Rust and Galvanic Corrosion

[Angel_work]

Hello everyone.

 

Having a bit of trouble with my loop health for the first time since I began watercooling.

 

I've been running distilled water with Mayhem's Biocide Extreme (copper sulphate) with the occasional bit of Mayhem's dye for roughly 3 years now (with yearly clean outs, loop rebuilds, etc) and haven't had any trouble.

 

A few weeks ago I discovered what appeared to be a bit of galvanic corrosion in my nickel-plated GPU blocks.

 

Last weekend I did my annual loop refilling/cleaning. I didn't disassemble it, but I ran about 7-8 liters of warm 1/3 vinegar 2/3 distilled water mix through the loop (it's amazing how much dye the warm vinegar and water was able to cleanse from the loop. I assume it must have been stuck in the corner of a radiator somewhere as the water had practically run clear). After getting as much of the vinegar/distilled out as possible, I refilled it with distilled and biocide (which asks for 1 drop per liter every 2-3 months).

 

Anyway, today I opened my computer back up to get rid of any last bubbles that might be stuck and top off the loop and discovered rust around the barbs of my compression fittings, none of which was there before. 

All of my fittings are Bitspower Silver Shining so they're nickel-plated brass. I wasn't aware of nickel-plated brass's capacity to rust, so this came as a surprise.

 

I assume that all of the fittings with rust on them will need to be thrown out.

 

As for the blocks, I don't know if those are salvageable either.

 

I've since been informed that copper sulphate creates an ideal environment for corrosion and rust, so I will from now on be sticking with pre-mixed coolants, concentrates, or just distilled.

 

I'm thinking the copper sulphate and vinegar may have caused some kind of chemical reaction as I had 0 hints of rust before flushing and refilling.

 

Anyone have an experience with a situation like this? Help and advice is highly appreciated.

[For Science!]

3 hours ago, Angel_work said:

-snip-

Are you sure its not just some dye that's been discolored by the vinegar? Nonetheless, I would indeed recommend switching to a more modern coolant since copper sulphate is a pretty out-of-date biocide. Go with something that has well documented biocides and anti-corrosion inhibitors like EK-CryoFuel.

 

Read my signature post about coolants to find out more.

[Leonard]

7 hours ago, Angel_work said:

Hello everyone.

 

Having a bit of trouble with my loop health for the first time since I began watercooling.

 

I've been running distilled water with Mayhem's Biocide Extreme (copper sulphate) with the occasional bit of Mayhem's dye for roughly 3 years now (with yearly clean outs, loop rebuilds, etc) and haven't had any trouble.

 

A few weeks ago I discovered what appeared to be a bit of galvanic corrosion in my nickel-plated GPU blocks.

 

Last weekend I did my annual loop refilling/cleaning. I didn't disassemble it, but I ran about 7-8 liters of warm 1/3 vinegar 2/3 distilled water mix through the loop (it's amazing how much dye the warm vinegar and water was able to cleanse from the loop. I assume it must have been stuck in the corner of a radiator somewhere as the water had practically run clear). After getting as much of the vinegar/distilled out as possible, I refilled it with distilled and biocide (which asks for 1 drop per liter every 2-3 months).

 

Anyway, today I opened my computer back up to get rid of any last bubbles that might be stuck and top off the loop and discovered rust around the barbs of my compression fittings, none of which was there before. 

All of my fittings are Bitspower Silver Shining so they're nickel-plated brass. I wasn't aware of nickel-plated brass's capacity to rust, so this came as a surprise.

 

I assume that all of the fittings with rust on them will need to be thrown out.

 

As for the blocks, I don't know if those are salvageable either.

 

I've since been informed that copper sulphate creates an ideal environment for corrosion and rust, so I will from now on be sticking with pre-mixed coolants, concentrates, or just distilled.

 

I'm thinking the copper sulphate and vinegar may have caused some kind of chemical reaction as I had 0 hints of rust before flushing and refilling.

 

Anyone have an experience with a situation like this? Help and advice is highly appreciated.

This could have been the PT Nuke(copper sulfate) reacting with the vinegar's residue and the deterioration of the nickle plating but this is also a "side effect" of the copper sulfate itself even with just brass and copper parts. It tends to create a brittle green film of any algae in the loop on everything on the inside of the loop, pump, reservoir, fittings and radiator. You can flake it off with your finger but there is no way to get your finger in the pump and radiator so here is my suggestion.

 

Your situation seems to be better than most and fixable. The fittings seem to be shot but sometimes you can just flake off the corrosion and it would be good still but i fear the nickle plating is shot on the fittings. I assume you know how to open your blocks?.....do so but remember the orientation of the jet plate and you can use a soft bristle tooth brush and some lemon juice to clean the inside of the blocks but make sure the acrylic DOES NOT sit in any of the lemon juice. You may need to repeat this a few times i am not sure the exact extent of the corrosion. When you are satisfied that most has come off and that your blocks are clean, wash off your blocks with warm soapy distilled water then wash that off with just clean distilled water to remove the soap, when that is done and you are sure all the soap is off get primochill's sysprep and run it in your loop for like a week to clean inside the pump and radiator, after than time check you blocks again, the inside i mean. if your blocks have been salvaged just flush the loop with plain distilled water then fill as you normally would, then keep an eye on her, she should be fine. 

[W-L]

13 hours ago, Angel_work said:

-SNIP-

As mentioned the problem is the copper sulfate bicoide they are not recommended to be used with nickel and can cause precipitation or a flaking of the nickel plating if things are serve. It's not rusting as it's more or so coating the nickel in a layer of copper or having the base metal show through the nickel plating itself. 

[Angel_work]

If one did their research before investing in all of these parts, they'd be hard pressed to arrive at a conclusion on the question of distilled w/biocide vs pre-mix coolants. It seems to go back and forth a good amount and the consensus comes across at least as up in the air. I've had system builders whose opinions I hold in very high esteem tell me that they use nothing but distilled water and biocide in their loops. These people typically cite the avoidance of pre-mix coolants as a cost-saving measure. I've also been told they're a placebo and that the glycol and other chemical additives they contain can gum up pumps, fittings and blocks.

 

It's hardly worth saving $10-15 not buying the proper coolant with ~$1,000 worth of watercooling parts involved.

 

It's also hard to call distilled/biocide vs premix a subjective topic considering the tangible evidence of the damage it's capable of causing right in front of me.