Block trashed can copper corrode??

[iboomalot]

Like an idiot I though the plated parts on my Reserator system would be fine for corrosion problems but NO!!!

The CPU block is nearly gone has a small pin hole I plugged for the time being and has held for couple weeks.

Looking to upgrade to a MCW6000 but can cooper be affected by corrosion problems?>?? My Z-chipset block looks fine and its cooper/plexi

just hate to loose another block and more wasted $$$$

I added a small amount of antifreeze to stop any futher problems ***crosses fingers***

[Disposibleteen]

no i dont beleive copper is at all susseptable to corrosion, that swifty block is quite nice.

[Craig]

YES! Copper does corrode.

The thing is when copper and aluminum are both in a loop, the copper is the more noble metal. What this means is that the aluminum surfaces become much more pitted, they lose metal, while the copper surfaces become layered with some of the aluminum. But both the Copper & aluminum will become coated in crap in time & the copper's cooling of your CPU will be degraded a good bit. But while copper can and does corrode, aluminum reacts much faster, which means you can salvage all copper parts in damaged loop usually.

What you'll need to do is inspect all portions of the set up and discard any aluminum parts that show active corrosion. Copper blocks can be cleaned & still be used, but make sure you clean them very well.

Then when you reassemble your set up I'd suggest you add 25% anti-freeze to act as a anti corrosive. I recommend this high a concentration so if you've missed a tiny spot of corrosion on a aluminum part you reuse the anti corrosive will be strong enough to control & stop it.

Sorry to hear of your troubles, I hope you're able to salvage part of the loop.

[idleuser]

but make sure you don't put too much antifreeze to your loop personally I think 15% -18% is good enough but 25% might kill your temps by a few degrees! Always use antibacterial killer in the loop so fungi doesn't grow. A cheap method is to put rubbing alcohol and I heard this works wonders!

[Ancient_1]

I would guggest Zerez Racing Super Coolant @ 10%. It is designed to be run at a 90/10 ratio with water as a complete coolant and should provide as much corrosion protection as anti-freeze at 50/50 while being far thinner.

[Craig]

Anti-freeze does degrade cooling slightly, but isn't going to make a huge differance here. 2-3C is well worth the greater margin of safety. I'd agree with 15-20% in a all new undamaged loop, but not in one where corrosion is already a issue.

Idea is to save him the cost of replacing everything in the loop, those reserators are not cheap. But there's a good chance that somewhere within the reserator corrosion may already be working. Sux.

A rig with a reserator in it vs a rad & fans is one mostly used for very quiet/silent opperation. So 2-3C shouldn't be much of a issue.

[Craig]

I would guggest Zerez Racing Super Coolant @ 10%. It is designed to be run at a 90/10 ratio with water as a complete coolant and should provide as much corrosion protection as anti-freeze at 50/50 while being far thinner.

This is the mix ratio suggested for a proper coolant, in a race car. I doubt corrosion is a top concern here, rather temps under the stress of a engine of a race car are.

I've not used it, but have read regarding it some.

My concern would be this: How much is needed in a mixed metals rig to insure no corrosion takes place? Most of all in a loop that already has a corrosion problem.

Ancient-1,

If you are making use of this racers coolant, is your rig one with mixed metals? How long have you been running mixed metals without any problems?

I myself don't have a mixed metals rig for this very reason. Copper & brass only allowed.


Iboomalot,


Glad you caught the problem before a leak that would have killed part of your system developed.

EDIT:

As you say you're interested in a Swiftech 6000 (nice block), I"d suggest contacting Bill Adams of Swiftech and go with his advice as to the best anti-corrosive to use that will still allow max cooling. He spends his time doing extensive testing of such things, so he'd know best.

[Ancient_1]

I have used since march with mixed metals (wont be for much longer now thatb thbrass tops fpr the Maze4s will be here soon).

Depending the on race car mixed metals are a problem, it made a good summer coolant for my old Regal which I raced 4 times a week durring the summer months, al heads and intake with copper rad and HC and iron block. I eneded up putting over 1000 miles a week on it since the track was a lil over 100 miles away. My radiator guy was very adimate about using a corrosion inhibitor in it. He didnt want my 4 core to go bad since it wasnt cheap to replace.

[MaxxxRacer]

Craig, zerex is the best solution for anti corrosion. 10 percent stops any corrosion from happening. I know of ppl running mixed systems for over a year without a hint of corrosion. It is far superiour than any other chemical that we have come across.

iboomalot. the problem with your entire system is the reserator. I know it sucks to hear, but that sucker is one big corrosion machine. Its PURE alluminum with TONS of surface area for the water to get exposed to. I know its annodized, but gues swhat. anno comes off realy quick in a wtercoolign system.

About the mcw600. That is the BEST block for a low pressure low flow system. its the only block that will keep up performance with the big guys at low flow in a system with a weak pump. I say it this way because with blocks like the G5 and the nexxos XP, there is no such thing but low flow. But with a reserator pump, your flow woudl stop to a trickle with either one of those pumps.

With the mcw6000 you will not get your flow killed as it isnt too restrictive and t will cool at low flow better than any other block on the market.

Craig, the copper itself, doent corrode. Corrode implys that the material is being taken away. the copper seems to attract the alluminum particles, but these can be wiped away by putting some ketchup or some soda in the block for a few minutes. the acids in the ketchup or the soda will disolve the allluminum build up.

[iboomalot]

the inside of my reserator looks copper in color even though I know its alum.

yes the plating wore off This sucks since it does a decent job of cooling 46c full load 1.6v with a 2.55mhz stable OC on a A64-3500 and is very quiet.

I have a 1048 inline in the case to up that trickle factor

looks like I will have to use a HUGE heater core and some low speed 120mm fans if I have to drop the reserator completely.

just hard to believe water can be so distructive.

looks like I need a cooper GPU cooler also, any suggestions to replace the zalman alum one on my VC ?? also would like one that doesn't obstruct the use of mem sinks.

[MaxxxRacer]

the maze4gpu with brass top is really good. Also ultra low restriction. Not as low as the POS zalman VC block, but not very restrictive either.

If you dont mind the shipping times the silverprop does a litlte better job of cooling, but its more restrictive which isnt good for your rig.

[iboomalot]

think its time to can this entire project Iam starting a new thread


thanks for the help.

[MaxxxRacer]

yep.. sorry you got such bad luck with reserator. those guys need to realize what they are doing and make the reserator out of copper and get twice the heat transfer and make their blocks from pure copper too.

[Psyche911]

By the way, Maxxx & others. DD still hasn't released the brass Maze4GPU top. They released only the Acetal version, over a week ago...I don't know what the holdup is.

[Torin]

What's wrong with acetal anyways? In some ways it's better than brass... lighter, won't corrode and won't crack like acrylic.

[MaxxxRacer]

yep. i think the acytle is actually derlin from the looks of it. Its the same stuff Cathar makes the G5 from.. funny how DD starts using the stuff right after cathar uses it.. history repeating itslef.