Brownish rust like residue buildup on components

[unregistered]

My loop components are:
XSPC photon reservoir with D5 pump combo
Bitspower waterblocks for 3x gtx980
Bitspower full cover waterblock for x99 deluxe
Redundant D5 pump with bitspower pump top
2x Alphacool UT60 480mm radiators
2x Alphacool water filter
EKWB fittings
Primochill advanced LRT tubing
Distilled water as coolant

I have initially added in the silver microbial plug from monsson but ever since thebrown residue buildup occured, I have removed it and added the mayhems biocide.
Both radiators have been treated with mayhems blitz part one and the entire loop treated with mayhems blitz part two.

All components are < 1yr old.
My rig usually runs at full load 24/7. Thus far, it has not impacted cooling performance so after taking the machine down for inspection I have reassembled it back again without much other cleaning since I need this machine running for the near future. Once I do not need to use it so critically, I am planning to do a full teardown and cleanup of the loop.

The brownish rust like residue buildup happens mostly on the waterblocks. In the picture, I have wiped off some of the residue from the top right of the waterblock to reveal the shiny nickel beneath using 70% isopropyl alcohol. However, the rest of them do not come off so easily.

 

Hence I come to this forum seeking help,
What caused such buildup to occur?
What can I do to remedy the situation? Is there a way to easily remove the buildup from the waterblocks?
and
What can I do to prevent this from happening in the future?

 

 

[TidaLWaveZ]

What did you initially fill the loop with?

[Seri]

look like something is living inside that loop was the water still clear? Colored water would indicate Biological activity, clear water probably means oxidation.

 

Could also be copperoxide which would be rediculously difficult to remove because i reacts with close to nothing. The good news is: once everything other metal is covered with a thin "crust" of copper oxide the buildup will stop because there is no more reason for the copper to dissolve into water.

 

Looking at the redox chart there is quite a gap between silver and nickel so the silver might actually have increased the buildup instead of decreasing it.

 

[unregistered]

35 minutes ago, TidaLWaveZ said:

What did you initially fill the loop with?

Just distilled water with mayhems biocide extreme and silver plug for anti microbial

[unregistered]

40 minutes ago, Seri said:

look like something is living inside that loop was the water still clear? Colored water would indicate Biological activity, clear water probably means oxidation.

 

Could also be copperoxide which would be rediculously difficult to remove because i reacts with close to nothing. The good news is: once everything other metal is covered with a thin "crust" of copper oxide the buildup will stop because there is no more reason for the copper to dissolve into water.

 

Looking at the redox chart there is quite a gap between silver and nickel so the silver might actually have increased the buildup instead of decreasing it.

 

 

When I drained the loop, the water appeared clear.

 

I have already removed the silver plug from the system once I saw what was happening and yes, some parts I can scrub it off with 70% isopropyl alcohol but other parts it was pretty difficult. The acrylic on certain parts of my loop are also stained.  Surprisingly, the temps are not affected at the moment.

 

If it is algae or fungi, would it be very difficult to remove on some parts of the waterblock?

[Seri]

i really doubt it is biological if you used a biocide according to the manual. 

 

Oxide buildup would also not have any impact on the cooling but will of course cause the discoloration you see.

 

I the stuff slimy when in contact with water or metallic?

[Alz_d]

Doesn't using a silver kill coil etc cause nickel plating to react? 

[Seri]

6 minutes ago, Alz_d said:

Doesn't using a silver kill coil etc cause nickel plating to react? 

jeah it might...they are quite far apart on the redox scale.

[unregistered]

8 hours ago, Seri said:

i really doubt it is biological if you used a biocide according to the manual. 

 

Oxide buildup would also not have any impact on the cooling but will of course cause the discoloration you see.

 

I the stuff slimy when in contact with water or metallic?

What if I had added more biocide than necessary?

A friend told me that it might cause the water to be alkaline and fungi to grow. I am using mayhems biocide extreme which is copper sulphate solution.

I don't remember it being slimy when I took it apart.

[unregistered]

7 hours ago, Seri said:

jeah it might...they are quite far apart on the redox scale.

What are the implications of such a scenario?

Would the copper on other parts of the loop like the radiator dissolve and deposit on the nickel?

Or would the nickel flake off? After cleaning part of the block the nickel appeared intact though.

