Galvanic Corrosion - How to prevent it

MikeTimbers · 15 Dec 2020 at 09:07

One of the dreaded Swiftech blocks that increased awareness of galvanic corrosion. This was mine and it clearly shows what happens when anodising is not done to sufficient quality

Edgar Lopes · 7 Mar 2021 at 13:00

Thanks for the info.
Going to get 2 large Hardware Labs to fit in the new Meshify 2 XL When I get some Cash.
Not sure if I should do 480 + 420 or just 2 x 420 GTR Rads as i already have a few of the good noctua 3000PRM fans in the 140 size.

Thanks again

WantoN · 4 Dec 2021 at 23:53

Tiggerlator said:
I have nothing but deionised water in my loop. Will it be a problem?

Probably not, as long as as it consists of brass and copper only. I'd personally be rather concerned if there was aluminium in the loop.

That being said, it's not how I'd run it, for several reasons;

Specialists fluids have anti-freeze which prevents freezing & expansion if the temps drop (say you go away without the heating on, or a breaker trips)
Without biocides there's nothing to prevent all sorts of nasties growing in the water. You could get; gunked blocks, change in water PH, damaged seals, stained plastics, stinky water etc
Corrosion inhibitors give me peace of mind, even if there are no dissimilar metals

Proper fluids increase loop and part longevity and mean less time between drains.

I use XT1 Nuke clear concentrate at about 30%, I find it excellent.

WantoN · 5 Dec 2021 at 11:46

Tiggerlator said:
I'll be redoing it early next week for new LiLi o11D xl case so i may add something

I'm doing a system transplant myself; picked up an enthoo pro m for £15. I can finally fit 2x 360s and fingers crossed my VRM fittings won't foul the top rad.

Enjoy mate!

WantoN · 5 Dec 2021 at 14:37

Tiggerlator said:
2x360 PE EK rads is what i will end up with. squeezed a EK CE 280/45 and a no name 240/25 in my current TT V21 case.

Ah very nice, I've got a couple of Nemesis GTS, a 360 and a 240 in my Meshify C. With standalone res; it's a tight squeeze.

Plan is to swap the 240 with a 360 XSPC in push pull (thicker rad), and add dual D5s, VRM and SSD blocks.

Current spec was in Sig, but mine has disappeared. Did they reduce the permitted dimensions again?

WantoN · 5 Dec 2021 at 18:47

Jesus you weren't kidding. That's obscene

I'll snap a pic of mine when it comes out of the desk cupboard for the swap.

delvey · 6 Dec 2021 at 09:48

Tiggerlator said:
I'll be redoing it early next week for new LiLi o11D xl case so i may add something

I would pick up some clesr fluid if you don't want any colour.

Cyber-Mav · 31 Dec 2021 at 16:25

Cars have used mixed metals for years without issues. Cooper, brass, iron, aluminium have been mixed and the coolant used was mostly ethylene glycol.
Has anyone used ethylene glycol coolant in a pc water cooling system?

Cyber-Mav · 31 Dec 2021 at 16:56

Other thing is having water in the system itself is the cause of corrosion.
Has anyone used evens waterless coolant?

CapitalOne · 31 Dec 2021 at 17:19

Cyber-Mav said:
Cars have used mixed metals for years without issues. Cooper, brass, iron, aluminium have been mixed and the coolant used was mostly ethylene glycol.
Has anyone used ethylene glycol coolant in a pc water cooling system?

I did about 20 years ago, learnt my lesson - it doesn't play with hard plastic very well! IIRC it just rots it. I had one of those 5.25 drivebay reseviours on my P4 and the casing started to self-destruct as did the fill port screws (all made of the same hard plastic). Sorry I can't be more specific on the actual material but I would do some research before using.

Cyber-Mav · 31 Dec 2021 at 17:57

The plastic end tanks on car rads last 25 years usually so i would assume the plastics they use in water cooling parts for pc's are going to be good quality nylon type stuff.
Unless they use cheapo stuff in pc water cooling?

