Coolant Turned Green After 3 Months Usage

tolagarf

tolagarf

Member
My server runs 24/7 with two GTX 1070 being water cooled, and I've just moved it all into a new chassis, when I got a green surprise emptying out the water.

The water was rather green, however there were no slime or particles except a few metallic ones, which looked like nickel flakes. In fact one of the EKWB FC-1080 GPU blocks seems to be shedding its nickel, so I wonder if that's the cause of the green water. It's definitely some heavy oxydation (spelling?) going on. I've used Alphacool's Cape Kelvin Catcher water, and it seems to have trouble keeping the water in check. Everything was cleaned extremely well before use.

I'm considering if I for future reference should start using glycol based coolant instead, like Feser's Base - Corrosion Blocker, but I can't find it for sale anywhere in Europe anymore. Is Feser company gone?
 
BigDaddyKong said:
Why not distilled water with some algaecide? Throw in a silver kill coil and you would be all set.
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Using silver coil with nickel is just a really bad idea, else I could have. I do actually have a couple of Monsoon silver bullets, but never got to use them. But I would need a corrosion inhibitor though, not anti-algae additive
 
tolagarf said:
I'm starting to think it's the Alphacool coolant that's just ineffective at this point. Perhaps I should try some of Mayhem's Extreme mixed with distilled water instead.
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XSPC EC6. I have it running in three computers (red and green separately) and it has been fantastic.

I'm using Mayhem's Pastel in my other PC, no issues there either. EC6 is about the most compatible coolant you can get though. It works with any metal, any tubing etc.
 
AlienALX said:
XSPC EC6. I have it running in three computers (red and green separately) and it has been fantastic.

I'm using Mayhem's Pastel in my other PC, no issues there either. EC6 is about the most compatible coolant you can get though. It works with any metal, any tubing etc.
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Not quite any tubing.

Be sure to do your compatibility research before you buy whatever fluid you go with. EC6 contains Ethelene Glycol. Guess how that goes with PETG hard tubing.... Hint: Really well until the fluid temperature reaches a point to continue the chain reaction that is used to make the PETG tubing in the first place. Then it just melts!

I would rather suggest the following to the OP: Clean your loop out, completely. Any damaged waterblocks (especially ones with failed plating): replace. Before replacement, consider the metal already in your loop - and try to match that (personally, I use all copper blocks and rads, with brass fittings. And I still use corrosion inhibitors in my fluid, because i'm paranoid - but I digress). I would consider moving away from plated metal - I know that this increases the cost of the blocks, and can even decrease their life a bit, but if you're careful - the difference shouldn't be that much.

Then consider the blocks, rads and tubing as well as your goals when choosing the coolant. If you are using hard tube, is it petg? is it acrylic? Pick based on what the weaknesses are in your system (which, tbh is usually the tubing, or mixed metals). Ideally, you want a fluid which contains anti corrosive properties, with usability and aesthetics that you like. I can personally vouch for EK's pastel blue (which is really just Mahems re-branded) if you are using PETG tubing. I would steer clear of the red dye if you are going the non-pastel though; as it's a right pain to get out of your rads.

Hope this helps.
 
Surfie said:
Not quite any tubing.

Be sure to do your compatibility research before you buy whatever fluid you go with. EC6 contains Ethelene Glycol. Guess how that goes with PETG hard tubing.... Hint: Really well until the fluid temperature reaches a point to continue the chain reaction that is used to make the PETG tubing in the first place. Then it just melts!

I would rather suggest the following to the OP: Clean your loop out, completely. Any damaged waterblocks (especially ones with failed plating): replace. Before replacement, consider the metal already in your loop - and try to match that (personally, I use all copper blocks and rads, with brass fittings. And I still use corrosion inhibitors in my fluid, because i'm paranoid - but I digress). I would consider moving away from plated metal - I know that this increases the cost of the blocks, and can even decrease their life a bit, but if you're careful - the difference shouldn't be that much.

Then consider the blocks, rads and tubing as well as your goals when choosing the coolant. If you are using hard tube, is it petg? is it acrylic? Pick based on what the weaknesses are in your system (which, tbh is usually the tubing, or mixed metals). Ideally, you want a fluid which contains anti corrosive properties, with usability and aesthetics that you like. I can personally vouch for EK's pastel blue (which is really just Mahems re-branded) if you are using PETG tubing. I would steer clear of the red dye if you are going the non-pastel though; as it's a right pain to get out of your rads.

Hope this helps.
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I only use EK's ZMT tube, and it's a server so there won't ever get any nano-fluids near it. I only use clear fluids.

I'm going to give it 3 months again, then replace the bad GPU block with copper only and run Mayhem's Blitz through the system. Then the only nickle left is that on the brass fittings. EK loves to nickle plate everything these days
 
tolagarf said:
I only use EK's ZMT tube, and it's a server so there won't ever get any nano-fluids near it. I only use clear fluids.

I'm going to give it 3 months again, then replace the bad GPU block with copper only and run Mayhem's Blitz through the system. Then the only nickle left is that on the brass fittings. EK loves to nickle plate everything these days
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True: but you can still buy the copper versions from them.
 
