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End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:56 pm
by Apoptosis
Well, I was breaking down a system that i no longer have a need for and was going to sell off the water cooling loop to recoup a few bucks. After taking it out I noticed some 'gunk' and a puffed up area at the tank.
leak.jpg
Odd to say the least...
leak2.jpg
I used blue dye in the coolant though, so could this be a leak?
leak3.jpg
After poking the popped up raised area the 'zit' (paint) popped and coolant was outside the radiator.
leak4.jpg
Here is a look at the brass radiator with pin hole leaks under the black paint.
leak5.jpg
At the end of the day it looks like this radiator was leaking in three areas with two leaks in the two outside leaks and multiple leaks in the middle... Crazy... I went from hoping to sell it, to throwing the loop away! It looked pretty bad inside and the pump was going out, so no sense in saving it.

This was a circa 2008 water cooling system, so if you have a 4-5 year old radiator... you might want to check it.

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:43 am
by Apoptosis
The CPU Water Block was also clogged up... nice!
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yuk.jpg (89.31 KiB) Viewed 15361 times

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 1:05 pm
by bubba
The clogging is normal for systems with dye in it. Thats why they need to be flushed and cleaned once a year. Also why I ran straight water with a silver coil, no need to flush :mrgreen:

As for that rad leaking, that is strange. Never seen one leak like that. Most the time its around a solder joint.

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 6:48 pm
by Apoptosis
yeah, the radiator I can't understand myself...

The CPU block... I'm actually shocked how good it was now that I think about it for 4+ years of 24/7 use.

Just curious, what would you clean the copper block pins with? That stuff is on there really good.

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:13 pm
by egloeckle
I am a huge fan of "Never run dye in a loop", that CPU block isnt even bad compared to what it could have been.

Was the part of the radiator with the 'leaks' the bottom of how you had it mounted? The leaks could have been elsewhere with the water pooling at those points if it was. not sure how it doesnt look like any of the rest of the paint is messed up but I guess anything is possible.

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:36 pm
by Apoptosis
egloeckle wrote:I am a huge fan of "Never run dye in a loop", that CPU block isnt even bad compared to what it could have been.

Was the part of the radiator with the 'leaks' the bottom of how you had it mounted? The leaks could have been elsewhere with the water pooling at those points if it was. not sure how it doesnt look like any of the rest of the paint is messed up but I guess anything is possible.
It was mounded at the top of a case horizontally, so it wasn't on the bottom.

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 10:51 pm
by bubba
just the copper. 1:1 water and white vinegar, soak, and scrub with a tooth brush.

rinse

repeat as needed.

Re: End of Radiator Leaking on CPU Water Cooling System

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:03 pm
by vbironchef
Just buy a new one.