Algae removal and general gear cleaning questions

[Little Man]

Hey guys,

I'm sorry for doing this, i know its been asked a bazillion times but i can't seem to find a solution.

Firstly, I rad my loop for like 3 months before everything started overheating, gear was:

CPU-370
VID-NX580
XSPC Bayres D5
Swiftech MCP655
Bitspower 3/8" 5/8" Compression fittings
Primochill Pro LRT Clear tubing
HWLabs 240 SR1
HWLabs 120 SR1

The problems I experienced were as follows:

1. Blocks discoloured (potential cause of overheating?)
2. The bottom of the thread of all my fittings corroded for some reason, the nickle flaked off and brass
3. Algae on everything

Questions

1. How do I clean the rads? I've flushed them for 5 continuous minutes with near boiling water, then flushed with boiling water and the 'specs' which im guessing are algae just don't budge! (Couldn't get a photo but see pics of other gear, it looks the same but inside the rad).
2. How do I clean the res? Same again, have flushed it with near boiling water and it just doesn't budge, it can be removed if i wipe it with a q-tip but i cant get at every last corner of the res (or the most of the actual res for that matter).
3. How do i clean the pump? I've taken it out of the res, can i take the centre part out? I've heard that its just held on by a strong magnet?
4. I've heard a lot about vinegar being a good cleaner, but being an acid im a little anxious about what i use it on, what is it safe to clean?

http://i.imgur.com/Ht8Cv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RQBz9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CQu56.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jqool.jpg

Any help is appreciated!

[the_dope_chaud]

Clean the res: throw sand or other medium in with water and shake. Make sure pump's not attached, and plug all the holes. :)

[AVulgarPicture]

fill rad with a decent amount of vinegar and rinse out i reckon.
the centre part of the d5 just pops out if you give it a firm pull. that part should be easy to clean.
the rad and res will be the problem.

[CrazyNutz]

Soak the res in bleach + water solution for 24 hours, this will kill the algae. Then do like the_dope_chaud said. However I think I would use something less abrasive than sand, perhaps baking powder.

[Waterlogged]

I have a 3/4 full gallon bottle of distilled vinegar that I need to find other uses for because it will never again be used to clean any of my water cooling gear. Use a weak bleach/water mix (no more than 2% bleach) and run it through the loop out of the case for a day or so, then rinse everything really well. If you want to take the extra step of running a similar mix of baking soda/water through the loop to neutralize the acid from the bleach that may be left in the loop, do so before the good final rinse.


Out of curiosity, what was the liquid/mix you had in your loop?

[asura]

Isn't bleach an alkali?

Regardless; baking soda will neutralise either.

[Raul-7]

Hydrogen peroxide will also work, it kills all types of algae and it breaks down into water and oxygen.

[Little Man]

Thanks for the response guys.

I'll try baking soda with the res, then bleach, does the baking soda actually kill the algae or just help dislodge it?

The pump should be okay with just a toothbrush clean? Or will it require further cleaning with something?

Will bleaching the rad actually dislodge the algae or just kill it?



I have a 3/4 full gallon bottle of distilled vinegar that I need to find other uses for because it will never again be used to clean any of my water cooling gear. Use a weak bleach/water mix (no more than 2% bleach) and run it through the loop out of the case for a day or so, then rinse everything really well. If you want to take the extra step of running a similar mix of baking soda/water through the loop to neutralize the acid from the bleach that may be left in the loop, do so before the good final rinse.


Out of curiosity, what was the liquid/mix you had in your loop?

Why did you stop using vinegar?

I dont have any fittings anymore (sold them, didn't want to use them again) so will have to let the bleach just sit in the res/rad, is it safe to use on a pump?

Straight distilled + 1 silver BP fitting...probably wan't enough in hindsight. :(

[gr1p]

For what its worth, Ive been using straight distilled with 2 drops of Mayhems biocide per loop with great success.

Almost 2 years with no problems.

May be worth a try.

