Watercooler Cleaning READ THIS

[AMDGuy]

I posted in my "1.4 T-bird that couldn't or wouldn't" thread that I had done some maintenance on my watercooled system prior to putting the new 1.4T-bird in my system.

When I opened my system after it had been running for 4 months 24x7, I noticed the clear vinyl tubes were no longer clear. They had some kind of white foggy look about them, some places worse than others. Since I already had the system opened up I decided now would be a good time to service my watercooled setup.

Attached are the pics of what I found. This "funk" had deposits on the pump, in the radiator, and in the tubes. I was quite suprised I had anything in the tubes as I had used only distilled water. It was a thin pastey like substance. It was soft, white, and had no odor. I called the local aquarium shop to get an idea of what I was dealing with and how to get rid of it.

After explaining to the gentleman on the phone that I had watercooled a computer, he then wanted to know how I had done it, so I had to explain that too (LOL), he asked me some questions such as what the components were made of, the avg temperature, if sunlight hit the tubes at all, and how long it had been running. He put me on hold, I presume to check his Aquarium Encyclopedia of Gunk and Funk, and came back telling me it sounded like a bacteria had started to grow in the system.

I asked if he had anything to kill and remove it and prevent it from coming back. He said he had just the thing, Erythromicin (an antibiotic) and he sold it for 60 cents a tablet. He said it wouldn't react with copper and would be safer on my seals than bleach. I drove down and picked up one tablet which he said was enough to treat 10 gallons. He advised me to just break open the tablet and pour the powder into the system.

I did as the man instructed and so far so good. I'll let it run for a month or so before I'm confident it's gone. I suggest anyone running a water cooled system go down and pick some of this up to be safe. At 60 cents a tablet it's cheap insurance.

Check out these pics of the gunk. Especially the one of the water that came out of the system.

[AMDGuy]

Here's the Pump.

[AMDGuy]

Here is the new hose sitting next to the old hose.

[Richard]

Biocides are important in any closed water cooling system. Industry has learned to deal with this problem over time, because some bacteria are known to accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, cathodic protection isn't the only concern in corrosion.

As bacteria ferment they release acids into the water and combined with the fine metallic deposits will over time speed up the demise of your precious components.

Next time you notice some cloudy deposits save a sample and pick up a pH kit. Check and see if your water is acidic. If it is you can treat it with buffers to neutralize the water as well as kill off any bacterial growth.

I wouldn't doubt you could safely use a water-bed treatment for a watercooling rig. Generally, those are complete kits.

[k_lined4lyf]

The whole funk thing in the distilled water isn't too surprising when I think about it. Although it may be distilled, exposing the water it to air even for a brief period is effectively contaminating it. Plus the WC hardware parts would be contanimated also.
I'm still doing research on watercooling myself (chicken + my folks think I'm an idiot for considering it), and as the foggy deposits were occuring phenomena I'd expect in any system after time, it's good to now know why.

Good post.

K

[Crappy]

I've had funk in my system before, but not that much. I started to get it 1 month after I installed it. And I only has distilled water in it, same as you.

I was able to clean it out with bleach then changed all the hose and refilled it with new distilled water and water wetter. So far 1 month and everything is still clean.

But it's good to know that there is something we can add to it to keep the bacteria down and out of the system. At 60 cents a tablet it cheaper then getting all new parts.

[touser]

hey i was thinking what would happen if you put chlorine in the water to kill all the bacteria? or would it eat away at the tubing? just a thought tho..

[AMDGuy]

Originally posted by touser
hey i was thinking what would happen if you put chlorine in the water to kill all the bacteria? or would it eat away at the tubing? just a thought tho..

I believe chlorine would be similar to bleach and would likely cause seals in the pump to crack.

[Random Nonsense]

hey i had an idea.... when u set up your water cooling system, while u test for leaks heat the waterblock with somethign VERY hot, get water temp to close to boiling, then u kill all bugs, and dont have to use chemicals!

