Water surface tension help

[Mikey Goliwas]

I just built my first custom loop out of an old closed loop and a tube that i got from Lowes. I have some bubble problems and i think if i got rid of the surface tension that the bubbles would clear out quicker. I know soap will do that but it will also cause suds. I am aware of water wetter as well but i dont want to spend any money if i can help it. I'm just curious if there is any household chemical that would remove the water surface tension without causing suds or destroying my components. Thanks!

[W-L]

Just now, Mikey Goliwas said:

I just built my first custom loop out of an old closed loop and a tube that i got from Lowes. I have some bubble problems and i think if i got rid of the surface tension that the bubbles would clear out quicker. I know soap will do that but it will also cause suds. I am aware of water wetter as well but i dont want to spend any money if i can help it. I'm just curious if there is any household chemical that would remove the water surface tension without causing suds or destroying my components. Thanks!

Welcome to the Forums!

 

The best thing is giving it time it will take about a week for the entire loop to bleed out  and rid of any micro bubbles and such. Also just to mention I'm assuming this is a short term thing cause the tubing from lowe's unless it's a food grade tubing will leech plasctizer into the loop and clog as it ages. 

[Enderman]

No, do not add anything. Let it sit.

If there are bubbles trapped in the tubing then you need a more powerful pump to push them out, or you build the loop wrong.

[Mikey Goliwas]

On 2/26/2017 at 3:41 PM, W-L said:

Welcome to the Forums!

 

The best thing is giving it time it will take about a week for the entire loop to bleed out  and rid of any micro bubbles and such. Also just to mention I'm assuming this is a short term thing cause the tubing from lowe's unless it's a food grade tubing will leech plasctizer into the loop and clog as it ages. 

Thanks for the answer. The bubbles did eventually purge. Now I'm curious about the plasctizer. Is it just gunk? If i empty and refill the loop with fresh water every now and then will i be okay?

[W-L]

3 hours ago, Mikey Goliwas said:

Thanks for the answer. The bubbles did eventually purge. Now I'm curious about the plasctizer. Is it just gunk? If i empty and refill the loop with fresh water every now and then will i be okay?

It leeches out of the tube overtime in very small quantities and tend to coat all surfaces in the loop or clog blocks, there isn't a way to prevent it even with very rapid fluid changes unless the tubing itself plasticzer free. I would check on it in 3-6 months to make sure temps are still reasonable and see if any clogging occurs.

[Mikey Goliwas]

20 hours ago, W-L said:

It leeches out of the tube overtime in very small quantities and tend to coat all surfaces in the loop or clog blocks, there isn't a way to prevent it even with very rapid fluid changes unless the tubing itself plasticzer free. I would check on it in 3-6 months to make sure temps are still reasonable and see if any clogging occurs.

What is the best way to thoroughly wash out my rad, cpu block, and pump? Should i use pressurized water and should i use any soaps?

[W-L]

8 minutes ago, Mikey Goliwas said:

What is the best way to thoroughly wash out my rad, cpu block, and pump? Should i use pressurized water and should i use any soaps?

If depends on the severity of the leeching sometimes it just requires the blocks to be taken apart and cleaned. However I have seen it coat interior surfaces, in that case it requires a more vigorous cleaning, usually a vinegar solution is good at removing that coating. 

[Mikey Goliwas]

On 3/2/2017 at 6:02 PM, W-L said:

If depends on the severity of the leeching sometimes it just requires the blocks to be taken apart and cleaned. However I have seen it coat interior surfaces, in that case it requires a more vigorous cleaning, usually a vinegar solution is good at removing that coating. 

Could i run vinegar through my loop to clean it or would it cause harm?

[YubinTheBunny]

4 minutes ago, Mikey Goliwas said:

Could i run vinegar through my loop to clean it or would it cause harm?

Along as your not running pure vinegar as a coolant it should be okay, I would dilute it 50/50 with distilled water. Probably just need to run the loop for about 48 hours and it usually gets the gunk loose and you can just run distilled water to clean vinegar off.

[W-L]

21 minutes ago, Mikey Goliwas said:

Could i run vinegar through my loop to clean it or would it cause harm?

As mentioned you can but it would then require a lot of rinses to clean out the loop before you could put in the watercooling fluid.  Also in most cases nickel blocks and such shouldn't be cleaned with vinegar or mild acids, but instead manually cleaned and polish if there is gunking.

[juretrn]

What household chemical reduces surface tension?

Soap!

But I wouldn't put that into a watercooling loop!