Help. GPU waterblock blocked?

[Evanjellyman]

Hi! I’ve just converted my soft tubing water loop to hard tubing. Plugged it in and everything worked fine, I did notice a few air bubbles in the line but thought it would go away. After a few hours my pump had stopped working and it looked like I had gunk in my gpu waterblock.
If anyone has any idea what’s gone wrong that would help so much

 

[maxfly]

it looks like your coolant has separated and is settling all over your block. it probably gummed up your pump from the looks of that picture. your going to have to pull your loop apart and clean your blocks and pump. i wouldnt try to run your pump again until your sure it hasnt gotten wet. in fact i would unplug it asap. if it has gotten wet and you try to run it again youll kill it for sure.

 

[Evanjellyman]

it looks like your coolant has separated and is settling all over your block. it probably gummed up your pump from the looks of that picture. your going to have to pull your loop apart and clean your blocks and pump. i wouldnt try to run your pump again until your sure it hasnt gotten wet. in fact i would unplug it asap. if it has gotten wet and you try to run it again youll kill it for sure.

Ok thanks so much! Unfortunately it looks like I have indeed killed my pump. But at least now I know what’s wrong and I can start pulling it all apart to clean.
My next question I suppose would be what could cause the coolant to seperate so I can avoid this in the future?
Thanks again max

 

[EarthDog]

This is why we always say to only use distilled. Some of these colored coolants end up clogging the loop and borking things. Watercooling 101.

 

[Evanjellyman]

This is why we always say to only use distilled. Some of these colored coolants end up clogging the loop and borking things. Watercooling 101.

Ah ok so bad coolant?
I’ve taken your advice and orders an EK clear liquid coolant instead and I plan to redo the whole system. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[EarthDog]

My advice was distilled water, lol... but I'm sure that will work fine. Just make sure you rinse everything out well.

 

[Evanjellyman]

My advice was distilled water, lol... but I'm sure that will work fine. Just make sure you rinse everything out well.

True haha I guess I thought that was kinda the same with extra protections etc and no colouring? Eek I hope so.
I was going to use distilled water to scrub everything, in case there are any other any words of wisdom before go through with it lol

 

[EarthDog]

I use sink water to rinse out my loops and blocks. My final rinse is with distilled.

 

[Bill Dimwit]

I agree with everything earth dog said.
Premixed coolant has a shelf life and lasts only so long, distilled water should be flushed and replaced every year or so. But it will not brake up like the mixed coolant you get from ek and so on.

Personally I use CLR or citric acid mixed with distilled. About 6-8 parts water for CLR or citric acid.
Just be sure to remove the O-rings and any plastic parts if you use CLR. Infact I would only use CLR on the rads to be safe.


EDIT:
The clr water and citric acid water mix is for cleaning.

 

[Evanjellyman]

I agree with everything earth dog said.
Premixed coolant has a shelf life and lasts only so long, distilled water should be flushed and replaced every year or so. But it will not brake up like the mixed coolant you get from ek and so on.

Personally I use CLR or citric acid mixed with distilled. About 6-8 parts water for CLR or citric acid.
Just be sure to remove the O-rings and any plastic parts if you use CLR. Infact I would only use CLR on the rads to be safe.

Ok cool thanks! Just to be clear that clr and water mix you mentioned is for cleaning right? And just pure distilled water for running in the loop?
Thanks guys I’ve learned so much today

 

[Bill Dimwit]

post removed in accordance to a legal request from EVGA

 

[EarthDog]

I use water and sometimes vinegar to clean my rads. Many ways to do it.

As far as learning.. we have great sticky threads covering a lot of the basics... check it out: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...Water-Cooling-Your-PC-***-READ-THIS-FIRST-***

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/628092-The-Ultimate-Water-Cooling-Thread

 

[don256us]

When I was water cooling, I used distilled water and Redline brand Water Wetter. The water wetter breaks the surface tension of the water which allows it to carry more heat. Water wetter is sold at your local high performance auto parts store.

Note, This was back in the days when I had bought a new Danger Den brand water block for my AMD 1.1 GHz Thunderbird CPU. The building that I lived in back then burnt to the ground before I ever had to service the loop so I can't say how well that worked out.

