Left waterblock in vinegar for too long

heezay

heezay

heezay

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28 Mar 2010
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128
Hey guys

Think I messed up something, i tested it first in vineragr and looked amazingly clean and shiny, so i left the waterblock in vinegar for about 6-8 hours and now its gone from shiny to patchy dried parts with a big black line running across where the vinegar didnt touch

Help???
 
I just went and bought some vinegar and put it in in fresh vinegar. Toothbrush? I thought I read somewhere not to use toothbrush as it brushes away the flatness? If not I could do that as well, looking at it 15 mins later still loks all black and dry copper patches instead of shiny clean.

Still recommend more vinegar and toothbrush?
 
You need to give more information. Do you have any photos?

What block did you use? Did you take it apart and just put the copper base plate in vinegar? The rubber O-ring will be attacked by vinegar. Don't put it in vinegar... Did you submerge the copper or just partially cover some bits in vinegar? It sounds like you're talking about a black streak across the bottom where it sits on the CPU... Sounds like it was brand new: Why did you put it in vinegar in the first place?
 
Sorry, it wasnt brand new, it had signs of usage and stained marks all over it and looked like an old browned penny. So I read that to remove finger print marks and dark usage marks etc put in vinegar. When testing it for about 30 mins I started noticed a massive difference, started to look like brand new again, so thought leave there for a while to give it a chance to work on it. I removed the O-Ring and yes I did submerge only the worst part of it into the vinegar. Will go down now and see if I can get some pictures.
 
Heres some pictures

gal.php
 
Hmm, did you submerge it with the screws still in? - they look like steel screws with a black oxide finish in the first pic? If you did the black discolouration could be from that. I'd submerge it completely in distilled vinegar (the clear stuff, not the malt type) for a bit (30 minutes or so) and try gently scrubbing the non-gpu side with a toothbrush (to check it doesn't scratch - I don't think the plastic bristles are likely to tbh but if you're worried then don't do the bits where it contacts the chips etc) if it doesn't get rid of the black stuff. Should work. Also, vinegar takes aaaages to corrode the copper so I wouldn't worry about that side of things. :)
 
Urrrm yes, I thing you might be right on that screw theory. I did submerge it with the screws as I didnt want to take it apart incase I cant put it back to gether again. And yes the screws do have some colouring on in. Its a gtx 295 block so have gpu on both sides. But will go and try, should the lines and stuff dissapear? Have I damaged it?
 
You need to remove any other metals if you are going to put it in a vinegar bath like that.

Oh and make sure you are using pure white distilled vinegar, not the brown stuff.

Take the block apart submerge it fully and give it a scrub with a toothbrush, its not going t scratch the metal badly enough to prevent it working properly, and if you really want it nice and shiny again use some brasso, and then clean it off with some cpu cleaner or switch cleaner.
 
Was that a handfull or what. One part I gently rubbed with the toothbrush came off quite nicely, but that was only a small area, as I moved from there, the rest just wouldnt come off even with a slight harsher srokes. I was brushing it like a machine and wouldnt bugde. Been in the white vinegar for almost 3 hours now???
 
Try a small area with tomato sauce. Or Lemon juice also a good gentle cleanser for copper.
Try using boiling water with your vinegar. You are using dilute vinegar right? 50:50 aught to do it.
Did you remove the bolts and everything before starting this time?
 
Sounds like "Bronze Disease". Use hot water, vinegar and salt (salt is important as it helps activate the vinegar quickly), or lemon juice and salt, to remove patches of corrosion. After treating, wash promptly with soap and water, rinse and dry. Salt is one of the active ingredient's that helps fix this problem.
 
Yes you can do but there is a small problem of residue left over from the polish and this is bad in a water cooling product such as CPU / GPU blocks. Its best to stick to natural methods and let them do the work for you and at least you know when you finish you won’t have any problems.
 
left it longer this time in the vinegar didnt help, then tried bit of tomato sauce and now that has left black line running across when testing it in a small area first, scrubbed and scrubbed ive got a neck ache now, still not gone though.
 
Oh btw forgot to mention I left it dipped in 5% white vinegar, no water and no salt. Didnt try salt cuz on some other forum it mentioned that using salt left dimples in the block where the salt landed. Duno if its tru but nothing seems to be going right at the moment
 
heezay said:
Oh btw forgot to mention I left it dipped in 5% white vinegar, no water and no salt. Didnt try salt cuz on some other forum it mentioned that using salt left dimples in the block where the salt landed. Duno if its tru but nothing seems to be going right at the moment
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Oky heat up the water first , Add salt to water about 1 tea spoon full no more. Then add plenty of vinegar (about 25 to 40% is better) into hot water and stir for about 30 seconds. the water shot be hot but not boiling. then drop in plate for about 30 min.

Then empty it out add cold water and rise off the plate (careful it will be very hot). this should solve this problem if not then to be honest after all that effort you know its clean either fit the top back on and try it out or get a new one.
 
To be honest, just wanted it to be nice and clean thas all, it'll do the job no worry. Ive given up trying to clean it any further. But cheers for the steps will keep in mind if I ever get tempted to try stuff out again.
 
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