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Cooling White Stuff :-s

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by ^Liam, 24 Apr 2004.

  1. ^Liam

    ^Liam What's a Dremel?

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    Hey, i'm hoping that someone could help me. I installed my water cooling ( dd blocks, l30 pump, thermochill rad, tank-O-matic) and left it running to leak test it and there was a build up of white umm... stuff in the pipes :confused: i added uv dye and water wetter to my deionized water if that means anything, can anyone tell me what it is and how to stop it happening again please :)
     
  2. Tim S

    Tim S OG

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    you mean the water has gone white?
     
  3. M_D_K

    M_D_K Modder

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    You've added too much Water Wtter, remove all fluids, flush out system with some deionised water and re fill with some fresh water and less WW.


    morgan.
     
  4. ^Liam

    ^Liam What's a Dremel?

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    thanks alot,cant believe it was something that stupid i'll take abit more care this time :D
     
  5. OneMadPoptart

    OneMadPoptart What's a Dremel?

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    You only need a tiny tiny bit of waterwetter. A good mix is around 2-4 oz in a gallon of distilled water. Anything more than that is useless.
     
  6. BioSniper

    BioSniper Minimodder

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    its too easy to make that mistake ;)
     
  7. benje

    benje Minimodder

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    This was taken from another thread that I posted recently, wondering if any of you had any other ideas.. I only used half of a normal drinks bottle cap of WaterWetter, I thought that was a really small amount and shouldnt cause foaming and murkyness, etc.

    ^Liam did that sort your problem?
     
  8. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    My idea is: use Zerex Racing. :D
     
  9. ndtinker

    ndtinker Car Washoholic

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    I did that my 1st time watercooling, too. Looks just like milk flowing through. I kinda liked it. :D
     
  10. benje

    benje Minimodder

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    OK, I drained all of the WW+De-ionised water mixture out of the system, and filled with fresh De-ionised water, and turn on (firstly ensuring no air gaps or bubbles) and yet again it goes cloudy imediatly and froths in the res.

    Im guessing there is possibly still WW in the system? would I have to re-rinse the system complteely with de-ionised water, or would tap water be ok to rinse?.

    Dont forget it has gone cloudy with just the residue of the WW left...

    help please!
     
  11. coolmiester

    coolmiester Coolermaster Legend

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    I'd really like to find out what is causing this as i've seen it happen to a few people but never experienced it first hand.

    My first reaction would be to say to much WW but if it still does it with fresh water then maybe i'm starting to think its got to be air being drawn in somehow somewhere.

    I have read so many bad things about Hydor pumps leaking i'm inclined to think that this maybe where the problem stems from, maybe drawing in air!

    Total shot in the dark but when i look at the rest of your system i can see no reason for any other component to do this.

    One thing.................when you stop the pump or empty the water out into say a bowl or dish does the water return to its natural colour suggesting its air (bubbles) or does it remain milky????

    I know sometimes there can be residue left in rads from flux and other impurities so its always an idea to flush new items before connecting the loop up.
     
  12. M_D_K

    M_D_K Modder

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    Heres what i suggest i got this the other day with a quick loop i set up[was bored had 2hours to kill so set up a random loop to play with and poke].
    I got some foaming in my res and cloudyness in my pipes.

    -Drain your system of all water don't completly take the system apart just remove as much water as you can from the loop.
    -Fill your loop up with fresh water, drain it again and repeat this until you have a crystal clear system again. Then ad the tinyest of amounts if you are using a droplet bottle then i suggest 5 droplets of WW in the loop and see how this runs. If there is no foaming then sorted but then also check the colour of the water if it is still crystal clear. Then add another few drops till there is a slight change in the water colour only slightly. This will then give you enuf WW int he loop to keep everything happy. Keep this loop running for a day or so give it 2 complete days of running. If there is no foaming going on or misty ness then all is good. We are not out of the woods yet though, now that your loop if it is so clean, we can now have a look in the res and the tubes for anything floaitng around bits of dirt or anything this is a sign of corosion. With copper and aluminum in the loop the aluminum will corode quicker then the copper and will reacte with eachother if you see no signs of reaction then all is good if not then you will need ot add a little bit more ww to the loop and maybe drain the system again and add what you've added plus some more so if you had 5 drops plus 3 then add 10-15 drops and see what happens.

