How to clean your waterblock - make a caipirinha and clean your waterblock

denis6902

New member
Hi everyone :wiggle:

Right, to start with, I used two waterblocks on the cleaning process, a EVGA HYDRO COPPER and a XSPC xbox360 waterblock. Since the xbox waterblock is way cheaper then the EVGA HYDRO COPPER 295, I started with this one.

This waterblock has been in a box for quite some time with 3M masking tape to protect the bottom lapped surface. However, the sides of this waterblock wasn't protected with the tape, and was quite darked coloured (oxidised).

The aim of the cleaning was to remove the dark coloured marks/gunk on the waterblock.



Things you will/may need:


  • 4 Limes (chop each of them in four parts, and blend on a mixer or blender)
  • A container where you going to leave the waterblock with the lime concentrate (Wash the container properly - must be grease-free)
  • Distilled Water
  • Isopropyl Alcohol (The less percentage of water the better)
  • Cotton Balls (plenty of them)
  • A large cooking pan
  • A plastic spoon or something to fish the VERY HOT block out
  • Plenty of lint-free cloths
  • Plastic/Surgery gloves

- I wouldn't recommend the use of Toothbrush to clean anything. Toothbrushes are usually made from nylon, and this can scratch your waterblock, so the cotton buds will be better.

- From the moment you start the cleaning, use surgery gloves or always handle the block with a cloth. If you touch the block in between the cleaning process it may mark/stain the block again, due to the oil/sweat in our hands.

Here some pics of the xspc waterblock stained - zoom up on the side to see the darked colour, which is way different from the tapped (lapped) surface.





STEPS:


1- Cut your (4) limes/lemons in four pieces. Blend it for 5min (add distilled water if the lemons are too dry)



2- Put your waterblock into the grease-free container + add the blended mix (Leave your block in the citrus bath for 15min, or more depending on how much corrosion you need to remove)



3- After the citrus bath, rinse your block on the sink (yes with tap water). After the lemon bath and after rinsing it on tap water, your block should look very shiny already, like this:



4- By now you want to have boiled water (~100C degrees) ready and boiling in a large cooking pan. Cook your waterblock for 10 - 15min in Medium to Low fire (Because the water is already boiling, leaving it in High fire will only make the waterblock rattle like pop-corn in the pan and evaporate your water faster).

- I didn't take pics of the cooking process, i forgot! Sorry for that.

5- Dry your block a little with a lint-free cloth, and the rest will dry on its on because the block will be VERY, VERY HOT

6- Use cotton buds and lint-free cloths to polish the block (dry-polish) do not put/use Brasso at this point, or you will have to start the process from scratch again.

7- Shiny block ready! Easy huh?

8- Pics from the result: (Zoom up the waterblock sides, and you will see that the dark colour from corrosion is vanished!)



I did the same process with the EVGA Hydro Copper GTX295 block, and the results were just as satisfying.



BEFORE:








AFTER:







I am very sorry for the picture quality. The lighting wasn't good where I was taking the pictures, and the camera isn't that great either. Due to that the final shots don't quite make the justice that the cleaning method was able to address. I wish I had an SLR.

Please let me know what you think, and how easy or difficult it was to understand my English.

denis6902
 
Yeap, old good white vinegar seems to be the most quick and effective i believe. But at this time i am out of white vinegar, too bad. I also just love my ketchup sandwiches too much to waste all that amount on the waterblock. I managed to cover the full block only with 4 lemons and probably 200ml or less of distilled water.

So i thought, better make a caipirinha and enjoy the cleaning. Remember to not drink caipirinha with distilled water, not going to be fun. Save some of the mix of lemon/limes to you can mix your cachaca or vodka if the only option.

ECO tip - 4 Lemons is cheaper than white vinegar and also cheaper then that amount of ketchup that you will need. Lemons will also be much less harmful to the environment.

I dont think Isopropyl alcohol on its own can remove the corrosion stains Kempez. Unless my iso alcohol is very crap.
 
name='denis6902' said:
mine is 99.8% of alcohol.

My last bottle of cleaning alcohol i had melted..... i was jumping a psu to test some fans and the bottle was bout 3 inches away from the 20 pin, i didnt notice it was lit till the plastic started melting.... bad day lol.

name='Freak' said:
elbow grease? Where do you get this from???

facepalm.jpg
 
name='hadesan' said:
Did you have a glass of lemonade or coronas with lime after all that hard work?

yet another facepalm

"make a caipirinha and clean your waterblock"

caipirinha is a typical brazilian drink, it's nice btw. I saved some of that mushed lemon, i did!
 
Back
Top