Disgusting Loop

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:44

I wonder why my water is green, did I add some cleaner to it - I can't remember, or is it from the reaction of metals?

So I think it's a copper radiator, nickel/copper blocks and I put a silver coil in the pump when I first set it up - not knowing that was an issue, I assume that was the issue...

Now I'm going to move the system into a new tower, and I want more radiators - do I use the existing loop and add radiators without worry?

I want to upgrade in the future though, and I didn't fancy buying all new blocks.

Untitled by dancook1982, on Flickr

Untitled by
dancook1982, on Flickr

Untitled by dancook1982, on Flickr

Akagi · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:50

How long ago did you set it up? Have you ever done any maintenance or changed the fluid etc?

Schizo · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:51

Looks like it is years old and has not been cleaned every 6 months.

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:51

Acme said:
How long ago did you set it up? Have you ever done any maintenance or changed the fluid etc?

Less than 18 months ago.

I have done no maintenance, except remove the foam in the resevoir when it disintegrated and blocked it - and topped up water.

It was so beautiful

https://danielcook.com/2016/12/03/custom-watercooled-pc/

Akagi · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:53

Looks quite bad for 18 months but yeah definitely due a clean out...

This is why I never bothered with custom water. I couldn't be arsed with the faff.

What kind of fluid have you been using? I'd only ever use something like Mayhems. - Tends to stay cleaner for longer.

Was it just distilled water?

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:55

Acme said:
Looks quite bad for 18 months but yeah definitely due a clean out...

This is why I never bothered with custom water. I couldn't be arsed with the faff.

What kind of fluid have you been using? I'd only ever use something like Mayhems. - Tends to stay cleaner for longer.

Was it just distilled water?

Yes just distilled water, I read later on EK's website not to use silver coil as it reacts with nickel plating, is that right? or does it react with copper and the nickel plating was too thing.. hmm

Akagi · 23 Apr 2018 at 08:56

I couldn't say, but if thats what the website says its probably right.

I'd drain it, flush it, take the blocks off and clean if necessary, and put some mayhems coolant in.

See if the tubes are OK first though. They might be stained etc.

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:11

Acme said:
I couldn't say, but if thats what the website says its probably right.

I'd drain it, flush it, take the blocks off and clean if necessary, and put some mayhems coolant in.

See if the tubes are OK first though. They might be stained etc.

Since I was looking at moving to a new PC, it'll have new tubes, a new pump/resevoir and three larger radiators - I guess that just leaves the blocks.. so if they can't do any damage to the new stuff, I'll keep using them.

Akagi · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:12

I'd just flush them through first, make sure they look nice and clean. Hopefully you won't have to take them apart.

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:13

Acme said:
I'd just flush them through first, make sure they look nice and clean. Hopefully you won't have to take them apart.

What you see is the nickel plating that's been eroded away (by the silver, I checked) to reveal the copper.

I'm not sure about 'looking clean' anymore

but I can look into cleaning them anyway

Akagi · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:16

Ah, in which case I'll let one of the people more experience with watercooling advise on this one!

Not sure if that is likely to cause issue. With remaining bits of nickel flaking away and blocking coolant channels etc.

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:28

Acme said:
Ah, in which case I'll let one of the people more experience with watercooling advise on this one!

Not sure if that is likely to cause issue. With remaining bits of nickel flaking away and blocking coolant channels etc.

Thanks, I also did what I should have probably done from the start - email EKWB

So I built this in December 2016

As far as I understand the silver coil I added to the reservoir caused the nickel plating to erode.

Later the mesh in the pump became brittle and blocked the pump and I had to remove it in bits.

I want to move my system to a new case (before later upgrading)

Will my current CPU and GPU blocks be ok in a new system with new radiators/tubing/pump/reservoir?

pastymuncher · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:38

Those blocks need to be stripped down and thoroughly cleaned. To be honest I would remove all of the remianing nickel plating that comes into contact with the fluid to rule out possible future problems. A lot of it is gone anyway so you may as well take it back to bare copper.

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 09:42

pastymuncher said:
Those blocks need to be stripped down and thoroughly cleaned. To be honest I would remove all of the remianing nickel plating that comes into contact with the fluid to rule out possible future problems. A lot of it is gone anyway so you may as well take it back to bare copper.

Ok cheers, I've found these resource - I have lots of white vinegar, so some how remove the nickel coating and then clean.

https://www.ekwb.com/blog/how-to-clean-water-blocks/

Glanza · 23 Apr 2018 at 10:20

Strip and clean, maybe run a blitz kit through your loop also.

ChrisD. · 23 Apr 2018 at 10:22

I've had Mayhems in mine for a year and I haven't touched it, still looks as good as the day I installed it. I've been tempted to actually rip it all out, clean it all and start again with fresh tubing as some of the cuts are quite long.

Bugbait · 23 Apr 2018 at 11:01

Odd about the Nickel given that the Anodic index:

Silver, solid or plated; monel metal. High nickel-copper alloys −0.15
Nickel, solid or plated, titanium an s alloys, Monel −0.30
Copper, solid or plated; low brasses or bronzes; silver solder; German silvery high copper-nickel alloys; nickel-chromium alloys −0.35

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 11:06

Bugbait said:
Odd about the Nickel given that the Anodic index:

Silver, solid or plated; monel metal. High nickel-copper alloys −0.15
Nickel, solid or plated, titanium an s alloys, Monel −0.30
Copper, solid or plated; low brasses or bronzes; silver solder; German silvery high copper-nickel alloys; nickel-chromium alloys −0.35

The message from EKWB I got in the early stages of erosion

"If you are using a silver coil in the loop, than this is probably the cause of this as it is not compatible with Nickel plating and it can lead to a corrosion. This are probably the early signs of corrosion because of the silver coil you are using."

I thought I'd find some online material about it, first thing is they say to refrain from using strip of silver

https://www.ekwb.com/blog/antimicrobial-algae-protection/

and some other related discussion over it
https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooli..._coils_and_ek_blocks/?st=jgc2sewj&sh=aa225ba3

Bugbait · 23 Apr 2018 at 11:12

I've read the same. The other side of the coin is that many argue that it's the poor quality EK nickel plating to blame since nickel plated products from other manufacturers don't seem to degrade the same way in silver coil systems. My current monoblock is the first nickel plated product I've used from EK so it will be interesting to see how it degrades over time. I would've preferred a plain copper product like all my previous blocks but they only sell this version in nickel unfortunately. My GTX 1080Ti from Gigabyte also has a nickel plated block from the factory so it will be interesting to see if that also suffers from a break down in the plating.

dancook · 23 Apr 2018 at 11:15

I'm building my next PC in the Lian-Li V3000WX case for over the top amount of radiator cooling

and it'll go under my desk.. and not really a 'show pc' so I might just keep things non-fancy, no plexi + nickel