    If that doesn't work then, post up again and we'll see whats going on.

    I would also like ot say that if your using a very powerfull pump in a loop with only a Block, rad and res then your gonna get soem turbulance which will creat some cloudyness in your res due to the turbulant water, i know im getting it due to a 1250 in my loop with only a RAD, White Water and res.

    Anyway see how it goes and report back.


    morgan.
     
  13. Michael10642

    Michael10642 What's a Dremel?

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    I had a similar problem happen to me when I installed my watercooling kit. This was caused by air in the system which created lots of bubbles, in just water it would slowly dissapear, but with a bit too much waterwetter it would tend to stay there.
    What I had to do was just switch off the pump for awhile to let the bubbles reform, then restart it as normal and get rid of the large air bubbles as normal. If your problem is the same, having a continual water supply to the pump from the start might get rid of that problem, high flow pumps froth water really easily with a bit of air.
     
  14. mcmad

    mcmad What's a Dremel?

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    a drop of washing up liquid will sort out froth, & I do mean only 1 drop.

    It will sort it in seconds..
     
  15. benje

    benje Minimodder

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    Thanks for the reply guys..

    Coolmiester - If i drain the system into a bowl the liquid turns clear again, but still has some froth/bubbles sparsly floating around on the surface.

    M_D_K - When you say wash the loop out with fresh water, you mean de-ionised right?
    Ive bought 3 litres in total and only have 1L left, would it be worth rinsing the loop with tap water just a few times?
     
  16. mcmad

    mcmad What's a Dremel?

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    read up mate, seriously a drop of washing up liquid, Ive had this problem on some of my builds for no apparent reason & it clears it..
     
  17. benje

    benje Minimodder

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    ahh ok, sorry somehow missed your post. Will try it :p
    thanks!
     
  18. benje

    benje Minimodder

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    I did what you guys said, drained and then re-filled with de-ionised water, with no WW. Good in the fact that the water is clear and not at all cloudy. But there is still a great deal of tiny bubles flowing around the system, and it looks like inconsistant flow from the pump. Currently running with the res lid off to let air escape, and has been on for a while. (all day) Do you think that it is maybe something to do with the radiator being before the pump - maybe causing bubles to form somewhere?

    also the res seems to be very "bubly" :|
    No actual froth tho! and when I turn pump off to let settle there are no more bubbles
     
  19. OneMadPoptart

    OneMadPoptart What's a Dremel?

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    Bubbles are perfectly natural in a WC loop the first time you start the pump up. They should dissolve back into the water within a day or so, so don't worry about it.

    I too have my radiator before my pump, and it does create back-pressure causing it to suck in air occasionally, but its nothing to worry about if yours does that too.

    I would suggest waiting a day or so for the majority of the bubbles to collect/dissapear, then add maybe a DROP of water wetter and see what happens. Then add a couple of more drops if nothing adverse happens after a couple of minutes. Keep going like that until you have the right ammount of WW in the system (it shouldn't be too much). Maybe adding the WW slowly and carefully will help that foaming :sigh:

    Good luck!

    -OMP
     
  20. mcmad

    mcmad What's a Dremel?

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    the foaming will probably come back with WW, it seems to depend on specific rigs, Im not sure why, some turbulence depending on layout or something, Ive had 2 or 3 that foamed every time no matter what I did (thats when i discovered the washing up liquid trick, it also clears air bubbles quickly), yet on other set ups using the same blocks etc I got no foaming. Now I just add the drop of washing up liquid when I first build them & dont worry about it, why it works I dont know, reducing surface tension of something.
     
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