Why you should use biocide pt. 2 **WARNING: graphic!** also, pump disintegration...

The state of the impeller reminds me of when a radiator is added to a loop without having water run through it to clean the inside and then you get those shavings inside the loop from inside the radiator. I've seen those slowly act as an abrasive on pumps before and start to whittle down the pumps impeller.

Sure looks nasty inside, this is one reason I go for transparent acrylic blocks on my graphics cards (EK 480 Nickel) and Transparent Pump Tops (XSPC DCC+ Top). I can clearly see what's going on with regards to algae.

I would clean it all up and run it again. There isn't anything mechanically lost in the pump from what I can see. As long as the two bearing surfaces are still good at the ceramic white ball and the impeller vanes are in tack..a little surface scuffing should affect performance at all. If you wan you could probably even use some light sand paper to smooth out the outside of the impeller.

Not sure what chemicals are ok, but as long as it doesn't attack the plastics or metals, it should be fine to clean with as long as you neutralize and rise it well in the end.

Getting a hose barb for your faucet would probably be helpful too:
http://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpr...pg?w=427&h=640

You can find these at most home improvement centers, helpful for flushing.

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Originally Posted by Martinm210

I would clean it all up and run it again. There isn't anything mechanically lost in the pump from what I can see. As long as the two bearing surfaces are still good at the ceramic white ball and the impeller vanes are in tack..a little surface scuffing should affect performance at all. If you wan you could probably even use some light sand paper to smooth out the outside of the impeller.

Not sure what chemicals are ok, but as long as it doesn't attack the plastics or metals, it should be fine to clean with as long as you neutralize and rise it well in the end.

Getting a hose barb for your faucet would probably be helpful too:
http://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpr...pg?w=427&h=640

You can find these at most home improvement centers, helpful for flushing.

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Martin, but isn't tap water not safe, warm or not, since it contains lots of minerals?

How safe is that? Especially when you're mixing metals in your loop.
Don't think that is such a great idea. Sure it's convenient, but not safe.

daedao: but it's at great flow/pressure, and for sure will wash out more residue from whatever left in rad from soldering or from rad usage from whatever algae usage or those LC premixes, then it will leave on it's own from minerals dissolved in tap water. And you can rinse after tap water with distilled.

It's like when you clean your car, you rinse with demineralized in order to avoid stains when the droplets dry up.

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Originally Posted by daedao

Martin, but isn't tap water not safe, warm or not, since it contains lots of minerals?

How safe is that? Especially when you're mixing metals in your loop.
Don't think that is such a great idea. Sure it's convenient, but not safe.

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Do you think the radiator and block manufacturers are flushing with distilled water?

Do you think the water used in their flushing process is even potable water?

I highly doubt it....the whole water purity push is all marketing from those selling you double distilled ultra pure snake oil.

There is also nothing to stop you from running some distilled down there after the initial scrub. Mineral deposits are not going to happen in an hours time.

I've used tap water for testing and flushing for years, never had an issue. I wouldn't suggest it for filling a system, but I've tried that too (filtered). The problem is not everyone's tap water is exactly the same quality.

Regardless, I think we would all be horrified if we saw the water quality in those radiator plants and we worry about potable tap water minerals?

I wouldn't worry about it...just flush with some distilled afterwards...:)

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Originally Posted by Sparky

Uh oh it looks like I had a major problem with my pump and I didn't even realize it... the stuff isn't just algae slime, there are PLASTIC SHAVINGS all over the thing and the edges of the impeller are rough :eek:(

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its platicizer sparky..

nothing to freak out about... and it was most likely in solution until u drained it, where though friction it got deposited on the walls.

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Originally Posted by daedao

Martin, but isn't tap water not safe, warm or not, since it contains lots of minerals?

How safe is that? Especially when you're mixing metals in your loop.
Don't think that is such a great idea. Sure it's convenient, but not safe.

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to wash, its fine..

i do it all the time, because you wont get 60psi though anything but city water line.
And you will require that much psi at times to push lodged stuff out.

Its important that you rince tho.

As martin said, it has a lot to do with your city water supply.
If you live in france where its heavily flourated, i wouldnt risk rincing anything out.

If u have hard water, once again, calcium despoits are a PITFA, so i rince out.

I would never fill with city tap water tho, over time if u let it out, it starts to smell bad.
That itself should tell you the quality of water.

