need help - first time flushing my loop

[Pachuca]

hi guys, i'm pretty new to liquid cooling with an open loop. I'm planning to flush my system and I wanted to know what you're experience has been like with this process. I only use distilled water + cryofuel from ek. I wathced a video from JayzTwoCents and he said that he flushes his system ever 6 months if it's distilled water. I wanted to know if this is a normal amount or not. Part of the reason I'm flushing it is because I'm changing my cpu/mobo and getting a new monoblock for the i7 8700k. I plan to also delid the cpu and use liquid metal on it depending on how good my temps will be once I get the loop setup again. Is there anything you guys can recommend in terms of how to do it quickly. In that same video from Jayz he mentioned something about a deep clean using vinegar and I'm not sure I need to if I'm only using distilled water.

 

Also, should i change the tubes? It's been about 6 months since I put this together so I'm not sure about the tubes, let me know you're thoughts. I'm going to be changing the O rings because I'm paranoid about leaks. I have my system running almost 24/7. In the past month it might have been turned off about 2 times for about 24 hours. 

 

Thanks in advance!

[Shimejii]

Deep cleans are only if you see a ton of buildup. He uses special fluids that require deep cleans, if you just use distilled water you wont have to deep clean, just a quick rinse will be fine, but if you used that cryofuel you may have to do more cleaning. Tubes you should be able to keep unless they are discoloring, then you may want to switch them out.

 

Having a drain valve at the lowest point in your loop helps SO much, without it you have to tip and rock the case back and forth from wherever you are emptying it.

 

Delidding is useful but you are going to want to be VERY careful, doing it wrong or doing too much will damage your CPU if it gets on the SMDs and much smaller components on the chip. Using a nail polish as shown in GamersNexus video may help. 

[W-L]

11 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

-SNIP-

At 6 months you shouldn't have any issues if you notice build up as mentioned that is when I would suggest doing a tear down for cleaning. You can flush through say half a dozen times to remove all the old fluid and clean it out before refilling with some new stuff.

 

My suggestion would be to do a tear down once a year for inspection of seals change tubing if your using soft tube and such. Orings should last a goof couple of years at the very least, if you notice that they become very compressed or loose it's pliability then it would be best to change them out. I personally do yearly fluid changes but always do a tear down and deep cleaning since I'm using Pastel based fluid which have issues if the nano-particles start precipitating or clumping. 

[Pachuca]

 

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

At 6 months you shouldn't have any issues if you notice build up as mentioned that is when I would suggest doing a tear down for cleaning. You can flush through say half a dozen times to remove all the old fluid and clean it out before refilling with some new stuff.

 

My suggestion would be to do a tear down once a year for inspection of seals change tubing if your using soft tube and such. Orings should last a goof couple of years at the very least, if you notice that they become very compressed or loose it's pliability then it would be best to change them out. I personally do yearly fluid changes but always do a tear down and deep cleaning since I'm using Pastel based fluid which have issues if the nano-particles start precipitating or clumping. 

anything special I should be using to to remove old fluid and cleaning the parts? Will tap water be fine?

 

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

anything special I should be using to to remove old fluid and cleaning the parts? Will tap water be fine?

If you have a drain it will make it easier but if not you can attach a short section of tubing to an unused port and move the systems around to drain. If you need to clean blocks or components due to residue or build up you can use regular tap water and a little bit of dish soap, just be sure to flush it very clean and to do a few final rinses with distilled water before assembly to remove any minerals or contaminates from the tap water.

 

For stuff such as rads if you require it you can do a diluted vinegar solution and vigorously shake it to dislodge and help remove any junk inside of it. After you will need to again really flush it out to remove any trace of vinegar or give it a baking soda rinse to neutralize any remaining vinegar before washing out the baking soda wash.