Watercooling loop cleaning.

Associate
Joined
29 Nov 2008
Posts
1,291
Location
Scotland
Hi Guys,
I'm looking for some advice.
My 3960X temps were gradually rising over the last few months.(3 cores were 10-15 deg C lower than the other 3. Idle temps are now 40's on higher cores.
I just put it down to the hotter weather.
Yesterday I decided to strip down my water loop.
The CPU block EK Supreme was stripped down only to find it basically solid inside with a scummy build up.
Great, I cleaned it up and re-assembled.
Re-fitted and tried again. Looking good temps are lower and are all the same now.

Question is what is the best method for cleaning the system?
I have a 480 rad with blocks on my 3960x and Titan with a EK single bay reservoir, complete with D5 pump and 1/2 tubing.
I noticed my res is full of floating particles and the tubing has a fine white coating on the inside.
Because my tubing is red you don't really notice it.
I have read some stuff about silver coils would they help?
Kevin.
 
i think its ok how you've done it. disassemble the blocks and de-gunk if required, give everything a good few flushes with deionised water and re-assemble. Good to do it every 6-12 months or longer depending on what the coolant recommends.
as for the particles and clouded tubing, as you're probably aware its likely to be the tubing starting to break down. this will start to clog up your blocks again, so best to replace it imo.
silver kill coils wont help with the clouding, they are to prevent microbial growth. It depends what coolant you're using to whether you'll need one, even then theres other (prehaps prefered) ways to prevent growth (biocide).
 
Last edited:
Clean the blocks with a toothbrush and tommy sauce, rinse with DI water, repeat every 10-12 months roughly, Adding a silver kill coil can help keep additional nasty's at bay especially if your loop catches sunshine regularly.
 
Yes that's what I did, after the strip down of the cpu block.
I flushed it into a bucket with de ionised water.
My Rad does however sit outside my window and is in direct sunlight sometimes.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Kevin
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom