How to refill an Alphacool Eiswolf?

[tolagarf]

Yeah so I'm asking this question here, as I wasn't sure if it was proper to place this question in the Aquatuning support forum, even though it looks like Alphacool and Aquatuning either is the same company, or owned by the same parent company.

So I have this Eiswolf unit which has been deemed semi-defect by Alphacool's support staff since it was one of very few early sold units that wasn't properly filled with fluids, which causes the pump to run dry at times. However it's been two weeks now and nothing seems to get resolved. The support guy is really slow with his replies, and keeps asking me if I managed to refill the unit, but doesn't explain how to do it. Problem is there's no fill port anywhere. So what does one do in this situation?

Then he asked me the return the unit to Alphacool, but when I asked about them refunding my shipment costs he kinda went silent. Looking at this page, it seems to indicate that Alphacool does not offer shipment costs returns even for defect products. I'm not sure if I'm reading that wrong, but I sure ain't gonna spend 31 (GLS) Euros sending it back, which is the cheapest possible way for me .

 

[AlienALX]

GPU or CPU dude?

Edit stupid Google. OK so I am assuming you have the Eiswolf GPU cooler yes? After doing some looking and watching German videos it seems that the way to fill it would be through the QDC. I would imagine you pull one off, insert some sort of device into it then pump the coolant in by hand.

So you have three options.

1. Send it back and pay the honking postage cost.
2. Work out how the QDC works and get a squirty bottle and add some coolant.
3. Add a reservoir to the loop and fill it using that.

 

[tolagarf]

GPU or CPU dude?

Eiswolf is a GPU AIO

 

[AlienALX]

See amended post

 

[tolagarf]

GPU or CPU dude?

Edit stupid Google. OK so I am assuming you have the Eiswolf GPU cooler yes? After doing some looking and watching German videos it seems that the way to fill it would be through the QDC. I would imagine you pull one off, insert some sort of device into it then pump the coolant in by hand.

So you have three options.

1. Send it back and pay the honking postage cost.
2. Work out how the QDC works and get a squirty bottle and add some coolant.
3. Add a reservoir to the loop and fill it using that.

Hehe yeah that's basically what I was thinking as well, but I wasn't sure if there was some kind of fill port on the obscured side of the pump (where it's installed onto the heat sink). Didn't want to remove it since I would have to redo the thermal paste. And the QDC option would require an extra set of QDC to fill it, so we're back at costing money again. Third option is kinda the same as the second.

Guess I might just have to send it back and hope they will refund some of the shipment cost.

 

[AlienALX]

Water cooling costs money dude. It really does. The companies that make the stuff have made sure to break every single thing down into single parts and then charge stupid money for them !

For example yeah a ball valve. Instead of making it with fittings on either side for a hose they just make it G 1/4. So then you have to buy two more fittings in order to use it. It's the same with anything else. Hardly any companies made 90' parts with fittings on each end they all make them G 1/4 so just to turn a corner you need to spend about £20 on fittings FFS.

It's all very, very crafty.

 

[tolagarf]

Water cooling costs money dude. It really does. The companies that make the stuff have made sure to break every single thing down into single parts and then charge stupid money for them !

For example yeah a ball valve. Instead of making it with fittings on either side for a hose they just make it G 1/4. So then you have to buy two more fittings in order to use it. It's the same with anything else. Hardly any companies made 90' parts with fittings on each end they all make them G 1/4 so just to turn a corner you need to spend about £20 on fittings FFS.

It's all very, very crafty.

Actually Alphacool make some nice 90 degree angled fittings with included compression fitting on one end. But yes water cooling is expensive, I know this very well. Already had 2 x Swiftech H240-X that broke, and one H140-X with a screaming pump + all the loose stuff. Think I've spend about 1000£ by now in water cooling and I ended up selling all the parts in the end, because things just broke or didn't turn out as planned.

However water cooling is like cocaine... Once you start you can't stop!

 

[Warchild]

Yeah so I'm asking this question here, as I wasn't sure if it was proper to place this question in the Aquatuning support forum, even though it looks like Alphacool and Aquatuning either is the same company, or owned by the same parent company.

So I have this Eiswolf unit which has been deemed semi-defect by Alphacool's support staff since it was one of very few early sold units that wasn't properly filled with fluids, which causes the pump to run dry at times. However it's been two weeks now and nothing seems to get resolved. The support guy is really slow with his replies, and keeps asking me if I managed to refill the unit, but doesn't explain how to do it. Problem is there's no fill port anywhere. So what does one do in this situation?

