tubes changing color and gunk

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 15:55

in February this year, I have changed my tubing to XSPC 7/16" ID [16/11mm] High Flex Hose - Clear.
Done that a long after it started to get blue'ish - in July

in July, I was blaming on algae and lack of silver coil...

time has come and in February, changed the tubing and flashed whole system.

almost half a year later - now, water is changing its color to blue again and this time, there is some more gunk in tubes...not sure what is going on...
need to get new tubes and flush it all again

any ideas what can cause that ??

anyone care to advise how to flush it all properly to try and avoid it from happening again ?

it looks like this :

james_2k · 4 Jul 2013 at 15:57

you were using plain water?

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:01

distilled

Mynight · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:08

Do you use biocide?

What state are your water blocks in? I have a friends whose system turned green then a lighter version of your blue turned out his old water block had corroded.

Quick read up on blue water and apparantly it can be caused by high ph level, new unflushed copper, high use of flux and water if left to stand for long periods.

Read flushing with diluted vinegar can remove any crap left over if normal flushing wont shift it.

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:26

blocks are clean, used some anti-corro and silver coil

water is in move almost all the time

james_2k · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:27

oh ok, ive always used coolant premixed. and have never had any problems with gunking.

Mynight · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:30

For now I can only suggest magic

Ill keep looking see if I can find a reason though

andybird123 · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:40

What anticorrosive do you use?

Silver kill coil works by corroding in to the water to kill things, anticorro wants to stop this happening, so either all your anti corrosive is being used up too quickly, or your biocidal kill coil isn't working, would be my guess

Home mixing is fraught with this kind of problem of not knowing what the interactions could be, you are better off using a complete package, even if you use a concentrate that you just make up with distilled (I have used Toyota red without issue for several years)

Diagro · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:53

I only use distilled and a kill coil. Never had an issue

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 16:55

cant remember what make it is but bought it a while back from specialtech

what do you mean by complete package ?

and need to get a drain point next time I change tubes...it is a pain without it..

andybird123 · 4 Jul 2013 at 17:27

a premixed coolant, wether its a "PC watercooling" one, or car coolant, everything in it will be designed and tested to work together, so you won't get problems with interactions of your own additives which is what sounds like is happening in your case

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 17:40

andybird123 said:
a premixed coolant, wether its a "PC watercooling" one, or car coolant, everything in it will be designed and tested to work together, so you won't get problems with interactions of your own additives which is what sounds like is happening in your case

am looking for new tubes at the moment.

just need to find a way to clean all parts properly....
pain will be in making sure rad is clean and pump - I have pump in res

Mynight · 4 Jul 2013 at 17:57

Get it all hooked up in the bath. Flush it through using the pump. All I did when cleaning. Admittedly mine wasnt anywhere near as bad but it should do just fine

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 18:06

Mynight said:
Get it all hooked up in the bath. Flush it through using the pump. All I did when cleaning. Admittedly mine wasnt anywhere near as bad but it should do just fine

hmm...might just take all off without disconnecting ... and clean in the bath tube.

will try to get 2x5l bottles of distilled water from halfords.

time to order new tubing for next weekend
have found HydrX but would need 2 or 3 which makes extra £10

will car coolants work (

)

can I get at OCuk drain parts ?

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 18:20

would
Halfords Antifreeze & Coolant Concentrate work in PC loop ?

Mynight · 4 Jul 2013 at 18:26

Ask a chemist it will be a hell of a lot cheaper than halfords and it will actually be distilled. All I ever found at halfords was de-ionised.

I could be completely wrong but I think you'll find the coolant for cars is more viscous for bigger pumps.

bastic · 4 Jul 2013 at 18:42

ask chemist for a coolant ?

Mynight · 4 Jul 2013 at 19:08

Ask a chemist for distilled water sorry. The halfords in my area only sell deionised water. At £8 for 5ltrs is an absolute rip off. I phoned my local chemist (boots) they ordered distilled for me for £5 for 10ltrs and had it in by the end of the day.

OptimaLnrg · 4 Jul 2013 at 20:38

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=WC-051-AQ&groupid=962&catid=1531&subcat=2414

andybird123 · 4 Jul 2013 at 20:38

distilled you can often get in supermarkets for cheap
if you are going to use car coolant, use the silicate free stuff

I had toyota red recommended to me as being PC watercooling safe, I mix it up 20:80
I've not tried any other car coolants so can't be 100% sure