How to clean a WATERBLOCK

My 2080ti has been water cooled ever since I bought it over 2 years ago. Recently I upgraded my PC and I want to put it back to air cooled.
Today we will air cool my 2080ti and clean up my 2080ti waterblock with a few easy tricks.

[@BillyAltDel]

I got my 2080 Super and that same waterblock around the same time you did. Paid MSRP for it. People called me a fool, with the 30-series on the horizon. December of that year I found my card going for double what I paid for it on Amazon...

[@abavariannormiepleb9470]

Acrylic doesn’t just get micro cracks and foggy but remain functional after contact with alcohols like IPA, it will crumble to bits. The same will most likely happen to O rings depending on the kind of plastic the OEM used - so any kind of alcohol is a BIG NO NO anywhere near watercooling parts with plastics.

[@pexwaterpipes1152]

I was just planning to take apart my trusty Radeon VII from its waterblock and clean it. The timing of this could not have been more perfect. Thank you for the video!

[@jasonb7230]

on some acrylic you can use a heat gun on the foggy areas, it can help clear the material.

[@scottstamm7022]

Use a "Dental Water Pick" it's like a mini pressure washer for your gums, I use mine to push everything down the sink when I'm done. Also, you can re-nickle plate the block.

[@Rithius3485]

Congrats on 200K Subs!!!

[@NumbDnB]

Hi James! I love the show, I have actually binged all of your videos relating to fans, the fan showdown and numerous 3D printing ideas on your channel in the space of 2 days (I think the GPU shroud to draw cool air from outside is actually genius!) Just had a thought, what if you were to mineral oil cool your graphics card? Basically 3D print a vessel to hold the oil which would then be mounted to the PCB of your GPU, then use a rubber seal to prevent the oil from escaping and run it sort of like an AIO, but with mineral oil? Be interesting to see how the pump would react, what the heat transfer would be like, how it would fair over time (Build up, oil change, etc) and if it is possible! Technically you could saturate the entire face of the PCB with the oil as it is not electrically conductive, so no need for aluminium or copper plates or fins. Just an idea for a future video!

[@GeorgeJFW]

I always wondered if an ultra sonic cleaner would work on water blocks

[@MrPruske]

yup, boards too

[@wololo10]

Congrats on the win vs Wolves, let's go for the championship

[@Thund3r18]

Lmaooo @1:35. Worst realization ever when you finish a block and fuck somethin up xD

[@watchthe1369]

IPA? You use Beer to clean... NO, wait.... Isopropyl?

[@haulngrassracing]

I like your dragon capsule 👍

[@wege85]

You can try PBW Cleaner. It should make acrylic crystal clear even there is some corrosion happened from the metals or something else.

[@SuperBrainAK]

Cool! maybe you can use some clear nail polish to cover up the exposed copper?

[@zedorda1337]

I would do chemical baths with descales way before any contact cleaning. Start with the same way it was applied then advance.

[@kikihun9726]

Can you test the Thermaltake toughfans? They have a metal hub too.

[@slingcharger69]

Can you print a mount to attach a DIY arc igniter lighter to a 6 volt lantern battery to make an electric tabletop lighter?

[@Lil_Puppy]

Next episode: Electroplating a copper water block with nickel! Would be interested to see if you could laser etch a super-hydrophobic pattern on a waterblock just to see how it performed against a non-etched version.

[@Suteyaten]

Even better, electroless plating.

[@LKLM138]

Gold plating!

[@viljosavolainen2286]

I had very basic water block just for the core. It was basically 3 consequently drilled holes and the non needed openings were capped. Worked like a charm. I think those finns dont do that much. Its more about decent radiator. Ofc it didint cool the ram etc.

[@jaredmiller1268]

Hey, just a quick recommendation, I would look into using RO water inside of your PC. I'm not 100% sure how that would affect acrylic, but I do know that using filtered, i.e. soft or deionized or RO water, prevents buildup of material in pipes. The tiny tiny bits of material in even a cup of tap water might be enough to slowly scour the walls of whatever you run it through. But maybe it's not recommended because it's so pure it may leech out material from the walls. I know that happens, but specifically for large scale industrial or extremely sensitive scientific equipment standards.

