How Important is the Water Pump You Choose

[73azbronco]

The third and most important thing is running distilled water in a cooling system that has aluminum parts in it.

mehhhh.......... distilled pulls ions out of whatever its being run in, better tap water with antifreeze of choice.

 

[ntsqd]

I've recently been pondering the distilled water advice myself. In my area distilled is the better choice over the tap water. By a lot! That doesn't make it the best choice. At one former employer they ran city water (1000's of gallons at a time!) thru a de-ionizing process to make the process water (it got doctored with very specific amounts of very specific minerals before use), but the de-I water itself was really only used for washing employee's cars (look ma! NO spots!!!). It was way too aggressive to use much of anywhere else.

When I made a not so deep-dive into distilled vs. de-ionized I found that they're nearly parallel processes in what they produce. Which is to say that distilled water is also pretty aggressive at picking up mineral and ions. My vastly incomplete investigation has me thinking to use the "drinking water" that sits on the shelf right next to the distilled water instead of the distilled. It won't have the minerals in it that local tap water does, which eats up a cooling system in less than a year, while also not being as aggressive as distilled.

 

[Broncobowsher]

I think it was a model T owner's manual that stated that soft (rain) water was best for the cooling system.

 

[nvrstuk]

I think it was a model T owner's manual that stated that soft (rain) water was best for the cooling system.

That was WAAAAY before it was illegal because now the EPA is telling us that you aren't ALLOWED to catch rain water because they need that water to go back into the ground... (this is for real in case you doubt)...

 

[raleigh_bronco]

I add a couple of quick shots of Redline WaterWetter to my radiator, which is supposed to help inhibit corrosion and assist with heat transfer properties of your coolant.

 

[ntsqd]

The EPA can have my rainwater when they pry it from my cold, wet hands.

Water Wetter is the easy way, but just about any water soluble oil will do the same thing. The idea is to add a surfactant that breaks the surface tension of water. Reduced surface tension makes it harder to form or retain air bubbles in the coolant jacket, which reduces or eliminates insulating air bubbles increasing the water to metal contact area.
Then there's the need for something that keeps the water pump seals alive, which water wetter is also supposed to do. I would absolutely use it in a water only, no coolant cooling system.
Not sure how effective it is when mixed into a water/coolant mixture. I'd expect that coolant would also be formulated to work as a surfactant and seal lube, but I've been disappointed before.

 

[nvrstuk]

So every single aluminum manufacturer building radiators strongly recommend distilled water...

So... I need to collect snow, melt it and store the water for my radiator since we get very little rain then!

Bottled water is nothing but well or spring water that is usually filtered to keep the crud out.

What the general consensus here is saying is to just use my well water... but it is slightly "hard" water.

What's the best way to go then?

 

[ntsqd]

That's just it, I don't know. Maybe the safest is to buy the 50/50 already blended coolant, but even that's a carp-shoot.