Man of Honour
There shouldn't be any corrosion with X1 so something weird is going on here. There's no kill coil in the loop is there?
One year on and my tubing and/or fluid is going green.
- Thread starter Goose
- Start date
Nope, nothing. HardwareLabs radiators, Barrow Fittings, XSPC and Bykski waterblocks, EK Pump/res and it ran with nothing but X1 premix.
Would you agree with @LePhuronn that the fluid coming out of my radiators is greenish/blueish/turquoise simply from the vinegar reacting with the copper rather than from the vinegar dissolving corrosion?
Personally I would agree as when i first bought the radiators the same colour fluid came out when i started cleaning them in the same method. Either that or my brand new radiators arrived already corroded somehow.
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I wouldn't be using vinegar at all, hence my suggestion of Part 1 and then distilled, which you say came out clean?
The next step should have been part 2, which would neutralise any remaining residue and balance the PH ready for final thorough rinsing, then filling.
To clarify, you used Part 1, it was clear after full rinsing, and then you used vinegar? How come?
I'd be giving it a very, very thorough rinse with distilled, as you've essentially added a contaminant & acid, then try a full Part 2 run to see what the fluid is like after draining, and then rinsing.
Stop using vinegar dude. Part 1 is acidic, you don't need anything else.
The next step should have been part 2, which would neutralise any remaining residue and balance the PH ready for final thorough rinsing, then filling.
To clarify, you used Part 1, it was clear after full rinsing, and then you used vinegar? How come?
I'd be giving it a very, very thorough rinse with distilled, as you've essentially added a contaminant & acid, then try a full Part 2 run to see what the fluid is like after draining, and then rinsing.
Stop using vinegar dude. Part 1 is acidic, you don't need anything else.
The part 1 came out greenish/blue, flushing it with plain water was clear. After I posted those results Pasty recommended I continue flushing with vinegar to see if more colour comes out.
Soldato
You're seeing aqueous copper acetate from the vinegar (acetic acid) reacting with the copper.
Personally, I've never flushed any of my kit with anything other than copious quantities of very hot tap water and vigorous shaking. Not that I recommend it for anyone else, I've always used the same concentrated coolant used in my car in my pc for the last 7 years at a weaker dilution ratio. I've not had so much as a hint of corrosion in that time. Clearly something with that X1 premix that you used wasn't right or something chemically reacted with it which rendered it's corrosion inhibitors useless.
Exactly. Frankly, I'd imagine the coolant you use is perfectly suitable, it's almost the exact same application, at lower temperatures. Tap water will be so diluted by coolant it's probably not a problem, personally I always do a last flush with Distilled, but then I often leave components for a while disconnected.
When Goose opened the loop, it smelled strongly of vinegar. I'm now convinced a pocket of vinegar (which sounds like it was undiluted!!) was left in the loop, or it wasn't flushed properly. Adding additional vinegar seems to have exacerbated the issue.
I think that vinegar is just going to continue to cause you problems. I'm not casting aspersions at Pasty; we all have different experience, and thus opinions.
But you used Part1, which is much more potent than vinegar, and imo much more effective.
For me your next step is to flush, flush, flush until you're convinced there's nothing left, connect right to that tap if you can, or use a funnel. Then final flush with plenty of distilled / DI. Then run part 2, following the instructions and doing nothing else. Flush liberally again.
When you're sure it's clean, XT1 nuke, stronger concentrate than minimum. Check the loop regularly to see how it goes. I think if you leave the vinegar alone, you'll be fine.
Soldato
Can you now fill with distilled and actually run it for 24 hours throgh the loop Then drain that out which will bring anything out with it and then literally time to fill with proper stuff?
@WantoN @pugheaven
I'll manually fill and empty the radiators with distilled water a few times and hook them up to the pump/res to run blitz part 2 for 24 hours. I'll then continue to run the loop for another day or two with distilled water, changing the water every few hours.
I'll manually fill and empty the radiators with distilled water a few times and hook them up to the pump/res to run blitz part 2 for 24 hours. I'll then continue to run the loop for another day or two with distilled water, changing the water every few hours.
Man of Honour
I have never had any problems with cleaning rads, including the pair of Hardware Labs GTX's that I am running now, using distilled vinegar and never had any blue/green colouring in the water. Each treatment with vinegar always became clearer until there was just clear liquid and then the radiators got a really good flushing before being connected to my loop and filled with X1.
Anyone have any suggestions on how to clean this?
https://imgur.com/a/3optObD
Hopefully you can see the ring of grime where the o-ring goes. So far a toothbrush and water has done nothing at all. I dont want to use any chemicals because i dont what's safe to use on acrylic.
Thanks.
https://imgur.com/a/3optObD
Hopefully you can see the ring of grime where the o-ring goes. So far a toothbrush and water has done nothing at all. I dont want to use any chemicals because i dont what's safe to use on acrylic.
Thanks.
Soldato
I can't access imgur at work (boo hiss to slowly transitioning back to the office
) but I have a feeling this could be your first piece of actual bad news.IF the smell of vinegar you got from the rads does mean there was some vinegar still running around your loop, it is possible you've now etched your acrylic and that gunk is baked in. Vinegar is too acidic for acrylic to handle and it will damage it, and if this is the case then scrubbing won't do anything other than scratch up your acrylic even further.
