Repairing a radiator

JohnTedd · 10 Jan 2011 at 21:51

As some of you may have seen in my project log I managed to puncture my radiator by using the wrong screws to secure the fans

I would like to have a go at repairing the radiator and would be interested in anyone's advice/opinions...

First off I am going to find all the holes by immersing the rad in water with the fill holes all bunged up. Once I've done that there are a number of options for plugging the leaks...

From the car industry there's:

1. Evostik Liquid Metal (available from H**fords)
2. Plastic Padding Leak Fix (also available from H**fords)
3. Soldering (although I am not the world's best solderer, nor do I have a great soldering iron.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance

PhillyDee · 10 Jan 2011 at 21:54

If the hole is in the bottom of a thraded hole, you could actually plug the hole by using threadlocker and a screw. It would be a bit of a bodge fix, but I doubt that soldering would work due to the coatings on the rad.

sir-les-mp · 11 Jan 2011 at 02:11

I know your pain ive done the same to a HW Labs black ice rad as well as a PA120.2 thermochill rad as well.
It will depend on where you have punctured the rad as to wich method you use.
With the HW Labs rad i had i binned as it was impossible to reach the puncture.

As for the Thermochill Rad i just took my time with a cheap soldering iron and applied solder to the small hole's
However your second option could also possibly work if you can get to the area to work the puty in properly before it set's

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:42

PhillyDee said:
If the hole is in the bottom of a thraded hole, you could actually plug the hole by using threadlocker and a screw. It would be a bit of a bodge fix, but I doubt that soldering would work due to the coatings on the rad.

I don't know if either of these photos help

The thread appears to cut into the edge of one of the radiator pipes.

I have now bent the metal case out of the way so I could take a better photos tonight.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 12:46

I've never actually used either liquid metal nor leak fix but I'm leaning towards giving them a try. Even though I used 6 of the wrong length screws it appears that I got lucky with 5 of them.

I immersed the radiator in water and blew air into it and only got bubbles from the one hole, so I think it's fixable.

I confess that I am a little concerned that it'll happen again. I was leak testing the whole system and checked the joints but didn't notice the pool of water on the floor.... (My rad is behind the desk rather than in the computer case - see my project for details).

1kiwi · 12 Jan 2011 at 15:51

I did exactly the same thing, in the same place and tried to fix it using my soldering iron however the solder didn't seem to take if that makes any sense. Try the liquid metel.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 15:54

beh* said:
I did exactly the same thing, in the same place and tried to fix it using my soldering iron however the solder didn't seem to take if that makes any sense. Try the liquid metel.

Thanks for the info. I think the problem with soldering is that you need to get the metal on the rad hot enough for it to take. Plus the hole I have is, er, not small. Consequentially I'm on my way to H**fords on the way home from work...

1kiwi · 12 Jan 2011 at 16:04

Exactly - let me know how you get on mate

Squakingcow · 12 Jan 2011 at 16:20

beh* said:
I did exactly the same thing, in the same place and tried to fix it using my soldering iron however the solder didn't seem to take if that makes any sense. Try the liquid metel.

The surface you were trying to solder probably wasn't clean, some flux may have helped.

Ace Modder · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:03

My honest opinion is to get a new rad, I would NOT risk it leaking in the future, especially if the rad is mount above my motherboard/RAM/CPU/GPU/PSU.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:28

Ace Modder said:
My honest opinion is to get a new rad, I would NOT risk it leaking in the future, especially if the rad is mount above my motherboard/RAM/CPU/GPU/PSU.

And that's exactly what I did when I first punctured this rad. However the punctured one is just sitting there doing nothing with one hole in it, so I figured I'd try to fix it.

The good news is that I will not be putting it anywhere near the computer - and that's supposing I fix it to my satisfaction. It's going to be sitting behind the desk. So the worst that'll happen is there'll be a pool of water on the floor that could ultminately leak through to the floor below to the kitchen. OK so it wouldn't score me many points with the Mrs, but shouldn't kill the computer (unless of course it overheats...).

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:31

Here are some photos of the screw hole before any repairs have been attempted:

and here are some others that don't seem to be leaking:

matt100 · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:36

I punctured a PA120.3 in about 6 places without realising it by using screws that were the right length to be used with a grill.... without a grill.

And I fixed it with solder. Its a PITA but it's completely achievable. Just be prepared to fill it, check for leaks by rebuilding the loop and run with a pump (you need the pump to apply pressure, with mine it would look watertight if just filled with water but the pushing of the pump exposed leaks).

It took probably 4 or 5 refills and resolderings but once it was done it was done and it's been fine for probably 2 years now.

Definitely worth it if you have access to a soldering iron, less so if you have to start from scratch buying stuff I guess but even so, they're not cheap things (although you've not said what rad it is.. I guess it could be a cheapy)

So.. in summary.. it's completely doable but be thorough, solder it, loads of solder on there (that's what nailed it for me) and test for a few hours and eventually it'll be sorted. Definitelu don't use anything like radweld etc, you'll be trying to keep the fluids clean and that definitely won't help.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:40

matt100 said:
Definitely worth it if you have access to a soldering iron, less so if you have to start from scratch buying stuff I guess but even so, they're not cheap things (although you've not said what rad it is.. I guess it could be a cheapy)

Thanks for the advice. The radiator is an EK CoolStream 420 and costs around £70. To be fair I managed to claim the money back so I'm not out of pocket, but I still managed to hang onto the (now spare) rad.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 19:46

Here are the stated active ingredients:

and what Leak-fix claims to do:

I still haven't started yet, so it's not too late for anyone to shout that I'm making a mistake

matt100 · 12 Jan 2011 at 20:20

do you have to flush that through to fix leaks or do you apply it directly to the hole? if it's applied to the hole then it should be fine, otherwise I doubt it will find the leak.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 20:31

matt100 said:
do you have to flush that through to fix leaks or do you apply it directly to the hole? if it's applied to the hole then it should be fine, otherwise I doubt it will find the leak.

Apply it directly to the hole, effectively blocking it with a glue that hardens "as hard as metal" allegedly.

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 22:28

I've cleaned the area by scratching it with a screw and a bradawl. This is what it looks like with the end of a small cable tie for size comparison

JohnTedd · 12 Jan 2011 at 22:31

And here it is after the first coat of Leak-Fix.

I goes off really quick and it's pretty stinky, but after a few more coats it should be good. Then I'll be able to find out if it worked and if there are any other leaks....

1kiwi · 12 Jan 2011 at 22:51

Well done mate.