Vinegar: For how long?

[kerochi]

I'm using distilled vinegar to clean out the rads.

I'm on my 2nd day of soaking but all the gunk that comes out still seems pretty cloudy, I was wondering if this is normal.

Do I keep soaking it in vinegar until it's crystal clear, or will it always be that cloady colour and the rad is in fact clean?

I mean I've used about 2litres of the stuff so far...........

 

[NickS]

Wooooow. Do 3-6 soaks 1 hour at a time. NO LONGER. 1 hour is fine. Any longer isn't necessary.

 

[weihk]

ermmmmmm................

i dont use vinega at all in cleaning my rads.

instead, i use hot water

also, what do you mean you've soaked it for two days......you mean you kept it soaking for 24hrs with pure vinega??????

side note, if you have a thermochill rad, clean rad with water is fine.

on another forum, theres a little argument with a rad maker about using vinega in cleaning rads......

 

[kerochi]

Ouch. But everything is still cloudy...............

 

[weihk]

do this

get hot water from tap, straight into rad, fill half full, cover inlets, shake the rad like your on E's, repeat 5 times, and see if theres still crap coming out

 

[ai_01]

hot water, acid eats at the rad.

 

[kerochi]

ffs. i mean ive been reading around on a ton of forums and everyone said "soak it in distilled vinegar" and now you guys say i shouldnt.....

I did clean it out and rinse it thru with distilled water too a couple of times, but yeah its been soaking in vinegar.........

hope i didnt kill my thermochill already...... %^^&*%&*%6

 

[NickS]

hot water, acid eats at the rad.

Only one reported/confirmed case, and that jackas* left vinegar in there for more than 36 hours.

1-2 hours at a time is fine, 3-6 times. It doesn't need to be crystal clear. You aren't drinking from it.

 

[ai_01]

Only one reported/confirmed case, and that jackas* left vinegar in there for more than 36 hours.

1-2 hours at a time is fine, 3-6 times. It doesn't need to be crystal clear. You aren't drinking from it.

def flush it out after

 

[Allsorts]

Yep, it's not a good idea to leave vinegar in your rad for very long periods since it will react with the solder. However, short-term use of vinegar won't kill your rad. Apparently Thermochill use water soluble flux now so flushing with warm water is sufficient. Final rinse your rad with distilled water.

 

[kerochi]

what happened to that guys rad?

(just in case ive done the exact same thing)

I knew that it would eat thru copper but i thought that was the whole point: to clear the layer so it would rinse out any crap that gets stuck....... sigh

so what should i look for now in terms of if ive done damage to the rad?

 

[ai_01]

i really doubt u dmged it, just flush it out, and im more than sure it will be fine.

 

[kerochi]

5% Acidity

Looks like Overclocks is the only place to be... thank god i asked

 

[weihk]

well........next time you get a PA rad, you'll know you can use your rad within 2hrs instead of 48hrs

i had my PA120.1 and PA120.3 cleaned and in my loop in 1hr.....

and for the last few months, no clouding in my hose and everything has been fine.

 

[Allsorts]

so what should i look for now in terms of if ive done damage to the rad?

Puddles . Seriously, you'll be fine. To kill your rad you really need to leave vinegar in it for several days or to add salt. Let us know how you get on with the leak testing anyway.