# Nickel Plated D-Tek Fuzion (Pics)



## EnergyFX (Jan 26, 2008)

Background: I utilize Koolance radiators and Innovatek HDD coolers in my liquid cooled system. These are aluminum components and having them in my water loops means that I can not utilize bare copper without facing corrosion issues.

Problem 1: Copper and Aluminum despise each other. /personification
Problem 2: Koolance and Zalman CPU coolers do not perform as well as one would like. 
Problem 3: Koolance and Zalman are the only manufacturers to supply plated copper CPU waterblocks. Aqua Computers makes a silver CPU block, but its performance is a bit of a mystery and costs $300 USD.

Solution (I hope): Nickel Plate a high performance copper waterblock. This is a project that has been in the works for a couple of weeks now and has been discussed in a couple of other threads:

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=49288
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=46358  <-- I hijacked this one but there is a lot of good info on this subject.

In a nutshell, the nickel plating should theoretically provide a neutral metallic barrier between the coolant and the copper, thus nullifying the cathodic corrosion process (or at least significantly reducing it) typically experienced in copper/aluminum applications. Any residual corrosive tendencies should be within the preventive capabilities of the anti-corrosion chemicals in the coolant. FYI, this plating process is exactly how Koolance gets around corrosive issues with their entire line of cooling products, the only difference is they gold plate all of their copper products.

*The main question I am trying to answer with this is:  Can beating galvanic corrosion issues really be as simple as just sending a copper component to a plating shop and paying a small amount to have it nickel plated... or is it a more complicated process?
*
Below is the result of the $25 plating process performed by a local plating company (automotive oriented):



















Here you can see that the mounting surface of the block is not a mirror finish polished surface you would typically see on a nickel plated product.  This is not an issue since I intend to lap the mounting surface anyways. I could have requested a highly polished finish but it was fiscally unnecessary.





And let the lapping begin. 

FYI, I reassembled the entire block for this process. The corner bolts are torqued.

In these pictures you will see that the Fuzion is anything but flat. I'm not sure if this is a result of the manufacturing process or the plating process, but I suspect that the plating company was not exactly 'gentle' with their handling. They are used to palting car parts, not computer parts.

























At this point I could not for the life of me get the last corner to lap even with the rest of the block. The block was warpped pretty bad in this area. It looked flat, but lapping tells all. We had to make a run to the local Pep-Boys for more sandpaper. The argument was made that this corner really wouldn't be an issue regarding the thermal capability of the block, but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it like this. Damn my anal retentiveness!!!





Finally after hitting the block with 250 for a while and then working up with 400> 800> 1000> and 1200 this is the final result. I tried 1500 but it honestly looked worse than the 1200 did.






This is a picture of a lapped nickel plated D-Tek Fuzion... not a pencil and a crock pot 









Corrosion results will be provided as the system ages.  I will perform an inspection at 6-months and a complete overhaul at 12 months with photo documentation of the results.

****UPDATE***  See page two of this thread for 6-months results!!*


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## Disparia (Jan 26, 2008)

Nice job!

My not-so-anal-retentive lap job only yielded me a couple of degrees (with an HSF, not water block). Yours looks great!


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## intel igent (Jan 26, 2008)

looks VERY SWEET!
i would definately like to see results

too bad you dont have a plexi top for that sucker


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## EnergyFX (Feb 25, 2008)

Well the system is fully assembled (again) and running cool and quiet.  The current plan is to drain the system in about 6 months or so and inspect the Fuzion and one of the aluminum HDD coolers.  This plan is dependant on what life is throwing at me at the time so no guarantees.  I'm getting married end of Sept so it is very possible that there will simply be too much on my plate.


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## intel igent (Feb 25, 2008)

i would like to see dated pix every month of the loop.

i am skeptical as to the effectiveness of this.

i think it would slow down the corrosion effect on the copper but as soon as the plating is gone youll be back at square 1. i dont think the plating would be permanent.

i think something like this would be good for ppl who have mixed loops because IF they serviced the loop frequently there would be little/no corrosion, so youre blocks would last longer.

mixed loops = galvanic corrosion. always.

although i am skeptical, i am also aprreciative thank you for atempting this and posting your results here for all of us to see


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## EnergyFX (Feb 28, 2008)

I'm kind of surprised more people haven't chimed in on this.


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## the_messenger (Feb 28, 2008)

EnergyFX said:


> I'm kind of surprised more people haven't chimed in on this.



