• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Question about cleaning loop and draining.

K

kenpomasta

Gawd
2FA
Joined
Jun 21, 2004
Messages
983
This is the 2nd year Ive been running my W/C system. Last year I just drained and refilled. Its time do drain it again. However I wondering if I should clean my loop this time. I was tinking about running a couple gallons of distilled water though it to clean it. However should I run things like vineger or someting like it thought it.. .Or maybe take apart my Storm WB and clean it? What does everyone think?

Ive been running Distilled with Hyrix in it. Theres no window on my case so I dont care about looks.
 
I haven't had a loop that long but I have seen reccomendations for loop draining about every six months.

As for clening, I guess you can try and clean out the tubing but it's so cheap that personally I would buy new tubing.

As for the Storm, yes, you should take it apart and make sure the jets are clear, they clog easily. I have yet to take apart my Storm for fear of messing it up but many people do it.

As for cleaning, use vinegar only on the copper parts. Distilled water should be fine for the rest.
 
Depending on the brand of tubing you might want to consider replacing it after two years. Do take apart the Storm and give it a good cleaning. Soak the copper base in distilled white vinegar and clean the midplate and top with distilled water and a new toothbrush. An old IC chip works great for cleaning out the jet then use the toothbrush but be careful not to ream the orifices out. Also clean the o-rings in distilled water. After soaking the copper block for several hours then use the toothbrush to clean out the holes and then flush everything again fully with distilled water. Wear un-powdered latex gloves during the final rinse and re-assembly to prevent oils from your fingers staining the block. JMO
 
What I do every 6-7 months is...


Drain the system... Get about 6' of tubing from Home Depot (the cheap crap) and cut it in half (2 3' sections). THEN, I place my computer a good 2 feet away from the nearest sink and make a loop like this:

Faucet - Radiator - Pump - Block1 - Block2 - etc. - Sink.

And keep that going for a couple of minutes... I then add some scrubbing bubbles (well, the canadian equivilent at least) and some fantastic with bleach. And flush it out all real well (regular water, about 5 minutes).

The radiator can be left pretty much alone, but I take all my blocks apart and set the copper portion into a good vinegary ketchup. Leave that there for an hour, wash it all out with water (regular).

Your blocks should be sparkeling on the inside. I then lap the bottom (or just clean with metal polish) to restore the nice sheen. People say that this might hurt your block, but if done carefully it makes for better contact.

With my entire loop into pieces, I fill up the laundry room sink with distilled water (important) and drop all the parts in. I let them soak, scrub them, throw them around, but get all the impurities off.

Re-assemble everything and put my loop back together. I added .5% alcohol (100%) to my coolant to keep things from growing in it (only 3% antifreeze, any more made the distilled water conductive)... It seems to treat me really well.

I usually lower my temps by 1-2'c after doing all this too... It takes a good hour, but keeps things in good order IMO.
 
SiGfever said:
Depending on the brand of tubing you might want to consider replacing it after two years. Do take apart the Storm and give it a good cleaning. Soak the copper base in distilled white vinegar and clean the midplate and top with distilled water and a new toothbrush. An old IC chip works great for cleaning out the jet then use the toothbrush but be careful not to ream the orifices out. Also clean the o-rings in distilled water. After soaking the copper block for several hours then use the toothbrush to clean out the holes and then flush everything again fully with distilled water. Wear un-powdered latex gloves during the final rinse and re-assembly to prevent oils from your fingers staining the block. JMO
Click to expand...

qft. as sigfever well knows i did this exact thing on ssaturday. toothbrush, glass or ceramicc bowl of vinegar and lots of distilled water is what you need for your storm block.

also its good to suspend your rad in a bath of the white distilled vinegar to clean out some of the gunk in there and flush it well afterwards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top