Faulty CPU water block?

[Boonstick]

I just changed all the rads in my loop from 1x 240 & 1x 360 to 1x 280 & 1x 420 and I have had so many problems trying to bleed the loop. My GPU temps are going through the roof and totally unsafe to have on at the mo. First I thought it was that I had changed the SLI GPU's from series to parallel but reverting back to series made things just as bad. I then checked the flow coming out of the last GPU block and noticed that it was pretty much trickling out and the inlet of header tank of the following rad was red hot with the outlet was stone cold. That tells me that something is restricting the loop and water isn't flowing round the final rad. I've tested all parts of the loop separately just by blowing through it to see if anything was blocked and everything seems ok except the CPU block which was extremely hard to blow through. I know they are meant to be restrictive but this seemed too much. Also looking inside it I can see tiny little black bits within the grooves. Is there any way of cleaning it out without damaging it or is it knackered? Im sure this is whats causing the problem with my loop at the moment...

Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

[blair]

Any pictures?

 

[Boonstick]

No worries dude. It was blocked. Carefully cleaned it out with some hot water and a load of crap came out of it. It must have been left over stuff that didnt come out of the new rads that I just put in.

 

[S_I_N]

sounds like the new rads didnt get a good flushing before you used them and build residue is got in the cpu block at this point I'd tear it all down flush out everything and tear down the blocks and give them a good cleaning. The blocks should be easily taken apart to clean using a soft bristle tooth brush to clean the grooves.

 

[Boonstick]

Yeah I did flush them out but it couldn't have been enought. Is it safe to take the CPU block apart? I would like to give it a proper clean if I can.

I have to say tho, EK waterblocks Rads are nowhere near as well built as the XSPC rads I had. The sheer amount of crap inside them rads was astonishing and there's obviously still more in there. Also, using M3 mounting screws instead of M4 (which every other company uses) was massively annoying! I had to go out and buy some small washers to mount the rad as the small screwheads were passing though the holes in the case. I will rethread these when I get round to it. Annoying!

 

[S_I_N]

yes its completely safe to take the blocks apart just watch you dont bugger the o ring seals and ur fine. Make sure you note the orientation of the parts as you take it apart as most only go one way for proper results but can go back wrong like the plate inside the block.

 

[gampla]

silly idea could you put the cpu block into another set up to clean out with descaler?

 

[S_I_N]

Bad idea to run descaler thru loop it's best used on tear downs as it easier to fully flush clean. What he has is residue from the rads being soldered together not scale they need to be properly flushed out and the blocks disassembled and cleaned to insure all residue is gone. From the sound of it he did not flush the new rads first.

 

[Boonstick]

S_I_N, cheers for the advice dude. I took the block apart and got the last of the crap out of it and it seems to be ok now. I haven't filled the loop yet as I'm going to change my coolant for fresh. I also washed out the rads again and there was still more stuff in them. I'm pretty confident that it's all out now tho. I gave it good few goes.

Thanks again mate.

 

[S_I_N]

no sweat bro glad to help. When I get rads I normally do the fill shake method a few times then set up a pond pump I have to flush them in both directions for about an hour each way with warm water. Then give them the same treatment with distilled water to make sure all normal water is cleared out. Never had a clog from debris or growth in any loop I've done.

 

[paulstung]

I had the exact problem a few weeks ago, with my 1 gpu block, the cpu is first in the run then gpu's but the gpu's were not being cooled at all, the surface of the problem card was 110 degrees. When I stripped the blocks down there was grey fluff clogging all the channels in both blocks.

Their simple enough to strip down, just be mindful when putting them back together taking extra care with the O rings, and all should be ok. If it is small pieces of metal, I'd strip the pump too mate, just to be sure thats all clear. You dont want to have it die on you.

 

[Boonstick]

Finally got round to filling the loop and I'm happy with the results! GPU temps are at 42C/43C under fully load after an hour of Heaven benchmark and CPU is at about 65C after 12 hours of OCCT.

Oh, paulstung. I bought 5 of the Akasa 140mm Apache fans you recommended and they are doing an awesome job so far. Thanks for the advice bro!