Is it safe to transport a watercooled system?

[Asperatis]

Hi all!

I have a question about the safety of transporting a watercooled system by car.

My work is 125km from my home, so I stay in a room there close to it during the week. My rig Is supposed to get installed in that room, so I can use it during the week when I get back from work.

Now I have some doubt about the rigidity of a system with a custom hard line acrylic loop in it. I'm not sure if it is entirely safe to put it in my car (well packed ofc) and transport it just like it is right now (1.30Hr drive), or if I have to drain the loop for safety measures, in case the box gets a bump and a tube or fitting creates a leak.

My guess is that it is pretty safe to do, but I might just drain it just to be sure. If so, I should probably leak test it again first too, right?

Asper

 

[Kushiro]

Well I would recommend that you drain the loop prior to transport, as its not the inconvenient in comparison to having to clean up a mess and waiting for the components to dry.

That said, it would be safe to transport the system with the coolant still in the loop, as it wouldnt crumble due to a minor bump.

Also going to be lighter depending on how much coolant the loop contains

 

[Excalabur50]

Well I would recommend that you drain the loop prior to transport, as its not the inconvenient in comparison to having to clean up a mess and waiting for the components to dry.

That said, it would be safe to transport the system with the coolant still in the loop, as it wouldnt crumble due to a minor bump.

Also going to be lighter depending on how much coolant the loop contains

Having never watercooled myself, what Newbie_NS810 said sounds like perfectly good sense to me, if the thing leaks you are in a world of trouble

 

[Tolemac]

loads of foam around it if you would want to transport it with the liquid in otherwise "safe route" dude

 

[Remmy]

I've driven with mine in the car ~10 times in the past 2 years, ~150km each time, and not had a problem. My loop has regular tubing and compression fittings though, I don't know how sturdy the rigid acrylic fittings are. If they're not that secure just drain it first.

 

[Tolemac]

#When in doubt flush it out

 

[Kaapstad]

I use regular tubing so I cannot speak from experience.

I think though with rigid tubing it may be a good idea to drain and remove the tubing for the journey. If you hit a bump and it cracks the tubing you don't want to find it leaking when filled with coolant.

 

[Asperatis]

I'll take the safe route and drain it prior to transport. With a bit of luck some gunk might come out too after a good week of liquid flowing through the system. You never know, even when you've danced with the rads a lot like I did

Thanks for the tips guys, appreciated ^_^

 

[NeverBackDown]

Just make sure to stuff it like crazy with foam and support the rigid tubing as much as possible so it helps ease the force onto them to prevent cracking during bumps