How do I clean this? And what do you call this?

[ImNotNeko]

I assumed that this was a calcium build up and today I tried vinegar and bleach but neither were successful.

 

Anyone know how to clean this?

 

What do you even call this?

 

I'm referring to the line at the top of the reservoir.

That's where the coolant was topped off to.

 

I am using Corsair coolant (clear) with mainly corsair parts with a few EK parts.

Only copper/nickel.

[AngryBeaver]

On 1/30/2021 at 10:21 PM, ImNotNeko said:

I assumed that this was a calcium build up and today I tried vinegar and bleach but neither were successful.

 

Anyone know how to clean this?

 

What do you even call this?

 

I'm referring to the line at the top of the reservoir.

That's where the coolant was topped off to.

 

I am using Corsair coolant (clear) with mainly corsair parts with a few EK parts.

Only copper/nickel.

I haven't found a way to disassemble the res enough to clean it. Mine has the same line, but mine is mostly from plasterizer from new soft tubing. It is damn near impossible to clean lol.

[ImNotNeko]

On 2/1/2021 at 10:44 AM, AngryBeaver said:

I haven't found a way to disassemble the res enough to clean it. Mine has the same line, but mine is mostly from plasterizer from new soft tubing. It is damn near impossible to clean lol.

I opened it and cleaned it.

That's the only way

[mayhems]

That is patina from the rad. Its a natural protective layer from when the rad was in storage before you bought it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patina#:~:text=Patina (%2Fpəˈt,acquired change of a surface

 

This is why when buying equipment (and even second hand equipment) you must toughly clean it before using. Your coolant has done its job correctly lifting the particles into suspension and they have layered on top of the fluid. With that much patina I would recommend a full clean down and replacement of fluid.

More explanatory info. When you buy new radiator or ever second hand radiator, air gets to the copper and brass inside, Copper creates a barrier to protect its self called "Patina" and is produced by oxidation (air and copper meeting and reacting). Good copper creates more Patina. This is unavoidable even though you may think your radiator is sealed and clean it will happen because at the factory air has already got to it. The longer air is there the more patina is created. Patina comes in many colours from green, brown, black, deep dark brown/red. 

 

Now coolant has serval properties about it and i wont go in to much depth about all the things it does, However one of the ingredients is Inhibitor. Now there are many types of inhibitor some good for liquid cooling some not so good but the basics is they work in one of two ways to help protect the system. 

 

1) The debris from the system and suspended in it till it gets to a place such as your reservoir. If the particles are small enough and light enough they will keep in suspension and keep circulating around your system, if they are light they may float to the top of your reservoir or were any air gap that isn't effected by the flow of the fluid. "Corsair XL5 coolant" uses this method.

 

2) Layering effect, Some inhibitors work by layering a microscopic protective layer around your entire system stopping and extra build up.

 

Hope this helps.

[ImNotNeko]

12 hours ago, mayhems said:

That is patina from the rad. Its a natural protective layer from when the rad was in storage before you bought it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patina#:~:text=Patina (%2Fpəˈt,acquired change of a surface

 

This is why when buying equipment (and even second hand equipment) you must toughly clean it before using. Your coolant has done its job correctly lifting the particles into suspension and they have layered on top of the fluid. With that much patina I would recommend a full clean down and replacement of fluid.

More explanatory info. When you buy new radiator or ever second hand radiator, air gets to the copper and brass inside, Copper creates a barrier to protect its self called "Patina" and is produced by oxidation (air and copper meeting and reacting). Good copper creates more Patina. This is unavoidable even though you may think your radiator is sealed and clean it will happen because at the factory air has already got to it. The longer air is there the more patina is created. Patina comes in many colours from green, brown, black, deep dark brown/red. 

 

Now coolant has serval properties about it and i wont go in to much depth about all the things it does, However one of the ingredients is Inhibitor. Now there are many types of inhibitor some good for liquid cooling some not so good but the basics is they work in one of two ways to help protect the system. 

 

1) The debris from the system and suspended in it till it gets to a place such as your reservoir. If the particles are small enough and light enough they will keep in suspension and keep circulating around your system, if they are light they may float to the top of your reservoir or were any air gap that isn't effected by the flow of the fluid. "Corsair XL5 coolant" uses this method.

 

2) Layering effect, Some inhibitors work by layering a microscopic protective layer around your entire system stopping and extra build up.

 

Hope this helps.

Oh wow, thank you so much for such an in-depth explanation.

 

I have fully cleaned out my loop since then but I am very happy to know the exact reason.

 

I really appreciate this answer!

[mayhems]

yw.