[Worklog] The Rebirth of Mr. Bubbles

---UPDATES---
History & The Cleaning Process (This Post)
Radiator Dimensions & pics
Parts List!
External Radiator Mount (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
Group photo and single bay res! Also a kitty.
Painting finished!
Parts washing again, and video card reassembly
System assembly & super-massive photo dump
Phase 1 Completion
Phase 1.5 Underway
Bleeding the system w/ new motherboard
Phase 1.5 Completion
Phase 2 Beginning
New video card, new waterblock
Phase 2 Completion
Reworking the water loop
New case!
____________________________________________

First, let me cover the origin of the name. I was previously running a submerged system and a friend dubbed it Big Daddy, in reference to Bioshock and Rapture's submerged nature. Well after finally getting around to playing Bioshock and hearing a Little Sister call a big daddy "Mr. Bubbles", I decided to rename the computer "Mr. Bubbles". I think it's just as cool, but also less pedo sounding when mentioned in conversation. Here's some pics of Mr. Bubbles in its submerged glory:





Well 3 days after I renamed it Mr. Bubbles, the tank cracks and oil slowly starts leaking out. Something like a gallon in 4 or 5 days judging by how much was lost in the 2 day span it took to get everything sorted out.

Today was cleaning day. I got all the computer components completely cleaned of oil. This was not exactly easy, and took the better part of 6 hours. The motherboard was the hardest because of all the small spaces in between the PCI-E ports. I had to use an old toothbrush to get in between those spots. How exactly did I clean mineral oil off my parts? Well have a look:

Preparing to clean off the computer, and my always-inquisitive kitty being curious.


Yep, that's right, soap and water. Haven't found anything better than Dawn for cleaning mineral oil.


Power supply was the first to go in.


Rinsing off the power supply.


Video card is next. That's a Radeon HD6870.


Had to pull off the heatsink to really get it clean. Note: mineral oil will dissolve thermal interface material if it comes into contact.


Close up of the actual video card before thorough cleaning.


All that's left is the motherboard.


Ready to go in... WAIT! The CMOS battery is still in!


Battery removed. In she goes.


Rinsing off the motherboard.


Running soapy water through the pumps & radiator to flush out all the oil.


Overview of everything cleaned thus far while rad is being flushed.


Ran the pumps in series for this.


WEEEEEEEE!!!!


Now to let everything dry for about a week while I order parts and then wait for their arrival. Parts list will be posted after purchase.
Edited by tippy25 - 2/5/13 at 7:42pm

No idea why the tank cracked. I had the tank sitting in a plastic base that was about an inch and a half deep (can be seen in the first 3 pics), so it caught the oil that leaked out. That was its second crack. The first one caused oil to pour out like Niagara Falls, and there was no base to collect it in, so it ended up all over the carpet. That was a nightmare to clean. This second cleanup was nowhere near as bad. Just pumped the oil out of the tank into the original containers (that I kept for an unknown reason, but proved useful), then carried everything into the bathroom to clean out in the tub. No oil in the carpets this time around.

Temps were ok. Nothing to write home about. Idle was around 42C, load was anywhere between 48C and 54C depending on what I was doing. Oddly, Dragon Age: Origins was the hardest on the cpu. Temperatures climbed very slowly as the oil can absorb quite a lot of thermal energy before it heats up itself. Of course, the inverse is true as well. I set a warning for when the cpu got above 52C so I would know the oil was starting to get too hot. I often had to wait about an hour before I could play another game when that would happen, just so the oil would be able to dissipate the extra heat.

I'm going water cooled. I'm tired of having to deal with mineral oil and the (un)reliability of tanks in situations of high heat that they weren't designed to cope with.

Yea, computer was unplugged for well over a week, power button had been held down for about a minute a day since I emptied it. There was no residual charge left in anything.

Ever get your cell phone wet? Turn it off and let it dry out and it's good as new.

The computer isn't going to be resubmerged. I'm going with water cooling. I'll have a parts list posted hopefully tomorrow or Tuesday with the parts purchased.