When and how do you clean a liquid cooler?

[IAEInferno]

Hi, how exactly do you clean a liquid cooler and when or is the only option is to blow dust externally and not do anything internally(changing the water inside)?

 

[c0rr0sive]

For an AIO/Prefilled loop, I would consult the owners manual for it, or the manufacture... Most cases you wouldn't do anything internally, all you should need to do is dust out the radiator.

If it's a custom loop, you may need to change the water every 6 to 12 months, but it depends on the water/coolant used as well as what type of water blocks, radiators, and pumps are used. If using distilled water, and coolant with antimicrobial properties, you should be able to go a year with out changing the water easily.

 

[IAEInferno]

For an AIO/Prefilled loop, I would consult the owners manual for it, or the manufacture... Most cases you wouldn't do anything internally, all you should need to do is dust out the radiator.

If it's a custom loop, you may need to change the water every 6 to 12 months, but it depends on the water/coolant used as well as what type of water blocks, radiators, and pumps are used. If using distilled water, and coolant with antimicrobial properties, you should be able to go a year with out changing the water easily.

I see, I think air cooling would really be better in the long term, I'm too scared that I might accidentally wash my other hardware.

 

[c0rr0sive]

From my understanding, most AIO coolers are pretty good these days and require virtually zero maintenance aside from blowing the dust out of the radiator on occasion.

If I had the money, I would certainly go water/AIO instead of air.

 

[13thmonkey]

Many people find that air is better value for money and offers similar performance to AIO but quieter, there's also less to go wrong, and when it does go wrong it fails in a safer manner. If the pump fails on an AIO then you have no thermal mass to work with, if a fan fails on an air cooler then the big block of copper/alu will help if fail more gracefully.