Again this is off the top of my head not seeing your pictures, but there is the possibility you could polish the acrylic back up. I presume we're talking about a CPU or GPU block here, is there an o-ring channel on the acrylic, or is it flat? In either case, you may be able to sand off the baked in and damaged acrylic surface (I doubt it's going to be deep) to clean it up, then polish it back up to clear.
Acrylic polish is certainly cheaper than replacing a block, and it'll take some elbow grease, but it is a possibility.
I can try and confirm if I'm talking out of my rear when I can see your picture
Edit:
This is what's involved with polishing acrylic, especially damaged stuff
https://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/advice/working-with-plastic/how-to-polish-acrylic/
https://www.theplasticpeople.co.uk/blog/remove-scratches-from-acrylic/
https://plasticsheetsshop.co.uk/polishing-acrylic/
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@LePhuronn
It's actually the bottom section of my EK pump/res combo. I've soaked it in hot soapy water and i'm able to remove some of the gunk/stain with a soft sponge (i can see it on the sponge) although the acrylic part never actually seems to look any better.
Speaking of the pump/res i need to replace both o-rings as they turned a horrible shade of puke green. The only place to buy them is from EK directly but they want 13 Euros delivery!
These are the ones I need and i've tried looking for them to purchase in the UK.
The closest i've found is 52x3 and NBR70. I've no idea how critical it is get ones that are NBR50 as per the EK specifications.
It's actually the bottom section of my EK pump/res combo. I've soaked it in hot soapy water and i'm able to remove some of the gunk/stain with a soft sponge (i can see it on the sponge) although the acrylic part never actually seems to look any better.
Speaking of the pump/res i need to replace both o-rings as they turned a horrible shade of puke green. The only place to buy them is from EK directly but they want 13 Euros delivery!
These are the ones I need and i've tried looking for them to purchase in the UK.
The closest i've found is 52x3 and NBR70. I've no idea how critical it is get ones that are NBR50 as per the EK specifications.
Soldato
EK's customer support is excellent. If you're on Facebook, get yourself into the Watercooled PC group and post there for either Jake LaRue or Atila Gabor. See if they can help out.
There was an EK rep on these forums but I don't think he's active any more.
As for those specific o rings, NBR is the material it's made from (Nitrile) and 50 is the "Shore", or hardness. The higher the Shore, the harder it is. So if EK are using 50 Shore o-rings, it's likely that's because their res design requires a certain amount of "squish" to seal for their design, and therefore 75 shore o-rings won't "squish" enough.
There was an EK rep on these forums but I don't think he's active any more.
As for those specific o rings, NBR is the material it's made from (Nitrile) and 50 is the "Shore", or hardness. The higher the Shore, the harder it is. So if EK are using 50 Shore o-rings, it's likely that's because their res design requires a certain amount of "squish" to seal for their design, and therefore 75 shore o-rings won't "squish" enough.
Soldato
Goose, I';ve just started a private convo with you...
Soldato
It’s only the hardness so I wouldn’t think it would make any difference considering the price difference.
With regards to the cleaning I’d just use a very fine wood pick, or chop a cotton bud stick at 45 degrees and see if you can gently clean it out that way. Failing that then a cotton bud and some fine polish perhaps.
@pastymuncher
So i had a go at my cpu block with lime and grime and a toothbrush for 20 minutes or so and it now looks like this.
Significantly better than before (see here) but a decent amount of discolouration remains. Would you recommend that i keep trying to get it spotless or is this good enough?
So i had a go at my cpu block with lime and grime and a toothbrush for 20 minutes or so and it now looks like this.
Significantly better than before (see here) but a decent amount of discolouration remains. Would you recommend that i keep trying to get it spotless or is this good enough?
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Soldato
I'd give it another go just to be sure.
I took my GPU block apart and looks like the nickel has protected it quite well. There are some small green areas on the nickel and the acrylic that i've tried to highlight in the pictures but i'm not sure what chemical i can use to clean it without damaging the nickel or acrylic.
Below is a picture of the other half of the CPU block. It's not super clear in the picture but there are some areas that need cleaning but i'm not sure how to proceed because i dont want to damage the o-ring. As far as i can tell the o-ring isn't meant to come out.
I might try using a q-tip tipped in the lime and grime.
Below is a picture of the other half of the CPU block. It's not super clear in the picture but there are some areas that need cleaning but i'm not sure how to proceed because i dont want to damage the o-ring. As far as i can tell the o-ring isn't meant to come out.
I might try using a q-tip tipped in the lime and grime.
Man of Honour
That's much better, not perfect but I don't think you will get it much better than that. Take the O-ring out of the top and then clean it. It should come out easily enough. Do not use Lime and Grime on the gpu block as it should not be used on nickel or chrome.
The o-ring sits almost flush and looks like it would be a real struggle to actually get it out and i'm worried about damaging in the process.
The GPU block was in a decent state (relatively) and I was able to clean it with hot water.