Has anyone ever seen vinegar do this to a block?!

[prongATO]

not sure what to do now, nothing is cleaning it up.

[Stewie007]

What kind of plating is that? The problem is, the cladding on these blocks may be extremely thin and of particularly poor quality. An acid might end up doing damage....

Or are you saying that you ran vinegar through it as a coolant ^_^ hehe

[NaeKuh]

why did u vinegar dip nickle plated blocks?

[Stewie007]

Nickel plating should resit corrosive materials extremely well. If it does that, then someone isn't being completely honest about materials used.

See, a lot of suppliers will try to pull a fast one on MAJOR corporations. Selling something as stainless steel, but then it rusts. Some engineers can't seem to figure out why, but those of us who know the basics of metals know that whatever the offending company sold us, it wasn't stainless steel. Perhaps it was close, but the content of certain metals was too low to prevent rusting. Nickel being a base metal should be quite resistant to dipping in vinegar... If it does this, then it may be an alloy containing nickel. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this "nickel" plating were really not completely nickel at all (which looks like it may not be judging by the evidence).

But who's gonna pay for a metallurgical analysis. hehe

[prongATO]

It's nickel. I'm a noob to LC and read a post that has since changed that you had to clean your blocks as soon as you get them. It specified "the copper part of the block" so I assumed the block is copper underneath the plating so ok! It does look like the vinegar has actually eaten away the plating . I guess I may just have to get it re plated. Lesson learned the hard way.

[prongATO]

Nickel plating should resit corrosive materials extremely well. If it does that, then someone isn't being completely honest about materials used.

See, a lot of suppliers will try to pull a fast one on MAJOR corporations. Selling something as stainless steel, but then it rusts. Some engineers can't seem to figure out why, but those of us who know the basics of metals know that whatever the offending company sold us, it wasn't stainless steel. Perhaps it was close, but the content of certain metals was too low to prevent rusting. Nickel being a base metal should be quite resistant to dipping in vinegar... If it does this, then it may be an alloy containing nickel. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this "nickel" plating were really not completely nickel at all (which looks like it may not be judging by the evidence).

But who's gonna pay for a metallurgical analysis. hehe

So basically if it was truely a nickel plating then it shouldn't have done this. Hurm. Hopefully my RMA is honored. I've come to admire the company that manufacured this block and hopefully an agreement can be reached.

[NaeKuh]

well its not a very thick nickle plating.

normally for nickle, if your gonna pull that block off like that, (normally i wouldnt because its a PITFA to reinstall the oring), i would of just used alcohol.

But it looks like the vinegar did eat away some of your nickle plating.

[Proximon]

I'm still working on my first cup of coffee and I'm not clear on what I'm seeing. How do you know this isn't residue that was on your block? I agree that nickel plating should be very resistant, but I also think it might be hard to cheat on it... it's going to be mostly nickel or all nickel. It could be thin or might have picked up some foreign material in the plating process.

If it's a new block I think I might try to polish it up and then see if it happens again, before RMA'ing.

[prongATO]

well its not a very thick nickle plating.

normally for nickle, if your gonna pull that block off like that, (normally i wouldnt because its a PITFA to reinstall the oring), i would of just used alcohol.

But it looks like the vinegar did eat away some of your nickle plating.

I came up with a system to get the ring back on. I start at the right side and slide the top plate to the left as I go. It holds the ring in place as I use my left hand to fit the o-ring. Easy for me, 3 mins tops but I have huge hands so maybe it's easier for me.

[prongATO]

I tried polishing it, I tried ketchup, I tried more dilute vinegar, scrubbed with a toothbrush, I tried detergent, all no joy.

I tried to polish with my Dremel tool.

It's tough to tell from the pic but in that corner you can faintly see copper.

The block is only about a month old and has only had distilled water run through it otherwise.

[Stewie007]

Well, lets get back to basics. What you've done is oxidized the metal. I doubt you damaged it.

Try cleaning it with comet and a sponge. The abrasiveness of comet can get a lot of oxidation off of metals. ITs just a surface reaction. All that stuff I said about metals and sub-standard metals is one thing. While that is relevant in one way, and could have something to do with how fast the reaction occurred.

Edit: Think of it this way. The Statue of Liberty is copper. It was shiny when we first received it from France as a gift. The carbonate that formed on the surface is the oxidized state of the copper after exposure to the atmosphere and the many contaminants within. You can clean it off, but it will tarnish again quite quickly. None of the products you've used, like ketchup or vinegar are going to do anything to the oxide with a tooth brush. You need an abrasive cleaner.

