Radiator cleaning

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CRXican

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
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I'm not sure how many of you venture over to the xtremesystems forums but I did. They have a noob WC guide and in it is a method of cleaning out a radiator.

Long story short the author claims rads are dirty inside after they are made and he suggests flushig the rad with not only with distilled water but also vinegar. He also suggests filling the rad with vinegar and letting it sit for 6 hours.

Have any of you WC vets ever cleaned out your rads in such a manner?
 
I cleaned mine with white vinegar and it was pretty nasty. A lot of residue from manufacture appeared to be inside. After soaking in vinegar I flushed the heck out of it with distilled water.
 
I don't see how vinegar would do anything more to the remnants of manufacturing than just water.
 
im thinking it has to do with chemistry and gunk thats leftover inside of the rad.
 
DemonDiablo said:
im thinking it has to do with chemistry and gunk thats leftover inside of the rad.
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But it should all just be metals, that's why I don't see Vinegar doing much.
 
There are many materials besides metals that are involved in metal manufacturing processes. Soldering/brazing flux and cutting oils are two examples which might apply here.
 
the reason I asked is that I was anxious to install yesterday but that didn't happen

I'll take the time to clean the radiator with water/vinegar and will simply flush my Storm with distilled water
 
thewhiteguy said:
But it should all just be metals, that's why I don't see Vinegar doing much.
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Well it will definately strip off any oxidized copper thats for sure.

I have heard flushing with distilled (or maybe it was de-ionized) water after using vinegar is a bad idea, as rapid oxidization occurs. Anyone else heard of this? Maybe it would be best to flush with purified drinking water then fill with distilled to be safe.
 
J-Mag said:
Well it will definately strip off any oxidized copper thats for sure.

I have heard flushing with distilled (or maybe it was de-ionized) water after using vinegar is a bad idea, as rapid oxidization occurs. Anyone else heard of this? Maybe it would be best to flush with purified drinking water then fill with distilled to be safe.
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interesting, the guide at xtremefourms reccomends flushing with distilled water, then vinegar, then distilled water again
 
i flushed all my blocks with vinegar+water then just water and im running fine. I think vinegar carries a certain acidity that is less than harmful but more than effective.
 
CRXican said:
interesting, the guide at xtremefourms reccomends flushing with distilled water, then vinegar, then distilled water again
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Yeah it might have been that I read it about De-Ionized water then...
 
CRXican said:
I'm not sure how many of you venture over to the xtremesystems forums but I did. They have a noob WC guide and in it is a method of cleaning out a radiator.

Long story short the author claims rads are dirty inside after they are made and he suggests flushig the rad with not only with distilled water but also vinegar. He also suggests filling the rad with vinegar and letting it sit for 6 hours.

Have any of you WC vets ever cleaned out your rads in such a manner?
Click to expand...

I followed the guide when setting up my loop and let not only vinegar sit in my radiator for 6 hours but also let the copper components of the waterblocks sit submerged in vinegar as well.

I can't complain, my system is running great, and no strange particles flowing in the tubes.
 
I really didn't want to take the storm apart but I might as well. Who needs a warranty?
 
CRXican said:
I really didn't want to take the storm apart but I might as well. Who needs a warranty?
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You won't void your warranty taking the storm apart, unless the place you purchased it from has stickers on it but even then that doesn't invalidate Swiftech's warranty and you can always use a hair dryer to carefully peel the stickers.

My DD Maze4 had stickers and I was able to take it apart and keep the stickers on the black acetal and not have it leave tamper residue.

While you have it apart you can go the extra step of lubing up the O rings and make sure it's all seated properly.
 
Dr.House said:
You won't void your warranty taking the storm apart, unless the place you purchased it from has stickers on it but even then that doesn't invalidate Swiftech's warranty and you can always use a hair dryer to carefully peel the stickers.

My DD Maze4 had stickers and I was able to take it apart and keep the stickers on the black acetal and not have it leave tamper residue.

While you have it apart you can go the extra step of lubing up the O rings and make sure it's all seated properly.
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that's probably the best idea

The previous owner didn't run water through the block but he did put the fittings in. I tried to unscrew them by hand but they are TIGHT. Any suggestions? Also, when putting the barbs back in do you just hand tighten?
 
Hand tighten and then give a 1/2 - 3/4 turn to lock it in.

Flushing with d. water and vinegar is smart. It is good for your system too after a while. once a year I will drain the system and then do the vinegar/d water flush. After that I just flush it with d water, and then refill.

