Chrome, Copper, Silver Need additive?

So I'm getting an apogee XT, which has copper and a chrome top. The radiators have copper tubes/fins. Then I'm going to put on 4 silver plated barbs. I've read that the barbs should be enough for the algae growth, but now I'm curious about corrosion. My understanding is that silver and copper don't react, and I would figure that swiftech wouldn't put two metals that corrode each other. So now I'm thinking I won't need any additives, but not sure if the three metals will interact in some way that warrants an additive.

Preferably I wouldn't want additives since I've read they require you to clean every 6 months to a year or something. I'm just trying to setup my computer once and leave it, except for occasionally changing the air filters.

are the fittings you got bits power true silver? or just silver coloured?

if they are true silver then you will only need distilled with no additives.

as long as you haven't left anything out then you don't need anti-corrosion additives either.

Yeah those are the exact ones. The only thing that would be a different metal would be the worm clamps, but those should never get in contact with water.

Your fine, no mixed metals that cause problems. You will still want to drain and refill the loop every 6 months, and at the 1+ year point tear the loop down and clean everything.

Like this:

http://www.overclockers.com/annual-water-cooling-cleaning-rebuild-journal/

Conumdrum said:

Your fine, no mixed metals that cause problems. You will still want to drain and refill the loop every 6 months, and at the 1+ year point tear the loop down and clean everything.

Like this:

http://www.overclockers.com/annual-water-cooling-cleaning-rebuild-journal/

Click to expand...

lol I don't want to clean it. I just want to ensure that everything is clean the first time to keep it clean for later on. I'll be running vinegar through it for an hour on every part, then rubbing alcohol, and then a distilled water wash. I was thinking about running 5% zerex or some other corrosion protection, but read those can leave deposits.

I purposely closed up every single hole in my computer (used my strong LED flashlight in the dark to spot any holes that I missed., except for the front that I've placed dense air filters in so that I rarely if ever have to dust the insides of my computer.

Do you have any other hints that I could do to maybe extend how long I can go without cleaning the system? I'm not putting any dyes, using regular clear tubing (contemplating going with tygon instead of masterkleer if that helps), and without any additives I would figure there wouldn't be too much to clean.

Alcohol RUINS acrylic. Vinegar can begin to break down copper and brass, it IS very acidic. In the old days a quick venegar rinse of rads was needed to help break down the flux etc in the rads. We don't do it anymore. You run vinegar in your loop for an hour, bet your vinegar turns a nice blue green.

Dunno where you been getting your info.

Hints on how to extend the required cleaning. 6 months drain and refill, 1 year tear down. It's your stuff, you do as you think is best.

I'm not running the alcohol on anything acrylic, just in the rads/block as a rinse. The vinegar will be diluted around 5-10% in distilled water. I read it somewhere that the radiators aren't completely clean coming from the factory and should be cleaned before hand. They suggested that you clean it with a vinegar solution, which they did say will eat away at copper so not to leave it longer than an hour.

If you have ANY acrylic in your loop (think res), I would strongly recommend against running alcohol through it. It has a tendency to degrade acrylic, and any adhesives that hold it together, which will turn acrylic parts into the weak link in your loop. You are much better off taking apart the loop and cleaning everything by hand.

DumpALump said:

I'm not running the alcohol on anything acrylic, just in the rads/block as a rinse. The vinegar will be diluted around 5-10% in distilled water. I read it somewhere that the radiators aren't completely clean coming from the factory and should be cleaned before hand. They suggested that you clean it with a vinegar solution, which they did say will eat away at copper so not to leave it longer than an hour.

Click to expand...

Yea, your okay then. You didn't mention dilution or you got acrylic parts like a res etc. Just rinse with distilled water and forget the alcohol and vinegar.

Have fun!

Read this yet?
http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=631501
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=312743 The original.

Yeah I used to watercool in the past, but never bothered to wash out the radiator/blocks before hand. I don't have any acrylic since I remember there being some issues with a few people having cracks that developed over time from the threading. Of course there were some who said they've run an acrylic top for over a year, but then there would be a guy who had his crack after a year and a half. I'm doing this more for performance and don't ever plan to open and show people my computer.

So would rubbing alcohol be bad to rinse with? I mean I can understand the vinegar of course, but I use rubbing alcohol on just about anything to clean with (don't do it on painted surfaces unless you're trying to remove the paint ).

Thanks for the links, I'll use them to clean it out with

I use alcohol to clean my old TIM off before using Artic Clean for a final clean. I also use it to wash my hands to remove skin oils. Oils cause stains in time on a HUGE FC GPU block.

Soap and water is usually plenty enuff.

Otherwise the alcohol gets drank.

I still think rinsing the system is a good idea though many no longer do it. Grab a large deep bowl or wide glass from the kitchen cabinet (preferably glass or stainless but ceramic will do - no aluminum!) and fill it with distilled water. Assemble your loop (can be in or out of the case as long as you have enough tubing), put the discharge end into the water, and prime the intake with distilled before putting it in the water. Jog your pump to make sure you're getting good water intake - don't run it dry!

Once you've got the loop filled just let it run for an hour or so. Keep the intake tube near the top of the bowl/glass but below water level and the discharge near the bottom. Arrange the tubing to minimize turbulence - you want the water as still as possible and rotating over "bubbling" (which is why a bowl works better). Over time you'll notice small particles in the bottom of the bowl - minute left-overs from the manufacturing process and shipping. An hour is usually plenty to get all the particles out though shutting down the loop for a minute in the middle of the process is a good idea to get any particles out that might have lodged somewhere in the loop.

It's a bit of a pain to do this but you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that comes out of your components in an hour of running ...