steam chilled back to water, De-ionization is another process that purifies water and removes the metallic salts and rock the pure water has dissolved.
See also reverse osmosis.
“Pure” water is one of the most aggressive solvents on Earth, chemical plants that use it have pipelines of very expensive alloys just to contain it —
Need a source of decent water? get a dehumidifier!
Standard Blue antifreeze (with corrosion inhibitor) is, and I suspect will be, obtainable for a long time yet —

More basic notes: https://www.waterandmorehub.com/deionized-water-vs-distilled-water/

Mike.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

My workshop dehumidifier was the best thing since sliced bread, and ran constantly for 17 years. It stopped rust problems dead in their tracks, and provided a ‘free’ source of, in effect, distilled water for my Scotts, topping up batteries, etc.. Of late, it was getting noisy, and it died about three weeks ago. 🙁 I must buy another soon.

[Tman]

You did well at seventeen years! I think mine died in about four years, but next time I buy one (if I do) I’ll link it in to a humidistat so it’s not running unnecessarily.
That said, since reroofing the workshop in “twin-wall” condensation problems are now virtually non-existent.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

Mine had a humidistat control, so it would cycle on and off all the time. Running it at too high a setting was not good as I would get a dry throat.

[fernyhough]

If you, or the other half, have a condenser type tumble dryer you have distilled water
when you empty it. Plenty available except when the weather is fine & you can hang
the washing out!
Mike

[gammakeith]

Purified water is what you want and it matters not a jot how you get it. Simply put, tap water is mostly contaminated by various inorganic salts which makes it impure. You can remove the salts using distillation to get “distilled” water or by using ion exchange cartridges to get “de-ionised” water. The upshot is (to all intents and purposes) is exactly the same. Distilled water has been de-ionised!

Distillation is energetically less efficient and has H&S risks so is essentially not used these days.

Keith

[Oldguy]

“Distillation is energetically less efficient and has H&S risks so is essentially not used these days.”

Only if you do not know at what temperature the various dangerous fractions evolve at —

Sorry, were we talking water or something else —

[Stan Thomas]

As there is obviously an abundance of industrial and scientific knowledge within our ranks …. may I pose a question??

How can I remove a coating of white metal (Babbits metal) from inside a steel sleeve without resorting to heat – i.e. chemical errosion or “reversed” electical deposition etc.

[gammakeith]

@Oldguy wrote:

“Distillation is energetically less efficient and has H&S risks so is essentially not used these days.”

Only if you do not know at what temperature the various dangerous fractions evolve at —

Sorry, were we talking water or something else —

We were talking water. I’m curious what these “dangerous fractions” you refer to that are present in water and why they are removed by one process but not another. I worked in research labs my whole career. We started out using distilled water (or double distilled for analytical applications). However, you’ll have to try hard to find a working water still in any lab these days. They cost a small fortune to run and the only way to clean the blasted things was to fill them with acid. Essentially all purified water these days is produced using reverse osmosis (RO: equivalent to single distilled) or RO followed by ion exchange (equivalent to double distilled). Even Brita water filters produce deionised water – they certainly do not distill. Personally, I stick rain water or condensate from dehumdifiers in my vehicles but I would not hesitate to stick in “deionsed” water if it was handy.

Keith

[Oldguy]

Keith, I wasn’t referring to the distillation of water so much as the removal of same and other fractions in a process that results in an enjoyable conclusion.
Unless one is TT of course —-

Mike.

[BRIAN MARSHALL]

And he doesn’t mean Tourist Trophy….

[Bob Mather]

Hi.
Two ways to get radiator suitable water.
1 put out a few plastic containers when it is raining. Or
2 make a simple solar still, there are plenty of instructions of how to build one on the net.
I do not have any problem, as where I live in Australia there is no mains water and we catch rain water off the roof and can store 20000 gallons.
Regards,
Bob Mather.

[Bob Mather]

Hi.
Two ways to get radiator suitable water.
1 put out a few plastic containers when it is raining. Or
2 make a simple solar still, there are plenty of instructions of how to build one on the net.
I do not have any problem, as where I live in Australia there is no mains water and we catch rain water off the roof and can store 20000 gallons.
Regards,
Bob Mather.

[gammakeith]

@Oldguy wrote:

Keith, I wasn’t referring to the distillation of water so much as the removal of same and other fractions in a process that results in an enjoyable conclusion.
Unless one is TT of course —-

Mike.

Ha ha. Yes, distillation of water containing volatile contaminants of a yeast origin is clearly a technique that is still alive and well. Life is too short to be TT 🙂

Keith

[Author]

Posts