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My loop is filthy :(

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OLMI

OLMI

Member
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Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Location
San Diego, CA
My loop has been running for about a half year or so, and with no additives has become filthy (the loops was white, it's now brown). Do I have to take everything out to clean it, or is there something I can put into my T-line to clean it out?
 
there might be some solvent u can use to try and clean it out, but if its bad, then there could be sediment built up in the components. this would obviously inhibit performance, and it this case u may need to take each component out and clean it well. just some thoughts, then again what do i know
 
White vinegar + salt will remove the white stuff and clean out the rad and waterblocks, but you need to remove your system from your case to flush all of it out with clean water. You cannot leave any solution in the loop. That goes for any cleaning agent you choose.

The price you pay for a t-line system with no drain :/
 
when you flush it out, maybe you should create a better and effective mix of coolant mix, with addatives, should keep you going for a lot longer without having to clean it out again
 
It sounds like you had some hardwater build up. The white vinegar idea works great. Just used distilled water in the future.
 
i think a wc with a good coolant solution can go at least a year w/o being drained and refilled, without having any noticable effects, including coolant discoloratoin.
now to avoid flames, it might not be a good idea to go that long. many people recommend draining your coolant as little as every 4-6 months.
its a pain for many of us to drain and fill frequently, so we stretch it. what coolant are u running?
 
yeah its a pain you got new hardware as well

lol i think he was running direct coolant
 
Yea, I run distilled+antifreeze+iodine. If you don't have corrosion problems I would think you could live with just iodine in your loop.
 
I've been running a mixture of 90% distilled water + 10% propylene glycol anti-freeze for over 2 years now in the tropics in a sunny room without a single change of fluid. The fluid is still crystal-clear green, the tubing clean and clear and the waterblock a nice shiny copper.

The proper mixture will entirely eliminate the need to change your fluid.
 
You may have to look at how much residue remains, after cleaning, from the growth of organisims in the cooling loop. It may be necessary to replace tubing along with removing any chance of the organisms returning. Makes good sense to use a water additive to avoid fungus and bacterial growth
 
no on aquarium stuff other then a bristle brush.

im with Hafa on this one dexcool will get you 5 years and most other antifreeze will last close to that.
 
hafa said:
I've been running a mixture of 90% distilled water + 10% propylene glycol anti-freeze for over 2 years now in the tropics in a sunny room without a single change of fluid. The fluid is still crystal-clear green, the tubing clean and clear and the waterblock a nice shiny copper.

The proper mixture will entirely eliminate the need to change your fluid.
Click to expand...

Some bacterium will survive anti-freeze. I would suggest putting in a little bit of Iodine.
 
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