Edit: This was before the days of AIO water coolers too. I had bought the CPU and GPU blocks from Danger Den. I used a 1 gallon plastic cool-aid container from Wal-Mart as my reservoir. I cut the handle off of the pitcher to fit it in my full tower case. I had a pump from the local pet store to pumb water around. The radiator was from the heater core of a 1974 Vega that I got from a junk yard.

Side note to the side note, when I went looking for the water wetter, the local auto parts shop didn't have it. He tried to sell me some other radiator additives for my car. When I informed him that this was for my computer, he walked away, got a chair, came back, sat down and asked me to explain.

P.S.

 

[EarthDog]

I'm curious to know how much, if anything measureable (1C+/-), water wetter actually helps in the case of PCs. There isn't nearly the amount of thermal output to cool here versus say a car.

 

[don256us]

I couldn't say. The thunderbird really kicked out some heat but with over a gallon of water in the loop....

 

[Evanjellyman]

Yes the clr and water mix is for cleaning only. You do not want to run CLR in your loop as is will eat the O-rings/seals and plastic parts. But it works grate for cleaning out radiators and copper blocks. just keep it away from the O-rings, plastic and tubing. It would be a good idea to replace the tubing too.

If you run pure distilled you need to antibacterial like copper sulfate or .999 silver plated fittings/tubes or a coil in the reservoir. Otherwise you will get a bold up of germs and algae in the loop. Only use silver if the system is used regally.

Got it, luckily I have heaps of extra tubing to crack on with! Super helpful info

- - - Updated - - -

I use water and sometimes vinegar to clean my rads. Many ways to do it.

As far as learning.. we have great sticky threads covering a lot of the basics... check it out: http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...Water-Cooling-Your-PC-***-READ-THIS-FIRST-***

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/628092-The-Ultimate-Water-Cooling-Thread

Awesome I’ll check them out!

 

[GTXJackBauer]

You won't go wrong with your EK clear premix. While some have had success with distilled and biocide, other's have had issues but not to the extent of colored fluids. Spend the few bucks on that EK clear and call it a day. Not worth experimenting with DIY fluids on pricey loops is my motto. I know I'll be hung around here for saying that.

 

[Bill Dimwit]

I been water cooling since the latter Piii days with just about every setup you could think of. I never once had a problem with distilled and antimicrobial.
Only problem I can see one having is when they use silver coil in the res and let the system set unused for a long time. That would build up allege or other microbes.

Given the long history of pre mixed coolants causing problems even some clear ones, I'd avoid them all like the pelage.
Its not to say all are bad, I'm sure there is a few goods ones out there. But why risk it?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Silver doesn't do well with EK's nickel blocks as well as the oxidization on copper. EK has warned about this and most reputed H20 companies recommend using their fluids while some will think this as a scam or ploy to spend more to said company, a whole $20 of fluid.......wooooooo. With clear premixed, you shouldn't have issues while having both growth and metal protection. Annual drain and refill for $20 and not voiding your gear's warranty is a win-win in my book. It would make the warranty experience a lot better. People wanna DIY your loop and fluids, have at it but doesn't make sense to pay big bucks and go cheap on fluid. It really is mind boggling to me we're still having this discussion in 2018 and yes, I was a distilled and silver coil guy for several years and watched 3 of my copper based CPU blocks suffer with oxidization. Nothing ketchup and a toothbrush couldn't fix but why should I have to go through all of that. I don't want people going through the added troubles is all. To each their own I guess.

 

[Bill Dimwit]

Thats a first for me. Never heard of siller oxadizing coper or nickel.
Be lets be honest, EK is well known to lie about its nickel plating and the use of distilled. Remember the nikle plating problems they had? And how the kept blaming something new every week to keep out of trouble. If I recall they never offered to fix their problems even adter being forced to admit the truth. I recall all they did was give a discount on a new block or something?

As far as warrantys go, well your putting a water block on your hardware. I think that says enough. Your void your cpu warranty and most likely your video card and motherboard warranty by using a aftermarket heatsink.


But really what a little oxidization compared to a destroyed loop?