Question on Swiftech Radiator

[zedane]

I have recently purchased two 360 rads from a local reseller for swiftech.

The issues i've faced are

1) The grills on the rads seem to be rusty, and have already oxidised. I've heard that the rads are supposedly made of brass and copper, so is that even possible?

2) The spacings on the rads do not comply to the 120mm fans i.e. i could not secure all the fans properly on the rads, most are only held on by 2 screws per fan :(

Would appreciate it if anyone could assist :) So far so good for me except for the above 2 issues, thanks!:up:

[Slowb00st]

I have recently purchased two 360 rads from a local reseller for swiftech.

The issues i've faced are

1) The grills on the rads seem to be rusty, and have already oxidised. I've heard that the rads are supposedly made of brass and copper, so is that even possible?

2) The spacings on the rads do not comply to the 120mm fans i.e. i could not secure all the fans properly on the rads, most are only held on by 2 screws per fan :(

Would appreciate it if anyone could assist :) So far so good for me except for the above 2 issues, thanks!:up:

Fan spacing is the correct one for 120mm fans, the tabs that have the threaded holes maybe be bent a bit not letting you insert the screws properly.

As far as oxidation if the fan is new it should not have any as they come painted properly.

[Conumdrum]

You should talk to the reseller. Oxidation can be the very light paint they put on the fins, allowing some copper/brass to be seen. Light paint for good heat dissipation. You should closely inspect the acrw holes. You could be using the wrong threads on the screws. I always use a tap to clean up my thread holes first just to be sure.

[zedane]

For me before i screw the fans on, i would try to align all the 4 holes before screwing. However this time round, the holes just does not seem to be aligned. I've used 4 different brand of fans for the 2 radiators, but both of them are unable to fit all the screws in. Therefore it shouldn't be the case of mis-aligned holes on the fan part.

Also, I can't seem to be able to identify whether its oxidation or just the material showing through the paint:shrug: Anyway i've already mounted the rad so taking it to inspect again would be a hassle.

So i was just wondering if anyone faced these problems as well:shrug:

Of course this is not much of an issue, i'm just glad that my loop is up and running, with no leak as of now :up:

[Waterlogged]

The "oxidation" is likely the base material showing through.

The screws not lining up. . .I remember about 1½ yrs to 2 yrs ago (maybe longer?) there was a batch of rads that were like that, had a rash of reports. It could be part of that old batch. :shrug:

[zedane]

Thats weird, coz my reseller just had this batch imported in recently:eek: Can't possibly they had rad that long ago still on the shelf:p:

Could be manufacturing problems again :( I think I've gotten the latest batch of swiftech QP rads, as stated in my local reseller's webpage :up:

[ilal2ielli]

I believe the screws not lining up properly is a common problem with Swiftech rads. I have two of the MCR320's purchased a year apart and I had issues with both regarding the spacing of the screw holes. They are just ever so slightly off that you need to tighten the screws one turn at a time for each corner until they are all threaded in, then you can fully tighten them down. Took me about 30 minutes of adjusting the fans and screws in order to get all 3 fans on the last time I changed my fans.

Also, I agree with everyone who posted above regarding the paint and the color of the copper fins showing. The paint is very thin and does not coat all the fins evenly.

[zedane]

Relieved to hear all that :D

I tried doing your method of tightening the screw 1 turn at a time but the problem is the holes are totally mis-aligned, can't seem to fit all 4 screws on each fan.

Other than that, so far so gd :D

[ilal2ielli]

One other way to attempting to get all the screws in would be to attempt to get at least two screws on the same side and tightened down a bit and then slightly push the frame of the fan towards the opposite side in order to line up the screw holes on that side.

My first Swiftech rad took a lot of pushing and aligning the fan in order to at least get the screws threaded in. If you're a perfectionist about it, like I was, you'll be able to figure out how to get all four screws in per fan. Otherwise, two should be fine. ;)