The Filthy, Rotten, Nasty, Helpdesk-Nightmare picture clubhouse

[Valantar]

So, remembering the USB case fan mod, I wired up a universal AC/DC adapter (never used the thing anyway) to a 1 to 2 fan adapter. At first I tried it with +12v only and it didn't work... seems the ground wire is also necessary, who knew? I got a spare 120mm case fan to spin. I patched up the wires with heat shrink tubing so they don't cross or anything (left them bare for the test with the fan) and plugged my h70 into the contraption. I can hear and feel the pump working. This was all done so I could run the pump outside of the case, like in the kitchen or the bathroom or something. Now I can cut the tubing off and cycle white vinegar through it for a while as originally planned. I'm not sure if I want to take the block itself apart... it might be better for cleaning than just cycling vinegar through it for a while, but, well... that might end badly...

Any ideas how long I should cycle vinegar through it? I'm hoping that the action of actually running vinegar through it with the pump will scrub away most of the corrosion and other bad stuff, if there is any. Also, should I use straight distilled water or should I use a water/antifreeze mixture or something?

Vinegar will dissolve corrosion and anything else sensitive to acids just by being there, but might not do anything about organic growth or other contamination. Also, you'll probably want to replace the vinegar multiple times to clear out gunk as it dissolves. If the fluid isn't clear, rinse and repeat. Then fill with distilled water, run for a bit, drain, and repeat until there's no vinegar smell left. Put some biocide and corrosion inhibitor in there, like a coolant mix from EK or alphacool or someone, both to prevent organic growth and the inevitable corrosion that comes from mixing metals (most AIOs have copper cold plates and aluminium radiators). With not disassembling things there's always the risk of gunk not coming out due to being physically stuck, but I wouldn't worry about that unless it has serious clogging issues.

Oh, and about needing the ground wire, you can't make a circuit with just one wire coming from the power source Ground in a DC circuit is effectively "power out" to the "power in" of the +nV line.

 

[hat]

So, first image is that my freshly cleaned sink looked like after cutting the h70's lines and emptying the contents of the radiator... just by shaking it out. Second and third pics are the project currently in action, cycling distilled white vinegar.

It was a bitch getting the pump to pull the vinegar the first time. I actually already dumped it once because there was some chunks of stuff floating around. I sucked on the other end like a straw and it wasn't even flowing... the vinegar was kinda just moving around a little bit. It took some effort... Now, at least, if I shut the pump off and blow it out, it will pull the vinegar with little help. I'm guessing it should run like this for quite some time, at least 24 hours...? Is there anything else I should run through this?

 

[Mussels]

nasty af, totally belongs here

 

[hat]

Ah, one more question. The wall wart I wired that up to is 12v 500ma. I'm sure the pump usually runs on 12v, but I'm not sure if 500ma is the usual amperage for it. Should I try giving it more power?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Ah, one more question. The wall wart I wired that up to is 12v 500ma. I'm sure the pump usually runs on 12v, but I'm not sure if 500ma is the usual amperage for it. Should I try giving it more power?

That pump needs more than 500ma, that's for sure. My guess is 1.5a minimum.. possibly more.

 

[hat]

I believe I have an 1000ma adapter I could bastardize if I have to. Alternatively, I have a float charger for car batteries that's 12v 1500ma that may work. Should I go through the trouble? The vinegar is indeed flowing, but if you guys think it could use more power I'll oblige.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I believe I have an 1000ma adapter I could bastardize if I have to. Alternatively, I have a float charger for car batteries that's 12v 1500ma that may work. Should I go through the trouble? The vinegar is indeed flowing, but if you guys think it could use more power I'll oblige.

I wouldn't go to that extreme. If it's flowing, let it flow and let the vinegar do it's job.

 

[hat]

Seems fair. I thought maybe a stronger flow would help shake some crap loose, but the flowing vinegar should take care of it anyway...

 

[silkstone]

So, first image is that my freshly cleaned sink looked like after cutting the h70's lines and emptying the contents of the radiator... just by shaking it out. Second and third pics are the project currently in action, cycling distilled white vinegar.

It was a bitch getting the pump to pull the vinegar the first time. I actually already dumped it once because there was some chunks of stuff floating around. I sucked on the other end like a straw and it wasn't even flowing... the vinegar was kinda just moving around a little bit. It took some effort... Now, at least, if I shut the pump off and blow it out, it will pull the vinegar with little help. I'm guessing it should run like this for quite some time, at least 24 hours...? Is there anything else I should run through this?

