[Amps] liquid cooling

[Dr. David Kirkby]

Ron Youvan wrote:
> mikea wrote:
>> On Mon, Apr 05, 2010 at 12:15:45PM -0400, TexasRF at aol.com wrote:
>>> Larry, I wonder why your aversion to using water? 
> /*snip*/
>> Water is just about the best solvent there is, and has the distinct
>> advantage of being non-flammable. Water-based solutions are, on the other
>> hand, pretty conductive, which isn't necessarily desirable in gear that
>> uses high voltages.
> 
>    Wrong, water (H2O) is an insulator.  It is used with nearly 40 kV on collectors of 
> klystrons and other high power UHF transmitting tubes.
> Dirty water is conductive and it doesn't take much to render distilled water conductive, 
> but you start with steam distilled water. ($1/Gallon at the most around here, $0.49 / gal 
> at some food stores.)

It is incorrect to say water is an insulator. No matter how much you distill it, 
there is a degree of self-ionization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-ionization_of_water

which puts an lower limit on the conductivity.

dave