[@clemensexenberger2455]

I think the damage to de nickel is more likely to be from tiny air boubels in the system wich cause cavitation which is like tiny explosions when the boubels collapse

[@Woot-Zee]

Damn, I was expecting more from this channel, lol! :D This way I did it too, but I was expecting something like re-apply some nickel in some way. :D Good and informative video nonetheless! :D

[@minasegazi4000]

You could probably use a plastic polish kit, or headlight kit to get rid of the fog on the acrylic

[@Llam1nator]

Where does the metal plate go? I'm taking apart my 1070 gigabyte G1 Block from EKWB and I don't remember where the plate goes

[@blueckaym]

Hey that's the same water-block that i have on my 2080ti ... well except that mine is the aluminum series so no copper corrosion there, but still plenty of gunk ... I've been postponing the clean up ... until I see a noticeable temp rise above normal.

[@JbVest]

That is the exact same spot my EK water block is corroding as well It's not blue but you can see the copper

[@MorpheusXTRM201]

Have you considered reapplying the nickle plating, similar to how some YTubers do in restoration channels?

[@r3conwoo]

This is why I air cool. lmao

[@johnwhitney1344]

can you use CLR

[@LEXXIUS]

I have the exact same card and block since early 2019 and it still looks pristine. I only use the EK Clear Premix and replace it every year. So why does this block have so much corrosion? Are opaque fluids that abrasive?

[@greggreg2458]

Yes they are, the opaque effect is obtained by adding particles into the fluid. I run double protect ultra, (clear premix) and my block is pristine too.

[@jsteezus]

I assume all you need is a Swiss Army knife and some tweezers and it cleans itself.

[@IvanBlimince]

Hey, this has been bothering me for a hot minute. Are those A1C Stripes next to the JH Hastings above your door?

[@MajorHardware]

Yes

[@Ammar.D]

Use an ultra sonic cleaner if you have one.

[@Michael-dt7sd]

The fact that you didn't add another layer of nickel plating, or use some type of acrylic polish to clear out the cloudy areas of the acrylic makes this a lot closer to the approach that I would take for something along these lines.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

I'm wondering if it is viable to re-plate it somehow, I know about electro plating that is doable but I have no idea about this kind

[@OtakuSanel]

there are companies that can re-plate it. heck why not do gold plating? lol.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

@@OtakuSanel I meant DYI. Of course you can pay a plating company to do anything you want, that is how it was plated in the first place.

[@DmitriyKrivtsov]

der8auer did it some years ago completely diy. But the chemicals are somewhat toxic, so you don't want to in the place you live

[@tyleryoung717]

im here just to be here😀

[@makewithmegma]

🔥💕👍

[@CESAR_H_ARIAS]

Im knda scared of opening mine. Im pretty sure i have lost all my original cooler screws or some of them

[@WILDouglash]

Clear coat polishing compound for cars should work for a clear polish finish.

[@Rem_NL]

fire polishing might work too, and a lot easier

[@victormiller9907]

Would denatured alcohol cause micro fractures on the acrylic?

[@iamdmc]

yes

[@shawn081082]

Brother, you could re-plate that nickel back on. It's a solution and electrolysis. Simple for you! Make a cool video project just to show the results!

[@MarkhorSculpin]

Hey, I'm brushing my teeth while watching... and I think we use the same brush. It's even the same color.

[@marcogenovesi8570]

Getting ready to sell it? It's too late, GPU prices are back to normal

[@Oblithian]

...if double is normal.

[@account0199]

There's a liquid sold to re-nickel-plate your copper heatsink.

[@genericscottishchannel1603]

'Upgrade' to air cooling a gpu?

[@Humbulla93]

you could try replating it with a nickel salt and electrolysis or use the electroless plating method

[@iamdmc]

it will end up looking terrible, as the surface layer finish is the same as the plated finish (mirror turns to mirror, crap looks like crap)

[@Petro770]

my 5y old loop is still clean. never use colors lol

[@marcusthepclab]

Hi u should team up with JayzTwoCents and help him with his 3d printers u 2 will make a excellent team.

[@stevenwest1494]

It would have been a lot more exciting to see you convert that fancy block to run off an AIO. I'm very surprised by the poor quality of that block considering its only been running 2 years, and maybe not all the time. I mean that's why it's Nickel coated. But that totally failed.