[Proximon]

Oh, and it's only bad in that one corner? Yeah I guess it was thin plating or messed up somehow.

[prongATO]

No it's all over but worse in the corner.

[The Shooter]

Nothing that ketchup cant handle.

[screwtech02]

Well, point is, if it is actaully nickle plated, it shouldnt have done this to begin with...... Looks like shoddy plating to me.....

[Stewie007]

Exactly.

But I would still try an abrasive before RMAing it. Something like Comet et al won't scratch the surface such that it would do any damage. And its likely that the folks that manufactured this will consider vinegar submersion as against the limited warranty such that they won't replace it.

[Conumdrum]

How long did you submerse it? Did you rinse it right away?

When I redid my loop, I took all the barbs, copper block pieces etc and heated up a solution of distilled and maybe 20% vinegar. Heated the water up to less than boiling, put the stuff in the water to soak for no more than 15 minutes.

Did you use straight vinegar and leave it in a long time?

I don't think it will affect the block at all. It's just not as pretty now.

Just a lesson learned.

[eth0s]

Well, point is, if it is actaully nickle plated, it shouldnt have done this to begin with...... Looks like shoddy plating to me.....

Stewie007 and screwtech02 have it right, this is shoddy plating. I think it is safe to say that this is not true nickel plating. I can't tell what is going on in those pics exactly, but are you saying that vinegar removed the "nickel" plating? And then the plating started to corrode? And now the plating is coming off and the copper is showing through? If yes, well you were cheated by the manufacturer.

BTW, what brand of block is that?

You should RMA that thing immediately: don't settle for inferior goods. The manufacturer is charging you for premium parts, and giving you King Krap instead, and he is pocketing the difference, which used to be called FRAUD, but nobody likes to use such strong language anymore. (dunno why.) Why have consumers become such wimps? Why don't people get angry when they get cheated anymore? Is everybody just acclimated to being a victim? Well not me, I seem to be the last consumer in the world who demands to get what he was actually promised.

[shazza]

I really doubt this is a case of fraud (not saying it's not a QC issue). If you look at the block carefully, it's not hard to figure out where it came from.

I too, am surprised that vinegar did this - you don't happen to have any photos of the block beforehand do you? And - did you do the vinegar rinse before you ever used the block, or was this after you'd run the system for a month or so?

[prongATO]

It is worse now. I submerged it it in 100% white vinegar for 15 minutes. After the submersion it had developed small milky spots just about everywhere and a distinctive line on the GPU side. (Shaz has seen that pic).

I tried to read around and kept seeing that you can get spots off with a dilute vinegar solution and a toothbrush. I tried it and the pic that started this thread is what I got. I then tried ketchup, detergent and polishing with my Dremel.

I am not going to say who the manufacturer is at this point. I refuse to judge a whole company on one part and do not want to give people a bad impression. To me, what is important how they handle the situation. I feel I have gotten some very good feedback on the different possibilities that caused this.

Shaz, if you look at some of my earlier pics of Omega you can see it before the last "cleaning". The pic I emailed you was after the submersion.


To reiterate it was regular grocery store white vinegar that did this.

[Stewie007]

I really doubt this is a case of fraud (not saying it's not a QC issue). If you look at the block carefully, it's not hard to figure out where it came from.

Sub standard metals or alloys aren't really fraudulent matters. Its more a question of the purity of the metal used to clad the block. Nickel with a lot of impurities (cheaper than something that is well refined) is going to act differently than a more refined product. Also, a nickel based alloy may contain more of the other alloy metal that may or may hinder the alloy's ability to resist oxidation.

That said, get some comet at the grocery store and use it. If that doesn't work, evaluate whether or not it would be worth trying to send back. It is just oxidation after all.

[prongATO]

I'll try the comet Stewie. I want to demonstrate due dilligence on my part.

[Stewie007]

I'll try the comet Stewie. I want to demonstrate due dilligence on my part.

Some people probably think I'm an advertiser for Comet hehe.... Careful though, its got bleach in it I'm pretty sure.

[zigzag]

Sorry for butting in but thought id share my similar experience. It happened to a full mobo block i have, though vinegar never touched it, only EC6 clear. Was alot worse than the pics show, good old ketchup cleaned it up the best it could.




I dont use it now, got a new mips block instead. Put me right off using nickel stuff though.

[Church]

So then what stuff is on the safe side for cleaning nickel plated waterblocks of potentionally bad quality plating with no risk of damaging plating then?
- on the safe side, not which cleans/makes shiny better/faster?