Mixing aluminum and copper.

Rickpatbrown · Jan 10, 2008

How bad is it? I recently set up my first WC system with the help of reading this forum. My temps dropped about 20C :clap:

. I used a heater core that I bought from the auto store for about $23. It looked like it was copper and brass, but I recently discovered by scratching it, that it is aluminum.

How quickly should I change this? Days? Weeks? Months?

I went to the auto parts store and discovered that they really don't make copper/brass heater cores anymore. I would have to get a dirty one from a junkyard or go with specialized one for the computer. After getting the copper fittings for the tubing, the flux and solder it costed more than forty dollars. I don't know if heater cores are the way to go. The perfomance seems good though.

What do you guys suggest?

AlexanderB · Jan 10, 2008

just get the water additives to prevent corrosion.. I can't name them, but my guess is someone else will

Reefa_Madness · Jan 10, 2008

Zerex/Valvoline Super Coolant available at select NAPA Auto Parts (being phased out) ans SVC (Google is my friend

).

http://www.svc.com/ddz12wa.html

jmsanders2 · Jan 10, 2008

AlexanderB said:
just get the water additives to prevent corrosion.. I can't name them, but my guess is someone else will

Aluminum doesn't corrode, but something else in your system could. Check and if so, then agreed.

Edit: see the next two posts to confirm my error in information.

Reefa_Madness · Jan 10, 2008

The issue, in general terms:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

nikhsub1 · Jan 10, 2008

jmsanders2 said:
Aluminum doesn't corrode, but something else in your system could. Check and if so, then agreed.

Orly? Wanna bet? With aluminum and copper together the aluminum will corrode but the copper will not, the copper is a more noble metal.

jmsanders2 · Jan 10, 2008

nikhsub1 said:
Orly? Wanna bet? With aluminum and copper together the aluminum will corrode but the copper will not, the copper is a more noble metal.

Sorry, didn't take long to prove me wrong, edited previous post to not spread dumbness. What is sad is I have had taken a master's class in materials and corrosion (although I don't work day to day with aluminum-stupid metal), sorry I let this slip, definitely won't happen again. I probably shouldn't have posted even though I thought I knew this. Kudos to chemistry :bang head

Rickpatbrown · Jan 10, 2008

Chemistry is our friend

Rickpatbrown · Jan 11, 2008

So all this talk about components "eating each other" is a little bit over reacting. Isn't it?

Obviously, it is best to have all copper because it won't corrode and it's a good conductor of heat. But, when you use distilled water, there are no electrolytes for the galvanic corrosion to proceed.

Worst case scenario is that my cheap heater core corrodes, but the expensive water blocks are not affected beyond what a good cleaning could take care of.

Automata · Jan 11, 2008

Rickpatbrown said:
So all this talk about components "eating each other" is a little bit over reacting. Isn't it?

Obviously, it is best to have all copper because it won't corrode and it's a good conductor of heat. But, when you use distilled water, there are no electrolytes for the galvanic corrosion to proceed.

Worst case scenario is that my cheap heater core corrodes, but the expensive water blocks are not affected beyond what a good cleaning could take care of.

No, hardly over reacting

You should see some of the pictures where there is corrosion. Plugged blocks/pumps are just the start. Leaks are the end once it fries your hardware :beer:

Correct, with distilled it won't do anything for a little while. That is until residue from the tubing/blocks/pump/etc start dissolving into the water...

Worst case scenario is your pump fails...causing a massive overheat...maybe even causing leaks from getting too hot. Or the block getting massively clogged and the cpu overheats/leaks. Or just simply you have a leak....and it fries your hardware. :shrug:

Up to you what road you take, but I'll take the nice safe one with guard rails near the edge of the cliff when driving 5x the speed limit

to the forums :beer:

Craptacualr · Jan 11, 2008

Well, I use an aluminum radiator and a Copper waterblock (Serck rad, and a repaired G3) along with an anti-corrosive. It's so annoying I'm looking for a new waterblock, screw the performance. The anti-corrosives work, but if you have a very restrictive waterblock (like the G series, or the swiftech copies), you'll still get little flecks of aluminum oxide salts that get caught in the microjets. Damned thing needs cleaning every couple months and it's really tickin me off. But with the anti-corrosives, I've mixed this same aluminum rad and copper blocks since 2002 with no serious deterioration of the rad.

Brolloks · Jan 11, 2008

Reefa_Madness said:
Zerex/Valvoline Super Coolant available at select NAPA Auto Parts (being phased out) ans SVC (Google is my friend ).

http://www.svc.com/ddz12wa.html

Is it still necessary to still put a algaecide or biocide in if you use the Zerex stuff?

Jas · Jan 11, 2008

I personally don't use a biocide. But I also change my coolant out every couple of months, if not even more frequently. Algea isn't going to "like" growing in there, but thats not to ay it couldn't. If it's out of direct sunlight, and you don't leave your loop open, or use components exposed to algea already, then chances are you don't need a biocide.

Craptacualr · Jan 12, 2008

If it's out of direct sunlight, and you don't leave your loop open, or use components exposed to algea already, then chances are you don't need a biocide.

Wholeheartedly agree

Mixing aluminum and copper.

Rickpatbrown

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AlexanderB

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Reefa_Madness

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jmsanders2

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Automata

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