Now if i lived in Des Moines, Iowa; Austin, Texas; and Sioux Falls, S.D., i wouldnt mind using TAP water as long as i kept it topped off, and flushed frequently..... As those cities probably have the cleanest tap water.

Sparky, try using Weiman Instant Tarnish Remover on the copper blocks after scrubbing any loose biomass out of the blocks--it should completely strip them (I've had a FuZion base go black before without any sort of scrubbing-removable deposit being present). Keep in mind that this stuff will also strip any sort of anti-tarnish coating off as well, wear gloves, neutralize with dish soap and running water. It's worth a shot as a last resort.

As for the "black plastic shavings" you were noticing, my first thought would be to check the carbon bearing seat (the cup that the ceramic bearing pops into on the underside of the rotor)... aside from that, NaeKuh may be right.

Rubycon's H2O2 suggestion is interesting... something I haven't tried before.

Q-Tips, toothbrushes, and 99% IPA should do a pretty good job cleaning up most of the other parts (like the POM block internals, fittings, pump internals, etc.). Just keep the IPA away from tubing, seals, and anything acrylic and rinse all parts thoroughly after cleaning with IPA. Most people freak out over the use of IPA but, provided that appropriate precautions are taken, it can be used safely.

As a side note, most of the DDC impellers will disassemble with a simple twisting motion, requiring very little effort:

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Originally Posted by Petra

Correct, the pins are for balancing... however, the 2-piece impellers in the DDC-3's aren't glued. A counter-clockwise twist will allow you to remove to top portion for service/cleaning and it snaps back into place with a clockwise twist. Granted, I'm not sure why the OP's would have done that while in operation... unless, perhaps, the upper portion of the impeller wasn't installed properly at the factory or something.

The old DDC-2 impellers, on the other hand, are either really tight or glued--they have the same internal latch setup but I've never been able to get any of my DDC-2 impellers to budge... every DDC-3.x I've tried could be disassembled very easily.

There are 6 tabs on the inside of the upper portion of the impeller which snap into cutouts on the lower portion of the impeller (I've marked both with arrows below).

http://www.petrastech.com/images/ddcImp-2.jpg
http://www.petrastech.com/images/ddcImp-1.jpg

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I scrubbed the top of the impeller real good (still dark gunk on it) but the plastic doesn't look bad. I think it'll be OK, if I can get it clean. Same with blocks and radiator. I'm going to buy some radiator flush at the auto store and see if that helps.

Petra, I tried the twisting motion on the impeller and all it did was cut my hand :p: How much force does it take to get this daggone thing apart lol.

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Originally Posted by Sparky

Petra, I tried the twisting motion on the impeller and all it did was cut my hand :p: How much force does it take to get this daggone thing apart lol.

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Like I said, usually it takes very little effort to remove the upper portion of the two piece impeller... I did encounter the occasional stubborn DDC-3.x (and they would cut me up a tiny bit), but the only ones I could never manage were the orange/red impellered DDC-2s.

Figures I have to have a really stuck one.

this thread has to be one of the most extreme instances of algae I've ever seen. Yuck.

The strong hydrogen peroxide sounds like an excellent idea, though I'm not sure where you would buy it.

I've used DOW Scrubbing Bubbles and radiator flush on a number of occasions. The Scrubbing Bubbles are good about getting stuff out of the rad. I just squirt the rad full, let sit for 10-15 min, flush, and rinse. I would think if you do this a few times coupled with some radiator flush, it should do the trick.

Martin's idea of doing a force flush afterwards would be a good idea. Ive done that many times also with rads while hooked up to the kitchen faucet. I do follow with a distilled rinse to get the tap water out.

Even with all of this, you may want to run an inline filter for a bit once you put it all together and crank it up.

Wow, that's the worst looking loop I think I've ever seen. I'd flush everything out like there was no tomorrow and only stop when it's 100% clear.

I'm so Glad none of you saw my old Koolance or Thermaltake big water then : ).

this wasn't as bad... hahaha

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Originally Posted by voigts

The strong hydrogen peroxide sounds like an excellent idea, though I'm not sure where you would buy it.

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https://shoppingcart.purehealthsyste...tegory-s/3.htm

If you're unfamiliar with handing this material, please research it carefully BEFORE acquiring it!

Even though it isn't needed, I have an unstoppable desire to spray scrubbing bubbles all over my bathroom :)

Happy Cleaning.

