Green 'bits' in the bottom of my reservoir

layte · 30 Sep 2011 at 08:22

Opened my case for the first time in a few months yesterday and noticed that my reservoir had a film of green gunk at the bottom of it. (pic below)

Checking the tubing and the clear plexi covers of both my GPU waterblocks shows nothing is residing in them, so only the reservoir. Now the question is, can I sort this out with a quick and lazy way or am I looking at a full teardown and rebuild?

prt · 30 Sep 2011 at 08:38

sounds to me like a strip and clean job, always seems best way to me.
Start a fresh with just water and ptnuke

rjk · 30 Sep 2011 at 18:39

teardown and rebuild

what biocide are you using?

JeffyB · 30 Sep 2011 at 20:27

Would also recommend a full teardown, thorough flush and rebuild. How long was the liquid in the loop before it did that? Also what make rad do you have, was it flushed properly before you built the loop?

Amidar · 30 Sep 2011 at 23:15

rjkoneill said:
teardown and rebuild

what biocide are you using?

None by the look of it, that does look like algae.

eggcup · 1 Oct 2011 at 00:04

could be dye seperation?

pat_c · 2 Oct 2011 at 11:27

eggcup said:
could be dye seperation?

Hazard a guess, dye separation or some additive, algae usually makes the water very cloudy and the green is a lot darker with a slimy film visible on the clear plastics.

mmj_uk · 2 Oct 2011 at 13:17

If it's dye you might need to clean out your CPU block as well, the heat plate might be clogged.

Biffa · 2 Oct 2011 at 14:52

Not dye, most likely the inhibitors in the premix. Heres a good thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18184773

Dyes can breakdown obviously but dont clog, the just stain parts.

DirectOverkill · 2 Oct 2011 at 15:21

Algaes are usually green.

twist3d0n3 · 2 Oct 2011 at 18:39

DirectOverkill said:
Algaes are usually green.

NO ****

looks like something separated, can't be sure from the pic though.

as has been said, strip it and redo

layte · 3 Oct 2011 at 12:46

Thanks for the replies chaps.

I was using Termochill EC6 Clear liquid in my loop, which apparently did not require any extra additives. It has been just over 12 months since everything was installed so I guess it is just time for me to clean it all out (boo!)

This time I have purchased some Mayhams Ultra Pure H2O, some generic Copper Sulphate based biocide and a silver kill coil. just as everything arrived I realised that I will need some kind of anti corrosion additive as well?

GoogalyMoogaly · 3 Oct 2011 at 13:03

layte said:
will need some kind of anti corrosion additive as well?

It depends what metals you have in your loop.
As I understand it if you're just using copper, nickel and brass (the most common I believe) you should be ok. Aluminium and copper don't play nice together so if you have those then you probably will need an inhibitor.

layte · 3 Oct 2011 at 13:17

Ah that's OK then. Cheers.

scottmuir424 · 3 Oct 2011 at 13:31

a little clean out and refill should do the trick

skyripper · 3 Oct 2011 at 15:04

I found Vanish and warm water helped to get some stubborn crud out of my reservoir. Just rinse it well afterwards.

layte · 3 Oct 2011 at 20:08

Seems I should read the packaging a bit more closely in future. It appears that the EC6 Clear liquid also has a UV reactive dye, I guess this is what has gunked up my reservoir.