FAO: Cathar and/or watercooling pro's.
 

Just a quick question, but important nonetheless imo.

I've just bought a second hand Cascade, which has never actualy been used, the trouble being that the base is a little bit corroded/oxidised with it sitting doing nothing. What would be the best way to revive it? I've lapped many a waterblock, but never one with a base that's already done to suck fine tolerances, so i think i will give lapping a miss, plus the base is thin enough already lol.

Question being, what method would you recommend as the best way to clean up the base without degrading it or detracting from it's performance at all?

Thanks in advance.

Graeme.

Cathar will no doubt be here soon to comment, but in the meantime, I think you are overestimating the amount of material you will be removing when you lap. If you're confident it is "flat" and there's no deep scratches, then just skip to the last lap stage, which I seem to recall Cathar recommending 600 grit paper and kerosene.

BTW: I think you mean "...to such fine...", and not "....to suck fine..."

Leave it.
your not likely able to lap it as flat as cathar has already. A little oxidation doesnt really make a difference, if you want to get rid of it, use brasso or ketchup and a soft cloth.

Jon

and remove the brasso with xylene

A quick lap on wet 1000-grit paper is unlikely to cause any harm if you're really bothered by it.

A good soak in ketchup is apparantly another approach, but if you're doing that, then you may as well use Brasso, followed up by rubbing down with isopropanol to remove any Brasso residue.

Cheers folks, will just go with the brasso idea, thanks a lot :)

lemon juice brings copper up nicely..

most acidic substances will remove copper oxide: ketchup, vinegar, lemon juice, hydrochloric acid, etc.
dunno if brasso is acidic, so i didn't list it :-P

Another good option I recently discovered is a product called Never Dull. We use it to remove light oxidation from $220-$2000 Swords that we sell in the store I work at. Its basically cotton balls soaked in Kerosene. Works great. You just rub the stuff on the oxidation & it usually comes off. It also gives leather a great color which is nice for some of the knives since some have compressed leather handles & their sheaths & cases are often times leather.

Brasso is a polish to my knowledge. I didn't know it removes oxidation also. I would figure it has wither Kerosene or an Acid.

Brasso is mostly an ammonia/kero solution with a suspended buffing compound.

Yeah, I definitely agree with Cathar on the lapping with kerosene... that's just from my own machine shop experience, but that's the great thing about watercooling. It's just the collection of various trades boiled down into one little community (maybe boiled isn't the right word here).

Yup, added to there always being something to learn, things to try and configurations to test, it's by far the best and most enjoyable method of PC cooling imo.

:)

Erm, any tips for cleaning the jets while we're at it? they're minging. :(

blimey, what you got in that loop..

soft toothbrush works best for me, I used a handsoap when i cleaned mine..

LOL!

Not used this block yet, just got it yesterday. toothbrush was the plan, but i had no idea how strong the jets were, so thought it better safe than sorry and asked on here :)

be gentle with it, leave it to soak for a while first etc & it will clean up nicely..

Done! :)

Mighty impressed with it already, and heaven't even used it in anger, lol.

Any opinions on the exit flow?

I clean my blocks with a bath in saltwater together with aluminium fragments (folie). no scratches what so ever, just leave it in for 1-3 hours and then pure some pure water on it. Before mounting use some Aceton on a pice of cotton, as always.