Water deposits

[stigweed]

I've been using a new radiator on old pipes for a few months now. The water was deionized with some water wetter and cheap UV dye mixed in.

I've got a wierd brown deposit all over the system now. It looks like rust, but the only place rust can be coming from is the radiator. And the radiator was new, and specifically produced for computer use (chilltek-uk the suppliers have vanished so I can't find out who the manufacturer was anymore).

Is it possible that the combination of those agents caused some kind of reaction or could it be rust? Seems strange that a radiator would rust (everything else about it is higher quality than the black ice rad I broke before).

I tried bleaching the whole lot, but that had no effect. Scrubbing removes it fairly easily it's just awkward. I'm ordering some new pipes for the rebuild and I'll have to just scrub the water block and pump innards.

[robbie]

Could be some sludge like I was getting.
Rob

[surlyjoe]

that sludge has to come from somewhere, you has some sort of reaction going on somewhere , what parts are you running? are they all copper/brass?

[Lazgoat]

Could be the cheap dye? Try just water and water wetter and see how that goes.

[Aedan]

If none of the components in your system are made from iron or steel, it cannot be rust! Personally, I'd suspect the cheap UV die.

[Kaitain]

It's also possible that you've got some machine oil in there from somewhere. If the radiator wasn't properly flushed with solvent after its manufacture then after a few days running in the warm you probably managed to dislodge this gunge, which has then collected at the slowest running point of the system (res/header). Coating metal products in grease isn't uncommon, 'cos they then look shiny on the shelf whereas they might tarnish.

[stigweed]

The components are danger den maze3, danger den perspex res, tygon tubing, plastic barbs, eheim pump and the rad. The deposits are across the entire system.

I'll test it with just water tomorrow when the new piping (dangerden's own from over-clock). I mean later on today - stupid night shift work.

I thought the rad was copper hence why I didn't think it could be rust. But it's coated in paint so I can't tell.

[surlyjoe]

Originally Posted by Kaitain

It's also possible that you've got some machine oil in there from somewhere. If the radiator wasn't properly flushed with solvent after its manufacture then after a few days running in the warm you probably managed to dislodge this gunge, which has then collected at the slowest running point of the system (res/header). Coating metal products in grease isn't uncommon, 'cos they then look shiny on the shelf whereas they might tarnish.

that makes sense, theres gotta be somethin goin on besides just residual buildup from the dye goin south , I used to problems from ythe braxing flux befor I found muratic acid

[Lazgoat]

Are we all overlooking good old mother nature? It may be Algae?

I know you have waterwettter in there and dye but there may be an outside chance their concentrations are low enough for Algae to exist.
Is the inside of your case completely dark or is the side open or do you have a ligt in there?
I've been using Red Line Water Wetter in my rigs for over about 8 months (only changed the water once 5 months ago) and apart from it slightly tainting the pipes pink there is no resudue/sludge.
I got some white scum once when I installed a new radiator, but I just flushed everything with fresh water and its been fine since.

Laz.

[stigweed]

There's a weak UV light, there's a large side window and the front of the case is kind of missing.

edit: oh yeah and flushing hasn't worked. the stuffs not really caked on or anything but normal water flow won't nudge it, needs scrubbing. I pumped bleach through the lot and that did nothing either.

[Lazgoat]

Try soaking all the pipes in warm soapy water and use an old thick boot lace as a pipe cleaner. Just thread the lace through the pipe and scrub it thoroughly in the water. You should be able to dismantle the waterblocks and scrub them out too. For the radiator I'd use fairly hot water to dissolve anything in there and flush it out.

Laz.

[danrok]

You could try cleaning out the rad with petrol, then rinse the petrol out with plenty of warm soapy water.

[stigweed]

I flushed the lot with boiling water, bleach, washing up liquid and car wheel cleaner (not all at once!) and cleared a fair amount of crap out but the deposits were still obvious. The new pipes arrived and I cleaned the res and the water block the hard way (scrubbing) and it seems ok for now.

The radiotor is definitely copper (scratched it a bit) so it couldn't have been rust. So with new deionized water and no additives, it should be ok. I'll update this thread if it gets worse.

[danrok]

Are you going to put anti-algae fluid in there?

[stigweed]

Haven't got any. Might try some antifreeze.

[stigweed]

3 weeks on pure water no mixers and there's no build up of anything. Just a bit of residue I couldn't clean out of the res.

Does that suggest it wasn't organic if it's no longer spreading?