Recommended Cleaning Method for a Chiller Caked with Grime?

CarSalesman · Feb 15, 2023

deidian said:
That's like saying I'm cleaning thermal paste with fragrance because it contains alcohol: should be ok.

I literally couldn't find acetone so I bought scented nail polish remover to clean up when I got nail polish where it shouldn't have been before I applied liquid metal.

k3rast4se · Feb 15, 2023

make sure to run your computer as cold as possible since vinegar is better in cold water than hot water. Personally I would take everything appart and clean each part. On top of this, I would soak tubing in very hot water to stimulate the release of plasticizers.

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

@deidian @CarSalesman
I'm aware that fragrances and other stuff typically added to household cleaning solutions are not ideal, but I don't really have much of a choice in terms of what I have on hand to clean the chiller with. So I'll just thoroughly rinse it all away later with tons of hot tap water and then distilled after that.

In other news, running more dish detergent + liquid soap in reverse flow through the chiller now. The first cycle managed to pull out quite a bit of gunk; nice.

k3rast4se said:
make sure to run your computer as cold as possible since vinegar is better in cold water than hot water. Personally I would take everything appart and clean each part. On top of this, I would soak tubing in very hot water to stimulate the release of plasticizers.

The chiller isn't connected to the PC. It's being cleaned standalone with a bucket and aquarium pump right now.

Cleaning the rest of the loop will come looong after the chiller is finished cleaning.
Planning to use a bunch of hot water and distilled water for that, without anything mixed in. Or maybe some baking soda + water before that.
As for the external MO-RA and 1080mm radiator, I'll use vinegar + water and then baking soda + water and then distilled after that.

Side note: I'm wondering whether I should do the baking soda + vinegar reaction. But I'm not really sure how that would work for a running loop.
Maybe have baking soda mixed with hot water cycling through, and then dump in vinegar while that's happening?

k3rast4se · Feb 15, 2023

You can remove the gunk by using chemical and physical action. So acid and brushing. It’s an easy job it’s just long

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

k3rast4se said:
You can remove the gunk by using chemical and physical action. So acid and brushing. It’s an easy job it’s just long

I can't exactly brush the inside of the chiller's exchanger. Hence the purpose of this thread.

StAndrew · Feb 15, 2023

Ichirou said:
I can't exactly brush the inside of the chiller's exchanger. Hence the purpose of this thread.

The heat exchanger is a copper pipe with fins, right? Can you use large pipe cleaners?

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

StAndrew said:
The heat exchanger is a copper pipe with fins, right? Can you use large pipe cleaners?

No, it's titanium. Not sure what you mean about pipe cleaners.

StAndrew · Feb 15, 2023

Ichirou said:
No, it's titanium. Not sure what you mean about pipe cleaners.

Something like this:

40 Inches Brush Cleaner for Cleaning Straw, Kegerator, Feeding Tube, Siphon Hose, Sunroof Drain, Refrigerator Drain, 4PCS (amazon.com)

or this

Amazon.com: Long Drain Brush Flexible Feeding Tube Brush Slim Cleaning Brush Hose Pipe Brush : Health & Household

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

StAndrew said:
Something like this:

40 Inches Brush Cleaner for Cleaning Straw, Kegerator, Feeding Tube, Siphon Hose, Sunroof Drain, Refrigerator Drain, 4PCS (amazon.com)

or this

Amazon.com: Long Drain Brush Flexible Feeding Tube Brush Slim Cleaning Brush Hose Pipe Brush : Health & Household

Oh damn, that's perfect. And exactly what I'm looking for. But costs more than what I'd pay for it.
I'll have to take a trip to Lowes and see whether they have one.

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

@StAndrew In other news, opinions on mixing baking soda with vinegar? Or just keep them standalone?
I'm not really sure how it would work for a loop with moving water. It's not really the same as a bathtub drain.

StAndrew · Feb 15, 2023

Ichirou said:
@StAndrew In other news, opinions on mixing baking soda with vinegar? Or just keep them standalone?
I'm not really sure how it would work for a loop with moving water. It's not really the same as a bathtub drain.

Vinegar is an acid and baking soda a base so mixing them will yield a very weak acid or base (or neutral smelly water) so no, dont mix them.

But to that point, this is why after flushing with vinegar, some people do a quick single flush of baking soda to neutralize the vinegar followed by copious amounts of distilled water. You want the Ph as neutral as possible when you're done cleaning / flushing.

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

StAndrew said:
Vinegar is an acid and baking soda a base so mixing them will yield a very weak acid or base (or neutral smelly water) so no, dont mix them.

