My HSF is getting rusty, do i need to replace it?

[faye]

Hi,

I have a Zalman VF900-Cu on my videocard,
it become all rusting, i know my case is dusty sometimes, i do vacuum once 2 months or 3
today i find that it is all rusting, the plate the heatpipe. no shiny at all.
Even the surface for the videocard chipset, it is not shiny as a mirror.

Do i need to replace it?

 

[Philippart]

as long as the temps are ok there's no need

 

[Drsignguy]

Originally posted by: faye
Hi,

I have a Zalman VF900-Cu on my videocard,
it become all rusting, i know my case is dusty sometimes, i do vacuum once 2 months or 3
today i find that it is all rusting, the plate the heatpipe. no shiny at all.
Even the surface for the videocard chipset, it is not shiny as a mirror.

Do i need to replace it?

Originally posted by: Philippart
as long as the temps are ok there's no need

I Agree.



But if you feel giddy, remove it and clean it. Get some copper cleaner and clean the heat pipes (NOT THE BASE). Clean the fins and make it all pretty again. As for rusting, this only occurs on Ferris metals.. Just an FYI 🙂 Copper, aluminum, brass..they oxidize

 

[GundamF91]

did you have high humidity in the house? Dusty I can see, but corrosion on metal is typically due to moisture level.

 

[NinjaJedi]

Copper does not rust. It does oxidize. I wouldn't worry. The only way I know to restore copper without a compound is to use coca cola. Probably not a good idea since it would be hard to clean all the surfaces without soaking it completely. Done carefully it could be done though. Just clean after with water. Also handling copper with bare hands will make it oxidize faster due to oils from the skin. I used to clean my beryllium ping eye 2 golf clubs with coke and they would look new again for about a week.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: NinjaJedi
Copper does not rust. It does oxidize. I wouldn't worry. The only way I know to restore copper without a compound is to use coca cola. Probably not a good idea since it would be hard to clean all the surfaces without soaking it completely. Done carefully it could be done though. Just clean after with water. Also handling copper with bare hands will make it oxidize faster due to oils from the skin. I used to clean my beryllium ping eye 2 golf clubs with coke and they would look new again for about a week.

Rust is iron oxide, patina is copper carbonate (green, think Statue of Liberty which is green but made of copper).

Iron will react with oxygen dissolved in water to form iron oxide (rust, reddy colored).

Copper will react with CO2 (in the atmosphere) and water/moisture to first form carbonic acid (CO2 + H2O -> H2CO3) which subsequently reacts with the copper surface to form patina (copper carbonate, greenish in color when thick enough).

Coca cola contains phosphoric acid, H3PO4, which reacts with CuCO3 and dissolves it, leaving behind the neutral copper metal which was previously covered by the surface layer of CuCO3. Once the new surface of copper metal is exposed the process starts over again.

Copper oxide will form in competition with the formation of copper carbonate, but it is not the prefered oxidation species when CO2 is present (as our fossil fuel driven global economy ensures...).

 

[taltamir]

Copper oxide will form in competition with the formation of copper carbonate, but it is not the prefered oxidation species when CO2 is present (as our fossil fuel driven global economy ensures...).

And you know know... the fact we and all other animals BREATH and expel CO2...

The fossil fuel economy affects global temperature and the propagation of microscopic plants (algea). There is enough CO2 even without it to cause patina.