Running Vinegar in water-cooling loop

[sunrunner20]

I have heard that often people have to flush their radiators with lots of water, or they will fling a lot of **** into your loop for a while. I am wondering if it is safe to run vinegar through my water-cooling loop (2-302+Dtek WW(Al top, soon to be replaced)+Eheim 1250) for a while to clean and flush the inside of my Heatercore.

[Seven]

Take it apart, drain the whole system (be careful...nearly killed my computer this way)

Then, take your HC and fill it with vinegar completely and let it sit. Lather, rinse, repeat as desired.

7

[schnikies79]

There is better things to use than vinegar. It's acetic acid so it's somewhat conductive. If you really want to kill and refresh, use a little bleach and water. It's a little more likely to kill any algae that might have started growning.

Dayton

[Perseus]

I'm missing something. What's in the loop\core that requires a vinegar flush?

Edit: OH! Algae. One question though: Being that anaerobic microrganisms are rare in closed environments, how do they make it into a water-cooling system? This is especially strange when you consider the additives that lots of people use.

[ZachM]

I would not run vinegar in the loop, but rinsing out the core with it would work. Just rinse out the core with water, and fill it up with vinegar. Let it sit for a few minutes, and rinse it out. I would be hesitant to use bleach. If it touches aluminum in your loop it will eat it away. :-/

[ghettocomp]

If you have a slight amount of corrosion or mineral deposits in your HC then flush with the vinegar. I like it to be warm, doesn't seem to make any real difference. dont leave in too long, as Seven said lather rinse repeat. rinse well after that. From experience I would not use bleach, that S... will corrode copper quick, aluminum quicker... even faster if you have both.

[sunrunner20]

No, this is a a system that is about to be built. Im trying to have the thing cleaned out and steril(sp?) not to mention nice looking, before I put it in my loop.

[ghettocomp]

:) Ok. Flush with the vinegar to clean any industrial gunk left inside, same way fill with vinegar, lather, rinse, repeat.. and to stop anything from growing I always use a couple of ounces of rubbing alcohol, with my coolants. works great. :)

[JerMe]

Since it's not built yet, I'd do the vinegar cleaning first - then you won't have to worry about vinegar hanging around in the loop. Have fun with the cleaning, make sure you have proper ventillation =)

[Diggrr]

For a new core, I'd use some dishsoap and the hottest water your tap can muster. Let it sit and soak full of the solution. When it's back to room temp, dump it out and flush with tap water.
That gets rid of oils (from metal stamping/cutting) and flux (from soldering) and any metal bits that may be hanging around in there.

Next you can fill it with some vinegar and let sit an hour, even polish the outside up using vinegar and an old scotchbrite pad (not as abrasive as a new one).
Rinse it again like mad inside and out, and finally flush a quart of distilled water through it.

Then it's done, and ready to perform top-notch.

For a tune up of a core you've been using, just use part two above.
I've seen here and in person that a new core can be full of stuff that vinegar alone just can't get rid of.

Rock on.

[Seven]

Not bad advice.
If you're really risky, Lysol MIGHT work, but be warned, it burned the crap out of my PolarFlo TT

7

[sunrunner20]

How much dish soap? A few drops?

[Diggrr]

Yep couple three. More wouldn't hurt though, as you are rinsing it all out well anyway.

Sorry so late. That NASCAR party was rockin'.
Mikey was doing great for a change, but then his motor let go :(

[sunrunner20]

WOW! Cleaning it with soapy water..... It does not smell like chemicals anymore!!! :cool:

[Moto7451]

Soapy water works well for cleaning stuff like that in my experience so I say go for it.

Yep couple three. More wouldn't hurt though, as you are rinsing it all out well anyway.

Sorry so late. That NASCAR party was rockin'.
Mikey was doing great for a change, but then his motor let go :(

Off topic but...

Yeah that was so awful. I've been a Michael Waltrip fan for five years now. I'm sure Mikey was going to win that race. His car was a rocket. This one was about as disappointing as when he had that bad pit stop at Dover in '03 that messed up his chance to win there.

I think NASCAR's mandated gear is what killed his engine as well as the other's. You could see the disgust on his face even though he was smiling. I may go to the race next week if I can get tickets. Michael Waltrip fans unite :thup:

I couldn't resist talking abut this :D