How often do you clean your WC loop?

coldfused · 28 Jul 2014 at 16:34

I've been really lazy and I haven't cleaned my WC loop since I first put it together which was in the Summer of 2012. The water looks murky

. I should really get around to doing it at some point...

So I'm just wondering: When was the last time you cleaned your loop and how often do you clean it?

Ben Cole · 28 Jul 2014 at 16:36

Never in 3 years.

Drained it when I changed GPU and couldn't see any issues.

I am using good quality coolant though.

Nickolp1974 · 28 Jul 2014 at 17:58

when i change my PC, so every 4-6months!!!

Tonester0011 · 28 Jul 2014 at 18:31

Same as Nick, just more often

Finners · 28 Jul 2014 at 18:45

Will be 2 years in October for me without found anything to mine. Still looks clear and temps are good but I really should drain and clean it at some point.

coldfused · 28 Jul 2014 at 22:40

I took some photos of it and realised that the coolant level in the reservoir is pretty low. The temperature remains pretty low at idle, I'm not sure if the Lamptron sensors are accurate, I think they need calibrating. Delta T is probably 12 degrees

. I've been using Mayhem X1 Blood Red Premix.

The setup:

Reservoir looks murky. Not the best of shots.

Temperature. Fan 1 is the coolant temperature.

A little dust

Mayhems · 28 Jul 2014 at 23:00

liquids cooling must be cleaned out every 12 months how ever just a flush with di will do the trick and every 3 years you should go thought a full maintenance cycle. such as a acid clean for the rad and a full Ph clean through the loop. This is standard in Hvac systems and should be the same with normal water cooling.

panyan · 28 Jul 2014 at 23:27

Mayhems said:
liquids cooling must be cleaned out every 12 months how ever just a flush with di will do the trick

awesome, that is what i do yearly

BenchX · 28 Jul 2014 at 23:41

Big systems maybe 6 months, but most of the liquids now can hold for 1 year. The point is, who loves Water Cooling, loves to change liquid color, or tube 2 or 3 times in a year xD

stuie · 29 Jul 2014 at 10:05

Ive not done mine since I built it april 2013, a little over due but im using pastel which still looks clean and im waiting for some stuff to come in at ocuk before making an order

matt100 · 29 Jul 2014 at 10:15

I've not done mine since I changed my gfx card last which was January 2013. I only ever use deionised water now after ruining some blocks with performance fluis in the past. Still crystal clear.. never had any issues around gunking up to be honest.

sockky · 29 Jul 2014 at 10:21

Mine is coming up to 12 months now, I like to find other reasons to drain my loop though.

So I think i'm going to switch out my case and go acrylic tubing, maybe copper if it's possible. Make it shiiiinnee.

Resa69 · 29 Jul 2014 at 12:05

How are you gonna get rid of all the dust

coldfused · 29 Jul 2014 at 12:45

Resa69 said:
How are you gonna get rid of all the dust

I used a canned air duster before but it doesn't work that well. I think I'll wait till I add a new GFX before completely cleaning/draining the loop but I'm not sure when that'll be since I don't game that often nowadays

.

Prophet · 29 Jul 2014 at 12:49

I built my first RC rig in 2001 and retired it in 2007. I used a mixture of distilled water and antifreeze which lasted the whole time. Very little degradation and only slightly tube discolouration.

The main issue was dust in the 120mm fan which I had to clean every couple of weeks.