Then he asked me the return the unit to Alphacool, but when I asked about them refunding my shipment costs he kinda went silent. Looking at this page, it seems to indicate that Alphacool does not offer shipment costs returns even for defect products. I'm not sure if I'm reading that wrong, but I sure ain't gonna spend 31 (GLS) Euros sending it back, which is the cheapest possible way for me .

I had the same problem. Their support is not very good to be honest. When I bought from their Norwegian site I asked them about import tax. They said there isnt. Funnily when my order came in (which was dispatched from Germany) I was hit with a 500nok tax. They went silent on that one too.

It took some time for them to answer. A guy named Andreas Walter helped me out eventually. Ill send his email in PM. You can see if he will help you out.

 

[AlienALX]

Actually Alphacool make some nice 90 degree angled fittings with included compression fitting on one end. But yes water cooling is expensive, I know this very well. Already had 2 x Swiftech H240-X that broke, and one H140-X with a screaming pump + all the loose stuff. Think I've spend about 1000£ by now in water cooling and I ended up selling all the parts in the end, because things just broke or didn't turn out as planned.

However water cooling is like cocaine... Once you start you can't stop!

TBH for what they cost I was not sold on Alphacool's stuff. I was right to avoid it too, because some of it was just basic OEM, the same cheap rubbish that Phobya sell.

The chrome finish on them was awful (pitted and not smooth due to the cheap metal it was on) and so on. Even their black fittings were just like matt black and the logo wasn't even on straight.

Not something I fancied paying £8 each for put it that way.

And yeah, total nose candy. I had never water cooled a rig before but then did two in quick succession. Mostly because I did not buy enough fittings for the first loop so ordered a whole pile of fittings lol. I then had a res, fittings and a Dr Drop so I figured sod it, will water cool a second rig.

By then I had learned quite a lot and with 19mm fittings dying out I managed to pick up some bargains on Monsoon Chainguns and built a 240 loop for my CPU for £120 or so.

But yeah, one thing water coolers usually always hide is how much it actually cost them. Those guys who use nothing but Bitspower? you are looking at £350+ on fittings alone. Pumps are expensive as hell (about £50 for a branded model) and so on.

But aye, she's an addictive beast alright. Thankfully when I finished my second loop I had only a few 45' fittings and some 90p jobbies lying around so had no reason to do another one. Phew !

Edit. I would need to check but I should have enough 19mm black hose and fittings for you to be able to add a res without buying anything else? gratis (free) of course. It will save you £30 or so.

 

[tolagarf]

Man don't even get me started on EKWB's 45 and 90 degree angled fittings. Those leak like a mother...... I'm so done with that crap that I decided next time I'll buy Bitspower because those are hands down the best on the market. EK's compression fittings are just fine though, but Alphacool's are very rough in the thread.

But besides that I actually do like the design of the Alphacool heat sink on the Eiswolf unit. It's actually high quality and the fact they went through some design changes to hide the PCB I really appreciate. Nothing's worse than an ugly PCB sticking out like crayon

 

[AlienALX]

Monsoon do bloody good 45'. I've got four left over haha.

 

[Warchild]

Man don't even get me started on EKWB's 45 and 90 degree angled fittings. Those leak like a mother...... I'm so done with that crap that I decided next time I'll buy Bitspower because those are hands down the best on the market. EK's compression fittings are just fine though, but Alphacool's are very rough in the thread.

But besides that I actually do like the design of the Alphacool heat sink on the Eiswolf unit. It's actually high quality and the fact they went through some design changes to hide the PCB I really appreciate. Nothing's worse than an ugly PCB sticking out like crayon

Perhaps you buy your fittings from the same source who are selling a bad batch?

I have used countless EK rotation fittings, lets say approx 50-60 over time and only had to return 2 from a leaking seal at the rotation part. I've returned more bitspower fittings to my local store than I have EK variants I just choose BP because of that deluxe white finish.

 

[tolagarf]

Perhaps you buy your fittings from the same source who are selling a bad batch?

I have used countless EK rotation fittings, lets say approx 50-60 over time and only had to return 2 from a leaking seal at the rotation part. I've returned more bitspower fittings to my local store than I have EK variants I just choose BP because of that deluxe white finish.

I bought most of mine from Coolerkit.com, but that was nearly two years ago. Last I got some from EK directly which were so tight in the seal, that turning them would be a sure bet they'll leak sooner than later. I complained about it and they send me some new ones, free of charge (that was nice of them of course), however they had the same flaw lol. Decided to just get rid of it in the end *sigh*

Edit: Decided to send the unit back to Germany for repair, and in hindsight I completely forgot that I have a bay reservoir I could have used to fix the air problem in the unit. All I needed would be a pair of hoses with fittings and QDC attached, which Alphacool is already selling separately... DOH!