How do you clean your radiators?

[Goose]

I've taken delivery of a Black Ice radiator for my first ever custom loop and i'd like to know how people clean a new radiator. I've done some research already but there's so much conflicting advice about how to do it.

So far i've decided on flushing it with white vinegar then warm tap water and finally with distilled water as these seem to be three common ways of doing it.

 

[Bugbait]

So far i've decided on flushing it with white vinegar then warm tap water and finally with distilled water as these seem to be three common ways of doing it.

That's what I do minus the tap water. De-ionised (battery water at Halfords) is so cheap that putting tap water anywhere near it seems a bad way to save a little bit of money. Then again, I live in London where the water is very hard so shouldn't ever go near a water loop at any time.

 

[Goose]

That's what I do minus the tap water. De-ionised (battery water at Halfords) is so cheap that putting tap water anywhere near it seems a bad way to save a little bit of money. Then again, I live in London where the water is very hard so shouldn't ever go near a water loop at any time.

Do you do de-ionised and distilled?

 

[Bugbait]

Just de-ionised. I use the same in my loop afterwards.

 

[pastymuncher]

I use de-ionised water and distilled vinegar to flush my rads. I warm the de-ionised water up in a kettle first as it can help dissolve/loosen any gunk in the rediators. I fill them and leave them for 15 minutes then give them a good shake (blanking caps on) then leave them for another 15 minutes and give them another good shake and empty it. Fill it with just de-ionised water and give it a really good shake and empty it. I then refill with de-ionised water and distilled vinegar and repeat the process. I empty into a clear jug this time to see the colour of the water and how much junk is still coming out. I carry on like this until the water is clear and no more bits are coming out. I then use Mayhems X1 in the completed loop as it has all the required additives to prevent corrosion and algae (it looks good too).

I have used Mayhems Blitz kits several times as well but it's expensive and in my opinion doesn't do any better than de-ionised water and distilled vinegar. When you do part two any debris it loosens is either going to keep pumping around the loop or gunk up the blocks in which case you will need to strip them again anyway. If anyone is going to use Mayhems Blitz then I think the best option would be to have a inline filter before the cpu blocks to catch any debris.

 

[MikeTimbers]

I have a submersible Eheim 1250 pump so I attach a hose from the pump to the rad and then fill a bath with water to cover the pump then just run it for a while. Yes, tap water. Then I leave it to dry.

 

[Goose]

Thanks for tips guys.

Is this uber cheap vinegar good enough or is does it need to be a specific type?

 

[Glanza]

Mayhems blitz kit as it's lasted me several builds and radiator flushes.

 

[TangoEchoAlpha]

It has to be tangy though!

 

[LuckyBenski]

I do everything mentioned above barring the Blitz kit:

- Fill with distilled water and shake around a lot. Don't forget to do this with the radiator half full so the air lets water slosh around causing turbulence. Then repeat with full radiator. They call it the radiator dance for a reason!

- Heat distilled water up in microwave and repeat above process. Hot water might help dissolve remaining flux. Remember radiators absorb and radiate heat so you might fill then refill to keep the water hot.

- Fill with dilute vinegar and do another radiator dance.

- two flushes with distilled.

- Set up a loop like MikeTimbers and circulate water flush residual vinegar and crud. I do this with a white mixing bowl as the reservoir so I can see what comes out.

This sounds meticulous but it really doesn't take long, just camp out by the kitchen sink and have at it. The vinegar you've shown looks fine!