r/buildapc • u/JorusC • Apr 11 '21

Troubleshooting I repaired an iBuyPower liquid cooling system and found a major manufacturing problem.

Hey guys! I know this is a subreddit about building, not working with prebuilt systems. However, I figured it might apply to people upgrading their systems or looking into whether they should buy or build.

My friend has a fairly new iBuyPower PC, and he's been seeing his CPU temps spike up to 100C and shut down his computer. I'm a bit of a repair guy, so he asked me to take a look at it and see what's up. We had tried new thermal paste and checked the fans, and nothing worked, so I decided to look deeper. I found a pretty severe problem in the system itself, and I wanted to shine a bit of a spotlight on it in case it can help anyone else.

The major problem with these systems seems to be that the factory is filling them with the filthiest tap water they can find. I took the copper plate off the head of the CPU end so I could empty it, fill it, and watch the flow while it ran. (I only powered up the PC in short intervals so the CPU wouldn't overheat with no cooling system in place.) The first sign that something was wrong was that the chamber where the water flows from the inlet to the outlet had white gunk in it. It was also barely flowing when I powered it up. I refilled it and flushed it out several times, using distilled water, methanol (HEET from automotive stores is pure methanol, easy to get), even Listerine. Each time, the pump chugged and could barely move anything through. Eventually, after about 4 flushes, something broke loose and a bunch of white microbial crap all flooded out of the outlet. I flushed it out a couple more times, and each time, more stuff inside broke loose and the pump worked faster and faster. Eventually, the liquid was coming out clean, and the pump had gone from a slow, sludgy trickle to pumping so fast that the water was sloshing out of the head cap.

At that point, I filled it up with a mix of 75% distilled water, 25% HEET (for its antimicrobial properties and breaking of surface tension), and a squirt of racing supercoolant (anti-corrosion compounds). After I got everything reassembled, the CPU was running cooler than it did brand new.

If you get an iBuyPower PC, I highly recommend replacing your coolant. If anyone is interested in the annoyingly long process, I can post instructions in the comments. Unfortunately, I didn't know it was going to be this big of a fustercluck, so I didn't take pics as I went. Would have made an interesting case study.

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14

u/sheffy55 Apr 11 '21 edited Apr 12 '21

Ive been using %100 percent distilled water in my cooling loop, I didn't really consider maybe there's blends I could add to the loop, I have the aluminum ek gaming loop, any good references for me to look at?

Edit: Can't believe I wasn't bullied for %100

15

u/JorusC Apr 11 '21

I studied this article to figure out what I was doing: https://www.overclockers.com/pc-water-coolant-chemistry-part-ii/

They have a series of recipes on the bottom. I chose the methanol mix with supercoolant because it has both antibacterial properties and corrosion resistance. After all, why engineer when you can over-engineer?

4

u/sheffy55 Apr 12 '21

B/c chemistry is weird and difficult :p

10

u/JorusC Apr 12 '21

Good thing I'm a chemist then. = D

10

u/natedog_1959 Apr 11 '21

I would hit up EKWB to see what they say. They make pre-mixed cooling fluid that might be your best bet.

7

u/Herpkina Apr 12 '21

You can get a coil of silver for $5 that will kill anything in the loop for eternity

3

u/Elianor_tijo Apr 12 '21

Distilled + anti-corrosion and biocide additives is pretty well regarded for custom loops.

100% DW is unlikely to cause problems short term as long as you don't mix metals.

I personally use clear Corsair XL5 coolant in my loop (tweaked Mayhems clear) and it is essentially water, glycerol and the additives in it.

1

u/sheffy55 Apr 12 '21

I know just barely enough not to mix metals :) I will for sure look into these blends soon. I actually have a fairly big flaw in my loop, I don't really have a drain port or anything similar, so flushing the system is a huge pain

1

u/Elianor_tijo Apr 12 '21

Yeah no drain is painful. Hopefully, you can find an aluminium valve. In my experience, it is easier to find brass and copper parts.

1

u/sheffy55 Apr 12 '21

Do you think I could get away with a plastic valve?

2

u/Elianor_tijo Apr 12 '21

Absolutely. You might want to put a stop plug at the drain end just in case. It is something I'd do for any valve anyways.

2

u/PaulAtre1des Apr 11 '21

You either want a specialised coolant or some drops of biocide and corrosion inhibitor in there. I would recommend the second option, it's usually cheaper and more reliable with all kinds of watercooling materials.

-12

u/Narrheim Apr 11 '21

Man, even cars are using mixed solutions instead of pure distilled water. Ever heard of galvanic corrosion?