• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Serious help needed with my setup (algae growth and cleaning)

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

toorude

Registered
Joined
Jun 28, 2004
Location
Dallas, TX
Ok so somehow i messed up in my setup and after 10 days of running i have a serious growth problem theres gunk everywhere and in my waterblocks and im sure my radiator. today i removed everything took apart all the tubing went outside with the hose and got it all out of the tubing but my main concern is how to clean the insides of my cpu chipset blocks and radiator. i linked them up in a simple sequence and ran vinegar with baking soda through them and then let them sit. then i sprayed them with the hose as well to try and run it all out. if there is some still left in there im guessing that once i set it all up again this time using an algae growth additive to my antifreeze and distilled water, will it begin to grow again or pollute the system. i have a swiftech chipset block and a polarflo TT cpu block and for the life of my cant seem to unthread the copper base from the top of the polarflo even though on the site thers a pdf showing u can do it. and for the radiator i have a BIX II so im really screwed if inside its really gunked up. please please help in any way u can so i can get this all set up again correctly. and if u watercool get a window so u can see ur tubing, my case is a lian li v1100b and once it was running well with my overclock i closed the case. i didnt check on it till i was playing doom3 last night and when i exited motherboard monitor showed my temps at 46, when under full load my 2.8 is clocked at 3.65 at 38-40 degrees normally. im so mad i couldnt catch this earlier....
 
no replys yet =( well to clarify my tubes got a milky residue that covered the walls of the tubing and then when i looked in the water blocks it was a type of grayish gunk that im worried is corrosion. and if it is corrosion how can i make sure i can stop the corrosion process here on out.
 
I'd soak the waterblocks, pump, and HC in 99.9% rubbing alcohol to make sure everything is dead. Personally, I'd replace the tubing, since I can't stand cloudy tubing, but you can probably clean yours out using some sort of tube cleaning tool (along with the 99.9% alcohol).

I've never had any problem with growing stuff or corrosion using only antifreeze, about 5% mixed in with the distilled. I wasn't aware algae can start growing after 10 days.

Anyway, the greyish stuff could be a number of things. I'm inclined to say your HC hd some sort of buildup inside, and it came off and congregated in your block. Waterblocks seem to be a nice filter for foreign objects in loops.
 
The grayish stuff could very well be from your HC. I just got a new Bonneville HC from Napa. All copper but full of some contamination, most likely flux. I ended up soaking the core in vinegar 3 times before all the grayish milky gunk was gone. You can see the milky discoloration in the one tube.
FlushHC.jpg
 
I thank you guys for the info. i dont think it was algae i just figured id use that term instead of gray gunk hehe. ill try soaking everything just to be safe before i hook it all up again. i ordered new tubing a couple of days ago because this was my first time watercooling and i didnt really measure and rout the tubing in the cleanest fashion so when i get that ill be able to re assemble and hopefully have everything running smooth.
 
Back