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Evans waterless coolant or Engine Ice?
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not good if stranded
But, it no longer has the same properties.
So, in that state, it probably is a far lesser coolant than Engine Ice, and other high performance coolants.
My 500 2T has been a 'kettle' since I've had it. It's used as a single tracker, extreme terrain torque monster, so it doesn't get much airflow through the radiators.
I tried everything. Various coolants ( including Engine Ice), other than Evans - as, I did Not want to 'hide' the problem, and have the engine 'cook in it's own juices' - and none, cured the 'kettling'.
I made various inline aluminium coolers, through to (near) entire finned aluminium lines, that looped back, down then back up to the radiators, which added about 300ml to the coolant capacity, plus the extra 'radiant' capability . Ported the various inlets and outlets of the coolant system, and the water pump. Modified the impeller to have longer vanes, with a water pump spacer. I doubled up on catch tanks - KDX and WR ones at the rear, then a Gas Gas one that went around the steering head.
Nothing really worked to entirely stop the boil over.
Until I fitted fans.
I ran 2 computer fans for over 10 years. When I finally did a re-bore, I fitted a waterproof Spal fan (though, I'd only gone through 2 of the 'puter fans, due to dust / water) , but retained one of the 'puter fans. Plus, I finally fitted high capacity radiators. I found Evans at a local store, for an affordable price. So, I decided to finally use it. When I fitted a new, narrow switch block ( I run full lights and blinkers, to keep the cops off my back) , somehow I messed up and now the fans don't work, be it on the thermal switch or the manual switch, unless the lights are on. One day I'll re-wire it....... So, the Evans has saved me, when I've forgotten to turn the lights on, and, I notice the bike is getting very, very hot, but, at least it doesn't boil over. When it gets to that very, very hot state, it gets quite cantankerous. Fans on, it goes back to being a Big Old Teddy Bear of a bike.
So, after that novel - to repeat, you Can put water into your Evans, but, it just goes back to being a standard type coolant.
And, while it remains 'pure', it's high temp capabilities, can hide problems, and have the bike run very, very, Very hot. It's why I avoided using it for many years (plus the outrageous price it was here in OZ) But, it sure as hell does not run as hot as a boiled over, empty radiator-ed bike. Different solutions, basically .
This is what a drag racing buddy has me running. nothing will cool your engine better than straight water but you need to add a lubricant and something to increase the boiling point of the fluid. Most drag racing guys run straight water and have no problems. I have a buddy who has run straight water and a little water wetter in his drag street car for years and so far no problems.
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I think some liquid metals cool better than water so go put some mercury in you bike
What liquid has the highest thermal conductivity?
Water
Water. Water is one of the best choices for liquid cooling applications due to its high heat capacity and thermal conductivity. It is also compatible with copper, which is one of the best heat transfer materials to use for your fluid path
evans is a gimmick and will only run hotter than 50/50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imL4kQ9X6q0
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-liquids-d_1260…
Mercury cools like 10x better than water but evans transfers heat 1/3 as good as water. It does have a much higher boiling point than water but just because your bike is not boiling does not mean it's not way hotter and a bike with 50/50
Evans is bullshit
I think the 50/50 coolant that comes in toyotas is better than antifreeze at corrosion resistance because it has much lower electrolysis than 50/50 antifreeze.
and straight water
I only ask because I haven't stated anything in this thread nor argued a single point. My contribution so far was making a joke about bodies of water and telling you you were funny and giving you a pat on the back for getting some pent up rage out of your system.
Pit Row
Road racing cars use water and water wetter only because of rules requiring them to do so. Antifreeze and other additives will eat up the track surface over time, so to prevent that issue in the event of a crash or a spill, they've banned it. It doesn't mean anything about performance.
The performance of a coolant has A LOT more to it than just thermal conductivity. You also need to understand the specific heat of the coolant, its density, its viscosity, and various other parameters that affect how well it pulls heat from the system.
