Crud in my loop...

[fivecheebs]

So i drained and filtered my loop today because the blue motion dye had solidified and i could see "lumps" sitting in the bottom of the res and occasionally going around the tubes. I should have done this ages ago when i first noticed it because i was getting moments of temp rises that were "solved" by restarting the system or more specifically the pump.

I drained it into a bowl and ran it thorugh a sieve to get out the "lumps" then i took the res out to give it a clean out. When i took it apart, the aluminium bottom was caked in this blue gunk and beneth that looked similar to rust!. at this point i start to wonder about my blocks. I decided to take the loop to bits abd peer down the fittings into the blocks to see what they were like. The NexXxos XP pro looked all shiney inside still :) and when i was researching the block i read a review that said alphacool made them prommise to test the block before dismantling it for photos .... this made me a little aprehensive about taking it apart so i decided not to. (i was thinking perhaps it was especially hard to re-assemble) peered into the cape NB block and i could hardly see into it, and blowing through it was hard. I was contemplating taking this out of the loop for a while anyway so i rebuilt it minus the NB block.

Now with the system up and running again i dismantle the NB block and :eek: , Its jam packed full of blue sludge and then again under the sludge on the aluminium top of the block is this coating of rust like stuff. .... now im getting concerned about teh XP but at leate i know there is no aluminium in that block. Ill have to take it to bits i guess to check for more blue gunk :(

Now for the question ... is there a solution i could soak my blocks in to help release this stubbon stain...

FWIW the loop was filled with alphacools premixed coolant topped up with a small ammount of distilled water, 500ml of coolant and 100ml(ish) distilled water. Did i dilute it too much do you think?

[Starbuck3733T]

That's probably dyed aluminum oxide. The bluemotion dye coming out of solution is nothing new either - happens to have happened to me twice now. Get some anticorrossive in that loop (ACFluid) STAT!

[fivecheebs]

Cheers star, i was thinking its corrosion also :(....

i got a couple of pics, only with my phone but here they are none the less.

res
http://www.cheebs.co.uk/images/loop/Picture(14).jpg
NB block
http://www.cheebs.co.uk/images/loop/Picture(16).jpg

Whats the best way to get this crap off? wire brush? or is there a better way?

[Kickass]

how about one of those little brush things u get in the bathroom i dunno wot they are for but this seems a good cause ..

When u have done that i would recomend running distilled water through your loop for a while filtering it every couple of mins then run some stuff (ask star) from the chemists to clean it all properly, then clean it with distilled water again

Then just stick all ur stuff in there preferably with the right coolant etc

[Psykotik]

This may sound stupid, but tomato sauce. Honestly. The acid in it cleans that sort of crap off a treat :)

[fivecheebs]

This may sound stupid, but tomato sauce. Honestly. The acid in it cleans that sort of crap off a treat :)


ahh :) Ty psy i knew there was some household substance that did it just couldnt remember what! wonder why i didnt think if tomatoe sauce! ;) Should i soak it in some or use it as a rubbing compound of some sort?

[Starbuck3733T]

Ketchup will do the trick too, at least for surface corrosion. For blowing your tubes out well you want *Sol (I learned of this witches brew on pro/forums) which consists of:

50% water (tap is fine)
25% pine-sol
25% lysol (the yellow fluid non-areosol)

Run that through your loop for a few hours after you scrub your blocks out, then flush with several gallons of water... when I did this I had it hooked up so that I could just blow tap water through my loop open ended... tap water went in, went through the loop, went out and down my drain. I did this for several hours so I imagine it was probably 100 gallons+ of tap water. Then flush with 5 gallons or so of distilled water.... PS: my tubes still smell of pinesol. But if you've got organic or non organic buildup, this shit will kill it dead.

[fivecheebs]

ahh, i think i remember reading something about that *sol mixture on pro a while back. Shame i cant egt either of those products here :( I wonder what is similar in constitution to them that we have here.

OK so ill take an old toothbrush with some tomato sauce on the nb block and post back resuts :)

[Greeny]

Immersion in a coca-cola style soft drink would probably shift that stuff as well. The ketchup and the coke are both good for shifting discolourations in copper iirc.

[Psykotik]

No worries, I've used the tomato ketchup/toothbrush combo on a few blocks now, works a treat :)

I remember the thread you posted on your *Sol experiences Star, wasn't it something along the lines of "Argh my f%scking loop stinks of Pinesol?" :D