Is washing out rad with tap water okay?

[lewiswongy]

Hey guys I've gathered that washing out your rad before use is routine for installing a loop however some videos I've seen they have actually washed it out in the coolant they use etc. As I only ordered 1 bottle of XSPC EC6 Coolant Blue UV, I don't think it would be a good idea to use some of it to wash the rad. Would using tap water be okay? Or maybe mineral, boiled water as I don't have access to easily obtainable distilled.
Thanks!

 

[dazzerd]

Yes don't worry about it people are far too anal about this sort of thing. Just flush it with hotish water a few times and give it a good shake about. If your really concerned then do a flush with dionised or distilled after but to be honest I have never bothered.

 

[panyan]

Yes don't worry about it people are far too anal about this sort of thing. Just flush it with hotish water a few times and give it a good shake about. If your really concerned then do a flush with dionised or distilled after but to be honest I have never bothered.

+1

 

[pgi947]

Tap water with a final flush of de ionised (battery water, available in halfords/asda/tesco/local garage etc) should be fine.

 

[Drunkenmassacre]

Tap water with a final flush of de ionised (battery water, available in halfords/asda/tesco/local garage etc) should be fine.

+1

Just bought a 1.5ltr bottle from tesco for less than £2, not too expensive

 

[Space Monkey]

If you've got an InExcess shop near you they do 5ltrs for £1.75 (De-ionised water)

 

[Sir SpankalotUK]

I use tap water, just don't let it dry out else it will leave deposit marks, especially in London with our hard water. TBH I change my tubing each time so as to avoid discolouration and deposit marks, but you still need to look after the bits you can't see.

 

[lewiswongy]

I use tap water, just don't let it dry out else it will leave deposit marks, especially in London with our hard water. TBH I change my tubing each time so as to avoid discolouration and deposit marks, but you still need to look after the bits you can see.

Thanks for the advice bro Good to see someone from london Indeed the water is very very hard everytime i boil the kettle i see a new layer of concrete in there...not literally but you get me. I will make it my intention to do regular maintenance of my loop by ensuring all parts are healthy I've even bought extra tubing so changing them often shouldnt be a problem. I will also get some of that battery water the others have mentioned too and give it a good wash out. PS whats the easiest way to clean out a whole loop step by step?

 

[Mayhems]

1) take system to sink
2) Unplug hose over sink
3) Let it empty
4) Plumb in hose pipe
5) Turn tap open 1/4 (no more) and let it flush you whole system out. Leave running for 10 to 15 min.
6) When finished blow though water
7) Rinise though with Di water
8) Empty
9) Add coolant / water + biocide

Whole job normally takes 20 to 30 min to do start to end.

 

[pgi947]

Whole job normally takes 20 to 30 min to do start to end.

This entirely depends how much fluid you get in your mouth/eyes on your clothes or all over the floor

I'm a disaster at draining

 

[Mayhems]

This entirely depends how much fluid you get in your mouth/eyes on your clothes or all over the floor

I'm a disaster at draining

PMSL totally agree..

 

[pgi947]

The worst part is blue x1 doesn't taste all that bad, well, better then mx-4 tim anyhow

 

[ubersonic]

I prefer my method:

1) Drain the loop.
2) Install the new rad.
3) Put a pair of tights over the barb/compression on the thing after the rad.
4) Fill the loop with tap water and run it for a while with the D5 at max speed.
5) Drain the loop
6) Remove the tights
7) Fill the loop with your coolant of choice and done.

 

[DavidS14]

I prefer my method:

1) Drain the loop.
2) Install the new rad.
3) Put a pair of tights over the barb/compression on the thing after the rad.
4) Fill the loop with tap water and run it for a while with the D5 at max speed.
5) Drain the loop
6) Remove the tights
7) Fill the loop with your coolant of choice and done.

No good for me though as I only wear fishnets

 

[BluD]

rofl

 

[Tattysnuc]

Just a thought, but how much do tights impinge flow?

I'm thinking of using Koolances Quick release disconnects in my build, and tights sound like a better form of filtering than having a permanent filter attachment in situ.

 

[Tattysnuc]

Tights, that is , not fishnets.

 

[pgi947]

Koolance make an inline filter for just that, not too expensive either.

 

[Bubo]

It goes without saying that any sort of inline filter can only be used with bog standard water. I wouldn't even use one with basic dyed water as you are presenting the dye with a convinent surface on which to build up and eventually clog. I wouldn't use tights either as it wouldn't funcion in the same way as a proper filter, i.e. huge surface area of a proper filter compared to a bit of tights stretched over the cross section of a tube. If there is anything there to clog up you can be sure a filter made of tights would clog up in seconds. OK maybe for tempory use, but not fill time.

I personally think inline filters in a running loop are unecessary as once you've flushed out everything there should be no need for them, and using them whilst flushing for me is also not necessary as I mentioned in that other thread abdout rad cleaning.