Use two clean buckets. I have a splice area in the two lines that I can break. They are joined by couplers. I take off one to drain and the other to hook an air pump to to blow it out.

Then I attach extra tubing to run to draw from bucket one. Put the d water/vinegar mixture in this one. then I attach extra tubing to the drain line and run it into an empty bucket. As bucket one goes down in fluid level I start adding just plain distilled water. To complete the flush.

After that I refill the system. Next time I do it, I'll take pics and post them.
 
I'm a chemist for a living, and we do a lot of cleaning with acid (vinegar is really dilute acid) because it helps dissolve oxidized (rusted) metals, then, when its dissolved in the vinegar, flushing with water helps to remove the acid so it doesn't sit and corrode anything further. since vinegar is mega dilute, you should let it sit for a while to dissolve everything you can. This is a good idea as water doesn't dissolve certain things on its own.
 
Turgeis said:
I'm a chemist for a living, and we do a lot of cleaning with acid (vinegar is really dilute acid) because it helps dissolve oxidized (rusted) metals, then, when its dissolved in the vinegar, flushing with water helps to remove the acid so it doesn't sit and corrode anything further. since vinegar is mega dilute, you should let it sit for a while to dissolve everything you can. This is a good idea as water doesn't dissolve certain things on its own.
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Would you say that it's not necessary to dilute the vinegar?
 
Stuey83 said:
Would you say that it's not necessary to dilute the vinegar?
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Vinegar is already extremely diluted, hence why you can safely ingest it. I'd actually be more inclined to find something stronger.
 
Dr.House said:
You won't void your warranty taking the storm apart, unless the place you purchased it from has stickers on it but even then that doesn't invalidate Swiftech's warranty and you can always use a hair dryer to carefully peel the stickers.

My DD Maze4 had stickers and I was able to take it apart and keep the stickers on the black acetal and not have it leave tamper residue.

While you have it apart you can go the extra step of lubing up the O rings and make sure it's all seated properly.
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what sort of lube do you use on the O rings?
 
bump for the O ring question

I really don't think I'm going to take the Storm apart but I will flush it with distilled water. The radiator cleaning however began last night. I flushed it with distilled water which came out clean as far as I could tell. It sat full of vinegar over night and I ran distilled water though it this morning. I filled it with vinegar again and it's sitting at home soaking as we speak.

When I went to get the distilled water it was 5, 1 gallon jugs for $6 so I have quite an abundance of it along with my huge jug of vinegar. I think my hands still smell like vinegar.
 
thewhiteguy said:
But it should all just be metals, that's why I don't see Vinegar doing much.
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retake your chemistry class then you will know why vinegar is the best for cleanning radiator.
 
bail_w said:
retake your chemistry class then you will know why vinegar is the best for cleanning radiator.
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He asked a question because he was curious/confused about something.

What I'm curious about is what's the purpose of YOUR post? :mad:

I think it was in kindergarten when I first learned a wise expression starting with "if you've got nothing nice to say...".
 
Stuey83 said:
He asked a question because he was curious/confused about something.

What I'm curious about is what's the purpose of YOUR post? :mad:

I think it was in kindergarten when I first learned a wise expression starting with "if you've got nothing nice to say...".
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Actually, thewhiteguy did not ask a question, he stated his thoughts.

Anyway, the answer to the question and the reasoning for the suggestion is because the acid in vinegar will dissolve copper oxide- that's why it's used for cleaning tarnished copper/brass items. How much good alone that does in cleaning out a radiator, I don't know. A vigorous fluid flush of any type is probably a good idea to remove loose debris. Doing so with soapy water would also help to remove anything oily inside which may have been left by some mfg process.
 
Does anyone know if the radiator that comes with the Swiftech kits comes with the barbs installed?

I bought the kit on ebay supposedly unused. Later found out he did mount the Storm block. I'm asking because there is some sort of sealant/glue around the barbs on the rad and I hope whatever it is wont contaminate my loop.