Wow, that is a lot of gunk. My aging CM Seidon has seen it's pump speed decreased by almost 1/2 and I think it could be due to the same reason. I got a replacement air cooler to put in that box, so I may cut mine open too.
How easy was it to secure the new lines and how tight are they? If i do manage to fix mine, I'd like to put it in a different rig and I wouldn't want it squirting fluid over all the internals.

 

[Mussels]

This makes me want to move my CPU back to air...
(Which would let my 240mm rad go on the GPU for better perf there, too)

 

[hat]

Wow, that is a lot of gunk. My aging CM Seidon has seen it's pump speed decreased by almost 1/2 and I think it could be due to the same reason. I got a replacement air cooler to put in that box, so I may cut mine open too.
How easy was it to secure the new lines and how tight are they? If i do manage to fix mine, I'd like to put it in a different rig and I wouldn't want it squirting fluid over all the internals.

These are not standard water cooling lines. As I mentioned, I got this hose from a high up technician at work. It's roughly 1/4" ID, maybe a little smaller. In the case of the Corsair H70, that's what you want, 1/4" ID lines. Anyway, it was tough to get them on, probably because they're a touch smaller than 1/4". I used a torch (very low flame, as low as it could go without going out) to make the lines a little more malleable as I forced them over the barbs. I would hit the line with the torch first, push it over the barbs as far as I could, then hit the line again for a short time to push it over a little more. With some patience, I got the lines fully over the barbs. Not worried about it leaking... it's real tight.

The way I see it, this old Corsair h70 of mine was dead anyway without some TLC, so I had nothing to lose. If I'm successful in reviving it, I may see lower temps, and gain some experience with water cooling.

This makes me want to move my CPU back to air...
(Which would let my 240mm rad go on the GPU for better perf there, too)

CLC units, like my h70, are closed loops, as the name implies. They are designed to be easy to install/use with no maintenance outside of the usual cleaning the computer of dust every so often... and they're also convenient to get into small spaces where a proper custom water loop wouldn't fit (at least, not easily). The obvious downside is you... can't do the maintenance that a water loop needs. You don't get to drain the loop and replace the coolant every so often. Well, obviously you can if you mutilate the thing like I have, but it's not made to be easy to do so.

The second downside to CLC units, as far as issues with the loop goes, is you often get a copper block and an aluminum rad. This mixture of metals invites galvanic corrosion, which was likely a contributing factor to all the gunk I found in my h70. They add corrosion inhibitors to the coolant, but that only has a useful life of so long before it no longer works.

In short, the no maintenance factor is a gift and a curse. Now I have to run vinegar through my poor old h70 for a while to hopefully give it a second lease on life.

 

[silkstone]

These are not standard water cooling lines. As I mentioned, I got this hose from a high up technician at work. It's roughly 1/4" ID, maybe a little smaller. In the case of the Corsair H70, that's what you want, 1/4" ID lines. Anyway, it was tough to get them on, probably because they're a touch smaller than 1/4". I used a torch (very low flame, as low as it could go without going out) to make the lines a little more malleable as I forced them over the barbs. I would hit the line with the torch first, push it over the barbs as far as I could, then hit the line again for a short time to push it over a little more. With some patience, I got the lines fully over the barbs. Not worried about it leaking... it's real tight.

The way I see it, this old Corsair h70 of mine was dead anyway without some TLC, so I had nothing to lose. If I'm successful in reviving it, I may see lower temps, and gain some experience with water cooling.



CLC units, like my h70, are closed loops, as the name implies. They are designed to be easy to install/use with no maintenance outside of the usual cleaning the computer of dust every so often... and they're also convenient to get into small spaces where a proper custom water loop wouldn't fit (at least, not easily). The obvious downside is you... can't do the maintenance that a water loop needs. You don't get to drain the loop and replace the coolant every so often. Well, obviously you can if you mutilate the thing like I have, but it's not made to be easy to do so.

The second downside to CLC units, as far as issues with the loop goes, is you often get a copper block and an aluminum rad. This mixture of metals invites galvanic corrosion, which was likely a contributing factor to all the gunk I found in my h70. They add corrosion inhibitors to the coolant, but that only has a useful life of so long before it no longer works.

