Hi at first there were some black spot so I went to wipe it with rubbing alcohol but of no use. Then yesterday I used brasso to shine it. Today is a disaster. Hope this to be a lesson to me. Anything to help it turn back to original shine without ruining it again?
It'll just keep oxidising but avoiding putting fingerprints on it will delay the inevitable. You can lacquer it after polishing with brasso but would need to avoid areas where it contacts the card. It doesn't affect cooling performance though just the aesthetics.
oh okay thanks alot. may i know which lacquer to use? is this bad oxidation or corrosion? sorry i was using autosol. was it the protective layer on the copper is gone after i use it?
If it's an EK block then apparently they don't bother lacquering it. Watercool and Aquacomputer do but the lacquer does wear off in time. All unprotected copper oxidises like that over a period and once it has done so protects the copper from further oxidation, it just looks bad. I've got some automotive Lacquer to try but haven't used it yet but any aerosol lacquer particularly that designed for metals should work providing the surface is cleaned properly. The bottom of the block in the photo won't be visible when it's fitted so you don't need to do anything other than clean it with Isopropyl Alcohol before applying the TIM.
does it affect the performance of the waterblock? or just purely asthetic look. will it spread to the internal of the waterblock?
okay thanks. btw if i am using autosol to clean it up. do i use rubbing alochol or distill water to clean way the remaing autosol on the card? or just use a clean cloth to wipe and leave the thin layer of oil from autosol? does the thin layer of oil from autosol cause any problem to thermal paste and thermal pad? thanks!
I not familiar with autosol, that said you will want to remove any residue left behing before applying thermal paste (or TIM) . Water won't wash oil away so go with the rubbing alcohol. Immediate after cleaning apply the TIM and mount the block to the card. Tip: Wear gloves either latex or nitrile. This will stop the oils from your hands transferring to the copper. Plus keeps hands clean while handling TIM.
so it is not good to leave the thin layer of oil from brasso /autosol on the copper waterblock, coz it will oxdize it? am i right to say that? lol
The surface of copper oxidizes in air unless it's protected with something, so as the others have said, the only way to stop it happening is to polish it then lacquer it immediately before it oxidizes again. I have old Aquacomputer GPU blocks in a rig which I got so sick of polishing that I eventually removed, polished and coated them. The only thing you should be wiping the contact surfaces of the block with (GPU, VRM, RAM etc) before installation is IPA (isopropyl alcohol). Don't leave any Autosol or Brasso residue anywhere on the cards. That actually can cause corrosion which is different from surface oxidation. I stopped using all copper blocks in windowed systems with the Aquacomputer ones all those years ago. They are such a PITA to keep clean.
