• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

wtf.... PAINT in my heatercore?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Emericana

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2002
Location
Boulder CO
in late august i recieved a painted heatercore from dtek customs (coolercore)...

in september, i gave watercooling a go w/ no troubles except my block was leaking. i got some clamps and had not had any time to start playing around w/ h2o until now....

so i hook up everything in my closeloop system, fill it up w/ water and turn on the pump (via aqua). WTF? there are all of these little pieces of silver floating around in the water the second i turn on the pump! i dump all of the water out and try to use my sink to get all of this paint out of the heatercore... but it wont come out!

what should i do?
 
After blowing the heater core out with compressed air you could go to a pet store and get a few cheap inline filters and run it for a few hrs (just the H20 sys not the PC) and change filters and repeat a couple of times until you don't see any more silver particles in the filter.
 
ya i tried to flush it out w/ water using my pump and while it got most of it out, there are still some paint in there!

now inline filters, what are these? what should i ask for when i goto a pet store? how to install etc...
 
maybe try paint thinner hehe, just let it sock in there for a couple of hours and thin rinse it with a nice cold blast of tap water from a hose.
 
that paint thinner idea sounds like the best one so far i am gonna give it a shot tomorrow unless someone has a compelling reason not to
 
The reason I suggested the in line filters is that when I read your first post you indicated that you had run the system, I was concerned that you had flakes of paint thru out your whole system and by just cleaning out the heater core you will not get any more flakes but will keep recalculating the flakes that have already made it into your system. Actually you don't even need to get aquarium filters you can get a pro fuel filter at an auto parts store in 3/8'' or 1/2 '' that you can open up and clean out, or you can just keep flushing the system until the water runs clean. The filter I mention is clear so you can see if there is any more paint flakes collecting in the filter. I am new to water cooling so I'm just falling back on what I would do if I had crap in my fuel system and wanted to filter it out so it wouldn't run thru the pump etc.
 
Are you sure it's paint, or stop-leak flakes?
If a leak is found with testing on the production line, they're more apt to add stop-leak instead of scrapping the unit and starting over (adding to scrap cost and your final cost too).
That would be my guess, anyway. The flakes I mention can be silver, copper, or black in color, depending on the brand used.

It could also be leftover solder inside, depending on what type they used. A paste type solder may leave some residue inside the core, and the water pumped through it would wash the paste apart into solder flakes and disolved goo (often water soluble flux).

What was mentioned about flushing it out is what I'd recommend too. I'd just use some good dishsoap and the kitchen sink faucet to flush it out well (in both directions). Maybe use some tubing jammed up into the faucet with the aerator unscrewed (fits pretty good) to get some good pressure/jet washing running through it.
Flush out the whole system too, as it's now all contaminated.

Washing it out usually will NOT cause it to start leaking again if it is stop-leak, remember, the stuff is meant to be used with the waterflow, heat, and pressure of an automobile engine running through it.
 
gone_fishin said:
Silver particles are from soldering it. Did you solder on some barbs?

How about this:
silver particles are from;
soldering or
paint or
sealer products or
??????????

if they are flakes I would think that they are either paint particles (if it was painted silver) or antileak material.
If you have chunks of silver or little droplets of it then maybe it is solder. None of these are good for your application.
wj
 
it was painted silver but dtek did it i did not... there were all sorts of particles in it some copper but most all of it was silver.... rrrrrr wtf should i do!?!??!
 
Emericana said:
it was painted silver but dtek did it i did not... there were all sorts of particles in it some copper but most all of it was silver.... rrrrrr wtf should i do!?!??!

if you have access to compressed air blow it through one side while leaving the other side open and pointed away from you and anything you value....if you do not have access to the air then run water through it (cold) for like 15~30 minutes...then run it through in the opposite direction......then dry it with warm (not hot) air...then let it cool to room temp...then run water through it in the opposite direction of the last....then hook it up to your pump etc and check to see if there are anymore floating particles....if not...use it, if there are....
contact dtech and tell them you are concerned about it and see what they would do....
if you try to run any solvent through there it:
might melt the paint and coat the inside
might dislodge the paint and make a mess
might mess up the outside if you spill some
might, just not be what you should be doing

good luck
wj
 
i tried to was it out w/ soap for like 30 mins and it did not work it is like there is a endless amount of particles i need to contact dtek tomorrow hopefully i can get a replacement
 
damn wtf is wrong w/ this thinig i have been pumping water through it via the kitchen sink at full blast of like 2 hours and there is still all of this sediment in it. most of it is silver and black specs.
 
maby soak it, then pump it? give that a shot, try some solvant, like vinigar, fill it up and let it sit for a while?
 
will putting viniger in it damage it in any way? if i put vinegar in it, and that doesnt work, and i call dtek tomorrow than maybe the warrenty will be void.
 
Back