Greenish Tint/Murky Water

[turok_t]

Hey everyone, just wanted to seek your advice as I have been out of the watercooling gig for a few years now. I have an older rig that uses the following components:

1. Koolance i380 waterblock (nickel plated)
2. Alphacool triple rad monsta
3. EK reservoir with Laing D5 Vario pump
4. Mayhem white absorbent tubing
5. Mayhem XT-1 Nuke clear coolant (100ml coolant to 900ml distilled water)
6. Bitspower fittings

I have a single loop from CPU block to radiator to pump. I drained the loop completely and used vinegar/distilled water (30:70) to rinse and clean out my radiator for several hours and then flushed it all out with a few rounds of distilled water ensuring to remove all of the vinegar/distilled water solution. I then used Mayhem XT-1 clear coolant mixed with distilled water to fill in my loop again. Immediately, I can see that the water is very murky with a slight greenish tint. I think the coolant is causing the metals to react or is reacting with the metals itself but I don't know why. The XT-1 nuke is supposed to be compatible with copper and nickel plated and I'm not using any aluminum in my loop.

Here is a picture of it:

Any ideas why this is happening?

 

[pendragon1]

looks like shit from the rad. run more straight distilled through it until its clear. then drain again and add your coolant mix.

 

[turok_t]

After disassembling my entire system, here are some pictures. I did find some rusting (??maybe this is just the bare copper underneath??) in the radiator threads and on the Bitspower barbs (inside the barb and on the threads as well) and I'm not sure if this is the issue causing the murky water. I basically took these pictures of the radiator, waterblock and barbs/fittings right after I disassembled the system (without cleaning) to examine the parts:

 

[extide]

Yeah that's just the bare copper underneath, not really an issue.

Vinegar is fairly acidic, I probably wouldn't have put it through my system but as long as it wasn't in there very long you're probably fine and it was just gunk. Make sure you mix the coolant you fill it with properly because you will need to protect the metals from reacting with each other.

 

[Nenu]

Seems likely it is a copper reaction, this produces a green oxide.
But it could be a form of floating algae if there is light getting to it.

 

[cyberguyz]

Yeah I was thinking organic crap as well from the jelly-like goop in a few of those pics.

 

[turok_t]

Yeah I was thinking organic crap as well from the jelly-like goop in a few of those pics.

So for the waterblock, the nickle plating came off from my own doing. Many years ago when i cleaned out my system, i saw some crude on the fins of my waterblock so i got very light (1000grit) sandpaper and sanded the top of the fins, so thats the reason for the bare copper showing. I shouldn't have done that, but i didnt know better. The jelly like goop is actually plumbing tape i used before on the threads of the fittings to prevent any leakage. It just mucky and wet and looks like goop..

In terms of the Bitspower fitting/barbs themselves, it started to corrode on the inside where the water flows on the threads... are they still useable? can those be lightly sanded off?

What about the radiator itself?

 

[pendragon1]

ive never seen anyone use plumbers/Teflon tape in a loop before. maybe that is an issue? you shouldn't need it at all, that's what the O-rings are for. use a toothbrush to clean it up and see how it looks.

 

[cyberguyz]

Most barbs are nickel/chrome plated brass. The rad tank in most (but not all - there are some with copper tanks too) cases is brass as well. Brass is pretty good about resisting corrosion. Most often corrosion of copper would be from galvanic interaction with a cathodic metal like aluminum. I assume you have no aluminum in your loop so we won't worry about that. The rad should be ok. If there is more green copper oxide left in it you can backflush with a MILD hot ascetic acid solution.

I would use a flushing loop for that -- pump out -> (out port) rad -> rad (in port) - container of cleaning solution -> pump in. The cleaning solution should be hot and it should be run for 1-2 hrs. You can use boiled tap water for this because you will rinse out the rad with distilled after cleaning it. Of course priming the pump would be tricky and the pump should always be at the lowest point for gravity ... I have confidence you will figure out a way Be sure to rotate and move the rad around to get the air bubbles out while the cleaning is going on (use mitts / pot holders. It will be hot...).

ive never seen anyone use plumbers/Teflon tape in a loop before. maybe that is an issue? you shouldn't need it at all, that's what the O-rings are for. use a toothbrush to clean it up and see how it looks.

I did a decade ago. I used silicone too. But then we didn't have the lovely - pretty much standardized o-ring fittings we do today. It was more pipe thread fittings.

 

[pendragon1]

Most barbs are nickel/chrome plated brass. The rad tank in most (but not all - there are some with copper tanks too) cases is brass as well. Brass is pretty good about resisting corrosion. Most often corrosion of copper would be from galvanic interaction with a cathodic metal like aluminum. I assume you have no aluminum in your loop so we won't worry about that. The rad should be ok. If there is more green copper oxide left in it you can backflush with a MILD hot ascetic acid solution.

I would use a flushing loop for that -- pump -> (out port) rad -> rad (in port) - container of cleaning solution -> pump. The cleaning solution should be hot and it should be run for 1-2 hrs. You can use boiled tap water for this because you will rinse out the rad with distilled after cleaning it. Of course priming the pump would be tricky and the pump should always be at the lowest point for gravity ... I have confidence you will figure out a way Be sure to rotate and move the rad around to get the air bubbles out while the cleaning is going on (use mitts / pot holders. It will be hot...).



I did a decade ago. I used silicone too. But then we didn't have the lovely - pretty much standardized o-ring fittings we do today. It was more pipe thread fittings.

yeah I guess I should have said "never in a modern loop". we did use it in the good? old days

 

[turok_t]

Most barbs are nickel/chrome plated brass. The rad tank in most (but not all - there are some with copper tanks too) cases is brass as well. Brass is pretty good about resisting corrosion. Most often corrosion of copper would be from galvanic interaction with a cathodic metal like aluminum. I assume you have no aluminum in your loop so we won't worry about that. The rad should be ok. If there is more green copper oxide left in it you can backflush with a MILD hot ascetic acid solution.

I would use a flushing loop for that -- pump out -> (out port) rad -> rad (in port) - container of cleaning solution -> pump in. The cleaning solution should be hot and it should be run for 1-2 hrs. You can use boiled tap water for this because you will rinse out the rad with distilled after cleaning it. Of course priming the pump would be tricky and the pump should always be at the lowest point for gravity ... I have confidence you will figure out a way Be sure to rotate and move the rad around to get the air bubbles out while the cleaning is going on (use mitts / pot holders. It will be hot...).

I just used a flashlight and try to look into the internals of the radiator, there isn't any green discoloration or green copper oxide whatsoever. It has the brass/brown color. Yeah Ive flushed my radiator for over 10 hours of now with water before so i think it should be okay..I did it outside of my computer so i was able to rotate it 360 to ensure that the water flushed through the creaks/cracks of the radiator.

Anything you would recommend about the barbs and fittings? anyway i can remove the corrosion?