Watercooling - Cleaning before use

AFK_Matrix

AFK_Matrix

AFK_Matrix

Soldato
Joined
17 Dec 2004
Posts
2,501
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Crawley, WEST SUSSEX
Hi,

I am just about to flush my radiator out and have found a good article on how to do this. But it also mentions cleaning the waterblocks. I have actually attached the CPU & GPU blocks already, should I remove them and go through the process of cleaning them as well? Or will they be ok without cleaning?
 
Yes, you should.

I know its a PITA, heh, but 1) you want to clean off the machining oils and 2) you want to chek for metal shavings, because if they float down to the pump they can kill it.
 
Ok will take the blocks off and clean, that is a PITA lol. Also is Purified water the same as distilled water? I called boots up and they said they had distilled water but when my mum picked it up the bottle says purified.
 
Should more than good enough :)

Generally "Purified" means its reverse-osmosis purified and also deionized. I've used some for a while with no problem. Now I use "Ironing/Battery" DeIonized because i can find it a supermarket thats even closer to my flat... and well, I'm lazy :D
 
Ok I cleaned my rad and basically nothing came out lol must have been lucky and got a nice clean one :D .

So next stage is to clean my watercooling blocks. This is the guide I am following from xtremesystems.org:

Now that your done with the radiator we can move onto the waterblocks. Thankfully the waterlbocks are much easier to clean than the radiator. The first thing to do is to take the waterblock apart, and flush it with deionzied or distilled water. After you have flushed all of the parts, grab some vinegar and pour it into a glass or ceramic bowl. Plastics wont do as they can actually stain the waterblock. Once the bowl has been prepared, place ONLY the copper base of the waterblock in the bowl, making sure it is fully submerged and that only a small portion of it (non wetted surface) is touching the bowl. Set the baseplate stand in the vinegar from anywhere between 8-24 hours. Upon removal of the waterblock, flush it with disilled water and then lightly scrub it with a NEW toothbrush that has been cleaned off with rubbing alcohol and distilled water.
Click to expand...

Now I am a little confused by what he is saying in the bit I have highlighted. Does that mean that the copper baseplate can not touch the the glass bowl? And what does he mean by the Non wetted surface :confused:

And lastly what is the other name for rubbing alcohol, its something like isoproanal alcohol?
 
Maybe it means to take it apart, and only place the copper part (which makes up the baseplate) in the vinegar. Avoiding getting any on plastic parts of the block? I don't think it means literally the base - the part which is in contact with the cpu - since you want to get vinegar inside the block to clean it out.

"Non wetted surface" is the bit which is actually in contact with the bowl, non wetted since its touching plastic, not surrounded by vinegar.

Its isopropyl alcohol, the same stuff I use.
 
Could you possibly post up a links to the guides for cleaning your rad and the block cleaning one? I am fitting a W\C system to my rig tomorrow and need to do this tonight. :)
 
I would also be interested in that article (as long as it doesn't break the rules). Need to get round to giving my Thermochill a clean out.
 
Sorry to bring this post back but had a quick question. I have now cleaned the blocks. I left them in there for just under 24hrs then washed them with distilled water and after dunking a toothbrush in some isopropnyl alchol and distilled water given the blocks a quick brush over. Only thing I can say now is that the storm base plate isn't shiny at all its kind of a dull copper now is that ok? Also my other concern was with the Maze 4 GPU block. On the silver perfect seal barb parts I have got a grey/silver residue, it seems to be comming off if i scrap with my finger nail and i can't remember it being there before. So what is this residue and should I be concerned?

Thanks
 
Have you got any Heinze ketchup in the house? Dunk the copper part of thr block in there for about 10 minutes, and rinse... :)
 
shininess != flatness

If a block comes from the manufacturer in a high-gloss finish, I start to get worried. A shiny finish may impress noobs but I'd rather have industrial quality flatness than something that's been polished. Polish is an extra thermal resistance and will reduce the ability of the block.

Poor man's Flatness Test
 
Right did the ketchup thing and even gave it a good brush with a toothbrush and ketchup. Then I rinsed both of the blocks of with distilled water.

Here is the Storm G4:





After cleaning it with ketchup there is now that dark line along one side and a orange substance that whiped off, it looked like rust some is still on the block.

And this is the Maze 4 result:



To me the blocks look awfully dirty, the darker mark on the maze 4 i think is due to the AS5 i had on there.

Basically just want to know if these blocks are gonna work ok and give good results in that state?

EDIT: Oh and there not particularly shiny either, the maze 4 has come up better but the storm didn't seem to improve after the ketchup.
 
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