Copper monobloc starts corroding after fluid swap

[oscar7601]

Hello everyone,

 

I recently had to flush my liquid cooling loop to change some hardware.

It had been running for about 1 year and presented no sign of corrosion. I was running some Coolforce CF1 fluid I was very happy with it.

Since I had no more of my Coolfore CF1 fluid, I flushed the loop the best I could and poured some fresh EKWB fluid to replace it.

Unfortunately, within just one week, the waterblock has started to corrode badly.

 

I would like to know what you would suggest I do.

Of course, I need to flush the system, clean the best I can the corrosion (I am thinking of using transparent cleaning vinegar).

But then I would like to get totally rid of this sh*tty EKWB fluid I should never had used in the first place.

So surely there is a way to get rid of all the old fluid. Filling the loop with de-mineralized water and flush it, and repeat a few times?

[For Science!]

22 minutes ago, oscar7601 said:

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Without photos it's impossible to say but I very much doubt it is corrosion, especially after one week (even with the worst mixed metals).

 

Tearing down the loop and scrubbing individual waterblocks, and if necessary use an aggressive cleaning agent like phosphoric acid (mayhems blitz part 1) inside of radiators. Then rinse with plenty of water and then distilled water, followed by a full drying cycle.

[oscar7601]

5 minutes ago, For Science! said:

snip

Well you tell me what you think but you can see the evolution of what I think is corrosion over a period of only 4 days.

The blue stuff has to come from a chemical reaction of some sort since both the previous and the current fluids this loop has been circulating are clear and transparent.

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by oscar7601

[Tristerin]

That seems like a lot of patina buildup in a VERY short amount of time.

 

Chemical mixing and reacting?  Its not like you hung that plate over boiling vinegar to create that reaction quickly.  Fortunately for us @For Science! is already on the thread so I am curious what he has to say about it (one of the more knowledgeable people on this forum imho)

[For Science!]

13 minutes ago, oscar7601 said:

Well you tell me what you think but you can see the evolution of what I think is corrosion over a period of only 4 days.

The blue stuff has to come from a chemical reaction of some sort since both the previous and the current fluids this loop has been circulating are clear and transparent.

 

Still doesn't look like corrosion to me, at worst its copper oxide, but it also doesn't look like it on first glance to me. It has a more gelatinuous precipitate feel to it based on the photo, its also telling that it's building up in low-flow areas. Unfortunately the Nanoxia CF is Ethylene Glycol (90%) but apart from that undisclosed as to what it is, but it could be a gel (PEG) forming as a result of something unexpected.

 

The conclusion that you need to break open your blocks and clean them also unfortunately hasn't changed and I would recommend it anyway during maintenances unless you are just topping up with the same fluid as PC coolants are notoriously poorly annotated and is hard to predict what happens when a small amount of coolant gets mixed with another.

[oscar7601]

Thank you very much for your messages. I am going to order some concentrate CF1 concentrate, flush my loop, open the block and try to clean it, and then flush the system a few times before filling it again for good.

 

This monoblock is one I like a lot, made by Liquid Extasy in Germany and I don't want it to die!

[SolarNova]

1 hour ago, oscar7601 said:

Thank you very much for your messages. I am going to order some concentrate CF1 concentrate, flush my loop, open the block and try to clean it, and then flush the system a few times before filling it again for good.

 

This monoblock is one I like a lot, made by Liquid Extasy in Germany and I don't want it to die!

Good news is, since its not nickel plated, once u wash the block, and perhaps use some mild abrasive if necessary, it will look good as new.

[derr12]

you can clean the nasty areas with viniger.  wont hurt copper.

[oscar7601]

So I finally received the new fluid bottle so I've drained the loop and painfully unmounted the mini itx motherboard tray for further inspection and cleaning.

Here is what the block looks like now :

 

I'm going to go and buy some ironing water at the supermarket to flush the loop a few times and vinegar to clean the block.

[oscar7601]

There definitely are some darker marks/stains that seem not to go away even brushing the copper with vinegar and an old toothbrush.

 

[SolarNova]

39 minutes ago, oscar7601 said:

There definitely are some darker marks/stains that seem not to go away even brushing the copper with vinegar and an old toothbrush.

 

 

Bare copper blocks will tarnish over time. To get them looking 'good' again u'd have to polish it with an abrasive but understand as soon as u start using it it will again tarnish over time.

 

If i were in ur position I would probably grab my Dremmil with a small buffing wheel and go at it with some mild car polish.

 

EDIT: oh and fyi,, u need to let copper soak in vinegar for it to work, just rinsing it in vinegar and brushing wont do much.

[oscar7601]

I just went with the toothbrush and toothpaste technique and it did come back pretty well It acts as a light polish

 

[For Science!]

1 minute ago, oscar7601 said:

I just went with the toothbrush and toothpaste technique and it did come back pretty well It acts as a light polish

 

 

Was the green stuff flaky, or more gelatinous 

[SolarNova]

Just now, oscar7601 said:

I just went with the toothbrush and toothpaste technique and it did come back pretty well It acts as a light polish

 

 

Indeed..i mean thats what toothpaste is so ... 

 

If it looks good when wet I would leave it at that, if u want it any better u'd need a buffing wheel ..or a lot of tedious rubbing with a cloth and abrasive. .be it toothpaste or proper polish.

 

Since u've used vinegar on it, make sure its very well rinsed. Not so much a problem with blocks, but when using vinegar in radiators for example its advisable to flush a, fully dissolved, baking soda solution through it to neutralize the vinegar.

[oscar7601]

3 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Was the green stuff flaky, or more gelatinous 

It's hard to describe, it was more of a gelatinous thing but it did stick to the metal pretty strongly and it left marks in the copper where it was the thickest. So I'd say it did start to corrode the copper even though it might not be a dead simple copper oxydizing chemical reaction as the ones from school.

 

I'll be flushing the system thoroughly several times (hence why I bought 5 liters of ironing water) and I will test the pH of the fluid at the end to make sure it's not acidic any more.

[oscar7601]

Si here she flows again!

 

I'm still amazed by the water flow of this Barrow pump it's amazing imo.