In short, the no maintenance factor is a gift and a curse. Now I have to run vinegar through my poor old h70 for a while to hopefully give it a second lease on life.

Hmm. Mine comes with a drain/fill cap, but without being able to actually unhook one of the lines, I'm not sure how I'd go about flushing the system.

 

[hat]

If I were you I would open up that cap and let the system drain as much as it can that way, then fill it with vinegar (apple cider vinegar apparently is stronger than white vinegar) and let it cycle that for a while, changing it every so often. It would still probably be better to unhook the lines anyway...

I wish I'd thought of this sooner, but it would have been nice if I zip-tied a coffee filter or something to the line which the vinegar is flowing out from. That would help keep any chunks of crud contained rather than just dumping it in my, erm, reservoir only to potentially be picked up by the line the system is pulling from...

Well, I've reinstalled it. Sadly, temps right now are worse than they were before I took it apart, but still better than the Cryorig M9. There's a lot of air bubbles in the loop right now though that need to work themselves out. Additionally, the pump now makes a grindy sound. It's not very loud, but it's there. I noticed this while I had it running outside of the PC, actually. It didn't do it while I was running vinegar through it, but it does with straight distilled water. Also, even after cycling vinegar for about a whole day, I noticed some flaky stuff in the water after I put the lines back together, sealing the loop normally. I would imagine it came loose when I was shaking the rad a little bit, trying to encourage flow to the pump. It seems 24 hours wasn't quite enough time.

One more piece of info: the pump seems to be running faster. I never mentioned this data before, but before I opened it up, it seemed to want to run around 1300 RPM, about the same speed as my Noctua fan. Now it likes to hang around 1450. Maybe because the cooler is less gunky, or maybe it's because the straight distilled water is thinner than the original coolant. Maybe water is thinner than vinegar too... maybe that's why the pump is noisy now, and it wasn't with the original coolant, or the vinegar. /shrug

I'm also worried it could not be filled as much as it should be... but all I can really do is run the pump, disconnect the dummy line I had on there for cycling the vinegar and connect the usual line for cycling the coolant once it's sealed back up. Maybe I need a T valve or something in the line that I can open up while the pump is running, and close once it's full...

Anyway, here's an image of the system currently, featuring the new tubing:

 

[micropage7]

Just bought 8800gt from local online shop and as i expected, need cleaning
The thermal paste has dried long time ago and i use cajuput oil to melt it, no need expensive tools. Just cajuput oil and tissue

 

[micropage7]

Hahaaa... Got another one bites the dust?

 

[arbiter]

Hahaaa... Got another one bites the dust?

Yea this one reminds of computer got when was in tech school. So MUCH dust clogged up the psu, the capacitors MELTED and fused together with each other.

Another instance did something to fix a friends computer even the most minor of cpu task's would send the cpu fan in to "jet engine mode". Pulled the fan headsink and it was caked with dust and even Burn marks where it was touching the heatsink.

 

[silkstone]

Tempered glass side panel literally exploded in my hands. Scared the shit out of me.

 

[Tomgang]

Hahaaa... Got another one bites the dust?
View attachment 141212

OMG. That poor thing. Hope you clean it up good and give it more love than the previous owner sure as hell dit not give it.
Man that is nasty. All that dust

 

[Valantar]

Hahaaa... Got another one bites the dust?
View attachment 141212

Hmm, IDE drives but PCIe also - about 2005-2007? That's long enough to build up a solid layer of dust, yeah

 

[biffzinker]

Hmm, IDE drives but PCIe also - about 2005-2007? That's long enough to build up a solid layer of dust, yeah

That motherboard is before PCIe existed.

 

[dorsetknob]

Yup i see
AGP ( looks to be AGP 2 )
PCI

 

[lexluthermiester]

Hahaaa... Got another one bites the dust?
View attachment 141212

Good grief! That is horrible!

 

[Valantar]

That motherboard is before PCIe existed.

Apparently I didn't look closely enough and didn't spot that it was AGP

 

[micropage7]

Hmm, IDE drives but PCIe also - about 2005-2007? That's long enough to build up a solid layer of dust, yeah

Like in here many offices still run old hardwares, as long it works there's no need to check it then you will find cloud of dust inside

 

[Mussels]

what caused the TG to break? damaged previously, heat etc?