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Leaking Radiator

You're talking about corrosion by electrolysis.

Water (tapped or distilled) and electric current always causes electrolysis.

To avoid this you've to use always the proper coolant at 50/50 (like Honda Type 2) analogy that contains silicate-free corrosion inhibitors and replace it according to the scheduled maintenance.

Also all the electrical connections and cables must be in good condition.

You can easily check this one by using a voltmeter. If you can see some mV through the radiator on the voltmeter then you've problem...


Another patent is to use a cap with a sacrificial magnesium anode (the more sensitive metal is attacked first). It's heavily used on boats but I'm not sure how effective is in a vehicle or if it's not causing any problems to the closed circuit of a vehicle. (On boats it's in the open sea).


In general we never use anything else than distilled water because we will destroy the water pump and other components with the dissolved minerals and salts that contains and they're corrosive...

Google it for more details...

I have a sacrificial zinc anode on boat motor and a outdoor furnace. I never heard of magnesium used before. A simple Google and your post gave me a more to read.
Thanks.
 
Something stuck between the guard and the rad (tree limb/branch) could possibly do that damage if pulled straight out. Tip: never use distilled (de-ionized) water in a radiator or anything metal. By nature, water wants to be 'ionized' and will pull ions when it can-in a radiator, water will pull the ions from the metal in the radiator and over time, cause pin holes...and doesn't take that much time...

Had a bit of deja vu there. See post 31 in this 2014 thread: http://nc700-forum.com/forum/garage-mechanical-help/6415-nc700s-travelling-tools-3.html

IMG_0081.jpg
 
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Something stuck between the guard and the rad (tree limb/branch) could possibly do that damage if pulled straight out.

I have never had to remove anything from the radiator. The bike is used to commute 95% of the time and rarely gets around trees. That's not to say that this type of debris couldn't be on the interstate. Again, the leak site had no signs of previous damage. No scuffs in the paint or scratches. We cleaned the radiator in an attempt to identify the cause but found nothing so the assumption was made that a weak spot finally gave into failure.
 
Distilled vs de-ionized, any chemists out there who can explain the difference if any ?
quick and simple:
Distilled,,,,water is boiled, the steam collected and cooled off, turning back to water-the solids/minerals left back in the original water.
De-ionized....ions removed from the water-ions are electrically charged atoms.
 
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