[Billvill]

I like the water bed treatment idea ! It is on the list next time the machine is down for service / upgrade. I know from personal use in a water bed that it works. As an added benifit you know it is plastic safe.

Billy

[grunjee]

AMDguy-- this is a very useful thread, I'm glad you posted it.

After reading through all the posts so far, I wanted to ask you guys a question, so I did in another thread. I would link to it here but that seems impossible. :( (What's up with not being able to see url's on the OC forums?!?)

Anyway, I did it in another thread so as not to clutter yours and/or get off the subject. But I'd really appreciate it if any of you guys could look for my new thread and give me some input. It involves buildup in a radiator I recently got.

Thanks!

[Richard]

Plus, the water treatment acts as a water softener. No need for water wetter.

Originally posted by Billvill
I like the water bed treatment idea ! It is on the list next time the machine is down for service / upgrade. I know from personal use in a water bed that it works. As an added benifit you know it is plastic safe.

Billy

[Max Payneguin]

So, with this waterbed additive, would it be possible to just leave it in the closed-loop system? How often would I have to flush it with new additive? I don't really want to have to keep doing maintinance as it could come at a bad time (LAN). My other alternative would be to stick a giant HSF on like the new Alpha PAL8045. I don't have a waterbed, so I don't know.

<edit> Hey AMDGuy? Did you use anything like antifreeze or waterwetter in your system? I've heard that antifreeze can stop things from growing, but then again, I have heard of one guy that had gunk with antifreeze :eek: </edit>

[Richard]

I can't see why not? These additives are safe for vinyl and other plastics. Plus, since you're maintaining a neutral pH you're helping corrosion prevention there too.

Keep in mind, waterbed cleaner/conditioner will only keep the biologicals at bay and keep the water clean. You'll still need to be mindful of cathodic protection (in a mixed metal system.)

Galvanic corrosion is still a problem that needs to be dealt with. The easiest way to guarantee that you won't have a problem is to use same/similar metals.

Originally posted by Max Payneguin
So, with this waterbed additive, would it be possible to just leave it in the closed-loop system? How often would I have to flush it with new additive? I don't really want to have to keep doing maintinance as it could come at a bad time (LAN). My other alternative would be to stick a giant HSF on like the new Alpha PAL8045. I don't have a waterbed, so I don't know.

<edit> Hey AMDGuy? Did you use anything like antifreeze or waterwetter in your system? I've heard that antifreeze can stop things from growing, but then again, I have heard of one guy that had gunk with antifreeze :eek: </edit>

[Crazy Jayhawk]

I'm glad I saw this, since I'll be switching to watercooling once I have the funds. :)

[AMDGuy]

Originally posted by Max Payneguin
So, with this waterbed additive, would it be possible to just leave it in the closed-loop system? How often would I have to flush it with new additive? I don't really want to have to keep doing maintinance as it could come at a bad time (LAN). My other alternative would be to stick a giant HSF on like the new Alpha PAL8045. I don't have a waterbed, so I don't know.

<edit> Hey AMDGuy? Did you use anything like antifreeze or waterwetter in your system? I've heard that antifreeze can stop things from growing, but then again, I have heard of one guy that had gunk with antifreeze :eek: </edit>

I did not use water wetter or antifreeze. I've heard antifreeze actually inhibits the heat absorbing abilities of water, plus that makes it more of a clean up process when doing maintenance with the antifreeze in the system.

[Max Payneguin]

Originally posted by AMDGuy


I did not use water wetter or antifreeze. I've heard antifreeze actually inhibits the heat absorbing abilities of water, plus that makes it more of a clean up process when doing maintenance with the antifreeze in the system.

Ya, that would be pretty nasty if you had a pet come and lick up some of the leaked coolant. It looks to me like the waterbed stuff would be the only thing a watercooling setup would need as it functions like waterwetter on its own. You would just have to be careful about mixed metals. Either waterbed or humidifier biocide should do the trick, of course, I wouldn't use extremely large amounts as completely killing everything might not be the best idea either ("hey look, I created a new strain of resistant bacteria!").