Excellent water loop cleaning chemical.

[WinMXer]

Excellent cleaning chemical for metal water-cooling components.

Hi folks.

For all you people out there wondering about the best way to clean your loops of algae & other nasty stuff like scale, dye stains etc... I have come across a great compound recommended to me by a plumber colleague.

This magical elyxir is known as Fernox DS-3. It comes in granular form & should be dissolved into hot/warm water & metal parts left to soak for 2hrs min to get the best results.



It is safe for use with copper, aluminium & brass which are typical metals that would be used in a plumbing setup. If you have acrylic tops on your blocks i'd recommend using something else. I obviously can't take responsibility for misuse of this product by any readers here. If you're unsure of how to correctly use this stuff start with a small concentration. One thing that you must do before reintroducing the parts into your loop though is to rinse them thoroughly.

In case anyone asks I have no vested interest in this product, but have simply had great experiences using it to clean my own watercooling parts. It can be bought from most UK plumbing stockists for about £6.

Just my 5 cents!

 

[Yeungster]

I assume it's going to be safe running through the pump too then? I don't actually know what the pumps are made from.

Any suggestions as to where to buy this and a rough idea of cost?

 

[Rastalovich]

I`d try a trade-plummers place tbh.

 

[WinMXer]

I assume it's going to be safe running through the pump too then? I don't actually know what the pumps are made from.

Any suggestions as to where to buy this and a rough idea of cost?

Hi Yeungster.

I last used a spare Hydor L20 that was lying around covered in muck to push the solution through 2 chiller coils (upcoming project). After letting it run for about 12hrs disassembled everything down to components & rinsed off. The tubes that I were using cleaned up great.

Upon inspection the pump was completely clean with no discolouration & although I don't have the kit to test thoroughly I am certain that the flow rate increased. I've since been using for testing a couple of other loops i'm making & it runs great now.

Rastolovich is right on the money about getting from a plumber's trade counter. I can't remember the name of the place I bought from but it was one of many plumber's trade counters across the UK that stock this stuff. Fernox is a recognised trade name. They have other products in the Fernox range but DS-3 is the best for this type of application. The other products, DS-2 etc, contain powerful acids which would of course be a bad choice in a water cooling loop.

 

[matt]

I've bought a second hand clear acrylic res that is a bit murky, would this stuff clean it up? I've tried soaking in an array of different solutions and only had limited success, trouble is I can't open it up to wipe it down.

 

[WinMXer]

I've bought a second hand clear acrylic res that is a bit murky, would this stuff clean it up? I've tried soaking in an array of different solutions and only had limited success, trouble is I can't open it up to wipe it down.

Hi Matt.

This stuff is better for cleaning of metals such as copper & aluminium blocks. The manufacturers recommendation is to not use Fernox for cleaning acrylic or plastics. I did use this stuff to clean my water blocks with acrylic tops without ill effect, but I used a very tiny quantity for only 10mins & I would'nt like to take responsibilty for anyone doing the same & getting it wrong.

I'd have to say that you should experiment on a seperate piece of acrylic before using it on your res. Check on the effects every 1/2 hour to be safe & be sure to rinse the solution off with plain water afterwards.

I'm probably being too cautious but when advising others I thinks it's only best to be safe.

Please let me know how you get along. When i'm free next week i'll do a thorough test with acrylic cut-offs to make sure that this stuff is good for it & i'll post the results.

 

[WinMXer]

Well I know it's been more than a week since I said I would try testing this stuff out on different materials, but other things tend to get in the way.

I have tried using this stuff to clean a limited range of materials & here's a brief & basic results list:

Copper - Excellent

Aluminium - Excellent

Brass - Excellent

PVC - Good in v.diluted solution for 5mins

Tygon - Bad, caused yellow discolouration of tubes

Acrylic - Good in v.diluted solution for 5mins

As a basic guide I would recommend that this only be used for cleaning of metallic materials, & not used as a soaking solution for loops. I use it to clean components that I have bought secondhand or that require maintenance.

For the plastic/acrylic parts I personally soak them in Limelite. The label says it is safe on plastics & it is easily available.

If anybody else has found success with other cleaning solutions please feel free to pitch in.

 

[Mr. Smith]

I was looking for this thread and it magically was resurected!

I need to clean my loop - rad, tubes/res (acrylic)...

THis seems unsuitable.

I was thinking a diluted vinegar solution letf to run around the loop???

 

[matt]

Thanks for the reply WinMXer, totally forgot about this thread.

I've heard of people doing this for just their radiators, but imagine it's fine for a complete loop. I wouldn't run it for more than a few hours though.

 

[WinMXer]

Hey guys.

In response to Mr. Smith, yeah vinegar should be a good choice for a loop clean, white vinegar of course though. It works good when used regularly but it's not as effective at getting rid of built up gunk & scale. I still reckon a limelite solution would work better in that type of circumstance.

To Matt, I would'nt recommend you use it for cleaning your entire loop, only the metal components. I know it's a PITA stripping the blocks from ur system, but it would'nt be nice to find your nice clear tubes have turned a lovely shade of yellow from using this stuff.

Also, you should'nt need to leave any of the metal parts to soak in Fernox for more than an hour at most, as it works pretty quick. And I know I keep saying it, but make sure you thoroughly rinse it off when ur done.