We actually went through this thread a few months ago, including some
very scientific statistics that showed that antifreeze has only 25% of
the wetting properties of water. The thing to do is to go with a 50/50
antifreeze/water mix then add Redline's Water Wetter to increase the
wetting properties of the mixture. Sorry, but I don't remember all the
stats, but, trust me, it works.
David Littlefield
Houston, TX
On Tue, 29 Apr 1997 17:04:10 -0600 David Councill <dcouncil@inetco.net>
writes:
>At 03:45 PM 4/29/97 EDT, you wrote:
>>I forgot where I learned this from, but I remember being told that a
>>single drop of dishwashing liquid (ie- Palmolive, Dawn, et al) in the
>>radiator breaks the surface tension of the water.
>>
>
>I worry about science discussions on this list. After all this is a
>car
>discussion group.
>
> Or maybe its just because I am an ex-chemist, approaching geezerhood.
>
>
>Soap as well as alcohols are "wetting agents", meaning they do break
>the
>surface tension of the water. And to be sure, it would help the heat
>transfer efficiency. But the effects would be very small - the heat
>transfer is more affected by the quantity of coolant, its flow rate,
>and
>other factors.
>
>Perhaps in hotter regions, the small difference it would make to help
>the
>engine run cooler may be of benefit.
>
>I believe some of the glycol additives already serve as wetting
>agents. So
>I would be surprised if you got more than a 5 degree F reduction out
>of
>using a tincture of soap.
>
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