Why is the "battery effect" a problem?

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Zymrgy

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #1

I have read a few things about the battery effect. My question is why does it matter?

 

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NeoMoses

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #2

the "battery effect" is a problem because it is corrosion. If left unattended, a waterblock can corrode to a point that it either develops a leak or becomes structurally unstable and bends (possibly causing improper CPU contact). Either way, it'll probably mean you'll toast some hardware. That's why almost every person runs some sort of corrosion inhibitor in their system. It's cheap insurance.

 

JFettig

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #3

the aluminum corodes, makes the water nasty, cloggs pumps, corodes thru the aluminum and leaks.... its a pretty big deal... also kills performance from what I hear.

 

OP

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Zymrgy

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• Apr 21, 2003

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• #4

hrmm...part 2 of my question. Say you have a waterblock, the base made out of copper & the top made out of Alum. Would anodizing the alum help prevent the battery effect from happening?

Thanks for all of the replies.

 

bigben2k

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #5

It will help, a bit. You must still use an anti-corrosion agent.

BTW, corrosion occurs even with one metal, but the battery effect, which is caused by having more than one metal, can actually accelerate the corrosion greatly, based on the potential difference between the two metals, as can be seen on a galvanic chart.

 

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Since87

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #6

Suggest taking a look here.

 

E_Man

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #7

anodizing is good enough

 

bigben2k

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #8

E_Man said:

anodizing is good enough

Click to expand...

Errr, no. The anodizing itself will still let water through, and you will still have a battery effect. If you're going to mix metals, especially Alu, Anodizing most be combined with a good anti-corrosion agent.

Of course the simpler solution is to avoid Alu altogether, but as I described above, is an acceptable solution.

 

grunjee

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• Apr 21, 2003

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Since87 said:

Suggest taking a look here.

Click to expand...

HOLY ____ !

 

Seal

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• Apr 21, 2003

• #10

search is our friend here at overclockers

also check this out

stolen from that link.

Thats happened to my barbs too, its proving quite hard to remove the stain. It probably isnt part of the battery effect but is it cause for concern?

 

TheMightyBuck

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• Apr 22, 2003

• #11

just create a stoichiometric oxidation/reduction equation for your metals.... and see which one gets reduced, which gets oxidized....

also, sacrificial anodes are great, my dad said that they used them on nuclear subs for the seawater reactor cooling system....

sacrificial anode = putting zinc slugs in the system (resevoir) the zinc gets corroded, instead of the Cu, and then u just dump more zinc in when it gets eaten up, and is all Zinc ions, ,in the water.... oh yeah, replace the water when adding new sacrificial anodes.....

with some engine coolant, (3-5% of total volume) and some zinc slugs, you should have NO problems with corrosion on your copper parts.

zinc slugs are readily available, i use galvanized nails... galvanized = coated with zinc....

 

thorn

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• Apr 22, 2003

• #12

Very interesting. I will be using an aluminum heater core, and my block is a copper base with an adonized aluminum top (Silverprop EvolutionS). Does this present any additional problems over a normal system with a copper/brass rad?

 

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BrianH2O

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• Apr 22, 2003

• #13

I believe that Dex-Cool and Zerex additives are very effective in stopping corrosion. Both are specially designed for mixed metals/Aluminum parts.

 

thorn

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• Apr 22, 2003

• #14

Nice.. I was planning on using zerex because they don't carry water wetter around here.

 

TyRex

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• Apr 22, 2003

• #15

i've got a swiftech block with copper plate and anodized Al top, ran it for 6 months, finally drained and checked everything, very little corrosion at all, infact no more than what would be with a pure Cu block. There was some oxidation from the heat, but nothing serious. If there is Al in your system, but it has a good anodized coat, I would'nt worry about a thing

 

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Calum

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• Apr 22, 2003

• #16

The anodizing itself will still let water through

Click to expand...

Um, assuming it is thick enough, it won't. Anodised aluminium is aluminium oxide. Do you know what else is made of aluminium oxide? Sapphires. Rubies.

http://www.bsu.edu/eft/gems/archives/corundum.html

It isn't water permeable. If it got scratched, it could, it is true, pose a problem. But water cannot get though an anodised layer...

Calum