WantoN · 31 Dec 2021 at 18:11

Cyber-Mav said:
Cars have used mixed metals for years without issues. Cooper, brass, iron, aluminium have been mixed and the coolant used was mostly ethylene glycol.
Has anyone used ethylene glycol coolant in a pc water cooling system?

It's a performance thing. The specific heat capacity of ethylene glycol solutions is lower than that of water. For a 50% solution, SHC drops by at least 20% compared to plain old H2O.

Cyber-Mav · 1 Jan 2022 at 00:09

Yes for pure performance water works best. Although i suspect in a pc application 25 to 30 percent of ethylene glycol coolant would work well.

Then there is evans waterless coolant that doesnt use water. Going to be less efficient at heat transfer but paired with a bigger rad it could be a solution to long term use e.g 10 years without maintenance.?

EsaT · 1 Jan 2022 at 10:01

Cyber-Mav said:
Then there is evans waterless coolant that doesnt use water. Going to be less efficient at heat transfer but paired with a bigger rad it could be a solution to long term use e.g 10 years without maintenance.?

Lower heat capacity means primarily need for higher flow volume to carry same amount of heat energy from source.
Thermal conductivity is also different.
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-liquids-d_1260.html
Though higher flow rate through block should help in that.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-fluids-d_151.html

Cyber-Mav · 1 Jan 2022 at 12:34

maybe with high flow pump and big rad you could run oil of some sorts insted of water?

xybp9 · 15 Nov 2023 at 20:10

Good call

just don't mix metals and use coolant that has corrosion inhibitors

Tattysnuc · 4 Sep 2025 at 10:20

just passing through reading.

Is there anything definitive about BLOCKING Galvanic corrosion?
I think I'm copper/brass throughout my loops (I cant categorically say I don't have bickel or steel as well, but I tried to avoid them IIRC) and I've not noticed ANY corrosion in my loop.
Truthfully I've not looked that hard, but on the GPU blokc which is fitted with a clear perspex cover looks fine and the loop appears to be running fine, and it's been up and running now since... (runs out of fingers on one hand) about 2019!

What's the latest guidance? Distilled water + PT Nuke & killcoils seems to be a thing of the past. What do you recommend that I replace them with when I finally give my loop a cleanout?

I was thinking distilled + Mayhems XT-1 Nuke....

WantoN · 4 Sep 2025 at 10:24

Tattysnuc said:
just passing through reading.

Is there anything definitive about BLOCKING Galvanic corrosion?
I think I'm copper/brass throughout my loops (I cant categorically say I don't have bickel or steel as well, but I tried to avoid them IIRC) and I've not noticed ANY corrosion in my loop.
Truthfully I've not looked that hard, but on the GPU blokc which is fitted with a clear perspex cover looks fine and the loop appears to be running fine, and it's been up and running now since... (runs out of fingers on one hand) about 2019!

What's the latest guidance? Distilled water + PT Nuke & killcoils seems to be a thing of the past. What do you recommend that I replace them with when I finally give my loop a cleanout?

I was thinking distilled + Mayhems XT-1 Nuke....

I use XT1 performance clear, in my humble opinion modern inhibitors are excellent and will prevent issues unless you're being very cavalier about the metals you're mixing and how long you leave it between basic maintenance cycles.

Tldr; unless you Icarus your watercooling setup, there's nothing to worry about.

Tattysnuc · Monday at 19:06

WantoN said:
I use XT1 performance clear, in my humble opinion modern inhibitors are excellent and will prevent issues unless you're being very cavalier about the metals you're mixing and how long you leave it between basic maintenance cycles.

Tldr; unless you Icarus your watercooling setup, there's nothing to worry about.

thanks.

I have some bottles of Mayhems X1 still sealed that I just found in my room (it's been a tip for YEARS). I think I'll put that in my wall mounted PC, and get some XT1 for my server.