Bang and the dirt is gone

[requ13m]

Alright lads,

What do you guys use to clean your copper blocks? I want to make it real shiny and :banana::banana::banana::banana: but i've had no luck with tomato ketchup or cilit bang(I think this may have caused some damage tbh). Any other suggestions?

[Zehnsucht]

When I clean my blocks I use ketchup and leave it over night. Have you tried having it on for a longer period of time?

[requ13m]

When I clean my blocks I use ketchup and leave it over night. Have you tried having it on for a longer period of time?

No but i left the cilit bang on it for around 5 minutes and it left marks that I could only clean off with cilit bang. I'll give that a go cause its not like i'm using the block I just was considering selling it and it looked pretty filthy.

Actually if i mixed cilit bang with water and left it overnight would that do the trick as well?

[Zack.]

I just use alcohol wipes and then dry it with the cloth that you get with glasses, the really soft cloth.

[requ13m]

I just use alcohol wipes and then dry it with the cloth that you get with glasses, the really soft cloth.

Do they do the trick? Am i getting my chemistry wrong cause I thought you need something acidic to clean copper and I thought most alcohols were pretty ph neutral unless reacted with something?

[wez3570]

i've just cleaned my copper blocks with cola. left them submerged, overnight. they were really dirty, came out spotless.

[Mech0z]

i've just cleaned my copper blocks with cola. left them submerged, overnight. they were really dirty, came out spotless.

That gotta prove how bad that stuff is for your teeth^^

[kinghong1970]

and i thought Sham-WoW! came out with a new product...

[requ13m]

well i have no allegiance to this block and i want it clean so I'll give that a go and see what happens. I've seen people use brasso to give a lapped IHS a shine I'm guessing there would be issues with doing this to the water side of the block? its an ek full cover by the by

[Conumdrum]

Brasso leaves a chemical residue. Sure, clean the bottom with brasso to get rid of tarnish then clean repeatedly with alcohol, should be fine.

[wez3570]

Try cola, honest it really surprised me! I'm not sure why but the GFX-2 on top of my GTX280 looked inside like someone had been using it as a cigarette filter! Really clogged with some black tar looking stuff! I first tried ketchup, didn't touch it, then vinegar, same. Coca-cola FTW lol

[chispy]

Use Lemon Juice , far better than ketchup ;).


chispy.

[requ13m]

so my first trial is going to be cola, if i get decent results I'll post up pics of the finished block.
Its currently sitting in a bath of it right now. Thank god i don't drink the stuff...well unless it has a couple of measures of soco in it:D

[Extigy]

I can confirm cola is superb. Ever tried putting a really dirty, scummy coin in there ? will be clean as new after an hour or so. Make sure the coke is fizzy though!

[3Z3VH]

Try cola, honest it really surprised me! I'm not sure why but the GFX-2 on top of my GTX280 looked inside like someone had been using it as a cigarette filter! Really clogged with some black tar looking stuff! I first tried ketchup, didn't touch it, then vinegar, same. Coca-cola FTW lol

That black tar stuff sounds like algae.

[wez3570]

That black tar stuff sounds like algae.

Black tubing, de-ionised water and 2 drops of PT nuke didn't help much then! lol

[3Z3VH]

Hmmm... was the tubing degrading or something ?

[wez3570]

No, well, apart from the clouding I noticed on the inside.

I emptied the water in to the bath so I could see the condition. It was mostly clear with some very small 'blue' particles that sunk to the bottom.

I'm wondering if I had an airlock maybe. It had only been running 6 months, if that! I was very careful before filling too. Making sure I flushed and ran de-ionised water through the loop first.

[requ13m]

Alright round one is complete and i'm sort of impressed with cola, i was expecting a return to old for the block and its sort of clean. There are marks on the block that seem to be there but are no longer as evident.

Does the cola actually need to be fizzy, cause the cola i used was actually a bit flat but i'll crack open a few new cans and give it a go this evening. I'll try to take photos of the block as is after a night in a cola.

[R31Nismoid]

Make sure the coke is the sugar filled stuff. The Coke Diet/Zero doesnt work as well at all. Gotta use the worst one you can buy :D

They will clean up oxidised copper coins if you leave overnight, sometimes a couple of hours might not be enough.
Its gotta be fizzy too, chuck in a clean tin and use lemonade (as an experiment) to see what the reason is :)


Take before/afters :)

[Sly Fox]

Ketchup and an old toothbrush has worked well for me so far.

