ultrasonic cleaners for custom water cooling?

[terse meteor]

I'm thinking of getting some ultrasonic cleaners though I never tried or used one before for those parts.
Is there something I need to be aware of, or will it damage some of the nickel plated parts?
my biggest concern is the rads really its the worse thing to get it cleaned properly.
if any got better advice that would be great.
I already know of toothpaste and brush for fittings and blocks, and white vinegar stuff on rads.
did I miss something? or is it truly sucks that bad cleaning them and need this ultrasonic to clean thoroughly

[strong harness]

Ultrasonic cleaners can be effective for cleaning certain parts, including water cooling components like fittings and blocks. However, there are some considerations and precautions to keep in mind, especially when dealing with nickel-plated parts and radiators:

1. Compatibility with Nickel Plating
2. Radiator Cleaning
3. Precautions and Safety: When using an ultrasonic cleaner, be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions and safety guidelines.
   4.Disassembly: For thorough cleaning, consider disassembling the water cooling components as much as possible.

Additionally, you mentioned toothpaste and a brush for fittings and blocks, which can be a good approach for gentle manual cleaning. Make sure to use a non-abrasive toothpaste and a soft brush to avoid scratching the surfaces.

[terse meteor]

Yeah I usually use ones that doesnt effect nickel plafing cause most parts now nickel plated. Although everything i have is either brass or copper so even flaking the nickel shouldnt be a problem with corrosion as much. But still would look ugly and accelerate its ded life lol but man it sucks to clean them takes 3 guys entire day plus morning to clean all systems with brushes we look stupid

Rads whats scaring me the most tbh cause cant see the inside

I wish more people tested ultrasonic with rads, all i found is jay2cent but didnt checks rads throughly inside and there no follow up i saw

[strong harness]

Yeah, that's probably because they are way too expensive and people just prefer buying aios over them

[terse meteor]

Yeah its like 3 or 4 times more expensive its all started when I decided to have a more challenging builds, now everyone in house has one cleaning time sucks

But yeah ultra sonic bad for nickel plating might cause to flake most peeps got that result with water and soap. I think I'll stick to the manual cleaning and disassembly

Rebuild time fun tho, its the cleaning thats bad

[strong harness]

The cleaning isn't that bad if you know what you are doing. Besides, it's like once every six months

[terse meteor]

The problem cant get it as "new shiny" condition for the metal parts when was new

Some peeps say silver polish works well to clean metal idk if that cause flaking for nickel

Got so much petg its cheap i usually just replace

The problem i usually hate is the block shininess and the plexi, plus how to clean rads throughly

Fittings brush does pretty good job so its fine

[tropic isle]

I'm gonna say something controversial here..
After ten years of various watercooling projects, I've concluded that cleaning is not all too important. In other words, I wouldn't go overboard trying to get everything perfectly clean.

For reference of just how little I clean them, I'm currently looking at a cat hair pinned between the nickel/acrylic of my GPU block, even though I just did a rebuild a month ago. All the block fins are still flowing just fine, no clogging issues. I think the last time I thoroughly cleaned my blocks/rads was maybe two years ago, and I've had zero issues after many rebuilds. Even then, it was just some dawn soap/toothbrush on the blocks and a rinse of vinegar through the rads

As long as you keep an eye on the fins and flow rate, you'll be fine

[tropic isle]

Nickel stains through minor galvanic corrosion over time, it is unavoidable. There will always be weird stains after a while.

[terse meteor]

well thanks for the info all, im glad im not the only one with this issue, kinda hoped there was a perfect solution but like u said seems everyone has it and cant get rid of it completely except with some next level chemistry like ultrasonic then polishing and replating them

This first system my brother's w/ 2080 and am4 blocks

Man i miss the all copper blocks

But if u look at the plexi and inside of fitting cant seems to get rid of it, i guess ill try 3rd run

Oh 3rd run great, i guess give more time scrubing helps

Meh still cloudy-ish but i dont know any other way to get it cleaned

Wait did any try boiling water or this window cleaners

[tropic isle]

That's not getting any cleaner

If you overthink cleaning this much, you're gonna have a bad time

[terse meteor]

hurts, yeah i think ill just stick to the normal maintenance for the rest im just wasting my time at this point