Surfie said:
Not quite any tubing.

Be sure to do your compatibility research before you buy whatever fluid you go with. EC6 contains Ethelene Glycol.
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No, it doesn't.

http://www.xs-pc.com/coolant/ec6-coolant-blue-uv

Pre-mixed with No Need for Additional Additives
Low Electrical Conductivity
Freezing Point – 6C
Corrosion Inhibitors Proven to ASTM D3306 and BS6580
Long Life Biocide
Stable Dyes
Pump Friendly (non-clogging)
Tested with PVC, PETG, Acrylic and Metal Tubing
Ethylene Glycol Free
Non-Toxic and RoHS Compliant
85% Bio-degradable Within 30 Days
2 Year Shelf-life
 
AlienALX said:
No, it doesn't.

http://www.xs-pc.com/coolant/ec6-coolant-blue-uv

Pre-mixed with No Need for Additional Additives
Low Electrical Conductivity
Freezing Point – 6C
Corrosion Inhibitors Proven to ASTM D3306 and BS6580
Long Life Biocide
Stable Dyes
Pump Friendly (non-clogging)
Tested with PVC, PETG, Acrylic and Metal Tubing
Ethylene Glycol Free
Non-Toxic and RoHS Compliant
85% Bio-degradable Within 30 Days
2 Year Shelf-life
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I stand corrected. Interesting that when i reached out to xspc directly i was told that it definitely did have ethylene glycol.

Maybe they changed their formulas.
 
Surfie said:
I stand corrected. Interesting that when i reached out to xspc directly i was told that it definitely did have ethylene glycol.

Maybe they changed their formulas.
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They must have because when I bought it every one was saying the same, it had EG in it. Only it didn't. It says basically non toxic, which would be the most stupid business decision ever given EG will kill you kinda quick if you drank it.

It's not actually made by XSPC it is made by Mayhem, so I would imagine it was him that moved away from EG.

Either way it is great coolant and cheap. Been running it for about 18 months now in various rigs, all look as good as the day I put it in :)
 
im still running the same pastel green from 1.5years ago. Mayhems come highly recommended in my eyes.

There isnt a hint of deteriation going on. The only thing i do when I upgrade parts is bleed the loop, filter the fluid with the GFs tights or similar then fill the loop back up.
 
Well with cars now you can actually use completely water free coolant. Has much better thermal properties, too. So hopefully one day we will get that for WC. And no, it's not just 100% glycol. It's something else entirely (Edd shows it on one ep of WD).
 
So I've found some additive that might solve the problem I'm having, it's this stuff which is based on benzotriazole instead of glycol.

The question that remains is if I still should mix it with distilled or de-ionized water (which we in Denmark call demineralized water). I do have some nickel in the loop and distilled water is known for staining it, but the additive should protect against it... Should is the keyword, since the Alphacool coolant I used last apparently didn't do a good job of it.
 
tolagarf said:
So I've found some additive that might solve the problem I'm having, it's this stuff which is based on benzotriazole instead of glycol.

The question that remains is if I still should mix it with distilled or de-ionized water (which we in Denmark call demineralized water). I do have some nickel in the loop and distilled water is known for staining it, but the additive should protect against it... Should is the keyword, since the Alphacool coolant I used last apparently didn't do a good job of it.
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Might I suggest contacting the coolant vendor before mixing chemicals. Failing that, I do know Mayhems are good support and might be happy to help.
 
An update on the situation with my coolant:

So the new coolant turned blue'ish after a couple of months, not green this time. However there's now green staining inside my fittings (nickel) which used to be white staining. Also one of the water blocks looks like this now, with the nickel almost completely eaten away:

gvVMa9X.jpg


Still no slime or particles visible in the coolant, looked quite clear besides the color change.

I bought Mayhems Blitz kit and before I go ahead and clean my system, I was wondering if it would be necessary to take apart the blocks and properly polish them with Autosol or something similar once done? I just want to be 100% sure that I get rid of whatever that green stuff is, but I'm still leaning towards oxidation...
 
tolagarf said:
An update on the situation with my coolant:

So the new coolant turned blue'ish after a couple of months, not green this time. However there's now green staining inside my fittings (nickel) which used to be white staining. Also one of the water blocks looks like this now, with the nickel almost completely eaten away:

gvVMa9X.jpg


Still no slime or particles visible in the coolant, looked quite clear besides the color change.

I bought Mayhems Blitz kit and before I go ahead and clean my system, I was wondering if it would be necessary to take apart the blocks and properly polish them with Autosol or something similar once done? I just want to be 100% sure that I get rid of whatever that green stuff is, but I'm still leaning towards oxidation...
Click to expand...

That looks like Algae to me. Either way, I recommend cleaning all the blocks. You want 0 contaminants in the coolant and to me that looks pretty contaminated ;)

either that or your new substance which you added in, has reacted with the coolant and created a stain thats deposited everywhere. Isnt Autosol abrasive? its only nickel coated so wouldnt that remove the plating?

When I cleaned my blocks I always used cream used universal spray.
 
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