eh.. what on earth is this?
- Thread starter Diagro
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Soldato
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Any additives?
(looks like copper sulphate to me - a common biocide)
(looks like copper sulphate to me - a common biocide)
Last edited:
Soldato
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Copper salts
But why... I run all nickle blocks with plated brass barbs and alphacool nexxxos radiators :/
Only ran for 4 months so why has this happened?
Do I need corrosion inhibitors?
I have taken delivery of some premixed EK coolant which is clear so hopefully this wont happen again.
Replaceing the tubing aswell.
Only ran for 4 months so why has this happened?
Do I need corrosion inhibitors?
I have taken delivery of some premixed EK coolant which is clear so hopefully this wont happen again.
Replaceing the tubing aswell.
It may have come from the brass. Here is an abstract from the scientific journal surface and interface analysis.
Keywords:
XPS;AFM;copper;aqueous corrosion;brass
Abstract
Corrosion at the nano-thickness level is significant in the heat exchangers of power stations because of the subsequent transport of released copper throughout the steam/water circuit. One the most significant factors determining the extent of corrosion is the level of dissolved oxygen. In the work to be described, samples of admiralty brass have been exposed to pure water at 95°C at different oxygen levels: the oxygen level is monitored at very low concentrations by use of the oxidation–reduction potential.
All samples were characterized by measurement of the surface roughness using atomic force microscopy as a function of exposure time, and it will be shown that there is an excellent correlation between surface topography and the release of metal ions to solution. Representative samples were analysed using XPS and it is shown that a higher copper release rate is usually associated with the appearance of cupric oxide on the surface. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords:
XPS;AFM;copper;aqueous corrosion;brass
Abstract
Corrosion at the nano-thickness level is significant in the heat exchangers of power stations because of the subsequent transport of released copper throughout the steam/water circuit. One the most significant factors determining the extent of corrosion is the level of dissolved oxygen. In the work to be described, samples of admiralty brass have been exposed to pure water at 95°C at different oxygen levels: the oxygen level is monitored at very low concentrations by use of the oxidation–reduction potential.
All samples were characterized by measurement of the surface roughness using atomic force microscopy as a function of exposure time, and it will be shown that there is an excellent correlation between surface topography and the release of metal ions to solution. Representative samples were analysed using XPS and it is shown that a higher copper release rate is usually associated with the appearance of cupric oxide on the surface. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Anticorrosion stuff does work reasonably well. It'll never reduce the corrosion rate to zero though, copper is soluble in water and there's not much to be done about that. I suppose you could try painting a protective coating over the copper, realistically a form of epoxy, but it won't help your temperatures.
Copper will dissolve in the premixed cooland either. That's not a "cure".
On the other hand, you don't really have a problem in need of "curing". It isn't corroding at a rate that'll cause you problems. My pipes filled with algae when running deionised water, and that was annoying, but not fatal. Now I have a piece of silver in the reservoir and algae is nowhere to be seen.
You could add some copper sulphate to the water. That should stop copper dissolving (as there's already lots of copper in the water) and kill any algae that try to grow. Perhaps check whether sulphate ions attack solid copper faster than OH ions.
I'll try the copper sulphate route next time I pull the loop apart. It'll turn the water a nice blue colour too.
Copper will dissolve in the premixed cooland either. That's not a "cure".
On the other hand, you don't really have a problem in need of "curing". It isn't corroding at a rate that'll cause you problems. My pipes filled with algae when running deionised water, and that was annoying, but not fatal. Now I have a piece of silver in the reservoir and algae is nowhere to be seen.
You could add some copper sulphate to the water. That should stop copper dissolving (as there's already lots of copper in the water) and kill any algae that try to grow. Perhaps check whether sulphate ions attack solid copper faster than OH ions.
I'll try the copper sulphate route next time I pull the loop apart. It'll turn the water a nice blue colour too.