Aluminum plus copper

[occamsblade]

1. I did not build this.
2. I am a total newb when it comes to water-cooling, but no when it comes to building computers.

So I have a computer that is almost identical to the x 603 seen here. https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/powerspec-fluid-gaming/

I say almost because that build comes with all aluminum parts... but the waterblock on my gaming card is way to heavy and shiny to be aluminum. I have had the unit and run it infrequently for about a year. One of the fan's bearings were shot and I could not change the fans without removing the dang radiator. When I did I noticed gunk in the waterblock and what looks like damage to the assumed nickel plate on the video card block. The CPU block looks fine. I cant see inside the radiator. I know I have to replace something. Can I:
just replace the waterblock on the video card?
replace everything BUT the waterblock on the video card?
Or am I stuck building a while new loop?

If its option number 3, will I need a new pump??

Thanks in advance

 

[Zerileous]

I'm a bit confused. Is it a Fluid Gaming brand computer built by a system integrator, or a custom computer with fluid gaming parts added. Can you tell if the block is a Fluid Gaming part? Every fluid gaming part is aluminum, but if someone added a non-fluid gaming part to a fluid gaming loop that would be bad. First I would find some way to verify the block is really copper. Maybe contact EK and ask them?

As you have discovered aluminum and copper do not mix well. It leads to galvanic corrosion. It's difficult to tell what might just need a really good cleaning vs what might need to be replaced. Can you post a picture of the GPU block?

 

[Blaylock]

+1

Please post pics along with system specs. Be sure to include brand and model numbers. It's the only way we can begin determining what is copper (if anything) and what is aluminum.

 

[occamsblade]

I was finally able to verify that the block was NOT swapped out. I was worried there.

 

[Blaylock]

If the GPU block is in fact aluminum there will not be any plating. Is the block damaged or have signs of corrosion? We are still waiting for pics and specs.

 

[occamsblade]

If the GPU block is in fact aluminum there will not be any plating. Is the block damaged or have signs of corrosion? We are still waiting for pics and specs.

I sent these to EK. They said it did not look like corrosion to them. One area is definitely discolored metal. Most of the rest of the dark stuff came off. There are pits obviously. Not sure why, but they are there.
System specifications:

Procesor: Intel i7-9700k (8c8t)
Motherboard: ASUS Strix Z390-E GAMING
Memory: G. Skill Trident Z 2x8GB
DDR4 3200 Memory
Storage: 500GB Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe
Graphics Card: Nvidia RTX 2080 8GB
Power Supply: 1000w Corsair
Cooling: EK-FG PC-011 Distribution Plate
EK-FG Velocity AX Intel 115X – Plexi
EK-AC GeForce RTX
EK-Vardar S 120ER D-RGB
EK-HDC ALU Fitting 12mm – NICKEL
EK-Alustream SE 360 Lite (Triple)
EK-CryoFuel Clear Premix (Pre-Filled)
COMPUTER CASE: Lian-Li PC-011 Dynamic
OPERATING SYSTEMS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

- - - Auto-Merged Double Post - - -

Here is what she looked like with the dye.

Video:

 

[Blaylock]

Yeah, that's not bad at all. Good job on the cleaning.

Beautiful build BTW.

 

[occamsblade]

Yeah, that's not bad at all. Good job on the cleaning.

Beautiful build BTW.

Thanks. I hate to give up on the dye. It really looks so much better with it. If I coulc find UV reactive - even solid white vinyl hard line in a size that I could get aluminum fittings for I would do it. I hate the aluminum simply because it really limits my ability to change / add things.

 

[Blaylock]

Thanks. I hate to give up on the dye. It really looks so much better with it. If I coulc find UV reactive - even solid white vinyl hard line in a size that I could get aluminum fittings for I would do it. I hate the aluminum simply because it really limits my ability to change / add things.

I agree the dye really does make it look cool. If you're willing to keep up with the extra cleaning then go with it. You now know it will be good for roughly a year. Just be sure to do a very thorough cleaning each year. Especially disassembling and cleaning the water blocks. That's where you will notice the most gunk build up. EDIT: They do make a colored UV reactive tubing that will give you a similar effect. It won't help your reservoir though. Also, I wouldn't redo all those lines in your build, but maybe when it's time to upgrade your rig and need to redo them.

I was actually very disappointed in EK when the aluminum line hit the market. Everyone here just knew there would be a large influx of new members with issues. luckily in your case you didn't mix metals and ruin anything.

 

[occamsblade]

I agree the dye really does make it look cool. If you're willing to keep up with the extra cleaning then go with it. You now know it will be good for roughly a year. Just be sure to do a very thorough cleaning each year. Especially disassembling and cleaning the water blocks. That's where you will notice the most gunk build up. EDIT: They do make a colored UV reactive tubing that will give you a similar effect. It won't help your reservoir though. Also, I wouldn't redo all those lines in your build, but maybe when it's time to upgrade your rig and need to redo them.

I was actually very disappointed in EK when the aluminum line hit the market. Everyone here just knew there would be a large influx of new members with issues. luckily in your case you didn't mix metals and ruin anything.

Yeah. It did not help that the person who won the contest had no clue about water cooling. I have found that you cant do PT nuke or a silver kill coil with the aluminum though. Yeah, I think I am going to keep the dye. Might dilute the fluid a little to see if it reduces deposits. I think I will run EK at half strength with the dye at half strength too. I just need to find a stop **** that I can use.

I am strongly debating slowly acquiring the parts in copper, and switching it out eventually. That way I can do whatever I want with it. Including PT nuke.

 

[EarthDog]

Do you want your two threads merged, occam?

 

[Zerileous]

I saw in a video on youtube someone adding a few drops of something that made a coolant UV reactive. Maybe you could compromise by using a clear coolant but making it UV reactive.

 

[occamsblade]

Do you want your two threads merged, occam?

Sure.

As to messing up the coolant with the UV dye, I don't know. Obviously I am new to this. EK said that their coolant tends to leave some yellow deposits that should come off with a toothbrush. The ones I had required more than a little work. I'm not sure if it reacted to the coolant, or if it simply pushed up the amount of solute until something precipitated out. There was no powder per se in the system, and the deposits were small. I have a bottle of some concentrated coolant I bought shortly after I got the computer. I think I am going to run it half strength and see what happens. Its UV, from what I can tell its not on the market now. It was super cheap. I will run it for a few months, keeping an eye on the system. If I see any issues I guess I go back to EK clear +/- dye. Have not decided. I really do like the UV though, and since I plan to swap out the blocks I am not sure how much I care if it gunks them up a little.

 

[Zerileous]

Was it only UV dye, or did it have color in it too?

 

[occamsblade]

Was it only UV dye, or did it have color in it too?

https://www.amazon.com/PrimoChill-I...ds=primochill+green+uv&qid=1570922674&sr=8-15

It was green without the UV on as well, but not nearly as apparent. I think using the whole bottle was major overkill. I suspect it played a role in the gunking I saw.

 

[maxfly]

swiftech makes some green coolant, hydrx. its really cheap and will keep your blocks from corroding due to mixed metals. i dont think its uv reactive.
http://www.swiftech.com/hydrxcoolant.aspx

 

[occamsblade]

swiftech makes some green coolant, hydrx. its really cheap and will keep your blocks from corroding due to mixed metals. i dont think its uv reactive.
http://www.swiftech.com/hydrxcoolant.aspx

I ran that for a short time. It is UV reactive, but not very bright. It seemed like pretty good stuff, and the price was great.