I'm not:  http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178418

You really shouldn't have done it...


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## philbrown23 (Feb 28, 2008)

thats odd the inside of my FuZion looks different than that???? I wonder why??


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## EnergyFX (Mar 1, 2008)

the_messenger said:


> I'm not:  http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=178418
> 
> You really shouldn't have done it...



The link you posted has absolutely nothing to do with nickle plating or trying to beat the copper/aluminum corrosion issues.

Lapping was a neccessary aspect of this experiment since the plating process stressed the block enough to nullify the factory lapping and 'bow'.


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## intel igent (Mar 22, 2008)

were coming up on a month do you have any reports?


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## EnergyFX (Mar 23, 2008)

Fluid is clear, flow is normal, and temps are fine.


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## intel igent (Mar 23, 2008)

EnergyFX said:


> Fluid is clear, flow is normal, and temps are fine.



thats good, have you opened the block to have a look?


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## Morgoth (Mar 23, 2008)

nice work i have the same block


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## WarEagleAU (Mar 23, 2008)

I can tell you the reason you have that dark spot on your block is because of a chemical/electrical burn in the plating process. Most times it can be avoided but sometimes they overvolt the current to plate. Plating lasts a good time too, even if you have a 2mm coat on it. Ive done Electroforming for a few years and its something of a nice little science. Nice work though. Lapping is awesome.


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## EnergyFX (Mar 23, 2008)

intel igent said:


> thats good, have you opened the block to have a look?



no, it's only been a month.


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## intel igent (Mar 23, 2008)

EnergyFX said:


> no, it's only been a month.



im glad youre so confident 

but i am curious


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## EnergyFX (Mar 24, 2008)

intel igent said:


> im glad youre so confident
> 
> but i am curious



i think my confidence surpasses your skepticism... and I think we both know that is saying a lot 

Seriously though... if you knew how much work is involved in breaching this cooling system you would understand why I don't want to open it up.  It is monitored very closley though.


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## EnergyFX (Mar 24, 2008)

WarEagleAU said:


> I can tell you the reason you have that dark spot on your block is because of a chemical/electrical burn in the plating process. Most times it can be avoided but sometimes they overvolt the current to plate. Plating lasts a good time too, even if you have a 2mm coat on it. Ive done Electroforming for a few years and its something of a nice little science. Nice work though. Lapping is awesome.



War, what dark spot are you referring to?


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## kaosII (Mar 27, 2008)

I had a Jewler friend plate my DD tdx w/ White gold. It has been about a year...maybe a little less. But, no loss in performance. On the other hand I have an old build at a freinds, that has a TT watercooler probably ten different metals in that. lol. But it's got fesser coolant. One year plus no visible problems. 
That TUngsten guy really seems to know his stuff. Have you seen his website. I pretty sure it's all art, reguardless it is some beautiful stuff.


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## TUngsten (Mar 27, 2008)

Thanks Kaos!

If I were to bother plating anything, it would likely be with 24k or Rhodium (platinum). White gold usually contains nickel and occasionally zinc, which suck.


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## EnergyFX (Mar 27, 2008)

kaosII said:


> ... That TUngsten guy really seems to know his stuff. Have you seen his website. I pretty sure it's all art, reguardless it is some beautiful stuff.



I want him to make my next computer case


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## kaosII (Mar 27, 2008)

If you ever find the time. I would really love to know a little, actually alot about your pieces. I see a Midevil theme. I am just very intruiged.
Very, very beautiful stuff.
Forgot to direct this to tungsten


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## kaosII (Mar 27, 2008)

TUngsten said:


> Thanks Kaos!
> 
> If I were to bother plating anything, it would likely be with 24k or Rhodium (platinum). White gold usually contains nickel and occasionally zinc, which suck.



If you ever find the time. I would really love to know a little, actually alot about your pieces. I see a Midevil theme. I am just very intruiged.
Very, very beautiful stuff


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## TUngsten (Mar 27, 2008)

PM me anytime, but lets not hijack EnergyFX's thread any longer


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## kaosII (Mar 27, 2008)

TUngsten said:


> PM me anytime, but lets not hijack EnergyFX's thread any longer



Sorry still trying to get my bearings on this forum.
Appologies Energy


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## EnergyFX (Mar 27, 2008)

kaosII said:


> Sorry still trying to get my bearings on this forum.
> Appologies Energy



No probs


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## kaosII (Mar 27, 2008)

