Radiator Lifespan

chroniclard · 8 Jul 2018 at 22:31

Currently have a 360 and a 240 rad in my system as I was new to water cooling I didnt want to spend a huge amount so I bought most of my parts second hand on here, including the 2 rads.

Question is, how long do radiators last as I have no real idea how old they actually are?

BluD · 8 Jul 2018 at 23:20

I bought some rads in 2002 that I used till 2016, I only changed them out cause I wanted larger rads that fitted my new case. I've bought loads of second hand water cooling gear on here and the only items that have let me down are pumps, they always seem to be on their last legs when I buy them second hand, so I would always buy my d5 pumps new.

pastymuncher · 9 Jul 2018 at 09:37

How long is a piece of string? You can't really put a lifetime on things such as rads. If you use good coolants with additives and don't mix metals in the loop then theoretically they could outlive you. Mix metals in the loop (especially aluminium) and only use tap water and they won't last long at all. That's the worse case scenario though. I have a Thermochill PA120.3 from when they swapped to 15mm fan spacing (2009?) and that looks as good as new still both inside and out.

I have had the opposite to BluD with regards to pumps. I have only just retired my pair of trusty Aquaextreme 50z's which I have had since 2005 and they haven't let me down once. I only retired them because I was fed up with the high pitched whine that they make and tried my luck with a Alphacool VPP655 (D5 vario). I was chuffed to bits to find that it was completely silent even when turned up to 5!!

chroniclard · 9 Jul 2018 at 09:52

Thanks for the input.

Think its mostly weather related but things are quite hot inside the PC at the moment also its probably been about 6 months so maybe due a clean up/fluid change. I used mayhems water, red dye and a silver coil thing in the reservoir, no other additives. While the pumps were second hand D5's they were actually new so ok there.

Think I am just itching to change something at the moment and felt like getting some top quality rads.

Glanza · 9 Jul 2018 at 10:25

Providing you look after your loop and don't damage any of the thins then the old 'how longs a piece of string' I've got rads I've been using for years and they still do the job well.