Primochill Vue reacted badly and built up

[Voxels-Box]

So I started flushing the loop, and the damage looks worse than I anticipated. Can anyone tell me what the extent of it is? To me, it looks like the nickel coating in some areas has been stripped, or corroded, or something. Am I just imagining that?  My current plan is to flush more while running stress tests to heat up the fluid, and then Ill disassemble the entire loop and take apart the blocks.  Any advice?

Spoiler

[DildorTheDecent]

3 minutes ago, Voxels-Box said:

So I started flushing the loop, and the damage looks worse than I anticipated. Can anyone tell me what the extent of it is? To me, it looks like the nickel coating in some areas has been stripped, or corroded, or something. Am I just imagining that?  My current plan is to flush more while running stress tests to heat up the fluid, and then Ill disassemble the entire loop and take apart the blocks.  Any advice?

Looks like gunk tbh.

[Voxels-Box]

1 minute ago, DildorTheDecent said:

Looks like gunk tbh.

Theres definitely a lot of gunk in there, but Im worried about the micro channels and a couple other areas, where they are looking a lot more brown/bronzish. Could that be the copper showing through?

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, Voxels-Box said:

So I started flushing the loop, and the damage looks worse than I anticipated. Can anyone tell me what the extent of it is? To me, it looks like the nickel coating in some areas has been stripped, or corroded, or something. Am I just imagining that?  My current plan is to flush more while running stress tests to heat up the fluid, and then Ill disassemble the entire loop and take apart the blocks.  Any advice?

  Reveal hidden contents

It's difficult to say until you take it apart, from the looks of things it's just gunk and build up to me. 

[Voxels-Box]

Just now, W-L said:

It's difficult to say until you take it apart, from the looks of things it's just gunk and build up to me. 

That's good to hear. Ill be taking it apart as soon as I can. Do you have any tips for what to use for cleaning the inside of blocks? I have isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar, and acetone on hand. 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Voxels-Box said:

That's good to hear. Ill be taking it apart as soon as I can. Do you have any tips for what to use for cleaning the inside of blocks? I have isopropyl alcohol, white vinegar, and acetone on hand. 

You can use isoprpyl or acetone on the nickel block but if there is any stubborn built up it's recommended to use a non-abrasive polish, don't use vingear or acids on the nickel. For the acrylic only use warm soapy water, nothing else. 

 

Drop a photo once you have it opened and rinsed out we can better determine if the nickel plating has been damaged or if it's just build up. 

[Voxels-Box]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

-Snip-

Understood. Ill update as soon as Ive done that.  Thank you for the info!

[SolarNova]

Head of to Overclock.net

Theres a very large thread all about Vue.

 

But in short, VUE is utter trash. Unless ur loop is brand new, and u flush it extreemly well, and take very single possible precaution..only then may you get lucky and have no issues.

 

Add ontop of that a laundry list of restrictions with using VUE, such as no more than 8 hours running, temperature limits, flow limits etc.... its really not with it.

 

Cleaning it out is a hassle to say the least.

 

You'll need to take apart all your blocks, and your pump, replace all your tubing, and thoroughly flush your radiators many times, using cleaning compounds like Blitz and/or sysprep.

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, Voxels-Box said:

Understood. Ill update as soon as Ive done that.  Thank you for the info!

Hope you come back with good news, but I cant say that the GPU fins look too good (especially the ones just in the middle of the jet plate. The monoblock also looks worrying....Nickel should be only washed with water and non-abrasive cloth, you can use non-abrasive chrome polish if it looks seriously tarnished.

 

I recently polished up some acrylic blocks with plastX to return them to a glass finish, but made sure to rinse the inside with soapy water + distilled water flush before reassembly.

 

https://www.ekwb.com/blog/how-to-clean-water-blocks/

[Voxels-Box]

20 hours ago, For Science! said:

Hope you come back with good news, but I cant say that the GPU fins look too good (especially the ones just in the middle of the jet plate. The monoblock also looks worrying.

Im also quite concerned with those areas. 

Last night, I did two hours of flushing while running Prime95 and Furmark, attempting to heat the fluid to aid in breaking down the buildup. The fluid looks much clearer now, but Im not seeing too much change in the buildup. I wont be able to get to that til I can take apart the system later this week.

Here are some photos of the progress:

Spoiler

     

 

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, Voxels-Box said:

Im also quite concerned with those areas. 

Last night, I did two hours of flushing while running Prime95 and Furmark, attempting to heat the fluid to aid in breaking down the buildup. The fluid looks much clearer now, but Im not seeing too much change in the buildup. I wont be able to get to that til I can take apart the system later this week.

Here are some photos of the progress:

  Hide contents

 

 

Yikes, hope thats not bare copper

I think just leaving it for now and dissassembling the block for inspection is better than potentially pushing more abrasive particles through the loop.

 

If the Nickel is flaking off, it can't be good for the pump.

[Voxels-Box]

3 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Yikes, hope thats not bare copper

I think just leaving it for now and dissassembling the block for inspection is better than potentially pushing more abrasive particles through the loop.

