Triumphrat

KitNYC · 06-27-2012, 12:56 AM

Sooo, been a little warm here lately (sign at the middle school said 117ºF on the way home today), and I've noticed an issue or two that may be related to the heat. I'll post about the other issues if and when I have time, but for now I wanted to pick the group's brains about coolant options.

I'm pretty well sold on moving from standard 50/50 glycol/water mix to Water Wetter. I'm sold on moving to a more water-based liquid because of the improvements in heat transfer, and I'm sold on the Water Wetter brand 'cause I'm broke and someone gave me some.

Here's the thing, though: I am also lazy, and don't feel like changing coolant twice a year, and I stumbled across a chart that showed 25% glycol moving the freezing point down to 15ºF or so...

So finally, my question: If I move from 50/50 glycol/water to 25/75 glycol/Water Wetter water, will I still see most of the benefits of the Water Wetter in the hot weather while still being able to leave it in through the Winter?

Thoughts, anyone?

Thanks,
-Kit

BRG-BIRD · 06-27-2012, 08:00 AM

Does the water wetter alone give adequate corrosion protection? How about the 25% glycol/water mix? That would be my only concern...

champ87 · 06-27-2012, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KitNYC

If I move from 50/50 glycol/water to 25/75 glycol/Water Wetter water, will I still see most of the benefits of the Water Wetter in the hot weather while still being able to leave it in through the Winter?

This article compared various coolant additives. The results showed an improvement using Water-Wetter with a 30/70 antifreeze/water mix.

For anyone else interested in coolant additives I posted this thread last year about my own experiments to find solutions to the excessive heat from my Sprint.

uraberg · 06-27-2012, 09:24 AM

30/70 plus a bit of water wetter is exactly what I run here in North Carolina. I ride year round, and it's not been an issue so far in the winter (Bike is stored in a garage). Now I have to say that in the summer, I did not have any heat issues with the 50/50 mix, and honestly, I don't see any difference now.

tommymac · 06-27-2012, 10:29 AM

Does it ewver go below freezing where you are,and where is th ebike stored? if its in an enclosed or heated garage then youre set. if its outside and theres the risk of subfreezing temps then yo uneed ot have an adequate mix to be safe.

KitNYC · 06-27-2012, 07:30 PM

Thanks, Champ, exactly what I wanted to know!

BRG-Bird, Water Wetter is a package of additives that lubricates and protects the cooling system and breaks the surface tension of water. Corrosion protection is one of the main reasons to use it instead of plain water.

Uraberg, good to know! I'm not seeing heat issues per se; what I'm seeing is heat- and fan-related electrical issues. My R/R works better cool than hot, and my battery does not charge in stop and go traffic with the fan running.

Tommymac, it gets as low as 17ºF here a couple hours a year. I'm actually slightly worried about record lows, which have been in the low single digits, but I figure I'd probably have some advance warning if that was going to happen.

Cheers,
-Kit

BRG-BIRD · 06-27-2012, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KitNYC

BRG-Bird, Water Wetter is a package of additives that lubricates and protects the cooling system and breaks the surface tension of water. Corrosion protection is one of the main reasons to use it instead of plain water.
-Kit

Gotcha, did not know that! Up here in fly over land I just use 50/50 mix so have never researched Water Wetter...

Thanks for the heads up

lovecuba · 06-28-2012, 03:57 AM

Beware of any product which claims to 'lubricate' the water pump! If the product claims that it does, stear clear of it, because any other said claims are probably untrue also.

KitNYC · 07-01-2012, 03:23 AM

Well, I mixed up a batch on Friday and put it in on Saturday.

Removed an unknown amount of coolant due to the... let's say lack of precision in the process. I was only able to get maybe 2 liters into the system, probably a bit less when spillage is taken into account. According to the book, that means I'm close to a liter down? Is that a typo in the manual; should it say 1.8l instead of 2.8l?

I ran it up to temp and it seems to have sucked in the contents of the overflow tank without spitting it onto the ground, but that's only a few ounces and it only did that once. Went to a friend's for dinner and temp maxed out at 220ºF at a red light; quickly returned to normal operating temps once moving.

Last time I changed coolant I ended up overheating due to insufficient quantity of coolant, but that happened very quickly. I'm a bit confused that it's not overheating now...

Cheers,
-Kit

littlefield · 07-01-2012, 08:49 AM

Kit,
Don't know about your bike but on my 1050's there's a little air bleed screw on the opposite side of the radiator from the filler neck and a coolant drain screw on the from the of the cylinder. I run it with the filler cap off and lean it over to the side a little to get all the air out.