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Radiator really full copper???....

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RIP Jaws

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Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Hi Guys,

i am new here, just bought some part for my first waco build. When i was just checking out my radiator (Alphacool Nexxxos UT60 280), i was able to look through the g1/4 into the tank. And buying a Rad which was explicitly advertised as "full copper" i´m feeling a bit anxious now seeing the tubes being in a not so copperish colour. They look like nickel or even tin...
I can only see the bit of the tube, which goes into the tank, but obviously not the rest of it.
I managed to get some fotos. What do you guys think of this?
Did someone cut open an UT60 before by any chance and managed to get a look inside?
I hope you like the fotos, i certainly did like the view :clap:
Enjoy the view:


Regards
Jaws
 

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What you are seeing there is likely the Tin used for soldering everything together, nothing to worry about, it is still all Copper, just can't use copper to solder copper.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.
It was actually a joke, about the "cutting open a radiator" but.. lol, someone really did it..:p

I am disappointed actually, about the whole "full copper" thing, as its simply not true. I chose specific parts only, in order to archieve a full copper loop (with some brass)... but now i got tin in the loop, and by the looks of it, its a lot..

One more question: Is it normal that there is some oxidated copper in the tank ( a little green-blue-ish stain).

Thanks.
 
It's literally impossible to not have solder in a radiator unless you want leaks....
Tin and copper don't react (hence being used together) like aluminum and copper do.
So I'm not sure why the solder is an issue.

That little oxidation is why you should always completely flush all your components before use.
It should come right out.
 
Hi
thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately tin and copper do react. The difference of electrical potential is right about 30 which is 6 times as much much as between nickel and copper or brass and copper. On another note, nickel is weak anyway especially when Biocides are added or plating job was poor..
So the tin will deteriorate, its just a matter of time.
 
It`s all good as long as you flush out :)

little info on brazing and flux

Cleaning the Brazed Assembly[FONT=Veranda, Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif] Postcleaning of brazed assemblies is done primarily to remove flux residue. Flux removal is a simple, but essential, operation for one reason. Flux residue is corrosive and if not removed can attack the base metal or braze filler metal, possibly weakening the joint. Since most fluxes are water soluble, the easiest way to remove them is to submerse the assembly in hot water (150°F or hotter).

________

the rad dance is here to stay :cool:
[/FONT]
 
No worries it's been decades since I did the brazing molten metal down the back of my overall dance :rofl:

150'f is 65'c my final word... (I don't do degrees Fahrenheit :salute: )
 
I think the take home message is many have used the same radiator over 10 years (one of mine is) with primarily just distilled water and copper sulphate and still cool the same with no leaks. So any small amount of corrosion from solder is not significant in our loops over its typical lifetime of use. And greenish blue surface is just normal copper oxidation which is protective against further/deeper oxidation.

Odds are you will have bought a new rad (based on looks or something newer and better) long before corrosion is an issue. I personally would rather have a soldered rad (that I know will last more than 10 years without leaking) as opposed to an all copper rad with O rings to avoid solder, since I dont have the confidence that an O ring will last 10+ yrs without leaking.

Alphacool markets all copper since they may cool better (though cost higher) than one that has copper insides which contacts water but aluminum fins. I think manufactures assume those buying know it will still have solder....the one advertised as solderless with O rings aside.
 
If you call the oxidation patina it will increase resale value with antique buyers :)

In the world out side of the internets I'm a plumber, get to deal with lots of copper and filtration systems and get to work with both sweat and O ring type fittings.
Long story short cause I'm using a phone right now.
If you do the maintainable and flush every year or two the bimetal corrosion with tin and coper will never be noticed. In general I never see problems with sweated fittings until the 40-60 year mark. I rings tend to like blowing out long before that but that kind of plumbing is 10x the pressure of water cooling with minerals in the water.

Either way flush the system on occasion and the radiators will give love for many years

Side note the soldier used is most likely what we call 50/50 cause it's dirt cheap, 50/50 is 50% lead ( and of course never used for drinking water) so definitely take proper precautions when flushing.

And yay bonus points for big technical words bimetal corrosion.
 
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the only tin solder free rads are Aquacomputer airplex modularity.

here

aha, there you go, someone did take "all-copper" seriously.. ;)

It seems that people never had a problem with this metal mix.. On another note, Martin (http://martinsliquidlab.org/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/) also discovered the tin problem, in his situation tho, he had standing water in the rad.
So, when i go on holiday next time for like 3 weeks, i will hire that PC-Nanny. She will just start the PC for like an hour and kick some Quake 4, an leave again..

But thanks anyway for the imput.
 
wet metallic surfaces exposed to a renewable air source = corrosion. Martins example shows you why you dont leave any wet metallic surface open to renewable air.
http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Experiments/Air.htm


Turning you loop on when you are gone for 3 weeks isnt going to accomplish much, as the metal surface that is wet in your loop is not exposed to an open air source, well it should not be anyways. My computer auto sleeps after 20 minutes of non-use. I take 6 weeks of vacation per year at least, and over 10 years, still no significant corrosion. If I left standing water in an open rad, then yeah I would expect rapid corrosion.

If you are worried about corrosion you can add concentrated inhibitors to your loop ie feser base blocker (about 2 ounces will protect 1/2 gallon) and slow corrosion down even more. Just most dont bother with it, since no one ever sees enough corrosion in normal use that it affects the life of the radiator.
 
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