How to clean fittings and radiator? [ Corrosion ]

[Gorange]

Hello everyone, recently I got a new CPU with EK pump, res, CPU water block, radiator and fittings. 

When I got home, I opened the CPU water block (supremacy Evo copper) and it was black, I asked in Reddit and was told it's some kind of corrosion and I should soak the block in vinegar + salt. I mixed some water, vinegar and salt and soaked the base in it for a couple hours. It did the trick, there's still some discoloration, but I was scared to leave it longer. 

 

The problem is, there's some hard green gunk on the fittings, around the threads and inside the fittings, which is probably more corrosion. What's the best way to clean them? I tried soaking them in soapy water, but it didn't do much. The fittings are nickel plated brass and from what I've gathered, vinegar will damage the nickel plating. 

 

Also, I assume the radiator has some gunk in it as well, what should I use to rinse it? It's copper radiator. I found some old thread in which someone was suggesting to soak the radiator with pure vinegar for 24 hours, but wouldn't that damage it? 

 

Basically, what should I use to clear the fittings and the radiator and for how long should I soak them (if I should even soak them)?

[Firewrath9]

I'd use a toothbrush, and water + soap, or maybe try acetone.

[W-L]

19 minutes ago, Gorange said:

-SNIP-

You can use a vinegar solution on the radiator but there is no need to do so for a long period of time. Do a couple cycles of vinegar soak and rinse to remove anything that may be inside the rad. After once it's cleared up you can do a baking soda wash to neutralize the vinegar before rinsing any remaining baking soda out. A final rinse with distilled will do the job. For the threads and other components you can use a stiff bristle brush and soap to remove any build up. 

 

Take some photos of what you have. 

[Gorange]

First of all, thank you both for taking the time to help me! I really do appreciate it! 

Also, excuse me for the late reply, but it was really late at night when I posted my question...

 

@Firewrath9

I already tried soap and water and it didn't do much, I mean it did remove the bigger a part of it, but there's still some discoloration on the fittings.

 

@W-L 

I'll try what you suggested for the radiator. Should I also wash the water block with baking soda? I soaked it with vinegar and rinsed with tap water. I'll get some destilled water when I get back home.

I already tried using soap and water + a stiff bristle brush, it did remove some of the bigger 'chunks' of gunk/corrosion, but there's still some discoloration left. 

 

That's the water block before I cleaned it with vinegar. Sadly that's the only picture I can provide right now, because I'm out of town. I can take photos of the fittings tomorrow evening, when I'm back home. 

 

I did a quick Google search and found this picture in another thread at the EVGA forums:

It looks quite similar to what I have on my fittings. I'll still upload some pictures tomorrow evening, but figured it might be of some help.

[W-L]

@Gorange That block looks pretty bad, and that isn’t all corrosion from what I can tell it’s plasticizer from the tubing has leeched out and coated the surfaces. Could have been the tubing they used wasn’t designed for watercooling or severely degraded. 

 

For copper vinegar and a saturated solution of salt does an excellent job just don’t leave it for a very long period of time cause it can cause the copper to oxidize and turn black. With the fittings however ideally you want to avoid acids since nickel is a bit more sensitive. A baking soda mix is a good idea to help with scrubbing away any remaining hard deposits.

[Gorange]

@W-L Thanks, a couple more questions:

1. How much time is considered too much, when soaking copper in vinegar, water and salt? 

*Edit: By the way, I'm mixing 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of water and a table spoon of salt. I saw some people suggesting to use pure vinegar with salt, but I'm scared of oxidation.*

 

2. How to make the baking soda mix? 1 cup warm water with a table spoon of soda? Should I leave the fittings soak in the mixture? 

[Salticid]

I'm curious about this too... 

 

The general solution I mix for cleaning anything with vinegar is 1 ltr water to 1 cap-full of vinegar.

Heat the water and then add the Vinegar and anything else you plan to add, like salt. 

This is what I used when cleaning my new rads, but I'm not sure if you should be using something stronger considering the state of yours.

[W-L]

9 hours ago, Gorange said:

@W-L Thanks, a couple more questions:

1. How much time is considered too much, when soaking copper in vinegar, water and salt? 

*Edit: By the way, I'm mixing 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of water and a table spoon of salt. I saw some people suggesting to use pure vinegar with salt, but I'm scared of oxidation.*

 

2. How to make the baking soda mix? 1 cup warm water with a table spoon of soda? Should I leave the fittings soak in the mixture? 

If you occasionally scrub it and it's mostly clean and has a bright copper finish I would stop right there, a few mins at a time is good, if you leave it for long it tends to turn it black since it's then oxidizing/etching the new clean copper.

 

You can add more salt up to having essentially a saturated solution, a 50:50 mix of vinegar and water is a good baseline amount but even a 100% vinegar solution on copper is alright, just make sure you clean it after with soap and water as you want to remove all traces of vinegar and salt. 

 

For the fittings you can make a paste with baking soda to act as a light abrasive cleaner. 

 

 

[Gorange]

@W-L I'll try that baking soda paste today. I'll update the thread with the results! If you don't mind, I'll contact you again if I have any more problems/questions. 

 

Edit: Okay, I'm back home, sadly it seems I'm all out of baking soda.... I'll go get some tomorrow, and I'll try it out. However, I thought I should take some more photos.

 

Here's the water block after I cleaned it with vinegar/water + salt. 

@Salticid might want to check the results. I used a bit more vinegary mixture than what you're using, but then again my block was in terrible condition.

I think it did a pretty good job. There's still some discolouration though. But I think it can be used in a loop, right? Or maybe I should try cleaning it a bit more with pure vinegar + salt? 

 

 

A few photos of the fittings, they were in worse condition, but I cleaned them with soapy water. However, there's still more to be desired. 

 

 

 

[Gorange]

And here's the radiator, had to upload the photos to a different post.

I'm not sure if those are of any help, since I couldn't really capture the inside of the rad, but still...

[Benjeh]

do yourself a favour and buy Mayhems blitz kit, I tried the whole vinegar thing and it barely worked. blitz kit was much better.

[Gorange]

Okay, I rinsed the rad with vinegar and salt two times. The first time a lot of stuff came out of it, and the vinegar turned dark green/blue. The second time the vinegar came out light green/blue. Sadly I ran out of vinegar... I should really stack up some baking soda and vinegar... Rinsed with some soapy water afterwards and then with water only.

 

@Benjeh I would love to get some, but the shipping is 40 pounds which is twice the price of the kit itself. 

[Gorange]

*UPDATE*

So, I got some baking soda today. Mixed it with water and brushed the fittings. The results were pretty good! Almost like new. I'll flush the radiator a bit more and edit this post with the results! 

 

[Salticid]

Wow!  Nice!
They look great!  Like entirely different fittings.  It always amazes me what natural cleaners can do on their own.

 

I know I probably could have used a stronger Vinegar solution on my rads, but I was super cautious of vinegar against copper.  And my rads were new, I was just rinsing out flux particles and manufacturing oil.  A lighter solution is fine for something that small.

 

I've heard of Mayhem's Blitz kit, and I looked for it.  But similar to Gorange, the cost to benefit ratio for me, with spanking new EK rads, did not seem worth it.  Plenty of people flush new rads as I did and if they take the time and really do it, they're just fine.  

 

Now, when I do my first maintenance and probably change my color, that will be a different matter.  I wholly intend to use Blitz then.  And I agree it would do Gorange better, if they were able to get it easily.