This question may be "all wet", but I read in a Corvette publication lately that distilled water is harmful to metal pipes (as in reverse osmosis water systems)except for stainless/PVC. It went on to imply that the distilled water will attack the metal or actually attract the metal into solution. Obviously,if this is true, would you want to use distilled water in your cooling system?
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
Don,
This is true to some extent, but that is not all the story. Generally speaking,the more pure water is the more corrosive it is. Generally speaking, the more minerals in the water, the more scaling the water is. The science of treating cooling water of any type, is to strike a balance that will prevent scaling as well as corrosion. Without going into a long dissertation on water treatment, the most critical issue on automotive systems is corrosion. This is because the potential for scaling is minimal since the water does not become more concentrated with minerals due to evaporation like other cooling waters do. If you have ever boiled a pan dry on the stove, you have seen what happens when the minerals in water are concentrated by evaporation until they drop out of suspension in the water and attach to the pan.
The treatment of Radiator water is mostly concerned with the protection from freezing and from corrosion. This has been even more important since the switch to aluminum from copper, since the aluminum is way more likely to corrode than copper/brass. Anti-freeze actually never wears out in regard to the freeze protection, but the corrosion inhibitors do get consumed over time. In large powerplant cooling systems, it is not unusual for coolant to be left in machines for over 15 years, with quarterly additions of corrosion inhibitors added as necessary. I had a large generator that had it's coolant changed this year after 18 years, and we only did that because the hoses had reached the end of their life.
To put distilled water in the radiator, in most locations, is unecessary, and will consume the corrosion inhibitors at a higher inital rate. If you are in an area where extreme water hardness is an issue, it might be better to use a mix of tap water and distilled water, but even that is not necessary.
Surprisingly, Glycol is more corrosive than any water and does not provide as much cooling. You will not see racers using anti-freeze, since it decreases cooling. Many large truck fleet operators as well as industrial operations like where I work will check the corrosion inhibitors and maintain a specified level, but for the avearge car owner, it is just better to put new anti-freeze in every few years to assure the correct level of inhibitors. Since corrosion is the issue on radiators, it makes no sense to use a water that is more corrosive to begin with.
Regards, John McGraw -
Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
PURE distilled water in the cooling system is VERY BAD.
MIXING distilled water with antifreeze is VERY GOOD.
Commercial antifreezes have a blend of chemicals that is "just right" for corrosion protection when mixed about 50/50 with PURE water, which is best represented by distilled water.
If you mix with hard water that has a lot of minerals or other chemicals corrosion protection will not be as good or as long lasting.
This whole debate over distilled water is mute, because no one in their right mind, nowadays, would use staight distilled water without anti-freeze. However, way back when there was a school of thought that considered pure distilled water as a coolant was "good". They were proved wrong, and ever since the myth has promulgated that "distilled water is bad" without the proper context being applied.
DukeComment
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
Don-----
The "purer" that water gets, the more corrosive (or, aggressive) it becomes. That's because water, which is the universal solvent, is always trying to "dissolve something". The less it has dissolved in it, the more it tries to dissolve something. In fact, it's the soluble materials in water that make it an electrical conductor and not the water, itself. Absolutely pure water (which is a theoretical state only inasmuch as you can never achieve it) is a non conductor of electricity.
If you were to use ONLY water in a cooling system, then you would DEFINITELY NOT want to use distilled water. That would be just about the worst thing that you could use as it would "do in" your cooling system much faster than "contaminated" water. However, when you use water in mixture with ethylene glycol, the water has plenty of solute (the ethylene glycol and additives) to "cure" its aggressive tendencies. So, when used in mixture with ethylene glycol, the distilled water should cause no problems. However, I don't see it as much of a benefit, either, unless your water supply is really contaminated.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
In my OLD 55 Corvette the dealer offered an optional PERRY water filter with a sock filter having a radiator lubricant keeping it clean from rust that I have installed (works great)
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
You mean you can still buy the sock? I had not see one of them since the late 60's. Used the big brother, for 855 ci engines, to the one you haveDick WhittingtonComment
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Again Roy, Where do you find this stuff...? *NM*
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
At a John Deere tractor assembly plant they used the de-ionized water from the pretreament area of their paint line to fill radiators.
