Do i need to flush my water cooling loop?

[icewolf69]

Hi all, I've just moved from Hawaii to CA, and my computer has been in transit for about 6 weeks or so. When it was shipped, all the water was drained out, reservoir/radiator disconnected, and most of the tubing was disconnected with some paper towel pieces stuffed into the ends (to prevent any extra liquid built into the water blocks from spilling onto components.)

Now I'm about to get it back here in a day or two, I'm redoing the water loop to hopefully make it more efficient, using a different coolant, putting in all new tubing, and installing some coolsleeves, etc.

So my question is, do i need to flush the system? And if i do, where should i go for a tutorial on how to do it.

Keep in mind, that some remnants of fluid will have been sitting in there during transit, and i didn't flush the system when I very first put it together, although I don't think anyone does.

If having minute amounts of the old fluid mixed with the new fluid isn't a problem, I'll probably skip the flush, because i figure it will be a big deal.

thanks for your help.

 

[ghmage]

I'll take a SWAG at this.

If you want to flush the system out use distilled water. It wouldn't be a bad idea to do so. Coolant fluids generally have detergents/alcohols to keep lines clean and avoid oxidation, but inevitably you will see particulate matter gather over time. Whatever is/was suspended in the solvent will come out as the fluid dries up. Distilled water is nice because it doesn't have the various goodies in that tap water does, and thus shouldn't leave a residue. Just use your pump system to do the work for you.

 

[icewolf69]

So is there a good way to do this? i'm redoing all the lines today so I'd like to know here pretty soon. like a website or a tutorial or something.

should i get a couple buckets or something and use them as the reservoir?

 

[cnumartyr]

So is there a good way to do this? i'm redoing all the lines today so I'd like to know here pretty soon. like a website or a tutorial or something.

should i get a couple buckets or something and use them as the reservoir?

I'd just use tap water and run a hose into the parts. Run warm water through them for 10-15 minutes then flush with distilled water for a minute or two.

Then assemble.

Edit: And yes, just use a couple buckets as reservoirs when using the distilled water.

 

[phreejak]

Use water and add a little bit of vinegar - the acidic properties will remove any dried on or dormant coolant that is hidden away and it will give your system a good cleaning.