 

If the Nickel is flaking off, it can't be good for the pump.

Agreed, that's what Im worried most about.  I wont be running the pump again until the PC is rebuilt. Fortunately, I already ordered a new Aquacomputer D5 with Aquabus since I am adding an Aquaero 6xt during the rebuild.  

[Revan654]

 

On 2/20/2018 at 4:57 PM, SolarNova said:

Head of to Overclock.net

Theres a very large thread all about Vue.

 

But in short, VUE is utter trash. Unless ur loop is brand new, and u flush it extreemly well, and take very single possible precaution..only then may you get lucky and have no issues.

 

Add ontop of that a laundry list of restrictions with using VUE, such as no more than 8 hours running, temperature limits, flow limits etc.... its really not with it.

 

Cleaning it out is a hassle to say the least.

 

You'll need to take apart all your blocks, and your pump, replace all your tubing, and thoroughly flush your radiators many times, using cleaning compounds like Blitz and/or sysprep.

 

Not even fresh systems, flushed with system prep and doing everthing listed on the sheet is working. I wonder what else they will add to the sheet next?

 

1. Must make a pact with the Devil.

2. Can only fill the system on a Full Moon between the hours of midnight and 1 am.

3. Must howl at the moon three times before starting.

4. ???

 

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You can now add another thing to list that vue has issues with: Selective Brass Fitting issue (Just about ever fitting on the market is made from brass). Not all fittings are having issues, but there are some out there that are. These are the normal matte black fittings.

[Voxels-Box]

@W-L @For Science!

I tore down the PC tonight and am in progress of working on the GPU block. The pictures posted are after a soak in soapy water and scrubbing with a soft toothbrush and non-abrasive shop cloths. I have not used any chemicals or polishes. 

The acrylic cleaned fairly well, though there are stains in the areas where fluid touched. I’m sure a polishing compound would help there. 

The Nickel is another story. It seems to be pretty degraded.  The texture of the interior is smooth, and I can’t feel the abnormal markings on it. Scrubbing those areas with a soapy soft brush seemed to have little to no effect. 

I’ve also included photos of fittings and O-rings. 

[For Science!]

@Voxels-Box

Hmmm sort of better than i thought? To me it looks like the fallen out particles have been effectively sanding down your nickel block, so its thinner on the coat, but not completely gone yet (although you look close to the copper layer)

 

Now, i know primochill won't give you anything towards the block since it does state to use at your own risk (at least that's what they say now).

 

I wonder if EK will have any sympathy to offer you an exchange.... maybe worth getting in contact. What do you think @EK Luc?

 

Having said that i think the degradation is purely aesthetic so you could probably get Pastel fluid and just forget about this shenanigans for now.

[Voxels-Box]

42 minutes ago, For Science! said:

@Voxels-Box

Hmmm sort of better than i thought? To me it looks like the fallen out particles have been effectively sanding down your nickel block, so its thinner on the coat, but not completely gone yet (although you look close to the copper layer)

 

Now, i know primochill won't give you anything towards the block since it does state to use at your own risk (at least that's what they say now).

 

I wonder if EK will have any sympathy to offer you an exchange.... maybe worth getting in contact. What do you think @EK Luc?

 

Having said that i think the degradation is purely aesthetic so you could probably get Pastel fluid and just forget about this shenanigans for now.

It does seem better than I thought as well. I haven’t opened the monoblock yet, so that’s still up in the air. 

I agree with your conclusion. Several of primochills own fittings look to have some degradation on them as well, and the short length of their flex tube used in the build is 100% opaque still (haven’t taken out the rads yet to really check it)

 

They do say to use at your own risk, but I feel like that’s less applicable when they kept adding new limitations, warnings, and directions in the weeks after launch. I purchased the Vue on the day that it was up for preorder, and the bit about dry components was not on the product page. They could have sent an email to everyone who ordered about the new directions, but there was no communication. 

 

I’m also concerned about the radiators. It seems unlikely that I’d be able to get any buildup out of them, since flushing will only do so much with this type of damage. Though I do have an Aquacomputers in-line filter that might help. 

 

 

[W-L]

That doesn’t look too terrible as said it does look like the nickel has gotten worn away a little bit but won’t affect performance. For the rads you could try using a phosphoric acid wash like with the Mayhems Blitz kits to try and remove as much as possible. Hooking it up to a pump with an inline filter isn’t a bad idea also to try and get rid of as much build up as possible. 

[Jsunn]

To clean the acrylic, you can use Meguiars Plastx Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish with a microfiber cloth.  This will clean and polish the acrylic where it is "stained".  

For the nickel blocks, use Flitz non-abrasive metal polish, again with a microfiber cloth.  You can find all of this stuff at Automotive parts stores. 

Keep us updated and good luck.  