EnergyFX said:


> No probs



Just checked out your rig. Would give it an 11 if I could. Correct me if I am wrong. But, it originally comes with TT watercooling settup pre installed.
I have never built a full water rig. I have been looking for a new cpu block, and every one seems to have their own oppinion. But, the last I read the Ek that you have is supposed to be top of the line. Something about the mid section restoring laminar flow to exit as smoothly and quickly as possible. Still some people are convinced that the faster the block and more loops the pump cycles is the way to go. I am just now getting into the presure drop and lamnar flow. All very interesting to me, alittle more research and I think I am going too try a full setup like you have.
By the way, it looks like many hours put into that rig. Gtreat job.


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## EnergyFX (Mar 28, 2008)

kaosII said:


> Just checked out your rig. Would give it an 11 if I could. Correct me if I am wrong. But, it originally comes with TT watercooling settup pre installed.
> I have never built a full water rig. I have been looking for a new cpu block, and every one seems to have their own oppinion. But, the last I read the Ek that you have is supposed to be top of the line. Something about the mid section restoring laminar flow to exit as smoothly and quickly as possible. Still some people are convinced that the faster the block and more loops the pump cycles is the way to go. I am just now getting into the presure drop and lamnar flow. All very interesting to me, alittle more research and I think I am going too try a full setup like you have.
> By the way, it looks like many hours put into that rig. Gtreat job.



Thank you.  Yes it did take a while.  My girl was starting to categorize my computer as 'competition' towards the end.  I think I have successfully converted her though.  My next build will be for her... er, I mean, she will be building my next project with my close supervision.

Swiftech, EK, and D-Tek (what I have now) are all pretty much neck and neck on performance with the main differences being flow restriction.  Thermalright also has a new waterblock that has been showing rather impressive numbers but is a flow killer.  It probably would have worked fine in my setup since I have a pump specifically designated for the CPU block, but if you are running a series loop then be sure to either go with a block that shows the lowest pressure drop numbers or invest in a high flow pump.  The drawback to high flow pumps is that the increased pressure also increases the risk of leaks.  Enzotech is another brand to keep your eye on.  They have a georgeous new block that is very similar to the D-Tek Fuzion. I might be giving them a try on my next build (nickel plated of course).


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## intel igent (Mar 28, 2008)

if youre reffering to the enzo swb-1 or w/e id be carefull as a few people have complained of the tops cracking in between the barbs


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## EnergyFX (Apr 16, 2008)

intel igent said:


> if youre reffering to the enzo swb-1 or w/e id be carefull as a few people have complained of the tops cracking in between the barbs



Interesting, I'm under the impression that it is a metallic top.  Maybe their thread cutting method is stressing the area between the holes too much.  Thanks for the heads up.


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## intel igent (Apr 16, 2008)

im not shure as to the reasoning behind it but i do recall seeing  couple of complaints


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## JrRacinFan (Apr 16, 2008)

Yo Energy, just hopped in to compliment a great lapping job! 

Now, are you willing to do my Scythe Ninja?


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## EnergyFX (Apr 16, 2008)

JrRacinFan said:


> Yo Energy, just hopped in to compliment a great lapping job!
> 
> Now, are you willing to do my Scythe Ninja?



skeered to try it yourself?


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## JrRacinFan (Apr 21, 2008)

Oh nah, not skeered. Just trying to figure out if I would benefit.


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## mrw1986 (May 26, 2008)

kaosII said:


> That TUngsten guy really seems to know his stuff. Have you seen his website. I pretty sure it's all art, reguardless it is some beautiful stuff.



He lives in the town over from me  I'm supposed to hook him up with a new cell phone (I work at AT&T)


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## intel igent (May 27, 2008)

any pix yet?


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## EnergyFX (May 28, 2008)

intel igent said:


> any pix yet?



I'm tempted to open it up and look, but I'm going to give it some more time.  The coolant still looks crystal clear and there is no noticible performance issues.


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## Silverel (Jun 19, 2008)

Is it time yet? Just about 5 months, or are ye waiting for the full 6?


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## EnergyFX (Jun 19, 2008)

As a matter of fact...  I just upgraded to an E8500 and I am having temperature issues with it.  The old E6850 ran perfectly fine temperature wise.  Nothing else changed... just the CPU.  I doubt there is anything wrong with the Fuzion, but until I open it up I simply can't rule out the possibility that it is corroding on the inside.  It is possible that when I dismounted the block form the old CPU and then mounted it to the new one I disloged some corrosion or sludge that is now impeding its cooling ability.

