Deposits in block

Soldato
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I built my loop about 3 weeks ago. Every thing I used was brand new, EK CPU/GP blocks, EK ZMT tubing, EK fittings (along with a couple of Barrow fittings), EK DDC pump and Iceman reservoir. I also used premix EK clear coolant.

The Corsair radiator (which I believe is a rebranded Hardware Labs radiator) stated it was pre-flushed at the factory. Never the less, I still rinsed it out a couple of times with deionised water (easier to find in the UK than distilled).

I noticed today that there are some deposits in the GPU block and a sort of white substance floating in the reservoir. Temps don't seem to be affected but I'm wondering what this could be?

I plan to dismantle the loop soon as I'm going to make some changes to the case layout so will more than likely dismantle the block and clean it but keen for it not to happen again when I rebuild the loop.

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Associate
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Sometimes crap just gets in the loop, did you clean and rinse the pump/res, and blocks? I normally do a warm water shake and soak- for rads.
Only thing to do is dismantle it, clean it, rinse it, and put it back together.
It doesn't matter what they say about preflushed rads, and components, always take the time to clean your components out before assembly, as crap always finds a way to get in.
I doubt very much it is the coolant as EK premix is pretty good, I use deionised water and add a biocide and inhibitor from Mayhems, though I have used XSPC in the past too. But only times I've had crud in the loop, is when I didn't clean my parts as I was in a hurry to get the loop up and running
 
Soldato
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I cleaned and rinsed the radiator but none of the other components. I've also seen it suggested that EK ZMT can sometimes have powder inside of it. I plan to strip the loop this weekend so will give everything a good rinse then. Will flush the loop with deionised water before I strip it. I plan to try Mayhems clear premix this time around.
 
Associate
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as long as you are not using pastel colours, less likely to have crap floating in the loop. Whenever getting new parts, regardless of whether it states that is has been pre-flushed, i flush it anyways as you never know what may pop up (1 part boiled water, 2 part white vinegar, then final rinse with deionized water).. this includes blocks too. Sucks if you start getting random metal shavings circulating.
 
Soldato
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as long as you are not using pastel colours, less likely to have crap floating in the loop. Whenever getting new parts, regardless of whether it states that is has been pre-flushed, i flush it anyways as you never know what may pop up (1 part boiled water, 2 part white vinegar, then final rinse with deionized water).. this includes blocks too. Sucks if you start getting random metal shavings circulating.
Yeah. Although pastels look nice, they can be a nightmare. I built my first custom loop in 2020 and used pastels, was a disaster as the colour fell out of it and stained my blocks. Waste of time me using pastels anyway using ZMT tubing.
 

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V F

Soldato
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Did you find out what it was? It almost looks kind of chalky? As if it was air bubbles that left marks from some chalk dust...
 
Associate
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I find that not only do I have to flush the radiator no matter how great the claims are by the manufacturer, but also create turbulence for a number of hours whilst doing so by actually pumping the flushing water around inside it. I've also discovered that by the time I've gone to the trouble of hooking the pump and tubing up to it, that I may as well have gone the whole hog and used a cleaning solution all the while, such as vinegar or Mayhems part 1 prior to the flush, and Mayhems part 2 as the actual flushing liquid to be pumped around followed up with some rinses with purified water.
 
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Soldato
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So I spent Saturday evening and all day yesterday stripping my PC down and rebuilding, details here: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/35388305

On cleaning the block, I'm still not sure what the deposits were. I believe it could either have been powder from the inside of the ZMT tubing (have seen this mentioned elsewhere) along with a mixture of an issue with the coolant. The GPU block had a faint white layer on the plexi, while the inlet and outlet ports to the block had faint green deposits (growth?).

When I rebuilt the loop yesterday, I used a new CPU block, stripped down the GPU block and cleaned it, made up new tubing runs and flushed everything out. I used a warm water/vinegar solution on the radiator and then flushed that until the pH was as close to neutral as I could get it (I bought some pH testing paper).

I'm also using Mayhems X1 Clear premix this time around. The problem with changing so many things is knowing what the original problem was but I'm leaning towards the coolant or residue in the tubing.
 
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It does look like powder sort of thing amd it looks to me like it's not in the water path but on the outside of it? It could be anything but I reckon you are correct and it was the tubing. My zmt tubing was filthy, after setting my loop up my hands were black.
 
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