Related to the above, that YouTube video "proving" Evans is no good isn't worth watching. There are many issues with the test. And the conclusions are based on that flawed test combined with a general lack of understanding of basic thermodynamics and heat transfer. So it really doesn't prove anything.
Anyway, carry on!
Thermal conductivity is a measure representing the resistance to heat transfer through the coolant. And yes, it's rather important to the topic at hand. But it's certainly not the only property of interest.
Specific heat is the property representing how much heat energy is required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of coolant by one degree.
The density of the coolant, combined with specific heat, wil give you thermal mass, or how much energy a particular volume of coolant (e.g. the volume of the cooling system on your bike) can absorb per degree increase in temperature.
If you have a material with a very high conductivity, but very low specific heat and/or very low density, then you'll raise temperature so quickly you'll lose cooling efficiency or possibly change phase (vaporize/boil).
The entire cooling system isn't a single temperature and it's not all flowing around at the same rate. And the thermal loads and heat transfer (in and out) of the system are very transient. You can't just simplify this down to a thermal conductivity argument.
A good coolant has high thermal conductivity AND high thermal mass, a high boiling point, a low viscosity, and various other properties relating to heat transfer at the coolant/engine/radiator interface. I have no idea whether Evans is better than Engine Ice or not, I'm just explaining some of the physics involved.
The main thing is it does not boil as readily as regular coolant or water wetter treated water does. You may avoid local hot spots where the vapor is forming on the metal surface if you do end up in a coolant boiling situation and avoid:
1. Hurting the cooling efficiency
2. Creating a corrosive pitting scenario in those spots where liquid coolant is no longer protecting the surface
The thing about boiling though is that it serves a purpose in the coolant as well.
Water is great for us humans and our need to control temperatures because it is extremely abundant (cheap) and it has a relatively great physical properties for heat transfer. If you look at a phase change diagram for something like water (and generally water mixtures like most coolants) it looks like this
If you'll notice, when you approach a phase change such as vaporization (boiling), it takes a tremendous amount of energy (heat) to make that physical change happen compared to just raising the temperature. So a coolant that will boil is able to absorb a huge amount of energy (heat) while it approaches the boiling point with basically no temperature rise and often the entire coolant mass needs to reach that point before the coolant will vaporize beyond a few minor local hot spots.
So keeping in equilibrium of heat absorption to heat shedding in that phase change area is perfect because water cooled bikes are generally designed to operate best at just below the boiling point and the temperature is pretty much constant. That being said, if you cross that point and do start to actually boil, that is a problem and can end badly because water vapor (steam) will exceed those temperatures and does not cool nearly as well as liquid water, so it is easier for components to overheat and be damaged if vapor is present.
The thing about Evans is it will go to a higher temperature before it reaches that point, so you may run hotter with Evans compared to regular coolant, even though it doesn't boil. However, a lot of bikes can take that heat and it may be preferable over the potential of boiling a regular coolant.
So Evans (in my opinion) serves a purpose for people who are likely going to face an overheating scenario while riding. The bike can take temperatures over boiling so it isn't going to damage anything, but you may face higher than normal heat and if you don't recognize that, the bike can spend too long in those temperatures without realizing it.
The great thing about regular coolant with regard to overheating is, when it happens, you know about it. The clouds of steam or blown hoses tell you right away that your bike is in trouble and you need to stop and let it cool off. With Evans, you might not get that warning, however if you are fully aware and conscious of what is happening, Evans can be great to avoid boil-over and ride in extreme heats without needing to worry if your coolant can take it.
So that is my basic rundown as far as I'm concerned. There's more to it for sure, but I think that gets my point across. Overall answer to the OP's question is; it depends one what you're riding, where you're riding, how you're riding, etc.
I wrote this pretty quick and didn't proofread a whole lot, so if I made any errors or incorrect assumptions, feel free to point them out and I'll try to address it as best as I can.
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