How often do you clean your loop

fewfe3 · 11 Apr 2018 at 20:40

Was just watching a tech tips video on cleaning your Waterloop and it got me thinking

How often do you clean your loop and what lengths to go.

I have been watercooling about 4 years and have never opened my cpu block to clean
Only changes the tubing 3 times and the water a couple more times.
Is this bad for it?

vintage-x · 11 Apr 2018 at 20:43

fewfe3 said:
Was just watching a tech tips video on cleaning your Waterloop and it got me thinking

How often do you clean your loop and what lengths to go.

I have been watercooling about 4 years and have never opened my cpu block to clean
Only changes the tubing 3 times and the water a couple more times.
Is this bad for it?

if its still working fine then I cant really see an issue.

Kei · 11 Apr 2018 at 22:31

With a good quality coolant, you can probably squeeze 5 years out of it between changes. I usually end up changing hardware within 3-4 years so the coolant doesn't get pushed beyond this. In that time, I've never had any issues with corrosion or coolant degrading.

If you have the loop drained, it's not hard to check the cpu block for debris caught in the fins just by looking down through the inlet and outlet ports. Gpu blocks are not so easy to check, but generally, the cpu block is a good enough indicator as to the likely condition of the rest of the components in the loop.

fewfe3 · 12 Apr 2018 at 13:02

This makes me feel not too bad then. It seems to be working fine.
Only ever used distilled water, with some colour concentrate. Will have to check the CPU block when I next take it apart.

Glanza · 12 Apr 2018 at 13:19

Once a year full strip and clean and replace any piping that has faded.

Bugbait · 12 Apr 2018 at 13:48

Way back when I had more time I would drain the loop every 6-12 months, not because it needed it necessary, just for something to do. These days I just change the fluid when I need to add/remove a component or there is actually something wrong (clogging or a leak). My last configuration ran for almost 4 years without a drain but the radiator developed a small leak in one of the cooling channels. That's the main reason I always go for clear (Plexi) tops instead of Acetel, easier to see if something is wrong inside the block. I also personally prefer the look of them.