I have junk growing in my 5 gallon bucket. I’ve been using the RV chemical but I guess I don’t swap out for new water often enough. Should I drop some bleach in the water tonight? Leaving the water flowing overnight? Then tomorrow replace with new water and RV stuff?
Suggestions? Anything I can add to the water to keep this from happening in the future?
rubbing alcohol
Tetra Pond Algae Control or the same for fish tanks.
https://www.petsolutions.com/C/Pond-Algaecides/I/Tetra-Pond-Algae-Control.aspx?catargetid=520009670000580989&cadevice=c&gclid=Cj0KCQjw--DLBRCNARIsAFIwR25Q32W-M2QXUOzkxUULMctwJ6Qf6CkNRbpXKPl2f_mbtosTH0u_T1MaAsZIEALw_wcB… One drop per gallon.
The conductivity of your water matters.
Distilled water and nothing other than Clorox or algaecide, preferably the later. Do not use antifreeze.
@donkjr if I add the Algae control do I still need to use the RV Antifreeze?
@Bill_Keeter No! DO NOT USE ANTIFREEZE at all :)!
Distilled water + algaecide in the qty specified in the post …
Do you have any loss of power or crackling/arcing noises?
@donkjr Even the red RV antifreeze stuff suggested in this group from when I joined last year? I thought that stuff was safe. When I start up the laser I might get a pop or arching noise one or twice then it stops. hmmm… guess this could be the reason (always bugged me). Anyway, i’ll probably go get new hoses, pump, bucket, algae control and distilled water today. What flow rate should I look for with a new pump?
@Bill_Keeter did you get a chance to read the post lots of data there? Most of us have gotten rid of additives other than algaecide + distilled water.
…
Various opinions on other than stock pumps so others can chime in. I have never seen empirical test data that maps temp and pump capacity seems like the stock pump capacity is ok.
If I ever change I am going to get a little giant.
Mainly I am still noodling the cooling problem at 100F ambient :(.
Here is some info captured:
Similar data as Don collected, too much to paste so i paste the link instead 
There´s a chart in the article too describing the different mixes, + and - about them.
https://k40laser.se/watercooling/watercooling-different-coolants-for-your-laser/
@donkjr hey quick question. I flushed the system and added 4 new gallons of distilled water. Then added the Algae Control. Doh, didn’t realize the stuff was going to pore out like water. I’m sure I now have 2 or 3 times what you guys suggested. Now i’m a little worried about me added frozen water bottles etc to chill the water. The warning label about skin contact with the Algae control got my attention. Should I flush the system again and be more careful with the chemical?
@Bill_Keeter @Nedman Ned what do you think your the chemist!
@Bill_Keeter Probably not a problem, but what algae control are you using so I can check the ingredients?
@Nedman Tetra Pond Algae Control. It’s the one Steve mentioned near the top of this post
@Nedman Here’s the amazon page. The 2nd photo shows everything on the back label.
Yeah the label doesn’t say what’s in it so I had to pull up the MSDS. It uses a polyquant antimicrobial called Polyquaternium WSCP. An occasional exposure to a dilute solution shouldn’t be an issue. I think even if you got some of the concentrated on your skin it would just irritate it if you left it on too long.
@Nedman okay, that’s what I was hoping. I use frozen water bottles to chill the tank. Which means me sticking my hand in the tank every once in a while. So the label saying any skin contact requires washing the area continually for 15 min had me thinking I would need to wear gloves and completely clean the bottles before adding them back to a freezer.
Nah, it’s not anywhere near that toxic. Just don’t bathe in it or drink it and you’ll be fine.
One note: the water conductivity we measured is at the concentration that was specified for the algeacide specified.
@donkjr Good point. I might just flush 2 gallons and add 2 more. Just to lower the concentration of the algae control.
@Bill_Keeter it might be useful to get a conductivity meter as that removes some of the mystery. I think there are some cited on the post.