How many times to flush, how much dirt is acceptable?

[SteinerSE]

I have 3 AC radiators in my build. When I got them I ran a hot water and vinegar solution through them 3-5 times each until there was next to no dirt coming out. Then I flushed them a few times each with distilled water. After that I built my loop.
Now that it is finished I am using the new EKWB Cleaning/Flush mixtures for a final clean before starting to sue the machine and to my surprise, after running the cleaning solution I had a ton of black crud coming out when I drained the loop.
Filled it again and ran their flushing solution, and again a lot of black crud coming out.

First run, cleaning solution (Went in clear came out blue)

Second run, flushing solution, went in clear came out green


After this all I have left to flush with is distilled water as my large loop used up all the solution.

 

[Vanzin]

Hi First of all, don´t use vinegar to clean any copper components. It will damage the copper. We are only recommending to flush radiators with distilled water to remove dust and production residue. They should be flushed until no dirt is coming out anymore. For me it already looks like, that the vinegar has already damaged the copper, which has caused that the liquid has changed it colors.

 

[SteinerSE]

Hi First of all, don´t use vinegar to clean any copper components. It will damage the copper. We are only recommending to flush radiators with distilled water to remove dust and production residue. They should be flushed until no dirt is coming out anymore. For me it already looks like, that the vinegar has already damaged the copper, which has caused that the liquid has changed it colors.

Sadly that idea came from a guide on how to clean Alphacool radiators specifically :/ The color change is from what remains of the EK cleaning solution I think and each flush it goes lighter now. Currently draining from another 12h+ flush cycle and there's still crud coming out, although less of it, and the color is might lighter. I'm going to do one more cycle and see where I end up at. I'm more concerned about all the dirt that's still coming out than the color change (which their instructions says is to be expected).

 

[SteinerSE]

This is the guide I followed.

 

[SteinerSE]

And flush 3, almost 24h this time. Still a fair bit of dirt, color getting lighter now.

 

[paysen]

I have used several radiators from xspc, Hardware Labs, EK, Alphacool etc. Never have I flushed them with aggressive solutions, just hot (tap) water and a few final flushes with distilled water. I always use a clear coolant so I should be able to tell if something is wrong. Never ever did I have any problems with my rads or blocks. No residue, no color change, nothing. Those "guides" are not always helpful. I would never put vinegar in my loop, but that's just me. If you have any leftovers in your loop, it will also damage the Nickel plating of your blocks.

 

[SteinerSE]

Yet another almost 24h flush run done, all water discoloration is gone, buts till a lot of dirt coming out, but a bit finer this time.

 

[Eddy]

Sadly that idea came from a guide on how to clean Alphacool radiators specifically :/

There are so many guides on the Internet that are simply wrong. Just because a manufacturer's product is used as an example does not mean that the manufacturer was involved or knew about the guide. Therefore, all videos, forum posts and user guides should only be followed if they were explicitly created together with a manufacturer. Otherwise, you will find an incredible amount of misinformation on the web.
In the end, some customers stand in front of our door with destroyed products because they follow someone on the Internet and copy what is shown. This is a permanent problem. Instead of asking the manufacturer, customers rely on the nonsense that is spread on the net. And there is an incredible amount of junk and false statements that are made on the net. It is frightening.

 

[SteinerSE]

So basically the copper is now all black and disintegrating from a mix of about 10% vinegar to distilled water?
As of now all the discoloration of the water is gone, the color was just remnants of the EKWB Loop cleaner product.
But I still keep getting those little black specks even though they are slightly fewer and finer each flush.

 

[Eddy]

The vinegar attacks the copper. This also partially dissolves the soldering which is not made of copper. You can now rinse as often as you want, something will always come out.
Good... at some point nothing more will come out, then when all the vinegar is out. But everything that has now been attacked will continue to dissolve over time until only non-conterminated surfaces remain. This affects some cleaning agents that have a certain aggressiveness.
Therefore, you should always rinse only with distilled water or special cleaning kits, never with acids or other detergents.
We rinse internally only with distilled water and with good reason.
But all in all, that's not so bad now. Neither the radiator will leak nor anything else will happen. Except that you have to rinse a few times.

But for the future.... ask the manufacturer, never trust any Youtube videos. The list of problems that arise with customers is long.

 

[SteinerSE]

Well, here we are finally

 

[GuntherMSI]

When copper oxidizes, it turns into green, you can see it also on bronze roofs and statues, which is a mixture of copper and brass or tin, in time it colors green. This is also poisonous that oxidation. I'm new here, but I know something from chemicals and how they react to things. Rain contains acids, which vinegar is also. Silver turns black. Good I read this treat, but I'm planning to use only Alpahcool products anyway. But it's a fair warning. Thanks.

 

[Bsweeney419]

I didn’t follow what she did in this video but I wish I had, got some stuff in my cpu block I can see and I had to remove and take my gpu block apart and clean the pieces out the brand new block. I ran it for 72 hours straight, I used radiator flush and thought I got them cleaned out. The stuff that came out I believe is from the coating coming off the fittings after install.