[Jidonsu]

Silver coils don't do well with nickel waterblocks. EK had some problems with them a few years back. EK actually recommends against using their nickel blocks with silver and/or biocides that contain copper sulfate. It'll speed up oxidation. That could be what's happening to your block. 

[Seri]

9 hours ago, unregistered said:

What are the implications of such a scenario?

Would the copper on other parts of the loop like the radiator dissolve and deposit on the nickel?

Or would the nickel flake off? After cleaning part of the block the nickel appeared intact though.

Shortest possible answer: The further apart those Metals are the higher the potential they are able to create. If there are any metal Ions in the water you will essentially electroplate those components. That is also the reasen why you should not combine Aluminium and Copper. Aluminium and silver would be even worse.

[unregistered]

5 hours ago, Seri said:

Shortest possible answer: The further apart those Metals are the higher the potential they are able to create. If there are any metal Ions in the water you will essentially electroplate those components. That is also the reasen why you should not combine Aluminium and Copper. Aluminium and silver would be even worse.

If that is the case, why is the plating done on the nickel blocks instead of the silver? Although the silver plug did have abit of rust staining on it as well, it is far from what you see on the blocks. I am ok with a long answer as I have a basic background in chem although I am very "rusty", haha.

 

What is the best way to remove the copper plating from the waterblocks while retaining the nickel or do I really have to forego my shiny nickel from now?

 

Abit of background, this was my second set of brand new alphacool ut60 radiators. Previously, when I used the previous set in the loop, there was rust coating not on my waterblocks but on my EKWB fittings which are nickel plated.

[Seri]

i don't really know for sure that the coating is copper. It is much more likely that it is some kind of silver oxide that has been transfered to the less noble metal. The process is the same as cleaning old silverware by bringing it into contact with aluminium. The Silver will loose its oxide "mantle" and the aluminium will tarnish. Buildup will allways occure on the less noble metal.

 

Reversing that process is difficult and not something you can do easily at home. I fear you will hace to resort to manual cleaning, you won't get anwhere with chemicals. On the positive side: the buildup is thin and metallic so it won't effect the cooling efficiency.

[W-L]

9 hours ago, unregistered said:

If that is the case, why is the plating done on the nickel blocks instead of the silver? Although the silver plug did have abit of rust staining on it as well, it is far from what you see on the blocks. I am ok with a long answer as I have a basic background in chem although I am very "rusty", haha.

What is the best way to remove the copper plating from the waterblocks while retaining the nickel or do I really have to forego my shiny nickel from now?

Abit of background, this was my second set of brand new alphacool ut60 radiators. Previously, when I used the previous set in the loop, there was rust coating not on my waterblocks but on my EKWB fittings which are nickel plated.

As mentioned it was most likely caused by the silver in the loop as they are borderline dis-similar metals with nickel in a loop environment. As for cleaning your best it is to use a non-abrasive metal polish to try and get off the deposits. Hopefully it has not affected the plating and is just surface build up that can be easily removed. 

[Seri]

been thinking about it...you cold try cleaning it like silver. 

 

Cover a bowl with aluminium foil, add a good amount of salt and hot water and the block that needs cleaing. It will do nothing for the plastic parts but it might just work for the nickel.

[unregistered]

Once I get rid of the silver, flush the loop and clean everything, do I have to replace any thing with a brand new 1 or can I reuse them? like the rads, etc?

[W-L]

10 minutes ago, unregistered said:

Once I get rid of the silver, flush the loop and clean everything, do I have to replace any thing with a brand new 1 or can I reuse them? like the rads, etc?

The rads and everything should be fine but I would clean the loop and everything for the new fluid.

[Sybre]

On 3/20/2016 at 11:19 AM, Alz_d said:

Doesn't using a silver kill coil etc cause nickel plating to react? 

I believe I saw this with the monsoon kill coil that plugs in with a g1/4 plug. I think you might be correct. 

[unregistered]

21 hours ago, Sybre said:

I believe I saw this with the monsoon kill coil that plugs in with a g1/4 plug. I think you might be correct. 

That unfortunately was what I used, where did you see that and what else did you see?

[Sybre]

12 hours ago, unregistered said:

That unfortunately was what I used, where did you see that and what else did you see?

On frozen CPU The Kill coil has a review saying that it started to rust and he just caught up to it in time before anything happened. Another guy said it just didn't work at all.