In any case, this gives me a good enough reason to breach the system a bit early.  I'll try to get to it this week or next.

Stay tuned.


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## intel igent (Jun 19, 2008)

how often have you been changing the liquid? once a month or so?


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## EnergyFX (Jun 19, 2008)

intel igent said:


> how often have you been changing the liquid? once a month or so?



I haven't changed the liquid at all.  I have pulled samples for visual inspection, but that's it.


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## intel igent (Jul 16, 2008)

update's?


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## kaosII (Jul 17, 2008)

EnergyFX said:


> As a matter of fact...  I just upgraded to an E8500 and I am having temperature issues with it.  The old E6850 ran perfectly fine temperature wise.



 It is not your block. Every one is saying the same things. 34*-36* w/ 70* ambient temps  seems to be the norm. I can't find the link right now but will post it as soon as I do.
It seems according to Intels white papers there is not a sensor in their older blocks to accurately read idle temps. Don't quote me till I find the link. I read it somewhere on the real temp site. Their program has set the Tjunction to 95*. Which is what the knew chips is (supposedly). But you will notice the difference between Core Temp 105* Tjunction and Real Temp 95* Tjunction in accordance with Intels white papers.
The knew bios 11 for my every day board (Abit IP35 pro-XE) w/ E 8400 reads every thing exactly the same as Real Temp so I am tempted to believe the 95* Tjuction. This is the first time I have ever had a board read temps the same as more reliable software (wish I had a infra heat gun) too much $ for a good one.
I have the E8500 on an X38 board. I figured since it was so cheap, to really push this chip to see what I could get out of her. Wouln't suggest it but I pushed the voltage to 1.55 and managed to oc to 5.6 on water. It did Super pi 1meg in 8.2 and ran 3D Mark06 16,459 with beta drivers. But wouldn't run Orthos for more than 2 hours w/o errors. I wasn't willing to go any further. But the the water temp was 49* and the chip read 54* (load) on Real temp and exactly 10* higher in Core temp.
Maybe it's just in my head but, the new chips seem to be more responsive and snappier. Cold boot into Windows 22-23 sec, open programs quiker, just I just love them . But I am not spending any more money till the platform change. Nahalem and Invdia together in sli on X58 sounds sweet to me. We shall see, as NV has promised this before, and the closest I got was modded drivers for the 975X chipset. I'm not holding my breath till it's in my rig this time. 

By the way since I last post to your link, I took a three month course at LCCC (my local comunity colledge), in thermodynamics. It was hard but, learned all I need to put my new puter to work.
I did not think I would be embarrased but being the oldest one there felt a little odd. Hitting the big 40 in 3 months ............and still playing with toys


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## EnergyFX (Jul 18, 2008)

intel igent said:


> update's?



I want to go in and open it up, but there is a lot going on right now.  I am very curious to see what the Fuzion looks like now, but with the wedding coming up in less than 2 months and pushing hard for a career change I haven't had the time to dedicate to doing the inspection right.  I don't want to half ass it.

I promise I will post updates as soon as I have them.

I was able to determine that the temperature issue with the E8500 was mathematical, not thermal.


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## EnergyFX (Jul 18, 2008)

kaosII said:


> It is not your block. Every one is saying the same things. 34*-36* w/ 70* ambient temps  seems to be the norm. I can't find the link right now but will post it as soon as I do.
> It seems according to Intels white papers there is not a sensor in their older blocks to accurately read idle temps. Don't quote me till I find the link. I read it somewhere on the real temp site. Their program has set the Tjunction to 95*. Which is what the knew chips is (supposedly). But you will notice the difference between Core Temp 105* Tjunction and Real Temp 95* Tjunction in accordance with Intels white papers.
> The knew bios 11 for my every day board (Abit IP35 pro-XE) w/ E 8400 reads every thing exactly the same as Real Temp so I am tempted to believe the 95* Tjuction. This is the first time I have ever had a board read temps the same as more reliable software (wish I had a infra heat gun) too much $ for a good one.
> I have the E8500 on an X38 board. I figured since it was so cheap, to really push this chip to see what I could get out of her. Wouln't suggest it but I pushed the voltage to 1.55 and managed to oc to 5.6 on water. It did Super pi 1meg in 8.2 and ran 3D Mark06 16,459 with beta drivers. But wouldn't run Orthos for more than 2 hours w/o errors. I wasn't willing to go any further. But the the water temp was 49* and the chip read 54* (load) on Real temp and exactly 10* higher in Core temp.
> ...



