what's the filmy stuff?!

[ketchup318]

hello,

i've had my water cooled system for a while now. I initially had green dye and distilled water in the system, but after like 4 months, the water is not green anymore and there is a filmy residue on the insides of the tubing.

I was wonder ...

what is this?
how do i get rid of this?
how much does it negatively affect cooling?
how do i prevent this in the future?

thanks

 

[JTanczos]

Just water and dye? Probably something in the loop is growing and ate up the dye or adding its own waste to the color.

People run vinager and distilled water to clean the loop. You might need to replace the tubing to get it clear again.

Most people use iodine or antifreeze as a biocide to keep anything from growing in the loop. Just do a search. I dont know if there is a sticky on preventing growth but there should be.

JT

 

[voigts]

The filmy residue could either be growth or just the whitish film that we all get when running antifreeze in the loop. Some of the particulates tend to settle on the walls of the tubing. I am not sure however why it is not green. I would recommend getting a couple of gallons of distilled water and some vinegar and giving the whole thing a good flushing several times with distilled/vinegar mix and then a couple of times with just distilled water.

When you refill it, make sure you use something like antifreeze to prevent corrosion (10% is fine), and add some iodine and/or algaecide to make sure that nothing grows. 10% antifreeze by itself may not prevent growth.

 

[sunrunner20]

A trainee! 90% Distilled/10% Antifreeze(any)/minuscule amount of iodine(like, few dozen drops a gallon)
The Only residue in my system came from the evaporation that happened. I don't mind that, just sealed up the system properly this time.