CPU cooler copper heat pipes turning black

[Christianm]

hello everyone.

I really don't know how to describe but the copper heat pipes of my Hyper D92 is turning black near base plate in less then two months. sorry i do not have a camera to take a snap and i could not find the exact pictures on the internet. i have attached a similar pics just for example. the upper side of the pipe in that pic is exactly the condition of my cpu cooler pipes. all four pipes of one side are like this the other four pipes are starting to turn to like this.

I'm curious to know if this is normal or is there something wrong or is this happens with cheap quality cooler.

 

CPU temps seems normal at both normal and during gaming

 

sorry for bad English.

 

thank you

 

[Tungsten_Hue]

As far as I remember, the discoloration in the picture above is from an annealing process. I can firmly say that if your CPU cooler is experiencing discoloration due to annealing you have bigger issues on your hands.

Initial googling reveals you may be in a high sulphide environment which is reacting with the copper. Not particularly healthy. Does your place smell like rotten eggs a lot?

Typically, copper will oxidize and turn green, but this is a very slow process, unless you are in an extremely humid and corrosive environment it should not be progressing very quickly.

 

Few notes: Copper is a wonderful metal that plays well with water, and thus humidity, which is why it is used for water pipes in most countries. oxidation to such a degree should definitely not be happening within two months. Not sure what the problem is without extra information.

[Circs]

As far as I remember, the discoloration in the picture above is from an annealing process. I can firmly say that if your CPU cooler is experiencing discoloration due to annealing you have bigger issues on your hands.

Initial googling reveals you may be in a high sulphide environment which is reacting with the copper. Not particularly healthy. Does your place smell like rotten eggs a lot?

Typically, copper will oxidize and turn green, but this is a very slow process, unless you are in an extremely humid and corrosive environment it should not be progressing very quickly.

 

Few notes: Copper is a wonderful metal that plays well with water, and thus humidity, which is why it is used for water pipes in most countries. oxidation to such a degree should definitely not be happening within two months. Not sure what the problem is without extra information.

 

Exactly. I've got my money on his thermal compound being weird. Since it's a direct contact setup and the color is radiating from the base it sounds almost like a slow-mo capillary action of an oxidizing agent.

 

That leads to the question of *what the hell kind of weird T.I.M. oxidizes copper*?

[Circs]

hello everyone.

I really don't know how to describe but the copper heat pipes of my Hyper D92 is turning black near base plate in less then two months. sorry i do not have a camera to take a snap and i could not find the exact pictures on the internet. i have attached a similar pics just for example. the upper side of the pipe in that pic is exactly the condition of my cpu cooler pipes. all four pipes of one side are like this the other four pipes are starting to turn to like this.

I'm curious to know if this is normal or is there something wrong or is this happens with cheap quality cooler.

 

CPU temps seems normal at both normal and during gaming

 

sorry for bad English.

 

thank you

 

The black could be oxidation. Only place my thoughts seem to be able to go with this is to your thermal paste or surface prepping. Walk me through how you installed your heatsink and the products you used like you're explaining to your grandmother. I need to make sure you didn't do anything super strange.

 

We need some pictures to really get a handle on this, but your worries about the D92 being low quality are unfounded. Cooler Master is a reputable manufacturer.

[Christianm]

thanks for the replies Tungsten_Hue and Circs for understanding my query and detailed explanation. well I bought the D92 two months ago (first one) and I sold that to my friend after using it for couple of hours then I bought the D92 again (new both times). well I live in Pakistan and the weather is hot/warm here, we have recently moved to another apartment which is much better than the old one in terms of humidity/room temperature but I have not turned on my PC yet in our new place due to some construction going on. The old apartment had much humidity and room temp were always a little warm.

 

I’m pretty sure I installed the CPU correctly and I used the supplied cooler master thermal paste (pea sized). Tightened the screws correctly. The CPU cooler base is in perfect/normal color/condition. Temps were 36-38 ⁰C normal use and 57-59 ⁰C gaming. I will upload the CPU pics tomorrow.

 

My chassis is CM 690III with one 200mm fan in front and one Jetflo 120mm fan at rear. Other components temps are also pretty decent/normal.

 

I’m thinking about buying budget liquid cooler (Seidon 120V or Corsair H55) but after this issue, I don’t know what’s gonna happen to that cooler.

 

Kindly suggest what should I do? Should I go back to stock cooler or how do I care to my next cooler (air or liquid) or will my current D92 work properly after heat pipes discolouration?

 

 

 

Thank you

[LogicalDrm]

 

Kindly suggest what should I do? Should I go back to stock cooler or how do I care to my next cooler (air or liquid) or will my current D92 work properly after heat pipes discolouration?

 

 

 

Thank you

 

 

 

If your temps stay at same levels, I wouldn't worry too much. The pipes are for tranferring heat towards cooler fins. So change in color shouldn't have any effect. The piped would need some internal damage and bending to have bigger effects on cooling.

[Christianm]

here are the pics of CPU cooler heat pipes.

 

http://postimg.org/gallery/1pechu09e/79b04024/