Cleaning WC gear

Martini1991 · 29 Mar 2011 at 16:07

Hey there, I was using a blue coloured distilled water in my loop and it's unfortunately stained my blocks, res/pump etc.. (Only one of the two loops might I add, strangely enough, as I run two)

What's the best way to clean them? Boiled kettle water flushing them through?, I'm new to this, could do with some tips and a step by step, cheers

Sayso · 29 Mar 2011 at 16:13

boiled water, some light acid (vinegar or rubbing with brown sauce) but it is a nightmare to get rid of completely.

Martini1991 · 29 Mar 2011 at 16:14

Sayso said:
boiled water, some light acid (vinegar or rubbing with brown sauce) but it is a nightmare to get rid of completely.

So, what would I do with the vinegar lol?

Sayso · 29 Mar 2011 at 16:25

Use clear vinegar just mix it with a bit of boiling water and leave it for a couple of minutes in the block, follow this with boiling water to get rid of the acid...rinse and have a look, your basically corroding your water block but there isn't an easy way of getting rid of the colourant used, its why i will never use coolant with dyes/dye bombs better off with coloured tubing.

gcaster · 29 Mar 2011 at 16:57

Out of interest, what dye is it you were using?

DavyBoy · 29 Mar 2011 at 17:19

I use tomato ketchup to clean my copper blocks, it works like a charm!

Just put a good amount of ketchup onto the blocks and leave it sitting for a while (about 10 minutes) and then use some di or distilled water to clean the ketchup off the block, I used an old toothbrush to scrub the ketchup off, any bits of the blocks that are badly tarnished will require a bit of hard scrubbing.

After doing this your blocks will look really nice and shiney, there's several forums that recommend this method.

Martini1991 · 29 Mar 2011 at 21:45

gcaster said:
Out of interest, what dye is it you were using?

It was a liquidant I thought was clear, but wasn't :S

Sayso · 30 Mar 2011 at 12:49

DavyBoy said:
I use tomato ketchup to clean my copper blocks, it works like a charm!

Just put a good amount of ketchup onto the blocks and leave it sitting for a while (about 10 minutes) and then use some di or distilled water to clean the ketchup off the block, I used an old toothbrush to scrub the ketchup off, any bits of the blocks that are badly tarnished will require a bit of hard scrubbing.

After doing this your blocks will look really nice and shiney, there's several forums that recommend this method.

hehe you use tomato i use brown sauce....i only use the brown cos i don't like it and don't want to waste any tommy.

vertica · 30 Mar 2011 at 12:55

As said, a mild acidic solution (the vinegar in ketchup/brown sauce), and gentle persuasion witha toothbrush works well.

I've found toothpaste also works (mild abrasive vs acid erosion)

Just make sure to rinse properly afterwards

shadowscotland · 30 Mar 2011 at 13:22

The sugar in the ketchup works as an abrasive - so you get acid + abrasive.
That's why it's recomended.

Not sure what the alkaline in toothpaste would do to copper - off to read

Edit - follow a quick google looks like we should all be using toothpaste after tomy K - so the surface of our copper fins/pins isn't left in a highly reactive state.

google 'Passifying with alkali' for more info.

Sayso · 30 Mar 2011 at 18:51

would blue minty gel do

vertica · 30 Mar 2011 at 18:57

shadowscotland said:
google 'Passifying with alkali' for more info.

Interesting, I'd always used toothpaste after ketchup as it seemed cleaner afterwards, looks like i was doing it right all along!.

Oh and the third hit for "passifying with alkali" is now this thread!