Yup... here is some info on it with links and excellent discussion.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=63515

Who cares the value of your age... whether or not you play with toys determines if you are old or not!


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## EnergyFX (Jul 28, 2008)

Ok... here we go.  I going to tear into it here in a few minutes.  Hopefully I'll have good news and some good photos later this afternoon.

Wish me luck!!


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## erocker (Jul 28, 2008)

Good luck man!  I am eagerly awaiting the results!


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## EnergyFX (Jul 28, 2008)

The D-Tek Fuzion looks great!!  No signs of galvanic corrosion.  There is a very slight discoloration of the area that was exposed to coolant, but it looks like nothing more than slight tarnishing.  Typical for any metallic surface exposed to a non acidic liquid.










I'm going to take a look at one of the aluminum HDD coolers next.


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## EnergyFX (Jul 29, 2008)

Well it's hard to get good images of the inside of the HDD cooler, but I did the best I could.  





















Even with the limitations of my camera (and/or camera operation skills) it is pretty clear that there are no visual signs of corrosion occurring on this aluminum component.  I'm guessing the rest of the aluminum in the system looks as clean as this, but I'm not about to tear everything apart to find out for sure... at least not right now.  Maybe sometime in the future when this rig sees a complete upgrade/overhaul I will tear into the other parts just to see what's going on. 

I am quite satisfied with the results of this experiment up to this point.  I can at least sleep a little easier now knowing that there aren't corrosion gremlins eating the insides of my cooling circuit out.

So... with a 6 month soak it's safe to say at this point that nickel plating a copper component is (so far) an effective way of preventing galvanic corrosion in a copper/aluminum mixed cooling system.

We'll see what the future holds, but my confidence is skyrocketing at this point.


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## intel igent (Jul 31, 2008)

thnx for the update!

lookin good so far! only thing i see is some MINOR effect's on the fuzion (the discolouration is the sign of corrosion however it is minimal) but overall it look's good 

like i said earlier if the proper measure's are taken the effect's of galvanic corrosion can minimized/eliminated.


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## EnergyFX (Aug 2, 2008)

intel igent said:


> thnx for the update!
> 
> lookin good so far! only thing i see is some MINOR effect's on the fuzion (the discolouration is the sign of corrosion however it is minimal) but overall it look's good
> 
> like i said earlier if the proper measure's are taken the effect's of galvanic corrosion can minimized/eliminated.



Even an all copper cooling system will show minor discoloration over time.


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## intel igent (Aug 2, 2008)

EnergyFX said:


> Even an all copper cooling system will show minor discoloration over time.



mine has'nt


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## EnergyFX (Aug 2, 2008)

intel igent said:


> mine has'nt



What are you using... etching fluid for coolant??  Interesting, all three of my previous systems had a noticeable darker shade on the copper surfaces when I tore them apart.  Granted, they weren't high end systems by any means.


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## intel igent (Aug 2, 2008)

straight distilled water ATM was previously using distilled/glycol, only thing is the copper does'nt shine........


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## EnergyFX (Dec 6, 2008)

Four months since the last time the system has been breached... no cloudiness in the coolant, no pressure buildup from corrosion gasses, and temps are still good.

I broke the seal on the filler cap to see if any gasses hissed out and all I observed was the system inhale a few bubbles from the filler tube.

We'll see in a few months how the Fuzion looks.  Maybe I'll have a new MB to upgrade to by then.


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## intel igent (Dec 12, 2008)

we want pix! lol


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## intel igent (Jan 7, 2009)

this thread is almost a year old and still no pix


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## EnergyFX (Jan 8, 2009)

intel igent said:


> this thread is almost a year old and still no pix



I'm working on a new system.  Once it's built, up, and running it will become my primary machine for a while.  That's when the rig with the nickel experiment will get a complete tear down.

Besides, I posted pics at the 6 month mark as promised.


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## intel igent (Jan 14, 2009)

EnergyFX said:


> I'm working on a new system.  Once it's built, up, and running it will become my primary machine for a while.  That's when the rig with the nickel experiment will get a complete tear down.
> 
> Besides, I posted pics at the 6 month mark as promised.



hahahaha  you're right about the pic's! i'm such a dumbass sometime's 

what are the plan's for the new rig?


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