RE: Surfactants. was Re: Coolant for 5kTQ???

["Sheffield Corey" <SHEF@omdc.gso.uri.edu>]

Bob Cohen writes:

I would speculate, however, that these 'Wetter' additives are, in fact,
surfactants. You might want to try  dishwashing detergent (make sure its
phosphate free, tho) ;-)

joking aside, IF (I'd have made that a bigger 'if' if I could have) you
believe these chemicals to be beneficial to your cooling capacity, Kodak
also makes a wetting agent that is _very_ cheap, commonly available at
photo stores, and is effective at reducing surface tension in fairly dilute
solutions (it goes a long way)

(I haven't figured out yet how to get the neat lil' >'s with this "reply" 
editor yet??!!)

Anyways, it was explained to me that Redline "waterwetter" works by not allow-
ing bubbles to form in the cooling system. Bubbles prevent the dissipation of
heat at the air/water interface ie. the radiator. Well, that's what THEY say! I don't believe it raises the boiling point over that of the antifreeze/coolant/
water mix, just prevents bubbles from forming in it. In the OLD days of hot-
rodding there was an article in one of the monthlies that said that in non-
freezing locations nothing worked better to dissipate heat than straight H2O
with some corrosion inhibitor/water pump lubricant added. It went on to say 
that antifreeze actually lowered the boiling point, and that the bit about 
antifreeze/coolant was a load of bollicks by the manufacturers who just wanted
to sell you something in the summer you didn't need. I actually used to follow
thai advice with my '66 Vette which in those days was pushin' 450HP out of a 
 ^ should be "that"
heavily altered 327ci. It needed all the cooling help it could get, but here in
Rhode Island I could only use it from May-Oct. From Oct.-May things could 
freeze. I had to lower the compression on the Vette after pump gas sank below
97 octane in '77(?) and cooling wasn't a problem in that car after that. I 
digress. The "waterwetter" is really suppose to help marginal cooling systems,
and I think a pushed hard Audi's cooling system qualifies as marginal.

Just my 2/100 of a buck.

Shef