Most people I've talked to use tap water. I always use distilled water, just for the peace of mind if anything else.
A suitable alternative to distilled water?
- Thread starter Falcon_LS
- Start date
- Status
Originally Posted By: 229
Following condenser cleaning the water may be contaminated for some time. You can also use de-ionized water.
Condensate comes from the evaporator. Cleaning the condenser won't contaminate the evap.
Following condenser cleaning the water may be contaminated for some time. You can also use de-ionized water.
Condensate comes from the evaporator. Cleaning the condenser won't contaminate the evap.
My local grocery store sells distilled water in gallon jugs for ~ $1.29. I can't envision me using AC evaporator water which includes all the [censored] in the air and from the metal pan.
Kestas
Staff member
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
MANY on here BLASTED me when I either suggested the same, or directed them to a site which suggested the use of de-ionized water.
Typical simple-minded response from these people. De-ionized water quickly loses its aggressive properties once it comes in contact with impurities. It doesn't take much impurity to make it impotent. De-I water loses all its potency* when mixed with antifreeze, yet retains all the benefits of having pure, demineralized water in the cooling system.
(*) - the capability to corrode, or strip ions from a metal surface
MANY on here BLASTED me when I either suggested the same, or directed them to a site which suggested the use of de-ionized water.
Typical simple-minded response from these people. De-ionized water quickly loses its aggressive properties once it comes in contact with impurities. It doesn't take much impurity to make it impotent. De-I water loses all its potency* when mixed with antifreeze, yet retains all the benefits of having pure, demineralized water in the cooling system.
(*) - the capability to corrode, or strip ions from a metal surface
Originally Posted By: panthermike
Most people I've talked to use tap water. I always use distilled water, just for the peace of mind if anything else.
ive never seen anyone actually use bottled water in a car. the old water hose works just fine here. the only time ive seen coolant caused problems was when some didnt add antifreeze. that can be ugly
Most people I've talked to use tap water. I always use distilled water, just for the peace of mind if anything else.
ive never seen anyone actually use bottled water in a car. the old water hose works just fine here. the only time ive seen coolant caused problems was when some didnt add antifreeze. that can be ugly
I have been collecting A/C condensate for years now, other wise it goes down the drain. I get on average about 5 gallons per day. Almost all of it goes on the grass, however I have saved about 30 gallons in Poly containers to utilize when distilled water is called for such as topping off batteries, washer reservoir or coolant makeup.
Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: 38sho
I don't know of any other mechanics who use distilled water.... even dealer techs
Why should they go through the trouble? Any problems with tap water and deposits will show up long after the work is forgotten. The owner will never associate problems with a tech who may have used tap water 10 years ago.
It depends on where you live. I've seen a radiator plugged up from Calcium deposits an a little over a year from the water here.
Originally Posted By: 38sho
I don't know of any other mechanics who use distilled water.... even dealer techs
Why should they go through the trouble? Any problems with tap water and deposits will show up long after the work is forgotten. The owner will never associate problems with a tech who may have used tap water 10 years ago.
It depends on where you live. I've seen a radiator plugged up from Calcium deposits an a little over a year from the water here.
Originally Posted By: benjamming
RO water is another option but would be more expensive I imagine.
Yea..go with RO water. We buy our RO water for 25 cents/gallon. We use it entirely for drinking/ice cubes for the past 25 years.
RO water is another option but would be more expensive I imagine.
Yea..go with RO water. We buy our RO water for 25 cents/gallon. We use it entirely for drinking/ice cubes for the past 25 years.
How about water that is filtered through a Kitchen Britta Pitcher Filter? It may take some time.....but it's supposed to filter out contaminants.
Working in a pet store as a kid we always recommended distilled water for starting up aquariums....and it was easy to "pick out" the customers who brought back in dead fish, that ignored our suggestion 
One customer said they had a water filter in her SHOWER...and asked if that would work....never hearing about a shower water filter, I told her no....well, she was back in about a week or so later with dead fish. Turns out she added the bag of fish to the tank as she was filling it up with shower water.....didn't let the water sit til room temperature, nothing...lol.
Either way, she failed AND the water filter failed.....
The water filters in our faucets and refrigerators are built a little bit differently....I guess if distilled isn't an option (I.e.: you're in a pinch, car is in the drive way and have no way of getting distilled....) the filtered water would be a better option than toilet water, yes
But yea, reverse osmosis is probably about the best....but I think distilled is still first up....RO second
One customer said they had a water filter in her SHOWER...and asked if that would work....never hearing about a shower water filter, I told her no....well, she was back in about a week or so later with dead fish. Turns out she added the bag of fish to the tank as she was filling it up with shower water.....didn't let the water sit til room temperature, nothing...lol.
Either way, she failed AND the water filter failed.....
The water filters in our faucets and refrigerators are built a little bit differently....I guess if distilled isn't an option (I.e.: you're in a pinch, car is in the drive way and have no way of getting distilled....) the filtered water would be a better option than toilet water, yes
But yea, reverse osmosis is probably about the best....but I think distilled is still first up....RO second
Maybe it would b OK if that AC water was filtered.