 

 

[Voxels-Box]

2 hours ago, W-L said:

That doesn’t look too terrible as said it does look like the nickel has gotten worn away a little bit but won’t affect performance. For the rads you could try using a phosphoric acid wash like with the Mayhems Blitz kits to try and remove as much as possible. Hooking it up to a pump with an inline filter isn’t a bad idea also to try and get rid of as much build up as possible. 

That was EKWB's conclusion as well. They said that I could purchase just the nickel sections of each block, so I'll do that.

Ill give that a shot with the rads. Thanks!

2 hours ago, Jsunn said:

To clean the acrylic, you can use Meguiars Plastx Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish with a microfiber cloth.  This will clean and polish the acrylic where it is "stained".  

For the nickel blocks, use Flitz non-abrasive metal polish, again with a microfiber cloth.  You can find all of this stuff at Automotive parts stores. 

Keep us updated and good luck.  

Thank you for the advice, Ill do that!

 

I'll update with photos of the monoblock later tonight

[Revan654]

running both parts of Blitz is well worth doing along with some kind of filter system. Just make sure you order enough to cover filling your rads. I ran out when I was doing it, since I didn't think my one rad radiator would swallow an entire gallon.

 

I built this for about 25 dollars, It would have been cheaper but I bought a pump that had feature of "dry land for in-line use".

 

Basic filter system running with Distill water. I wouldn't use tap water, I know some say it's fine but some areas dump a allot of chemicals into the tap water which I'm sure is not good for the rads.

 

 

With Mayhems Part 2 running.

 

 

Here are the parts I used, Some prices did increase since I bought it, So 25 dollar range may not be possible.

 

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DSTC6W/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012UZYMG/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003JMRJ6Y/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FZXCI9I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s05?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Also grab a 1 gallon Bucket. If needed some tubing and fittings. I would just grab some barrow fittings from Modmymods.com (If your in the US). I had a bunch of ZMT so I used that for my tubing.

[Voxels-Box]

40 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

-Snip-

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely be doing something similar. Is Blitz necessary, or can I do something similar with household products, like vinegar? 

I was planning on setting up a temp loop with my existing pump/res, some flex tube, and this filter from Aquacomputer.  (Im also replacing the current D5 with a new one from AC, so Im not too concerned about that being safe during cleaning)

[Revan654]

5 hours ago, Voxels-Box said:

Thank you for the advice. I'll definitely be doing something similar. Is Blitz necessary, or can I do something similar with household products, like vinegar? 

I was planning on setting up a temp loop with my existing pump/res, some flex tube, and this filter from Aquacomputer.  (Im also replacing the current D5 with a new one from AC, so Im not too concerned about that being safe during cleaning)

Blitz is allot stronger then, any household product. Usually It would be fine using household products to clean a radiator. However I have no idea what vue can do to a radiator, I would use blitz to get everything out and to be on the sage side of things. Since you don't want to be mixing vue with the new coolant.

 

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Filter from AQ is not needed, not to mention any coolant that has particles can clog up the filter.

 

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Also just be aware the AquaBus D5 pump from Aqua-Computer is no longer being sold. If you were looking for that one it's EOL.

[Voxels-Box]

3 hours ago, Revan654 said:

Blitz is allot stronger then, any household product. Usually It would be fine using household products to clean a radiator. However I have no idea what vue can do to a radiator, I would use blitz to get everything out and to be on the sage side of things. Since you don't want to be mixing vue with the new coolant.

 

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Filter from AQ is not needed, not to mention any coolant that has particles can clog up the filter.

 

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Also just be aware the AquaBus D5 pump from Aqua-Computer is no longer being sold. If you were looking for that one it's EOL.

I see, I’ll look into getting some Blitz. 

 

I just got my rads out, and it looks like I can see some buildup. 

Spoiler

Some visible from the ports:

 

I see. Understood. 

 

I picked one up from ModMyMods. Should arrive Friday. The D5 with usb and Aquabus is EOL? Is there a reason for that?

 

Here are some pics of the cleaning of the monoblock. It looked awful upon first inspection, but some areas cleaned up well. Other areas, not so much. The main jet plate has some marring that I can’t get off with soap and scrubbing. 

Spoiler

Also shown is the main nickel plate, which has the water flow permanently etched in. It’s not something that’s scrubbing off. 

This is a section of soft tube made by Primochill that was between rads. It’s completely opaque from the vue. I squeezed the end together so the interior sides touched, and it stuck together and pulled apart. Had a consistency like toothpaste. Yikes. It’s pretty scary that Vue can do this to Primochills own product that is supposed to be compatible. 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Voxels-Box said:

-SNIP-

That view of the rad there looks like it might be a solder joint not actual build up if you have a probe or something to pick at it any build up will just break off. Those blocks look pretty heavily etched though, you can clean them up as best you can and still use them, aesthetically they won't look as nice but will function without any impact. 

[Jsunn]

I'm willing to bet that the discoloration you see on the nickel will come clean with Flitz metal polish.

I highly recommend Blitz part 2 to clean out your loop.  It is safe to use on nickel parts and should help remove some of the stubborn stuff from the rads.