Cold Plate Oxidized

[Hell-Fire]

I ordered the TEC Conversion kit, and when I received it, the TEC was defective, so off to RMA.

In the meantime, the cold plate and water block cpooer surfaces have some oxidation on them from where I handled them during assembling the unit.

Will this inhibit the cooling of these blocks? I have tried some white vinegar..but only removed a small amount of the oxidation. I certainly dont want to use Brasso....although it would make it real nice and shiny, it would also be removing layers of copper to do so.

[saaya]

the ayer of oxidated copper is actually just a few atoms thick, if you wanna get rid of it anyways use a towel.

[Hell-Fire]

Just a towel...damp?

If its not going to impact cooling capacity, I am not going to worry about it.

[saaya]

impact is probably to small to be meassured...

[Hell-Fire]

Good! LOL....I am having enough issues just getting this thing layed out so it fits into the case, much less worrying about buffing 3 blocks.

Thnx again saaya.

[saaya]

np :)

i was worried about this oxidation as well but heard that its just a thin layer of atoms and doesnt really change much. you can actually see a diference in temps of ~1°C with oxidated copper heatsinks, but thats a huge surface area of more than 1m²

[st0nedpenguin]

Don't know if it works or not, but I'm sure I saw a guide on waterblock construction on madshrimps that showed a guy using ketchup to remove tarnishes on a copper block...

Yup, I did, thank god, I'm not losing my mind. :D

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=gethowto&number=6&howtopage=83&howtoID=34

[saaya]

its the acid inside the ketchup that de-oxidises the copper iirc.
same thing as using vinegar like he did.

mmmhhhh ketchup... you made me hungry! going to get a nice burger and drown it in ketchup mmhhhhhhh :D

[Vlad Draculea]

i usually use for this purposes something i cant speak about due to my shelfreverse
NDA

[Hell-Fire]

LMAO. I will give the ketchup a try as the vinegar only worked partially.

Since I have to dremel me up some ram sinks, may as well let the blocks have a Heinz bath. :hehe:

Thanks for everyones input.

[Hell-Fire]

Well smack my butt and call me Susie..the ketchup worked beautifully!

Looks brand new, and only had to let it sit on the blocks a minute or 2.

[isp]

LOL...

Now I just want to try this...

*looks for something copper*

[sjohnson]

The acids in tomatos are relatively powerful reducing agents.

It's an old cook's trick to brighten a dull aluminum pot by boiling tomatoes (any kind, from the whole fruit to juice) in the pot.

Another one, works on iron and steel only: soak a rusty piece of iron or steel in a glass of coca-cola overnight. The phosphoric acid in the Coke reduces the rust on the nail.

[saaya]

glad you finally got your mirror finish susie :slapass:

:D

[freecableguy]

Brasso works great too.

[Hell-Fire]

LOL @ saaya.

freecableguy, the problem with Brasso is that although it makes things all pretty and shiney (as I stated above), it also removes layers of copper to do so. Most good cold plates are lapped to about as perfectly flat as can be,,,,dont wanna go messing up their hard work.