Soak new stuff in vinegar.. Problems?

[Repoman]

I read somewhere here that you should soak new stuff in vinegar to remove any crap that may have stuck during the manufacturing process..

Well now I know that's the worst advice ever, I soaked both waterblocks overnight and now they have some bacteria or corrosion or something on them. They're both copper, they have some green-blue crap and the surface is no longer as smooth as it was

What the hell can I do about this? And why did it happen?!

[Absolute_0]

get some sandpaper and grind the crap away

[creidiki]

Didnt happen to mine

[Repoman]

get some sandpaper and grind the crap away

It's all over though.. mounting surface, side with the pins, everything, especially on the MCW60

I already tried a toothbrush, rubbing alcohol bath then toothbrush, rubbing alcohol bath then scrub with paper towel, wtf since when does crap grow in vinegar, and since when does vinegar corrode metal, bs

[andersson.j]

I think I'll have to try with some of my older blocks before I do it to a new one!

I suppose it depends on what vineger you use. I wonder what kind you should look for?

[Repoman]

Yeah it was white, and it was 5% vinegar 95% water, according to the bottle

I'm gonna find some sandpaper, toothbrush, something and keep working at the blue-green

[Repoman]

Well a whole lot of qtips and isopropyl alcohol seemed to help a little bit on the MP-05, but isn't doing much for the MCW60..

What do you guys think about letting it sit in some zerex/water for a few hours, or overnight? Maybe it would get some of the algae or whatever the hell it is off?

[Celeron Gamer]

best advice now is to lap. The blue/green things should only be copper corrosion, it shouldn't be algae or anything.

[fareastgq]

that's why I said use water.

[lv_dicedealer]

Congratulations, you have chemically oxidized your Cu using a low molarity solution of Acetic Acid.... Chem 101 here guys, not rocket science.

The 'green crud' is oxidized copper (Cu2O) which is a crystalline structure. That oxidized copper is the same stuff as to what makes the Statue of Liberty appear to be green. The irony of this is that the creation of the oxidation is nature's way of protecting the metal from caustic solutions. The downside is that there is no way in ^#!! that the block will conduct heat the same way until the 'green crud' is removed....

I suggest trying tarnish remover (like for silverware), there are different brands just do some research. If it can clean a penny, then it can clean your block. Just make sure that you FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS and RINSE the block thoroughly.

After cleaning the oxidation off, then you will need to lap the block again as the removal of the oxidation will actually chemically remove some of the block; thus, making the base horribly uneven.

[MaxxxRacer]

interesting... generally acetic acid will clean copper and not oxidize it...

I wil do some more research into this.

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/demons.../aa022204a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper(II)_acetate

ok... here is the "rub"
when copper is in acetic acid, and NOT exposed to air, then the acetic acid will melt away te copper oxide, leaving only pure copper..

BUT if you dip the copper in acetic acid (vinegar) and then let it sit in there air then copper (II) acetate. (the II refers to the copper+2 ion cation) will form..

The moral of the story... when working with copper and vinegar, FULLY submurge the copper in the vinegar, and when pulling the copper out, immediately wash it with distilled water to remove all of the vinegar..

I will be adding this info to the guide.

[phelan1777]

What about using a Silver block?

[Repoman]

ok... here is the "rub"
when copper is in acetic acid, and NOT exposed to air, then the acetic acid will melt away te copper oxide, leaving only pure copper..

BUT if you dip the copper in acetic acid (vinegar) and then let it sit in there air then copper (II) acetate. (the II refers to the copper+2 ion cation) will form..

Hmm.. think you hit it dead on

It looked clean at first, figured I better let it air dry and then I notice that as the vinegar was drying away, the dark started to form, lol

So.. should I leave it in vinegar again overnight? And this time dry it off right away I will read those two links and do a little more research, see what I get

You'd think an AP Chem II student (next year Chem 1 this year) would know better guess not

[thunderstruck!]

Hmm.. think you hit it dead on

It looked clean at first, figured I better let it air dry and then I notice that as the vinegar was drying away, the dark started to form, lol

So.. should I leave it in vinegar again overnight? And this time dry it off right away I will read those two links and do a little more research, see what I get

You'd think an AP Chem II student (next year Chem 1 this year) would know better guess not

Heh, I got a 5 on that exam and I still didn't know that. At least your misfortune is a lesson to us.

[Repoman]

Maxxx, the first link you posted is very very helpful.

I just put my waterblocks back in the vinegar and they look better already, after 15 seconds Now to rinse them with distilled water this time

edit: as far as I can tell, they look perfectly clean already I'll give them 15 more minutes to be sure Nice research maxxx, be sure to put that chem experiment in the guide

[creidiki]

Good to know. I guess flushing right away with distilled and then drying is best

[lv_dicedealer]

Good to know. I guess flushing right away with distilled and then drying is best

After any cleaning: ALWAYS flush with distilled H2O IMMEDIATELY unless using something that would react badly with H2O (but then again, why you would clean a watercooling part with anything that reacts badly with H2O is beyond me)

[thegoatman]

remember to lap it, if I recall what I read earlier in this thread properly, it'll be uneven after cleaning.

[Repoman]

That was for using silver tarnish remover, I just resoaked it in vinegar and dried/flushed with h2o immediately, most of it went away. There's just a few stupid dark spots on there now, maybe I will lap it anyway..

[J-Mag]

anyone ever run vinegar/distilled H20 through their rad or heatercore? Any temp improvements?

[MaxxxRacer]

np guys. Sorry I didnt do the research ahead of time and you got copper acetate corosion.. I will add that to the guide on monday. Cant do it right now as Im on dial up.. even with highspeed, editing the guide is a pain in the arse as it takes forever to load.

interestinly enough one of the articles i read said that if you use vinegar coole to near frezing point and then removed and poured DI water on it, the copper acetate formed VERY quickly.. i couldnt get a copy of the full article but I would suggest that no one use vinegar cooled to -15C or use DI water... its possible that the DI water was craving ions so much that it actually reacted with the vinegar and copper to form copper acetate. but that is just a wild guess.. so stick to room temp vinegar and distilled water.