Do you clean radiator prior to installationg?

I just wondering if you guys clean brand new radiator before installation. Running just water doesn't count. All of the radiator that I got had something white that would stick to everything. Stuff that remains from soldering. Recenlty I took apart my loop. The white crappy staff was everwhere: tubing waterblock, pump. I took some vinger and put in in radiator and shake it for a short while. As I was draining radiator the vinger that was clear was coming out white. Plus there were some metal pieces that came out too.

So what does this white stuff do. My mcp655, when I got it was quiet and recently I thought it was braking becasue it was louder than what I remembered it. I took apart that pump, pulled propeller. I wasn't suppries when propeller had gather much of that white stuff. I cleaned it, later that day I ran the pump it was much quiet vs. uncleaned state.

Swiftech storm. I took that a part as well. Some of the jets were stuck and there was nice layer of it around holes.

are u talking about the flux they use with solder?

That is really weird there was solder coming out of the rad too. It sounds like the rad wasnt soldered together well.

nachosyumm said:

are u talking about the flux they use with solder?

That is really weird there was solder coming out of the rad too. It sounds like the rad wasnt soldered together well.

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That probably it. Though it will come out from every radiator becasue they are all soldered. It depends how well they are cleaned when they are shipped out

I had no problem with my pa160 OR bip2 - just water sufficed.

I always clean them out. That white goop is most likely flux and whatever types of oils they used to fabricate the metal parts mixed with water and slammed at speed into your other parts, making a white film.
There will always be solder beads and metal shavings from the build process of the rad, and those should be washed out as well. Manufacturing large quantities does not lend itself well to factory flushing each rad out.

I use dang hot water (my heater is set at 140F) and Dawn dishsoap to clean out new rads. I use the kitchen sink tap and a short bit of tubing to pressure rinse all that crud out. I soap/rinse three or four cycles just to make sure.

If you're really anal (like me), pour a cup or two of distilled water through it to help flush out the sink water..especially if you're not going to put it in service right away.