Purpose-Made Coolants 101 | Basics of Liquid Cooling

You don't want to miss this “Basics of Liquid Cooling” episode! Listen closely as Matic lays down the law on purpose-made coolants, how to use them properly, and all the bad practices to avoid if you don't want your perfect liquid-cooled build to end up looking swamp-themed.
You will learn what exactly purpose-made coolants are, why we need them, how to choose yours, and of course, preparing and maintaining your loop.
And once it’s time to decide which coolant type and color you need, look no further than EK-CryoFuel: 🌈 www.ekwb.com/shop/accessories... 🦄
Watch, comment below 👇 and feel free to share this helpful video with others who might want to learn about purpose-made coolants.
Why EK?
EK is the global leader in developing and manufacturing custom liquid cooling loop products, expanding its portfolio to AIO coolers, plug-and-play gaming PCs, and professional workstations.
Make sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel for more educational videos and visit our Knowledge Base here 👉 ek.tech/ytresources
Learn more about EK and our premium liquid cooling solutions at www.ekwb.com/

[@Sicel1304]

I'm a simple man. I see an EK video, I like it.

[@shotokanads3325]

Matic, Please show how to clean and superflush a loop using your latest 'SuperFlush' and 'Cleaner', premix solutions. Additionally, will using these solutions expand the life of the watercooling solutions used? Thanks

[@EKWBofficial]

Using these products lowers the chance of polluting new coolant and suffering a coolant breakdown, which can happen easily when using other products for loop preparation. We'll put a video shoot for these products in our to-do list, seeing as there's interest for it.

[@ledoynier3694]

the manuals for how to use them are on the EK shop page actually. I used them like a month ago. I did try an opaque white coolant 2 years ago, and was still getting fogginess when flushing and adding clear coolant ,despite having torn down the entire loop several times, flushed the whole thing with hot, cold tap water, DI water flushes, and i don't know how many bottles of clear coolant. Also replaced 2 radiators out of 3 for other reasons.. I ended up draining the loop.. and running the loop cleaner for 24h (they advise not to exceed 30° water temp during that step). then drain, and ran superflush for again 24h. Drained again, took the reservoir out to clean the coolant particles stuck where bubbles forms when filling.. refilled with clear coolant and it's as clean as it was before trying opaque coolants :) no white fog when starting the pump, no bubble marks on the reservoir acrylic, just perfect.

[@Mr_Yod]

"Change the liquid every year" Me, after 3 years with the same EK clear liquid (put after flushing AND keeping pure distilled water inside the loop, to check for leaks) and only filling the evaporated liquid with the liquid that was left that didn't fit the loop: "OK." =)

[@TheFlyMan3829]

Matic is a fantastic presenter and these videos are well written and provide much needed clarification and information for first time liquid coolers like myself. Also I really appreciate the attention to correcting old misconceptions around distilled water. Not often you find that kind of responsibility and humility from informational videos from brands. Could have easily proven to be a disaster for people like me! Kudos to you EK. Really excited to go with EK for my first loop! 😁

[@SteinerSE]

Could we please get a video on using the new loop cleaning/flushing kit?

[@DJaquithFL]

Just a thought .. It would be super nice if everything was already pre-cleaned / pre-flushed right out of the box especially the radiators that you eloquently made clear are full of debris.

[@Tainted-Soul]

Thanks this is a great info update and I had no idea that the black tube was better for the evaporation or lack of thank you

[@Amfibios]

these videos are very informative and straight to the point, thanks!

[@fairycat]

Thanks a lot for such useful information guys

[@Eerbyrb]

i've been watching the other video when you use clear and superflush before watching this and now i confused, as a fan ekwb product please do more video about your product and how to use them properly and make series list maybe it will helpful for a newbie, Matic you're the best.

[@metalwolf1]

Thank you

[@charlesdesmond1]

Matus is a freakin' rockstar

[@tdub77]

very nice info

[@ianlindsey9877]

Any recommendations on the procedure for cleaning radiators and blocks for disassembly and storage? Thanks!

[@jagarcogheart]

That RTFM came from the soul

[@DC9V]

Please do a chemical class!

[@matthiewg12]

Just found this i ordered the concentrate by accident glad to know about premixes cause im lazy

[@BlakeBlaKe88]

I am a bit confused, in the manual for the loop cleaner you say this after flushing it with loop cleaner " Drain the Cleaner mix from the radiator, replace it with distilled water, shake the radiator and pour the distilled water out" after that nothing so accoring to the info you give in the video this is bad?

[@elefterios78]

What about deionized water? In my country is hard to find distilled water.

[@outlet6989]

Two questions: Wouldn't using automobile coolant work? Along that line. Wouldn't an inline liquid filter help?

[@Aesir247]

Hey Matic, you mention the abrasiveness of distilled water on bare metals, which makes sense, but how then should we prepare our rads before putting them in the system? With regular water?

[@outlet6989]

I use 90% alcohol for this step. Seems to work OK for me. But, as they say, your mileage may vary.

[@hdubs1828]

Good video

[@EKWBofficial]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@AegisReflector]

I have corsair watercooling, would this work?

