Algae in by loop

Rickpatbrown · Apr 13, 2008

Algae in my loop

I put together my first WC setup this January. I used swiftech hydrex and distilled water. I didn't notice anything from looking at my clear resevoir. I did have less than the recomended amount of hydrex in the system.

I finally got a chance to take the thing apart and was very dissapointed to see so much crap in the water. What a pain in the butt. I had to take the whole setup out of my case and flush it with water. I took apart the CPU block and got algae out of there. I didn't take all the tubes off because they are such a pain to disconnect.

It almost made me regret water cooling. Then I think of 67 degrees and remember why I love it. Plus, the harder something is, usually the more satisfying it is.

So I flushed the system and filled it back up with distilled water and a couple drops of Iodine tincture. I will change that in a week or so when I add my graphics card into the loop. I will use a little antifreeze also.

Point is . . . save yourself some trouble, use biocide.

Does iodine have any negative effects on the system?

Th3 F4ll3n P1mp · Apr 13, 2008

You dont need biocide. The HydrX coolant already has that. If you use the correct amount, nothing will happen. Me, personally, I always put a little more than recommended so I dont have these problems. I like a 15% HydrX to a 85% distilled mix.

Socket eh? · Apr 13, 2008

^ Exactly. Three years and I've never had anything in my loop using HydrX.

Mycobacteria · Apr 14, 2008

Thats caus when you use hydrex the liquid turns so green you cant tell if there is any growth in there in the first place...

ie it could be filled with life but because the liquid is so turbid and its green you wont be able to see the green algae...

Rickpatbrown · Apr 14, 2008

A word of caution for those who think they don't have stuff in there loop- It appeared that I was clean. During normal operation, I saw nothing to indicate growth. I have a swiftech microres and everything appeared clear. It wasn't until I emptied the loop and agitated it that all the stuff came out. You might have growth, it just stays on the surfaces that it grows on -unnoticed.

I also am using a '77 bonneville HC. I don't know if that had anything to do with it. I rinsed it with vindegar before hand (not that vinegar would kill anything). I doubt that the companies who manufacture these things care about clean parts.

I hear of people using straight distilled water and not having any problems. That's amazing.

voigts · Apr 14, 2008

You aren't the first person I have read who had growth using HydraX. I used that stuff once when I first started watercooling, and it looked so nasty that I never used it again. I also hate green fluid. It reminds me of a car too much.

I hate to say it but you are also going to need to either clean out your tubing or replace it. You can use a piece coat hanger with a bit of soapy cloth and run it through them to clean them. Algae will stick to the inside of tubing as well.

A couple of drops of fish aquarium algaecide have served me well. Every few months if I don't drain the system for one reason or another I just add another couple of drops whenever I top off. I don't like silver tubing personally, but using Tygon silver is another option. The silver in the tubing will kill anything for you without any additives at all.

Rickpatbrown · Apr 14, 2008

Will a good dose of Iodine kill the algae that has grown? The tubes looked pretty clean, but your probably right.

You work overnight too?

voigts · Apr 14, 2008

Rickpatbrown said:
Will a good dose of Iodine kill the algae that has grown? The tubes looked pretty clean, but your probably right.

You work overnight too?

Iodine/algaecide will kill it, but it won't remove the growth.

I do work third shift, but I'm off on the weekends.

Mycobacteria · Apr 14, 2008

Silver tubes are great had them for ages now with no problems...

Or cut out the lights and they will eventually die.

NGL_BrSH · Apr 21, 2008

I use hydrex, and still get algea... I didn't know it until i opened up the waterblock and noticed this huge gray nasty growth in the little copper fins.

So I redid the loop, put in distilled water again.. but this time with latex gloves on, facemask and hydrex... still have growth.

it's a scam.

Th3 F4ll3n P1mp · Apr 21, 2008

Put 5-10 percent car radiator fluid in a new loop. I doubt algea will grow in that.

Mycobacteria · Apr 21, 2008

10% is a lot man, the more AF you add to water the more it retards the efectivenss of water as a coolant.

Th3 F4ll3n P1mp · Apr 21, 2008

Some people like putting 10%. I just put 5-10 based on what I saw the most often. Usually I will put 2-6 percent in it.

Diddyu · Apr 21, 2008

By the way, antifreeze is only harmful to organisms with livers. I recconmend 4-8 drops of iodine, depending on the quality, povidone being the best.

saxile · Apr 22, 2008

no biocide will stay in the system perm and continue working, if you aren't going to drain your system every month, add some more biocide, ptnuke works well for that, swiftech stuff is little more than just antifreeze really, primochill works much better than that.

Rickpatbrown · Apr 22, 2008

I didn't even think about the iodine diminishing. Good point.

Moto7451 · Apr 23, 2008

Hydrex is just antifreeze. Unless you have a renal system, it won't hurt you.

Add some pond algaecide and iodine and you'll be set.

saxile · Apr 23, 2008

My point exactly, why pay all that much money for hydrx when you can buy antifreeze much cheaper and it does the same thing. My recommendation is a buy a gallon of distilled water and a tube of primochill liquid utopia, one tube is the perfect amount for a gallon, also keep some biocide on hand just to give your system a recharge every month or so.

Rickpatbrown · Apr 23, 2008

I don't see any need for antifreeze if you don't have mixed metals.

Am I correct?

Maybe for a little color. I think I'm gonna stick with distilled and a couple of drops of Iodine. I'll try to empty my loop every two months also. The problem with that is that when I mess with my computer, I usually end up spending about 500$ on something :bang head

.

saxile · Apr 23, 2008

yep, no point in antifreeze unless you have alu and cu in a loop together, just good ol' distilled water and biocide will do you just fine, another reason people use antifreeze is for pump lub, but most pumps how-a-days are magnetic drive it's not needed for that reason, if you want colour in the loop go with a good dye, such as primochill or fesser one, stay away for fluid xp tho.

Algae in by loop

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