For $1-$2 dollars every few years, I'd use distilled water.
An I personally would avoid any shop that used AC drain water.
For $1-$2 dollars every few years, I'd use distilled water.
An I personally would avoid any shop that used AC drain water.
How about softened water? I saw conflicting information. Some say softened water is preferred while some say it is even worse.
NYET! Softened water just replaces the calcium in hard water with sodium. It makes the water more conductive, bad bad bad for corrosion.
The goal is to remove the dissolved minerals in water. A carbon filter won't do that either. It just removes some dissolved organics.
Reverse osmosis water is about 98% as good as distilled, provided the membrane is fresh. Probably good enough to use, but I'd run deionizing beads just to clean up whatever the RO missed.
The goal is to remove the dissolved minerals in water. A carbon filter won't do that either. It just removes some dissolved organics.
Reverse osmosis water is about 98% as good as distilled, provided the membrane is fresh. Probably good enough to use, but I'd run deionizing beads just to clean up whatever the RO missed.
Sodium chloride (table salt) will make a solution corrosive if added to water. The sodium present in softened water is in the form of an elemental sodium ion (not table salt), and is not corrosive.
http://www.wqa.org/sitelogic.cfm?ID=366
http://www.wqa.org/sitelogic.cfm?ID=366
Last edited:
people always argue this... here's some more opinion.
Forget the sodium is bad for you theory. It's old news and it is NOT corrosive.
RO water is actually too pure and can then leach minerals from you to try and balance itself. Great for sealed systems, we are not.
Take note of how water used to be delivered to your body by the earth. It had minerals and trace elements galore. That was a good thing.
Forget the sodium is bad for you theory. It's old news and it is NOT corrosive.
RO water is actually too pure and can then leach minerals from you to try and balance itself. Great for sealed systems, we are not.
Take note of how water used to be delivered to your body by the earth. It had minerals and trace elements galore. That was a good thing.
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
RO water is actually too pure and can then leach minerals from you to try and balance itself. Great for sealed systems, we are not.
Take note of how water used to be delivered to your body by the earth. It had minerals and trace elements galore. That was a good thing.
It shouldn't leach minerals from your body. Its not being circulated. Its just that it doesn't deliver any. We eat enough food to take care of that issue.
I and the wife take multi-mineral tablets. We are both 65 and have drunk RO water for 25+ years. I think the assurance that you are getting no nitrates, chlorine, coliforms, or other bad stuff is a huge. In fact I attribute this RO Water to our continued good health.
The RO water we buy (for 25 cents) starts out as municipal water, then filtered, then carbon filtered, then UV light, then RO. The despensing place where you get your own is licensed and results posted every 2 weeks.
RO water is actually too pure and can then leach minerals from you to try and balance itself. Great for sealed systems, we are not.
Take note of how water used to be delivered to your body by the earth. It had minerals and trace elements galore. That was a good thing.
It shouldn't leach minerals from your body. Its not being circulated. Its just that it doesn't deliver any. We eat enough food to take care of that issue.
I and the wife take multi-mineral tablets. We are both 65 and have drunk RO water for 25+ years. I think the assurance that you are getting no nitrates, chlorine, coliforms, or other bad stuff is a huge. In fact I attribute this RO Water to our continued good health.
The RO water we buy (for 25 cents) starts out as municipal water, then filtered, then carbon filtered, then UV light, then RO. The despensing place where you get your own is licensed and results posted every 2 weeks.
The WQA is a trade organization for water softeners, LOL.
Originally Posted By: Samilcar
Sodium chloride (table salt) will make a solution corrosive if added to water. The sodium present in softened water is in the form of an elemental sodium ion (not table salt), and is not corrosive.
The conductivity of various salt solutions can be easily measured. The link may be right that the softened water isn't unduly corrosive. However, salt water softeners do use salt, which is basically exactly the same as table salt, although the latter is food grade, and softener salt is not. Whenever salt is dissolved in water, there are "elemental sodium" ions in solution. So, I'm not sure what you're trying to get at by differentiating a solution of table salt and water from what comes out of a water softener. The only difference would be if it were potassium chloride tablets used in the softener, rather than normal salt.
Junk science merely makes a potentially valid point look suspect.
Sodium chloride (table salt) will make a solution corrosive if added to water. The sodium present in softened water is in the form of an elemental sodium ion (not table salt), and is not corrosive.
The conductivity of various salt solutions can be easily measured. The link may be right that the softened water isn't unduly corrosive. However, salt water softeners do use salt, which is basically exactly the same as table salt, although the latter is food grade, and softener salt is not. Whenever salt is dissolved in water, there are "elemental sodium" ions in solution. So, I'm not sure what you're trying to get at by differentiating a solution of table salt and water from what comes out of a water softener. The only difference would be if it were potassium chloride tablets used in the softener, rather than normal salt.
Junk science merely makes a potentially valid point look suspect.
- Status
Similar threads
