New rad, should I flush through first

Petrolhead · 23 Oct 2020 at 15:52

Getting a new EK PE360 rad

before using it should I flush it through with cold water to get rid of any manufacturing crap that may be inside?

andy_mk3 · 23 Oct 2020 at 16:02

Yes always. Some say to use white vinegar I believe.

Either way you don't want anything that could have been left behind from manufacturing in your loop.

Smffy · 23 Oct 2020 at 16:11

Petrolhead said:
Getting a new EK PE360 rad

before using it should I flush it through with cold water to get rid of any manufacturing crap that may be inside?

1000000000000% yes you wont believe what comes out. Distilled vinegar from tesco and water, shake and pour, repeat until clear comes out no flux.

Vidar · 23 Oct 2020 at 16:28

As above, I was genuinely surprised at how much gunk came out of my rads

MeddlE · 23 Oct 2020 at 18:23

Totally agree with the above, absolutely needed step. I was actually surprised that nothing came of of my latest Alphacool rad though.

Awahwah · 23 Oct 2020 at 18:48

I've had rads produce loads of rubbish and some none. My last EK, EK in the past have been dirty, produced nothing.

Worth the peace of mind though.

3t3P · 23 Oct 2020 at 18:57

of course always flush. I just flushed a 140 corsair and was very clean tbh. I also used a few drops of mayhems prep 2 and shook it around.

Defy Belief · 23 Oct 2020 at 19:14

Yeah you'll find loads of little black bits inside so just do it until it's clean

Robzere31 · 23 Oct 2020 at 23:28

Definitely, I just washed out my new 420mm EK rad. No bits in it but got a load of blue coloured liquid out of it.
No idea what it was but would have been a bit miffed if that ended up in my new loop.

clone · 25 Oct 2020 at 09:40

Both my alphacool rads where clean but I still flushed with white vinegar 50/50 with hot water and let them sit for a while then flushed with tap water and built the loop with the xspc filter and ran it with water I bought from ocuk,ran that a few hour's then put the mayhem's clear in.

Petrolhead · 25 Oct 2020 at 16:12

Would it be ok to run the loop with just deionised water for 2 days only

andy_mk3 · 25 Oct 2020 at 16:18

Petrolhead said:
Would it be ok to run the loop with just deionised water for 2 days only

Not ideal, and debris count get trapped in your blocks.

Petrolhead · 25 Oct 2020 at 16:20

no idea what said:
Not ideal, and debris count get trapped in your blocks.

Well i have flushed the rad. Debris could get trapped with any liquid i suppose

andy_mk3 · 25 Oct 2020 at 16:23

Petrolhead said:
Well i have flushed the rad. Debris could get trapped with any liquid i suppose

If you flush it outside of the loop then debris would not be in the loop.

Hakanese · 25 Oct 2020 at 19:46

As tempting as it is to cut corners, don't. Everything you do now will potentially save you a massive headache later. I wash and flush my rads, blocks, and fittings and tubes. That maybe a bit OCD of me, but I have never had any weird gunk grow in my loops, or weird things block up the fins of my blocks, and I mainly maintain my loops maybe 6-10 months at a time

Petrolhead · 25 Oct 2020 at 19:56

Hakanese said:
As tempting as it is to cut corners, don't. Everything you do now will potentially save you a massive headache later. I wash and flush my rads, blocks, and fittings and tubes. That maybe a bit OCD of me, but I have never had any weird gunk grow in my loops, or weird things block up the fins of my blocks, and I mainly maintain my loops maybe 6-10 months at a time

No, i have the proper fluid but OC sent the wrong fitting so will have to wait until they arrive so just want to do a trial run

LuckyBenski · 5 Nov 2020 at 01:25

Absolutely flush new radiators - could be anything from soldering flux, machining burrs or paint overspray in there. I like to use hot water and shake thoroughly for several repetitions, then do the same with dilute vinegar (50/50 at strongest). Finish with a few good rinses with distilled water and even run a loop circulating through the radiator, with a bowl to catch any crud.

Robzere31 said:
Definitely, I just washed out my new 420mm EK rad. No bits in it but got a load of blue coloured liquid out of it.
No idea what it was but would have been a bit miffed if that ended up in my new loop.

That's dissolved copper, leaving acid in the radiator for a while will start breaking the copper down. Not a big deal if it's just a blue tint but obviously don't repeat it too often! Were you using vinegar? You could dilute it a little more if so.