Doesn't make the copper look quite "brand new" (at least in the time I leave it sitting), but you won't be seeing the inside of the blocks anyways.

Unless you have an acrylic top... :p:

[requ13m]

Yeah sadly i have an acrylic top on this one, I didn't care about the inside previously cause i was using black feser but now that i want to potentially sell the card and block i kinda care.

Lemonade seems like something I could try but i'll swing across the road after work and pick up a bottle of the original stuff and see how it works out. I'll post up pics later on and you can let me know what you think

[wez3570]

Mine was a freshly opened bottle of normal coke, not diet. I put it in a clean jam jar with the blocks and sealed the lid, the next morning.......voila!

I heard it was the citric acid that does the cleaning.

I too am selling the blocks which is why I wanted them spotless!

[Fraggle]

I have used pcb etchant at low concentration - nice and shiny after.

[requ13m]

Alright here are the pics after a night in a steamy coke bath, honestly on second inspection i'm dissapointed but given the fact that its wasn't fizzy i'll give it a second trial tonight and see if there is any improvement

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9042/p1010005nua.jpg (http://img5.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1010005nua.jpg)

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/3676/p1010006n.jpg (http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1010006n.jpg)

[Metric]

Anyone tried salt and vinegar for a few minutes? :shrug:

[diredesire]

I've used vinegar with great success in the past, very polished looking coming out. I haven't tried cola before, since I've never needed to. I'm surprised not more people have mentioned it, TBH. I would imagine that (if it really is the acid that is cleaning the block) that there is a higher acidity of vinegar vs. cola...

[requ13m]

I think the reason people don't use more highly acidic substances is because the damage they do to the blocks. For e.g cilit bang is highly acidic for a domestic product and leaving it on any surface for more than 5 minutes can cause pretty bad damage, I left it on my block for a few minutes and it left marks. My next step is fizzy cola but considering leaving it in ketchup overnight (that will sort out the vinegar dilemma as well)

[Eddie3dfx]

I tried white vinegar and it didn't work exceptionally well. Same goes with toothpaste. When I go back home, I'm going to try coke :)

[Defratos]

right so from all of this can I conclude that Cola would be the best to clean most water blocks?

[defect9]

right so from all of this can I conclude that Cola would be the best to clean most water blocks?

as long as you don't leave any sticky residue behind, probably

how about:
Cola
agitated Vinegar bath (swish it around for a while)
rinse with distilled water (probably swish it around a lot in that stuff)

seems like a logical solution, if a bit long and roundabout. Hell, you could probably get a toothbrush in there and scrub the fudge out of it between the cola and vinegar spots. at this point, just try something and report how well it works:shrug:

[GrossmeisterB]

I always use Cillit Bang...I let it sit for ~5 minutes, and then use an old toothbrush and some paper towels - looks like new again...

[requ13m]

right so from all of this can I conclude that Cola would be the best to clean most water blocks?

I'll try and make a conclusion on this in the next day or so, I haven't had a chance to give it a second bath but i'll post up pics once the second bath has been complete

[3Z3VH]

Just curious... What in the world happened to this block to make it so dirty ?!

[diredesire]

I think the reason people don't use more highly acidic substances is because the damage they do to the blocks. For e.g cilit bang is highly acidic for a domestic product and leaving it on any surface for more than 5 minutes can cause pretty bad damage, I left it on my block for a few minutes and it left marks. My next step is fizzy cola but considering leaving it in ketchup overnight (that will sort out the vinegar dilemma as well)

I would hardly qualify vinegar as "highly acidic," if anything, it would be less "risky" to try as an experiment compared to coke/ketchup simply because it is more "pure" in my eyes, nitric acid and water versus tomato pastes, spices, etc. I'd give it a shot, you've got nothing to lose, really...

[nikhsub1]

One word. Tarn-X.

[sabe]

Just for everyone's info. Bases (alkalines) work equally well at removing oxides and certain stains. For most purpose, bleach which is mostly Sodium Hypochlorite and water works very well and as a side note, produces a water soluble salt together with aluminum oxide(in the case of heatsinks). And if its copper (in the case of waterblocks), its even easier.

[LOUISSSSS]

i boiled my stained block in distilled water with some distilled vinegar. came out shiny as new.