Radiator Flush (before installation)

I've watched a few videos of water cooling loop AND, I noticed this guy recommending to FLUSH the radiator before installing it and adding the coolant because he showed all the stuff that was inside and came out the radiator after flushing with distilled water.

 

So, this Corsair radiator should be flushed as well or just add the coolant?

I would pre-rinse the radiator before ever installing it. I usually do this days before I am ready to get started.

 

Regardless, you likely want to fill with distilled water first for leak testing and basic assessment. If you need to change something, it’s a shame to dump $15 in coolant down the drain.

Definitely rinse- the amount of gunk that came out from my 2 rads was crazy

It's a mandatory step for all manufacturers, so yeah please save yourself some trouble and pre-flush.

Well, thank you guys, I'll pre-rinse/flush the crap out of this new rad, I got two gallons of distilled water and about 2 or so weeks before Corsair has the rest of the fittings I need in stock.

Good luck, man. I'm in the diametrically opposite boat - I've got all the fittings and I'm waiting on Rads. :)

I will say I just flushed my XR5 420, six passes with distilled water, and didn't get a single flake out of it.

 

That one came from the factory absolutely pristine.

Flush the rads in a clear or white bowl and see what comes out. It took me 10-12 flushes on each of my big rads to get them cleared out from manufacturing debris. Well worth and highly advised.

 

I also check my blocks and pumps but they are usually clean.

I would recommend flushing the radiators out thoroughly. I thought I did a good job, but I realized I didn't do enough flushing after filling the loop and leak testing, I started to see debris caught on the micro-fins on the XG7 and XC7 blocks.

 

I did 2-3 flushes with distilled water and then a flush with a warm distilled white vinegar + distilled water solution (let it rest and shook it around a bit while it was capped), and then 2-3 more flushes with distilled water, I saw plenty of debris coming out but didn't think to keep going until the water came out clear.

 

My blocks now look like this:

 

 

Is this a cause for immediate concern? Should I drain the loop and try to clean out the blocks and re-assemble? I am fully aware that the flow won't be as good as it could/should be with this debris caught in the blocks, but is it going to cause any long term damage to the blocks if left like this? I am under the impression this is manufacturing debris/flux from the radiator manufacturing process, but I am still not 100% certain that's what I'm seeing.

 

Any guidance or advice would be greatly appreciated, this is my first ever watercooling loop and I will admit I was a bit eager to get it done and didn't think to spend more time and effort on flushing out the radiators.

 

Thanks in advance!

I had the same issue my custom build and I cleaned the 240 and 360mm rad out after 1 week one of the channels in the 240 rad unblocked and my whole system went brown. thankfully draining and flushing seemed to work out fine and my rtx 2070 (2010mhz) hits 50c 100% load and 9700k (4.8ghz) hit 60c 100% load. Ambient room temp 23c, case temp maxes out at 29c and water temp 31c.

I had the same issue my custom build and I cleaned the 240 and 360mm rad out after 1 week one of the channels in the 240 rad unblocked and my whole system went brown. thankfully draining and flushing seemed to work out fine and my rtx 2070 (2010mhz) hits 50c 100% load and 9700k (4.8ghz) hit 60c 100% load. Ambient room temp 23c, case temp maxes out at 29c and water temp 31c.

 

When you say you flushed it did you just run distilled water through the loop?

Did you have to disassemble the blocks at all to remove the debris?

 

I'm thinking to maybe drain the system and run distilled water through the blocks in the reverse order to see if it will dislodge the debris without needing to open up the blocks.

Sorry for late reply. Distilled water and connect some soft tubing to fill up the block and half the tubing and put your thumbs over the ends and shake. This worked very well for me but you may need to take the parts together if residue is still visible and use a soft bristle toothbrush :)

My 2x XR7 480s came in today, so i'll be flushing those and seeing how much filthier they were than my freakishly clean XR5 420.

I will say I just flushed my XR5 420, six passes with distilled water, and didn't get a single flake out of it.

 

That one came from the factory absolutely pristine.

My RAD too, nothing came out of it, problem is that I went for PETG tubing and after cutting it with the tool and somewhat cleaning the inside of the tubes and put the coolant in, it pretty much washed those shavings and now they're stock in the CPU block fins, which means!!!!!! I have to take this damn thing apart and clean the CPU block with a toothbrush.

 

Also, I'm using the BLUE coolant and when I put the flashlight right up against the reservoir, I see sparkles, like if there is glitter (like the kind strippers put on their chest and buttocks for that nice look) in the coolant, is that normal? Sup with that!!!

 

oh! I have PETG tubing with 90 degree fittings, didn't do a single bend, too busy to be bending a tube when I can just cut and add the angled fitting.

I saw in another forum where guys post pictures of their setup, but the more I kept looking at the soft tubing and then reviewer explaining that bending tubing wasn't easy and you'd have to be careful cutting and you'll definitely end up making bad cuts/bends, well........

That was not an option for me, I wanted a sleek look and don't waste time bending tubing, so opted to buy more angle fittings and cutting is easier than bending and I did about 4 or 5 wrong cuts but took me about 1 minute to recut a new tube rather than re-bend.

 

Can't even remember how much more extra I spent but I don't care......LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER this way than to have a bunch of tube going across the whole system blocking the view.

For the drain, I got a pressure fitting for soft tubing but so far I only put the fitting, the tubing is from Home Depot, el chepo $3 for 10ft 3/8 x 1/2.

 

Corsair took forever to have the 90 rotary fittings, I said "screw it", I'll drive to Microcenter and bought Bitspower fittings, and to this date not sure if they have them in stock.

 

And NO! I will never install RGB fans, that's where I draw the line, NEVER!!!

 

-Phanteks Evolv X

-ASUS MAXIMUS XI Z390

-Corsair MP510 960GB

-32GB DDR2 3200 Dominator Platinum

-ASUS 1660Ti

-Corsair RM1000i

-Creative SoundBlaster Z (Discrete sound or nothing)

 

oh! BTW, did you guys see the case review Dimitry did for the Corsair case where he was peeling off the plastic and part of the logo came off? Well, I was cleaning my radiator and a couple of the letter came off, I reattached them but no big deal. CORSAIR........use better glue next time.

Edited September 29, 2019 by Nazgul

My 2x XR7 480s came in today, so i'll be flushing those and seeing how much filthier they were than my freakishly clean XR5 420.

 

Got a few flakes of crud out of the 480s, made me feel far better about how good a job I did on the 420.

 

Important thing is nothing in the blocks of course.