what is this coolant?

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Hard to argue with success . And , so far , I have been successful .

These have been with cars . Not a truck and no towing .

This is in West Texas . 100F + common in summer .


Which is actually an argument for a minimum coolant concentration rather than a maximum. In such an environment you would want the best heat transfer, not the worst.

But since your mind is obviously made up despite the clear technical statements to the contrary, I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[jeff78]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
I pay a few dollars more for 100% coolant , but I get a gallon of coolant , instead od 1/2 gallon of coolant ( and 1/2 gallon of water ) .


Err......most people pay a few dollars more for a gallon of 100% antifreeze, then pay a few pennies for a gallon of distilled water, mix the two, and end up with close to 2 gallons of coolant in a more appropriate ratio for less money than if you were to buy 2 gallons of 100% antifreeze.

Antifreeze has corrosion inhibitors in it - rust won't form in the cooling system unless it's been neglected. In the old days of 'traditional green' antifreeze the corrosion inhibitors were only good for, what, 35K miles before it needed to be changed so it was easier to neglect. Thus it wasn't that unusual to find rusted out cooling systems on older vehicles.

They're your vehicles, you can do whatever you want with them, but if you do this with one that's under warranty and you have a cooling system related failure and the manufacturer finds out you've been running pure antifreeze, they can deny your warranty claim. They do not design the cooling systems to work with 100% glycol.

At least you're not suckered into buying Evans 'waterless' coolant which is essentially the same as what you're doing but at 6x the cost.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Hard to argue with success . And , so far , I have been successful .

These have been with cars . Not a truck and no towing .

This is in West Texas . 100F + common in summer .


Which is actually an argument for a minimum coolant concentration rather than a maximum. In such an environment you would want the best heat transfer, not the worst.

But since your mind is obviously made up despite the clear technical statements to the contrary, I'm sure you'll be fine.


It does occasionally gen below 0F around HERE .

 

[WyrTwister]

The 2015 Sonic is probably still under power train warranty . If need be , I could always drop the lower radiator hose again , then add water from the Water Mill Express .

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
It does occasionally gen below 0F around HERE .

Yet another reason not to run 100% coolant. Did you look at the link that was posted by Squirrelee? It includes one of my favorite graphs, sometimes people think the lowest freezing point is obtained by pure antifreeze but that couldn't be further from the truth. If I recall correctly the minimum allowed concentration for Toyota red is 50%, as you can see that achieves a dramatic freezing point depression.

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
It does occasionally gets below 0F around HERE .


Your motor would burn up if you ran 100% Antifreeze at that temperature.

 

[ka9mnx]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
It does occasionally gen below 0F around HERE .

Yet another reason not to run 100% coolant. Did you look at the link that was posted by Squirrelee? It includes one of my favorite graphs, sometimes people think the lowest freezing point is obtained by pure antifreeze but that couldn't be further from the truth. If I recall correctly the minimum allowed concentration for Toyota red is 50%, as you can see that achieves a dramatic freezing point depression.

I haven't looked at the link yet but that graph correlates with heat transfer too except at the end where it continues downward towards pure water.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: ka9mnx
I haven't looked at the link yet but that graph correlates with heat transfer too except at the end where it continues downward towards pure water.

One has to be careful since that graph is for specific heat capacity which is different than the overall heat transfer capability of a cooling system. How much a cooling system transfers heat and how efficiently it does so is very complicated and determinate on many factors. But since the main method of heat transfer between the cylinder wall and the coolant is via nucleate boiling then the specific heat capacity becomes relevant at that interface (it actually defines it at that point). Overall a cooling system with pure water is going to be the most efficient and as you add coolant it becomes less so. However, automakers design the system to operate correctly within the minimum and maximum coolant concentrations they specify.

Heat transfer in the engine is most efficient when a phase change occurs and this defines the specific heat capacity of the coolant mixture. Your water pump drags away the coolant after nucleate boiling and new coolant is immediately brought into contact with those surfaces.

 

[pbm]

Using straight (full strength) coolant is not a good idea especially in a hot climate like Texas or Florida.
It may be necessary to go higher than 50% anti-freeze in extremely cold climates (colder than -34*F) but 70% coolant is the maximum recommended. In very hot climates it's often recommended to run less than 50% coolant....like 40/60 coolant/water because water dissipates heat better.

I try to maintain a 50/50 mix for the best of both worlds in my changeable climate. I use concentrate mixed with distilled water and have never had to replace a radiator. (I also think the pre=packaged 50/50 coolants are a rip-off and they make it impossible to get a 50/50 mix after flushing the system with water.)

PS: My friend uses the water captured from his dehumidifier and claims it's the same as distilled water....is it really? I play it safe and buy distilled for less than a dollar a gallon.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
It does occasionally gets below 0F around HERE .


Your motor would burn up if you ran 100% Antifreeze at that temperature.


Burn up at 0F ?

Has not burned up yet , in , maybe 20 years . It does occasionally get 0F here too .

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Using straight (full strength) coolant is not a good idea especially in a hot climate like Texas or Florida.
It may be necessary to go higher than 50% anti-freeze in extremely cold climates (colder than -34*F) but 70% coolant is the maximum recommended. In very hot climates it's often recommended to run less than 50% coolant....like 40/60 coolant/water because water dissipates heat better.

I try to maintain a 50/50 mix for the best of both worlds in my changeable climate. I use concentrate mixed with distilled water and have never had to replace a radiator. (I also think the pre=packaged 50/50 coolants are a rip-off and they make it impossible to get a 50/50 mix after flushing the system with water.)

PS: My friend uses the water captured from his dehumidifier and claims it's the same as distilled water....is it really? I play it safe and buy distilled for less than a dollar a gallon.



Condensate from an A/C should be good enough .

 

[ka9mnx]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: ka9mnx
I haven't looked at the link yet but that graph correlates with heat transfer too except at the end where it continues downward towards pure water.

One has to be careful since that graph is for specific heat capacity which is different than the overall heat transfer capability of a cooling system. How much a cooling system transfers heat and how efficiently it does so is very complicated and determinate on many factors. But since the main method of heat transfer between the cylinder wall and the coolant is via nucleate boiling then the specific heat capacity becomes relevant at that interface (it actually defines it at that point). Overall a cooling system with pure water is going to be the most efficient and as you add coolant it becomes less so. However, automakers design the system to operate correctly within the minimum and maximum coolant concentrations they specify.

Heat transfer in the engine is most efficient when a phase change occurs and this defines the specific heat capacity of the coolant mixture. Your water pump drags away the coolant after nucleate boiling and new coolant is immediately brought into contact with those surfaces.


I was referring to a perfect world where system capability was not an issue...

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: ka9mnx
I was referring to a perfect world where system capability was not an issue...

No problem I was mostly just correcting myself when I used the term in an earlier post.

 

[pbm]

Is the water captured from a dehumidifier really 'distilled' for coolant system purposes?

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted By: pbm
Is the water captured from a dehumidifier really 'distilled' for coolant system purposes?

Yes, it is distilled out of the air by the evaporator. What it picks up as it flows over the metal components is unknown but it is definitely “distilled” water.

Commercially available distilled water is sometimes distilled more than once and the surfaces it contacts after distillation are controlled, but as long as the dehumidifier isn’t all dirty and full of mold it is probably okay. For me though to be able to run up to Walgreens and get a couple of gallons for under a buck each isn't worth the effort to salvage it from my dehumidifier. Mine drains directly to the floor drain anyway and rarely runs due to air conditioning or it being winter.