[@18PSIFORYOU]

So distilled water is ok to flush through the radiators prior to install if you don't have extra coolant to spare or the superflush?

[@EKWBofficial]

You can flush anything with distilled water as long as you flush it with Superflush afterwards, so there is no potentially contaminated distilled water left in the components when you fill up the loop. As that water has no biocides it can already contain some microbes. If you flush out those microbes before filling up your system, they can't grow in your system :)

[@Pleplerhep]

I had no idea that maintaining watercooling was this complicated. And ive been running the same loop and waterblock since my pentium iii just using the same stuff cool my car engine with. Guess not knowiing made it last for ever somehow.

[@JJFX-]

It's not. They just make a fortune making you think that's the case. Yes, there are potential issues to be aware of but it also comes down to how EK makes their parts. I had no issues with nickel plating until putting in an EK GPU block that slowly developed spots even with their cryofuel concentrate. Not saying it's intentional and they have admitted to mistakes in the past but take much of this with a grain of salt.

[@FrankOnline007]

after using superflush theres always a little liquid left in the blocks. Is that okay (if so, how much) or should you disassemble the loop? Same goes for draining old liquid and assuming id put in the same type of liquid

[@EKWBofficial]

It is okay for a few drops of super flush to stay in the system, as long as you've been running it for hours, to make sure the loop has been flushed out entirely, so it doesn't mess with the acidity levels of your loop. The superflush itself won't cause EK Cryofuel breakdown, so it is perfectly fine for a few drops to remain in the system.

[@86BEAMS]

make black coolant pls

[@hexta9362]

So If this liquid is spilled on the pc. will it damage parts of pc.

[@muniemoo]

When he says "never use distilled water in the loop" does he mean "never use distilled water only"? I'm pretty sure that the EK consintrait says to mix with distilled water. I know the answer since I have been building liquid cooling for years, but someone new to it may get confused.

[@georgejones5019]

Probably to never use plain distilled water or use it alone. You want distilled de-iomized water. But as it runs through the loop, it becomes ionized over time. The additives help with several aspects such as heat conduction and such.

[@riffsthatkill2180]

@@georgejones5019 It picks up ions but I believe that depends on the metals present. Did they say anything in the video about this? Mixing like metals is not going to be a huge corrosion risk, even without corrosion inhibitors. If you mix aluminum with copper, the process of corrosion is much more aggressive. They conveniently leave details out of this video (hey, its not a chemistry class, he said) in order to push their super flush product.

[@jerrodpettway]

He mean never run it with just distilled

[@EKWBofficial]

Never use plain distilled water without biocides as that is enough for organisms to start growing in your loop.

[@ShadowArabesque]

Just came here to complain about the longevity of the Opaque fluids, Mystic Fog to be exact. I purchased a 1L bottle on 4/18 and its now 7/14 and surpise, surprise about 80-90% of the opaqueness has fallen out of the fluid, its mostly trasnparent at this point. Not gonna lie it looked really cool while it lasted, but now im just left with some very lightly "colored" water. Guess im going back to clear fluids.

[@venividivici4253]

Smart choice. I am using clear coolant.

[@jagarcogheart]

Why not flush the loop with alcohol?

[@juliangarcia6073]

its bad for the materials and can even make them crack over time and degrade the life.

[@trackmedixuk]

It will eat away at the plastic and rubber seals

[@MartinOlminkhof]

I would prefer more information about disposing of old coolant

[@EKWBofficial]

Our coolants are eco-friendly - 90% biodegradable in 10 days - so you can safely dispose of them without special treatment.

[@ChatGTA345]

@@EKWBofficial The SDS manual for Cryofuel says "Do not discharge into drains, surface water and soil". Given that, could you clarify - does that mean proper treatment would need to go through a local disposal facility, or something else (and what)? Thanks

[@goldy_on_pc930]

your name is whattt?

[@Cernunn0s90]

What I don't understand is: You say to never use distilled water to top off a loop. But your concentrates are meant to be mixed with distilled water. What gives?

[@EKWBofficial]

The concentrates are meant to be mixed with the distilled water in perscribed ratios to form a mixture. By adding more distilled water you dillute the mixture and make the biocides less effective due to lower their concentration in the mixture. You should mix a new mixture and use that to top it off.

[@Cernunn0s90]

@@EKWBofficial Makes sense. The video kind of made it sound like you should never have distilled water in your loop :D

[@TheRealXartaX]

@@EKWBofficial But then it should not be an issue to use distilled water to clean the system first (especially radiators) and then after draining it and filling it with actual coolant? Some residue distilled water isn't going to change the ratio.

[@mcflyingfury]

To be fair, if it's mixed with a bunch of chemicals and additives, it's no longer distilled water...

[@ruthleshunter]

10:00 lmao that really is horrible advice, jessus christ.

[@warpedphreak]

"everything you need to know: avoid solid colors of ANY kind unless simply short term showmanship intent for best longevity and experience, and maintainence change every 6-12months, DO NOT USE DISTILLED (old school BS from over at least 7yrs ago) & RTFM!" This could have been an email @Matic LMAO I am baffle how newbs STILL violate these simplae basics regularly