Friendly but extremely important reminder!!!!

[Xrqute]

LEAK TEST YOUR RIG WHEN EVER YOU MESS ABOUT WITH THE COOLING LOOPS!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend I had been trying so new things out in my rig. All appeared sound and tight, well I couldn't of been more wrong!

Leaks can happen to anyone. You, me, TTL or even your granny slapping together a rig so she can be one of the cools kids down at OC3D.

This time I was lucky. I was being extra cautious as I was dealing in unfamiliar territory. So I was testing correctly with only power to the pump and my PSU out of my case at max distance.

My R9 280X and my R4BE copped a death induceing amount of coolant! But since I was playing it safe they should be all ok once the dry out (rig had been off for 48hours as well which also helps put my mind at ease. Also make sure anything unnecessary (Ram, soundcardetc) is out of your rig when testing no point putting them in harms wsy for no reason.

Cheers,
Xr.

(Having no rig for another day or two is going to kill my life QQ)

 

[crowarth]

This is one of the things that puts me off custom watercooling :O Glad it's okay, though.

 

[barnsley]

With my WC rig all I do is stay awake at night and think about leaks.
Its not even finished yet but y'kno, anticipation.

 

[Xrqute]

With my WC rig all I do is stay awake at night and think about leaks.
Its not even finished yet but y'kno, anticipation.

This is one of the things that puts me off custom watercooling :O Glad it's okay, though.

As long as you leak test like you're ment to it wont be an issue. What happened to me tonight is precisely why the Governor! Its so adament about taking your time and completing the process. 99 times100 everything will be fine. But always that time when your not payingparticular attention is when it may strike.

Barns would that be the Pentium Anniversary build Ive been seeing mentioned here and there?

 

[Dragolu]

Leak testing should be a standard step in building or maintaining water cooling loops. Still it is a very important reminder as people somtimes get antsy and want to save time. IT Is NOT WORTH IT. That is how you end with a brick and watercooling gets a bad reputation.

 

[shambles1980]

the joins i find arent so bad (provided you cut your pipes as flush as possible). the only leak i ever had was a few years back. and a kinked hose managed to get a pin hole leak right at the kink after about 6 months or so.
it took ages to even notice it had a leak. but strange pc behavior lead me to strip down and find it.

 

[Greenback]

I have never done the full 24 hour leak test, but my habit is to clean out any new bits then run the loop for 30 minutes in the kitchen to check for leaks b4 putting together in the case, then 2 hours of leak test after bleeding

 

[BigDaddyKong]

Just don't do like I did one day. Where I have a copper block, and LED's, I looked down and seen what looked like a puddle on my GPU and flipped out. After I took everything apart, and opened the case on the table, it was dry as a bone. I put it all back together and when I turned it on, it was back. I thought maybe it ran off when I was carrying the rig the table. After more inspection, it was the reflection of the block on the GPU and no leak.

 

[Xrqute]

Yea I lost a Corsair AX1200i to a leak from a brand new faulty compression fitting. I screwed it down at tight as I could it felt tight and good but little did I know the thread was faulty and it only went down half as much as it should. While the rig was in and under pressure it was fine but 5min after I shut the rig off I heard what sounded like a bomb go off 2m from my head!

When the capacitors in a 1200 watt platinum PSU blow you and the rest of your suberb know it.

^that experience was another reason why I was extra careful and lucky I was or I would of bricked a R4BE, 3930K, Corsair Vengeance 1866, R9 280X, Rog Raidr and my new corsair AX860.

It was a bloody bad leak.

 

[Warchild]

hmm ive never bothered with extended leak tests. Maybe I'm too used to watercooling and I have started to get over confident. Usually I do a 10min test. Switch of and tilt the chassis to gather air bubbles then do another 10min run.

Karma will get me one day.

p.s. I hope you remembered to flush your radiators well before you installed everything.

 

[ctguy1955]

The only WC'ing I have ever done is a H100i, but tomorrow my new setup will arrive. Ive watched some youtube videos and hope I can do everything the correct way.

I will start out by pouring boiling hot distilled water into the RAD and shake it up
really well and keep doing so until the stuff I pour out is clear of crap.
I am hoping that I can just do everything on a test bench and not in my system
as I have a spare 650 psu ? So the only thing I wont be able to test is the in and out loop on my VII Formula MB, until the WC system in in place.

I bought a silver thing that screws into my res, and will just used boiled
distilled water in my setup.

Thanks for any advice ! Im a NEWB !!!

