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Unread 09-20-2003, 05:24 PM   #6
joemac
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Dallas
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Quote:
Originally quoted by Since87
Yep, those were the things I was thinking of, but then you mentioned threads, and that reminded me that there is most likely an electrical connection between the baseplate and the top through the screws.
That is hitting the nail on the head. The battery effect is reliant on different metals paired in some type of conductive solution. In the water blocks we a discussing these two different metal are aluminum and copper. In this type of environment the aluminum will start releasing ions into the water; adding de-ionized water will not help. The water will no longer be de-ionized once the aluminum begins releasing ions. The galvanic action will corrode the aluminum faster than the copper. To make a very long explanation short, Shorting the two metal on a small scale like this tends to slow down the battery effect add anodizing on top of this and the process is further retarded. Run a wire from your block to the radiator and the whole system is an electrical short. I think someone else in the forum came to the same conclusion I did by means of theory and testing (#Rotor I think).
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