But to that point, this is why after flushing with vinegar, some people do a quick single flush of baking soda to neutralize the vinegar followed by copious amounts of distilled water. You want the Ph as neutral as possible when you're done cleaning / flushing.

Okay, so it wouldn't do me any good in this case then. Good to know.

That's the intention I already have so far: go through a few cycles of vinegar, and then neutralize it with baking soda instead, and lastly pure water flushing.

So my procedure for the time being is probably as good as it can be? Outside of manual scrubbing that is.

chibi · Feb 15, 2023

For those asking about what the caked on gunk is, the previous owner advised the chiller(s) were ran for 3 years in an industrial setting where fertilizer was the "liquid" medium.

StAndrew · Feb 15, 2023

Ichirou said:
So my procedure for the time being is probably as good as it can be?

Add a lot of repeating, a pinch of patients, then yes, as good as it gets

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

StAndrew said:
Add a lot of repeating, a pinch of patients, then yes, as good as it gets

So my process sounds solid then. Good to know.

Diluted Vinegar > Diluted Dish Soap & Liquid Soap > Pure Vinegar > Diluted Baking Soda > Hot Tap Water > Distilled Water
Each process for like, 1-2 days nonstop, cycling through the pump.

After all of that's done, if there's still grime, should I bother anymore, or is it safe enough to ignore?
Should I still get one of those scrubbers on my next trip out?

StAndrew · Feb 15, 2023

Ichirou said:
So my process sounds solid then. Good to know.

Diluted Vinegar > Diluted Dish Soap & Liquid Soap > Pure Vinegar > Diluted Baking Soda > Hot Tap Water > Distilled Water
Each process for like, 1-2 days nonstop, cycling through the pump.

After all of that's done, if there's still grime, should I bother anymore, or is it safe enough to ignore?
Should I still get one of those scrubbers on my next trip out?

Looks good to me

The pipe cleaner could be a good investment. It will substantially cut down cleaning time and I doubt this will be the last time you need to clean out the chiller. You might also be able to bypass the need for chemical. Just soap, scrub, rinse.

That said, depending on what type of buildup you were getting, you might want to change the coolant type you are running in your loop. I don't have a good answer on what would be best but from what I understand, Ti and Cu won't galvanically interact / corrode.

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

StAndrew said:
It will substantially cut down cleaning time and I doubt this will be the last time you need to clean out the chiller.

Good point. I actually had this thought when I bought the small aquarium pump as well. Will always serve a purpose for cleaning out loops in the future. Thanks.

If I did scrub out some of the grime manually, what should I rinse it with afterwards to neutralize it? Just hot water and distilled?
Or should I rerun it through with vinegar and/or baking soda again?

StAndrew · Feb 15, 2023

Ichirou said:
Good point. I actually had this thought when I bought the small aquarium pump as well. Will always serve a purpose for cleaning out loops in the future. Thanks.

If I did scrub out some of the grime manually, what should I rinse it with afterwards to neutralize it? Just hot water and distilled?
Or should I rerun it through with vinegar and/or baking soda again?

Vinegar is just an acid the breaks down corrosion buildup. If this gunk is something else, honestly vinegar isn't going to help a ton. I would personally just use the pipe cleaner and soap, then rinse. If its a galvanic or mineral buildup (shouldn't be) the yes, vinegar would help soften things up.

Do you have pictures you can post? What liquid are you using?

Ichirou · Feb 15, 2023

StAndrew said:
Vinegar is just an acid the breaks down corrosion buildup. If this gunk is something else, honestly vinegar isn't going to help a ton. I would personally just use the pipe cleaner and soap, then rinse. If its a galvanic or mineral buildup (shouldn't be) the yes, vinegar would help soften things up.

Do you have pictures you can post? What liquid are you using?

Just quickly looked on Google for something similar: https://pondaquariumproblemsolver.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/pond_sludge_2.jpg
It pretty much looks like that. It's quite evidently organic.

I'm just using everything in an effort to have a mixture of different cleaning methods, not just one.

What do you mean by "what liquid"?

k3rast4se · Feb 16, 2023

Where was this mentioned?

Recommended Cleaning Method for a Chiller Caked with Grime?

CarSalesman

k3rast4se

Ichirou

k3rast4se

Ichirou

StAndrew

Ichirou

StAndrew

Ichirou

Ichirou

StAndrew

Ichirou

chibi

StAndrew

Ichirou

StAndrew

Ichirou

StAndrew

Ichirou

k3rast4se

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