Good? Bad? Waste of time?Comment
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Re: Again Roy, Where do you find this stuff...?
Dennis-----
My whole working career was in the "water business" and, by profession, I am a microbiologist and chemist. So, somewhere along the way during those 37-1/2 years of education and career, I picked up a few bits of knowlwdge here-and-there.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
Terry-----
It depends what the municipal supply water was like at the John Deere plant. Given where most John Deere tractor manufacturing occurs, I expect that the municipal water supply wasn't very good. In that case, using the DI water from the pretreatment area was probably not a bad idea. I'm quite sure that they didn't fill the radiators with just plain water and no EG coolant.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: Distilled Water and Corrosion
Terry,
Also the term deionized water is not really very indicative of the purity of the water. Softened water can be classified as deionized water,as well as ultrapure water. It can run the range of about 100 Micro mhos to 18 Megohm water. The 18 Megohm water we made at the Semiconductor plant, would just eat a hole right through the aluminum radiator, while softened water just takes some of the Calcium and magnesium hardness out of the water to prevent scaling. Those new little Mr Clean car wash gadgets actually have a little cartridge in them that softens the water to keep it from spotting your finish when it drys.
Regards, John McGrawComment
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Re: accessoreis MAN
You NCRS guys don't know nothing about all the rare factory options G.M offered because you poop-poop them.Here are the option WINTER wipers used if you live in snow areas .Under the rubber covers are dead original rubber tip wipers , along with the engine heater I showed. I don't use them but have and show them to people like Chevy guys. They go nuts and pay Big money for options. Some option can go for the cost of knock off C2' wheels. Every year Corvette had optional items you could buy from G.M . I see in the Restorer they show luggage racks for Corvettes. Why do they let that in the Mag. if you cant have any options on your NCRS Corvette.????
I also have factory SHAVER that were offered for C1 and C2 Corvettes if any one was interested to see.
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Re: Again Roy, Where do you find this stuff...?
Joe...
I live in a rural area with my own well. The area was termed "sand hill" by the locals and its hard to find a rock in the soil. I have two problems with my water. One it is very "silty" and two it has a high iron content. I have filters and a culligan softener system with a "rustmaster". First the water passes through a sediment filter and then goes to an "oxigenator or aggitator" that consist of a bunch of Wiffle balls in a tank. I was told this was needed to make the "rustmaster" work by making the iron "rust" and then get filtered out. From the rustmaster it goes to the softener tank and finally through a carbon filter. The water tastes great, doesn't leave rust stains in my toilets but do I dare put it in my car? Is there a simple test I can run to see if it is worth it? Not knowing any better I have used the bottled water on the market thinking it was better than my tap water. Now I'm totally confused as to what is my best choice.Comment
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Re: Again Roy, Where do you find this stuff...?
Joe,
what about deionized water? I ran a wire EDM machine that used deionized water instead of oil, The part was sumerged in it and a hair thin wire charged with electricity cut the metal. Would it be any better that distilled water?
ChasmanComment
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You CAN have non-factory options on your car...
Roy, but you'll take a scoring deduction in Flight Judging since the basis in our club is 'as the car was originally built at the factory repleat with then current dealer prep actions). I have a dealer installed luggage rack on my '71 and gladly accept the modest deduction that goes with it. What's with this allegation that NCRS "can't" have non-factory options or the club somehow "prohibits" them--POPPYCOCK!
Plus, not all NCRS members (or their cars) are candidates for Flight Judging. That's why we have other recognition programs (eg. Founders and Sportsman Awards) AND we allow milage driven credits to those who truly want to drive/use their Corvettes and STILL participate in Flight Judging. I'd try to 'bury the hatchet' and get on with recognizing the NCRS organization is RICH with alternatives to making each/every Corvette into a bone factory stock mueseum piece!Comment
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