[Little Man]

Yeah i really wish i had've gone with additives instead of silver. :(

I gave the res a quick run with a bit of bicarb and hot water and a shake, seems to have loosened up some of the algae except for the corners and 1 particular side of the res :/

The MCP655/D5 isnt sealed is it, just have to be really careful when getting water on it to clean it?

[AVulgarPicture]

not if you let it dry out properly.
you could drop an entire computer into a pool, give it a hose out, and let it dry properly, and it'll be fine.

[Waterlogged]

Why did you stop using vinegar?

I dont have any fittings anymore (sold them, didn't want to use them again) so will have to let the bleach just sit in the res/rad, is it safe to use on a pump?

Straight distilled + 1 silver BP fitting...probably wan't enough in hindsight. :(

Vinegar is an acid in the 2pH range and very dangerous to copper/brass. If you go through a lot of the older "how to clean rads" topics, you'll see a lot of them somewhere along the way mention bluish or greenish water coming out. This is a result of the acid in the vinegar actually eating away very small amounts of the rad which makes the rad weaker than it was to start with and if allowed to go far enough, it could cause a leak. Bleach on the other hand, is an alkali in the 12pH range...the difference is that in a 2% or less mix with water, it's still very harmful to micro bio's but not to copper/brass. Baking soda @ ~9pH range is more of a neutralizer. If you slightly over saturate the water with the baking soda, it'll act as a mild abrasive and scrub off your goo after you've killed it. It will also stop any potential reaction between the bleach and the copper/brass.

Personally, I think if you use those fittings, you need at least 4 to get any kind of protection from them. I don't think they have enough exposed surface area because that would defeat their "high flow" design.

[Conumdrum]

Agreed on the fittings. Always wondered how 'pure' the silver was. I know a killcoil is 99.999? It's square area is actually pretty small, it's purer or hmm?, dissipates better into the water I think than the plating does ...........

I use the coils and a biocide, meh, no biggie.

On cleaning the res, I should of mentioned it earlier. Get some good old rice, a few tablespoons, put in the res with not warm water, just sink water. Plug the holes with your fingers and shake shake shake. The rice is too soft to damage the acrylic, but hard enough to scrub away bits of algea. In fact, I used it to remove the bit of hard water stain on my XSPC resses for my DDC pumps.

Takes a lot of shaking, and the rice can begin to absorb water after a while, so replace it every 10 min or so. It does work, and gets into every crevice.:up:

[Callsign_Vega]

Agreed on the fittings. Always wondered how 'pure' the silver was. I know a killcoil is 99.999? It's square area is actually pretty small, it's purer or hmm?, dissipates better into the water I think than the plating does ...........

I use the coils and a biocide, meh, no biggie.

On cleaning the res, I should of mentioned it earlier. Get some good old rice, a few tablespoons, put in the res with not warm water, just sink water. Plug the holes with your fingers and shake shake shake. The rice is too soft to damage the acrylic, but hard enough to scrub away bits of algea. In fact, I used it to remove the bit of hard water stain on my XSPC resses for my DDC pumps.

Takes a lot of shaking, and the rice can begin to absorb water after a while, so replace it every 10 min or so. It does work, and gets into every crevice.:up:

A kill coil is going to have more surface area than the inside of one fitting. Not to mention I am sure it's purity is far higher. I have three kill coils in my system and no issues so far.

[Little Man]

Okay i've scrubbed the pump as much as i can, i can tell there is still algae on the innards of the impeller but I can't get in there.

Running bicarb through the res cleared probably 95% of the algae in the res, however the L shaped tube in the XSPC Bay res still remains basically filled with algae.

I think the next thing to do is buy some more fittings and tubing and just run bleach through a simple Pump/res > rad > pump/res loop and wait 24 to see if the algae has actually dislodged from the pump/res/rad.

If it doesn't move after 24 hours, but is assumed dead from having been in bleach for 24 hours should i be pretty safe just set up my loop as is?