[Help] Black stains on acrylic and plastic?

[zalbard]

Hi folks,

I seem to have run into trouble with my water cooling loop.

I built my loop around 6 months ago, everything is new, except for the pump which is being reused. Most parts are nickel plated, MCP35x pump, Bitspower acrylic reservoir, Primochill Liquid Utopia additive (which obviously didn't do squat).

A couple of days ago I found some black stains in my reservoir. I drained the loop.

The issue: there are some black stains on my acrylic reservoir, and plastic parts of the pump (MCP35x), and they are very difficult to get off. I've never seen anything like that before. Most of it is near the bottom of the reservoir, and is on plastic parts of the pump (for example, the blue impeller of the pump turned completely black, and it took a lot of rubbing to get its top back to normal). Some of it is on metallic parts and fittings close to the pump, but that was much easier to clean off. I have not opened the blocks yet, will do it today.

There is basically some sort of thin black film, which is fused with the surface, and it takes a lot of rubbing to get off. I tried using dish washing liquid, it's not helping at all.

So, here are some questions:

1. What is this crap? Is this some sort of algae? It's almost completely black.

2. How do I get it off? Some parts of the pump are impossible to reach without breaking it. Can I use some chemicals to wash it off without rubbing? I really don't want to buy a new pump.

3. After I clean it, is it safe to reuse the parts? Pump being the biggest issue. What if some of it, somewhere, doesn't come off? Will it spread across the loop?

Any and all help is appreciated.

Thank you.

[Conumdrum]

Pics of the stuff your talking about. Pics of block internals.

Was it black dye?

[CrazyNutz]

Pics!

May be nickel oxide. Iv'e seen nickle come off fittings and deposit as a black coating on other parts.

So here's what you can do.
Use this: http://www.jelmar.com/CLRbasic.htm
On the plastic parts only. Mix it 50/50 with water, dip the part for 10 seconds, use some tool (toohbrush) to see if the crap is coming off easy.

DO NOT USE on plated parts, it will strip the plating. You can use it on you DDC impellers, just don't leave in the solution longer that 30 secs. And rinse the part thoroughly with fresh water.

[musicfan]

Did you use black tubing? Plasticizer can smear acrylic reservoirs. Good luck.

[zalbard]

No dye. Just distilled with Primochill additive. I actually used it in my old build, had no issues.

Yes on both black tubing and nickle plated fittings (XSPC). Not sure which one is at fault.

What's even more strange, I recall that this stuff, whatever it is, started emerging upwards from the pump. I wonder if something started giving up in the pump. Used it for over 2 years now.

Thanks for the suggestion, CrazyNutz. I will try to source the chemicals.

Thank you, all.

[h20xide]

I had the same issue except my whole IandH acrylic tube was blackened, so I'm interested in what this was. S'all good though, I cleaned the loop out and bought a replacement acrylic tube.

[zalbard]

Pics for those curious. Yes, I spent quite a bit of time cleaning it by now, it looked a lot worse before. Hard to get into small openings, unfortunately...

I had the same issue except my whole IandH acrylic tube was blackened, so I'm interested in what this was. S'all good though, I cleaned the loop out and bought a replacement acrylic tube.

A couple of fittings attached to the res are stained as well. How did you go about cleaning those?

I was told to boil them for 5 minutes in water, then brush them with some toothpaste. Wonder if nickel plated fittings would be OK after that...

P.S. By the way, unlikely that fittings are at fault. They look fine other than the stuff that's stuck to those attached to the res.

[CrazyNutz]

Did you even consider trying the CLR? I'm pretty sure it will bring it back to new.

[zalbard]

Did you even consider trying the CLR? I'm pretty sure it will bring it back to new.

I will try to source something similar locally. Unfortunately, I am from the EU. :-)

[Conumdrum]

Look up CLR. I'm' sure you have the same stuff there. Common chemicals, used for household cleaning, nothing special.