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Originally Posted by Rubycon

https://shoppingcart.purehealthsyste...tegory-s/3.htm

If you're unfamiliar with handing this material, please research it carefully BEFORE acquiring it!

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Might as well buy a new rad for that price :p:

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Originally Posted by Sparky

Well the biocide I mean to use it silver. It's working beautifully in my other rig.

I can't even seem to get the two waterblocks clean, and those I can scrub. How am I going to get the radiator clean?? I might have to replace everything. I can't afford that :(

Does anyone have any idea what happened to cause the impeller of the pump to be killing itself like this? Up until I took it apart the pump's been running great, flow has been amazing. Temps were getting worse but that's due to the coating all over everything.... Oh man this sucks so bad :(

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Well, I use a submersible pump and depending how bad will pump water + bleach and then water + clr, finally flush with water (just tap water) all right in the kitchen sink. If you're paranoid you could flush with distilled but it's not caused me any problems. After a while it will take most of that black crap right off. The stubborn parts I just use a toothbrush and dish soap. Don't ask how I know :-)


The setup is pretty easy and the pumps can be found at your local do-it-yourself store. The lower block in the pic below had some black gunk in it and the process above cleaned it all out -- this is at the end of the cycle just pumping clean water through it for about a hour or so.

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/k...DSC00982-1.jpg

Wow dude, your tubing was a completely different color and you waited that long to clean the loop.....? I think I'll cut my losses if my stuff is that bad when I rebuild in 3 months. But my tubing hasnt changed colors in a year in a half and my water is still crystal clear so I think I'll be ok.

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Originally Posted by Wolf132

Wow dude, your tubing was a completely different color and you waited that long to clean the loop.....? I think I'll cut my losses if my stuff is that bad when I rebuild in 3 months. But my tubing hasnt changed colors in a year in a half and my water is still crystal clear so I think I'll be ok.

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What are you using for tubing?

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Originally Posted by Wolf132

Wow dude, your tubing was a completely different color and you waited that long to clean the loop.....? I think I'll cut my losses if my stuff is that bad when I rebuild in 3 months. But my tubing hasnt changed colors in a year in a half and my water is still crystal clear so I think I'll be ok.

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I thought it was just algae slime on the inside of the tubes, you know, where light could get to it...

Yes, it was stupid to leave it go that long /facepalm But what's done is done.

I'm going to pick up radiator flush stuff today and see what I can do with that stuff.

I'm almost thinking that the stuff on the pump impeller I don't want to worry about too much - I mean seriously, if I can't scrub it off with a brush and hot soapy water, what are the odds of it just coming off while in warm distilled water? :shrug: But that also seems like a bad idea too, so no clue yet what I'm going to do with it yet. I'm going to focus on the radiator and blocks first, then worry about the pump.

do the hail mary.

Get mouthwash.. and no im not kidding, and pour it inside your rad.

The Alcohol concentration should disolve any organic matter it contains, and leave a nice fresh minty smell to it. lol...

At this point i think even a rad flush might not work properly so im gonna go recomend a heavy oxide, like alcohol.

The rad should be safe from alcohol.

Biocide overkill me thinks

I did the same thing in my 1st loop. You really only need 2 drops no joke.

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

do the hail mary.

Get mouthwash.. and no im not kidding, and pour it inside your rad.

The Alcohol concentration should disolve any organic matter it contains, and leave a nice fresh minty smell to it. lol...

At this point i think even a rad flush might not work properly so im gonna go recomend a heavy oxide, like alcohol.

The rad should be safe from alcohol.

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LOL really? That sounds... interesting :ROTF:

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Originally Posted by Quad-Damage

Biocide overkill me thinks

I did the same thing in my 1st loop. You really only need 2 drops no joke.

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No that's not it. I had NO biocide in this loop. I've had too much before in my first loop and it just made things a little murky and funny, nothing like this at all.

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

do the hail mary.

Get mouthwash.. and no im not kidding, and pour it inside your rad.

The Alcohol concentration should disolve any organic matter it contains, and leave a nice fresh minty smell to it. lol...

At this point i think even a rad flush might not work properly so im gonna go recomend a heavy oxide, like alcohol.

The rad should be safe from alcohol.

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The other one that I heard about, but have not tried yet, is.....

Tablets/solutions for cleaning (by soaking) dentures