[@iamdmc]

EK Nickel plating? Yep - that's corrosion

[@m00hk00h]

What liquid did you use to get corrosion *that bad*? That's hard to watch, the poor thing! I use a water cooled RX5700XT since May 2020, it uses an EK water block and I've only ever used EKs cooling liquid for the whole two years and changed the liquid once since. The GPU water block looks like new. No corrosion, no clogged channels. Same for my CPU block (Aqua Computer Cryos Next). Next time spend a few dollars on a liquid with corrosion inhibiting ingredients. That poor block.

[@NicolasChapadosGirard]

We'll see the finger healing

[@unlockeduk]

i beleive some nickel salts are blue i could be wrong tho nickel sulfate fpr example but i beleive they use copper sulphate also blue as a biocide in some coolants]

[@Humbulla93]

it´s either copper or nickel allthough i tend to copper as it has a deep blue colour

[@unlockeduk]

@@Humbulla93 id guess nickel as thats the coating they are a similar colour if memory serves

[@Humbulla93]

@@unlockeduk what is similar in colour the plating (metals) or the salts?

[@unlockeduk]

@@Humbulla93 the salts copper and nickel sulphate metals totaly different colour lol

[@shadwxero]

Do you intend on re nickel plating the water block later on?

[@Fregatte86]

Most Important Tip!!!!! Do not rip the THREADs on the copper plate! Copper isn't that good for that screws

[@iamzid]

is there any reason why you wouldn't just use automotive coolant, like green glycol or orange dex-cool, in a PC cooling system? i mean it is meant to be in direct contact with copper and aluminum and has corrosion inhibitors in it.

[@IsaardP]

I use a mix of deionized water, automotive glycol based coolant and hy-per lube super coolant in my dual pump loop. Nickel plated block, bare copper block, aluminum rads and absolutely no corrosion issues running for over a year now. Sterilized the mix and loop with a UV-B aquarium light before use and the mix is bio-static so nothing can grow. All cheaper than 1 bottle of goof mix coolant from the PC brands!

[@iamdmc]

yes, because glycol is antifreeze, and unless you live in the high north and have your computer outside in sub-zero temps there's absolutely no good reason to do so

[@iamzid]

@@iamdmc bru, they put it in cars that are used in hot places too. It does more than just prevent freezing. Maybe you should look into what automotive coolant actually does, since clearly you don't know.

[@iamdmc]

@@iamzid bruzilla, no it doesn't do anything more

[@wesleymays1931]

Yo

[@sephirotic87]

This is why you should run with ONLY distilled water.

[@m00hk00h]

Distilled water doesn't prevent corrosion. If there is oxygen in the water and copper is exposed it will corrode. There are additives and premixed liquids with corrosion inhibitors that prevent that from happening and this video is great ad for those exact things.

[@prydzen]

@@m00hk00h corrosion isnt the problem. Its the abbrasive in the liquid that wore down the nickel plating.

[@m00hk00h]

@@prydzen How exactly is corrosion not the problem when it's clearly corroded? The nickel being worn away is not a problem there are pure copper water blocks and most radiators are pure copper as well. Just use the right liquid/additives.

[@prydzen]

@@m00hk00h because the nickle plating prevents corrosion. The abbrasive in the liquid worn away the nickel plating.

[@m00hk00h]

@@prydzen You're not getting the point. Radiators are made of copper. Lots of water blocks are made of copper and not plated. Lots of people run those without ever getting corrosion (including me). So the plating being intact or not is completely irrelevant. If he ran anti-corrosive additives (as you should, always) everything would have been fine. So it's his fault for not adding anti-corrosives for a couple of bucks, NOT the nickle plating being worn off.

[@Woodz_007]

First :)

[@Woodz_007]

ALso where the Fans at

[@flushroyal970]

Due lack of o ring in the middle, there is always lost flow between inlet and outlet... I guess it had too much lost flow or lost flow had too much power and worn down the nickel plating in there... Maybe the screw wasn't tight enough and created too much flow near it , or pump was too powerfull and outlet had too much negative pressure and sucked in the intake like a black hole , maybe just nickle plateing done not evenly and there was less plating , maybe machining was done bad and there was too much gap... It's telling us a story...

[@exciting-burp6613]

Why not electroplate it for shits and giggles?

[@IngNomo]

First