12 year old Thermochill internal mineral buildup

[Voodoo Rufus]

My 12 year old PA120.4 I think may be due for retirement. I just did a vinegar/baking soda flush several times and it cleaned it up quite a bit, but not sure if I should still use it. One of the tubes seems to be permanently clogged, maybe from a manufacturing error, not sure.

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[BugFreak]

I wouldn't use it like that but I would give it a run with Mayhems blitz pro. It has the stronger radiator only cleaner in the kit that might take it out. I'm still using my old Thermochill PA 3x120 so they still work great if it cleans up. It would be a shame to toss a a great radiator like that.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

I even have the fan shroud for it, too.

I do have this sitting here I could try, but it doesn't sound as strong as the mayhems thing you're talking about. https://www.primochill.com/products...s the,can only be achieved by using Sys Prep™.

 

[BugFreak]

Unless I'm mistaken that is more like the Mayhems stage 2 or "basic" kit. The stage 1 that comes with the "pro" kit is a little more aggressive cleaner only meant for radiators.

 

[Soyo Boy]

I had the same issue with one of my EK Rad's -- the issue was that the buildup was solidified by the weather. There was a good period of time where I didn't use my PC and it literally froze over. By the time I started using the computer again (and temp's stabilized), the gunk of build up was pretty much rock and I couldn't clean it up.

I ended up having to replace it completely. I wish you luck on yours! There's good advice above.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Just bought the Mayhems Pro kit. I'll post how it goes when I get my box of loot.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Ran the Blitz acid cleanup on it. Not sure it did anything, but the radiator is probably functional. One tube is still half blocked from solder slag. I might pressure test it with the air compressor for good measure.

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A little garden hose flushing fun. Lol what pressure drop?
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[Voodoo Rufus]

So I decided to hydrotest the radiator after cleaning it. I monitored pressure with a 0-100psi NPT gauge on a Y connection from my house water. The house runs at 70psi. It didn't take much pressure at all before the radiator started making creaking noises, somewhere between 30 and 50 psi. I then found some pinhole leaks and bulged tubes. Not sure which happened first, but oh well. After seeing the leaks, I determined that this had to get retired permanently, so why not see how much damage I could do? I opened the faucet wide open and let the radiator fully rupture. Note - wear safety glasses and do not stand in the line of fire, just in case. I have witnessed high pressure failures and testing before in the oilfield and they are no joke. The flow was steady at 50psi and shot across the back yard. Multiple tubes were super bulged and the radiator side housings bowed out.

Lastly I hacked off the end tanks to be able to do an autopsy on the guts. As you can see, it doesn't look like the phosphoric acid at a pH of 2 was going to clean this up. The one tube was partially slagged or completely corroded off, not sure which. The last photo shows some of the metallic or mineral fragments from the radiator that I could chisel out of the tank surfaces. RIP PA120.4. Not sure how many of you were out in the world, but there's one less. Kind of a bummer, I even have the factory fan shroud for it, too!


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[EarthDog]

ick...

but looked like fun!

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Kinda was. I feel kind of bad for being so mean to it, but after seeing the internals of the end tanks I think its time had come, anyway.

 

[BugFreak]

Sucks that it couldn't be saved but at least it went out with a bang. Thanks for the pics.

 

[freeagent]

That last picture in post 7 is pretty cool! By cool I mean awesome, that is pretty serious flow!

Its a good thing you were not shy with the pressure, that could have been your pc after some heating cycles..

Although with that kind of flow I doubt heat is an issue.. very impressive..

Now I get what you guys are talking about now.. and why AIO/CLC is not so popular with that crowd..

Now to go educate myself about water cooling..

 

[EarthDog]

I'm wondering if it would have leaked at nominal pressures?

EDIT: You'll note in the link below for a PC loop pressure tester, that the MAX is 1 Bar (~14.5 PSI) with the 'green' area sitting around 7-11 PSI. Im wondering if it would have been fine since it didn't leak until 30-50 PSI...3x/4x more than it is supposed to handle.

Now to go educate myself about water cooling..

We've got sticky threads that have been here for quite a while that would help.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Yeah, just because a pump is capable of 10-15psi at zero flow doesn't mean the flowing loop will see anything like that unless there's a blockage. What I did was not recommended. Testing to 20psi and seeing if there's a leakdown would be plenty to test for integrity.

 

[EarthDog]

It seems like anything around 10 PSI or less is good enough? At least according to EK and that tool?
I don't imagine working pressures to be anywhere near that. The tool should test well past what any normally functioning loop would come across.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Can't argue with their logic, either. Looks like a fine kit.

 

[maxfly]

Argh, i didnt see your post soon enough!
CLR (bottle not spray) would have cleaned up your pa 120.4. Looks like it had fluid in it when it was stored away and dried up? I did the same with an xspc RS360- original RS, pa 120.3 copy. Forgot it had water in it and boxed it up for a year or so. Pulled it out of the box and the ports/end tanks were crusted white all over from the coolant. It was like stone. I thought it was toast. It wasnt. I filled it with CLR for 20 minutes, shook it up and all of the crusty junk was gone. It looks almost new again. Other than where i scratched at the white crap. Still have it.
Ive got a Thermochill pa 120.3 that ive had since the year thermochill released the pa line, shroud and all. Its pretty banged up externally but inside it looks brand new. Started running CLR through it after every breakdown- usually 2 to 3 years and the ports are still nice and shiney/coppery. I soak all my rads in it for 5 to 10 minutes after every breakdown now. Give them a good shake. Rinse until no more bubbles come out and all of them have pristine ports and run great no matter their age.
If you want to see how well it works on copper and brass it will still clean up your 120.4 but of course it will leak a bit more lol.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Darn! I forgot about that chemical. I'll keep the scrap around for a bit so I can get some CLR and test it on the rad chunks. If it works, I'll keep it in mind for future use.

My rads have never been put away wet, either. I usually blow them out with the air compressor and let them sit in the sun a couple days before putting them in indoor storage.

 

[maxfly]

Its amazing stuff. The only things i havent been able to clean up were a pair of solid copper gpu blocks that turned black inside. I had a swiftech cpu block that had a poorly plated aluminum top in the loop and it corroded of course. The copper itself changed colors and once that happens theres nothing to be done. Everything else ive tried it on its cleaned up like new. Its a good thing because ive grown emotionally attached to some of my wcing gear!

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Copper discoloration doesn't affect the performance as far as I know. I have an ancient Swiftech block that had that blue anodization on it as well and it all came off.