::edit::

also, should I use the tubing that came with the Swiftech kit or pick up some Masterkleer?
 
before you guys drain the coolant, did you guys uninstall all the components or did you just leave it in there? I'm scared that i might splash coolant while draining onto the mobo, vid card, etc... and the next time i turn it on, smoke will come out and fry everything.
 
jhego said:
before you guys drain the coolant, did you guys uninstall all the components or did you just leave it in there? I'm scared that i might splash coolant while draining onto the mobo, vid card, etc... and the next time i turn it on, smoke will come out and fry everything.
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don't hijack my thread
 
Dr.House said:
You won't void your warranty taking the storm apart, unless the place you purchased it from has stickers on it but even then that doesn't invalidate Swiftech's warranty and you can always use a hair dryer to carefully peel the stickers.

My DD Maze4 had stickers and I was able to take it apart and keep the stickers on the black acetal and not have it leave tamper residue.

While you have it apart you can go the extra step of lubing up the O rings and make sure it's all seated properly.
Click to expand...
Swiftech doesn't use stickers, I don't think they mind if you open the block, why would they? Make sure that you put it back together right and they won't even be able to tell you opened it. Don't screw one screw all the way down at once, alternate between all four screws to avoid warping the base. If you strip a thread by overtightning it they might get a bit cranky though.

You don't void Danger Dens waranty by removing the sticker. The sticker is just an indication that it passed Danger Dens leakage tests.

I wouldn't lube my o-rings, what ever you put on them ends up inside the system. If their dry I'd get new ones instead, they don't cost many cents. I always clean my o-rings with alcohol (isopropanol) before I put them in my system.

Cleaning your radiator won't give you better performance, but it prevents foggy hoses. The extra effort of cleaning your system before you assemble it will save time in the end since you can wait a lot longer before you have to change water or hoses.

I always clean my radiators with vinegar, distilled water and alcohol before I use them. Blocks I just polish and then clean with distilled and alcohol. I don't clean the hoses but I use a filter for a few days to get the last gunk out.
 
Does anyone know if the radiator that comes with the Swiftech kits comes with the barbs installed?

I bought the kit on ebay supposedly unused. Later found out he did mount the Storm block. I'm asking because there is some sort of sealant/glue around the barbs on the rad and I hope whatever it is wont contaminate my loop.

::edit::

also, should I use the tubing that came with the Swiftech kit or pick up some Masterkleer?
 
CRXican said:
Does anyone know if the radiator that comes with the Swiftech kits comes with the barbs installed?

I bought the kit on ebay supposedly unused. Later found out he did mount the Storm block. I'm asking because there is some sort of sealant/glue around the barbs on the rad and I hope whatever it is wont contaminate my loop.

::edit::

also, should I use the tubing that came with the Swiftech kit or pick up some Masterkleer?
Click to expand...


LoL, quoting yourself and adding a "bump" would have been easier than copy-pasting like you did.

Anyways, I would *assume* that the rad comes with the barbs installed. Find some retail sites which sell it and take a gander at what the photos show. But even if they come installed, he might have switched them or removed them to clean them out or something. Best thing to do is email the seller.
 
Stuey83 said:
LoL, quoting yourself and adding a "bump" would have been easier than copy-pasting like you did.

Anyways, I would *assume* that the rad comes with the barbs installed. Find some retail sites which sell it and take a gander at what the photos show. But even if they come installed, he might have switched them or removed them to clean them out or something. Best thing to do is email the seller.
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I did email the seller

he had the kit sitting around unused for so long he doesn't remember
 
zer0signal667 said:
Vinegar is already extremely diluted, hence why you can safely ingest it. I'd actually be more inclined to find something stronger.
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Eh, for any kind of tarnish I've seen on WC components, adding vinegar with a bit of salt easily removes it.
 
CRXican said:
Does anyone know if the radiator that comes with the Swiftech kits comes with the barbs installed?

I bought the kit on ebay supposedly unused. Later found out he did mount the Storm block. I'm asking because there is some sort of sealant/glue around the barbs on the rad and I hope whatever it is wont contaminate my loop.

::edit::

also, should I use the tubing that came with the Swiftech kit or pick up some Masterkleer?
Click to expand...

Hey on the glue/ sealant around the barbs ,if its clear it is probaly plumbers "goop" ,that is pretty much a comman suggestion made to most people on the forums,ive used it for years without problems ,not sure though,you will have to email or call Gabe at swiftech to see if the barbs come installed on the rad(and maybe see if he uses some type of sealant on the barbs?)
*On lubing the O ring ,if you can find the right size locally ,just get some new ones,if not you could use a tiny film of some none petroleum based jelly,or maybe dielectric grease,but again im not sure for watercooling,i uasually have to Google all of my unanswered questions for a while before i get a good answer.
 
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