WATERCOOLING: Radiator prep probably got carbon fines in my loop. Would this be a problem?

Apoca1ypse

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Dec 9, 2008
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So, there's no watercooling section, but I'll try here.

I'm watercooling my PC, and have a bunch of rads for it. I went to flush the radiators with a closed loop like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9TwhwVlllo

I was using a 0.5um filter instead of a 5um filter, and flushing 4 rads in series.I derped with the 0.5um filter though

1: It reduced flow a lot [I picked up a 5um filter today and am doing it all again]

2: I forgot to flush the filter before using it, and I was using a black bucket. This means I probably managed to get carbon fines all through my radiators without even realising :/



I did some testing with the 5um filter to see if it filters out it's own fines, and unfortunately it seems like it did not. Would the 0.5um filter have faired better at filtering out its own fines? Or am I just being hopeful to avoid buying more distilled water?


I know it will be impossible to remove all the fines if the 0.5um filter couldnt stop them, and I can only flush so much by pumping through into the sink. How much of a problem would having a small amount of fines in my loop be? Would my D5 pump be ok with such a small particle size?
 
Solution
Back in the day, when I did my first water cool builds, I took all the precautions and flushed my entire loop with distilled water for at least 24 hours. Sure, you end up spending $70-80 to do it, but it's a one-time expense, right?

But when it comes down to it, with my last set of builds, I was flushing everything out with tap water because I could get higher pressure and get all the crap out, and then flushing out the tap with distilled water. If you plan your loop well, you aren't going to have issue with galvanic corrosion (the biggest reason why you use distilled) and you are going to be putting additives into your coolant that will end up making it ionic anyway (water wetter at the least, along with anti-fungal/biotics to keep...

Apoca1ypse

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First time I'm doing a watercooled build, and I'm a bit of a pedant. I read a bunch of threads where people did fill and shake, only to still have flux still stuck inside. The closed loop with a filter would get way more crap out afterwards.

That, and I'm lazy :p Letting a filter loop run for 24hrs seemed really appealing
 

Apoca1ypse

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Well it seems like just spending an extra $28 on 20lt of distilled water to pump it all into a sink will do the trick for most of it.

Here's hoping that the residual fines that end up in my loop dont end up causing issues.
 

Houndsteeth

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Jul 14, 2006
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Back in the day, when I did my first water cool builds, I took all the precautions and flushed my entire loop with distilled water for at least 24 hours. Sure, you end up spending $70-80 to do it, but it's a one-time expense, right?

But when it comes down to it, with my last set of builds, I was flushing everything out with tap water because I could get higher pressure and get all the crap out, and then flushing out the tap with distilled water. If you plan your loop well, you aren't going to have issue with galvanic corrosion (the biggest reason why you use distilled) and you are going to be putting additives into your coolant that will end up making it ionic anyway (water wetter at the least, along with anti-fungal/biotics to keep from having an algal bloom.

Stick to high-quality components and don't mix and match copper and aluminium. Silver and chrome/nickel plated stainless steel is safe to mix with copper, though , since they are higher on the anodic index than copper and any galvanic interaction would take decades to notice.
 
Solution