 

[shambles1980]

i dont know where this idea of boiling distilled water came from..
but if you insist on boling it do it in plastic/glass jug in the microwave.

once you put distilled water in to a metal container or heat it up with a plastic kettles heating eliment (also made of metal) its not distilled any more.

personally id clean out a copper rad with vinegar then rinse it thouroughly with tap water. then rinse that out with distilled water (if i was going to be overly exessive about it)

i would not put boiling water in to a loop.
seals and pumps wont like it and pipes are likley to become loose if your only using barbed fittings.

just put regular distilled water in the loop not boiled. and a kill coil or some pt nuke will stop growth so really is no need to boil the water for the loop.
again if you insist on using boiled water let it cool down 1st. and dont put it any where near anything where it can absorb minerals or metal

 

[ctguy1955]

Ive been running my new setup for 10 hours or so now, but will leave it on all night. Tomorrow I will install but I have to change one fitting on the cpu heatsink to a
90 degree. I will take the gpu' s out of the system and run it for a few more hours just to be sure about the one fitting.

I had been running the system and it was about 76 degrees in the room
and the pump was heating up the res and it all felt very warm to the touch.
I got a small fan and ran it through the rad, and low and behold, it all worked
great and became cold to the touch. WIth the two fans on the bottom of the rad
and the one large fan on top pulling, it should make a nice temp difference in
my system. Thank You so much for the great advice !!!

 

[Kushiro]

Not sure if I'm the only one, however I have always skipped the leak testing stage, too lazy

Though I use compression fittings and always make sure to do it properly and have never had a single leak.

 

[Xrqute]

Not sure if I'm the only one, however I have always skipped the leak testing stage, too lazy

Though I use compression fittings and always make sure to do it properly and have never had a single leak.

As I said I lost an AX1200i to a faulty compression fitting that I thought was done up properly but it jammed half way down. It's not so bad if you're using EK coolant or similar as its non-conductive. I've swapped to EK just because of that reason.

The only WC'ing I have ever done is a H100i, but tomorrow my new setup will arrive. Ive watched some youtube videos and hope I can do everything the correct way.

I will start out by pouring boiling hot distilled water into the RAD and shake it up
really well and keep doing so until the stuff I pour out is clear of crap.
I am hoping that I can just do everything on a test bench and not in my system
as I have a spare 650 psu ? So the only thing I wont be able to test is the in and out loop on my VII Formula MB, until the WC system in in place.

I bought a silver thing that screws into my res, and will just used boiled
distilled water in my setup.

Thanks for any advice ! Im a NEWB !!!

DON'T BOIL THE DISTILLED WATER!!! all you're going to do is contaminate it. It being distilled means it's already been purified and is good to go.

 

[shambles1980]

distilled water is non conductive. but nothing stays non conductive in your loop for long any way..
it picks up minerals and metals as it goes round "that is what makes water conductive"

non conductive coolant is just a bit of a gimik. and wont be non conductive 6 months down the line any way.


As for leak tests..
i dont do them for long.. maybe 10-15 mins or so (never timed it)
Mainly checking the fittings and components.
i learnt a long time ago that if you cut the pipes as flush as possible even barbs with out compression or cable ties/clips wont leak.
But its a good idea to tie them up a bit regardless because of heat expantion and the pvc getting more flexible over time.
and if you hack your tubes so the ends are at stupid angles with jagged edges then the best compression fittings in the world wont stop it leaking.

 

[Xrqute]

distilled water is non conductive. but nothing stays non conductive in your loop for long any way..
it picks up minerals and metals as it goes round "that is what makes water conductive"

non conductive coolant is just a bit of a gimik. and wont be non conductive 6 months down the line any way.


As for leak tests..
i dont do them for long.. maybe 10-15 mins or so (never timed it)
Mainly checking the fittings and components.
i learnt a long time ago that if you cut the pipes as flush as possible even barbs with out compression or cable ties/clips wont leak.
But its a good idea to tie them up a bit regardless because of heat expantion and the pvc getting more flexible over time.
and if you hack your tubes so the ends are at stupid angles with jagged edges then the best compression fittings in the world wont stop it leaking.

It being conductive a little bit down the track is fine with me. It's just those initial stages of the setup are where I want it non-conductive. At least for the first week until the PVC settles heating up cooling down etc does cause it to shift a little.

 

[Permafrost]

i almost killed my Corsair AX760 due to a leak on my xspc waterblock, i forgot to check the gpu fittings, i gou lucky and took the PSU apart and cleaned it up bye bye psu warranty.....might as will paint it...

 

[Xrqute]

i almost killed my Corsair AX760 due to a leak on my xspc waterblock, i forgot to check the gpu fittings, i gou lucky and took the PSU apart and cleaned it up bye bye psu warranty.....might as will paint it...

I was heart broken when my AX1200i went out with a bang! $400+ down the drain :-( plus the cost of a new supply.

 

[Permafrost]

oh sh*t i feel your pain mate

did it take out any of your other stuff?