Project Red Light District

[Surfie]

OK! I had an "Eureka!" moment last night while messing around with the rads in different positions.

It isn't a perfect solution. Not at all, but with my preferences, and options available, it is, in my opinion, the best of a bad lot.

What is the solution? Flip the top rad, and raise the res/pump.
After then looking set Fractals Mod corner, it seems that i am not the only one who came up with this solution to the problem.

Honestly, if i had the money/option i would go for a separate res and pump for this build. But i can't justify that right now, so i use what i have.

I will get it all done and the finished off today, i hope. Pictures to come.

I'm also debating on the long term fluid colour to use for this build. I'm leaning towards pastel blue to tie in with the marble, but i was originally looking as going red to contrast it. Let me know what you think!

 

[AlienALX]

Apparently those pastel coolants don't last very long. That is why I have avoided all of the Mayhem's stuff, because I have heard a few horror stories. Anything that says that it's not permanent and only for show worries me. That's also why I chose coloured hoses, because the only place you will see the fluid is the res and CPU block. So if it's manky I won't care

 

[Bartacus]

I'd vote for blue coolant, even though I'm kinda like Alien in that I haven't used pastel coolant. Only straight up distilled water + Dazmode protector. But i must try the colored stuff in the next build. It's too pretty not to try.

Glad you found a good solution Surfie!

 

[Surfie]

Apparently those pastel coolants don't last very long. That is why I have avoided all of the Mayhem's stuff, because I have heard a few horror stories. Anything that says that it's not permanent and only for show worries me. That's also why I chose coloured hoses, because the only place you will see the fluid is the res and CPU block. So if it's manky I won't care

I think you may be confused with aurora. That line id's for show only. The pastel (from my research anyway) is generally ok, but can go a nasty colour in some circumstances (both Jay and TTL have had well documented cases of this with mayhems pastel line). I don't know if it was the batches or something else that did it in those cases though.

My reading indicates that these issues are pretty rare though.

I'd vote for blue coolant, even though I'm kinda like Alien in that I haven't used pastel coolant. Only straight up distilled water + Dazmode protector. But i must try the colored stuff in the next build. It's too pretty not to try.

Glad you found a good solution Surfie!

I haven't either. Always been a distilled and colored tubes man myself. Although i did experiment with mayhems blood red dye and had no problem except staining. Gotta run some vinegar through to clean the rads and blocks (and wash the res), after that should be golden.

I do think that this build is too pretty not to try something new though.

Besides, if it does go nasty, i can always clean it all out and go back!

 

[AlienALX]

Most of the problems I have with pastels etc is that you never get to find out how long they actually last. People show loads of pics when they first build and put it in but never report back about its longevity.

The problem I could have had is that my blocks cost nothing haha. And they are described as "Copper + PMMA". When I did some research on that I found out that PMMA is a composite, and god only knows what's actually in there lol. Copper is an expensive commodity, so I was under no illsuions. The coolant I chose works with any metal, so I should be OK.

I would be very interested to hear about it long term though dude. I must say, I do love the way it swirls around etc.

 

[Surfie]

Most of the problems I have with pastels etc is that you never get to find out how long they actually last. People show loads of pics when they first build and put it in but never report back about its longevity.

The problem I could have had is that my blocks cost nothing haha. And they are described as "Copper + PMMA". When I did some research on that I found out that PMMA is a composite, and god only knows what's actually in there lol. Copper is an expensive commodity, so I was under no illsuions. The coolant I chose works with any metal, so I should be OK.

I would be very interested to hear about it long term though dude. I must say, I do love the way it swirls around etc.

Yeah, that last sentence confirms to me that you are thinking Off aurora. I'm not going with that. I've heard pig one story where the guy used it for 6 months, then his temps skyrocketed. All the beads in it had clogged his cpu.

Definitely NOT going down that line. I'm leaning towards eks ekoolant pastel line. It is supposed to be petg safe, and is a very pretty colour. I will report back in 6/12 months when i do the maintenance and let you know.

https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&bid=2&id2=254&sid=232124

 

[AlienALX]

Wicked cheers

 

[Surfie]

Alright... For those that don't know, the front rad started gushing water while ideas putting a mild vinegar solution through to clean the blocks/old fluid out (<10%). This then resulted in me not being able to do any more work o.k. the loop.

But fear not! Work has not halted! I tore down the entire set up, took the res apart and scrubbed it out with soap and hot water, and noticed that even this wasn't removing the staining from it....

Hmmmm.... Red dye really does stain. A lot.

So, i kept going with it. Got probably 95% out of it. So then Isis the same treatment with the cpu and gpu blocks.

Now I'm just waiting for the top rad to finish flushing so that everything is as clean as i can make it.

I also ordered a replacement front rad. Unfortunately my supplier doesn't offer cross flow rads, so I'm sticking the same as what had.

I have to do this, because I'm using blue pastel coolant in this build, so need to ditch the (non pastel) red from my last.

I was interested to note the color change in my test liquid. Went from clear to what looked like a dyed colour VERY quickly. Photos to come once my rig is working again...

 

[Warchild]

Apparently those pastel coolants don't last very long. That is why I have avoided all of the Mayhem's stuff, because I have heard a few horror stories. Anything that says that it's not permanent and only for show worries me. That's also why I chose coloured hoses, because the only place you will see the fluid is the res and CPU block. So if it's manky I won't care

I disagree on that to be honest. I have had my coolant in use for 2 years now. Hasn't lost any colouring. Pastel Green holds strong.

@ OP

I do hope you flushed your rads and system completely before adding new coolant. Its very easy to contaminate new liquid if you have even a small amount left over from previous.

 

[SuB]

My Pastel blue and orange both degraded into pretty nasty colours. I wouldn't touch that stuff again if you paid me I've seen the explanations and stuff and I'm afraid I just don't believe half of it, especially after running my own tests. It's extremely bad for the environment too, much like their cleaning kit that they tell you to just pour away, despite it being acid based...

Just screams shed chemistry to me...

Sticking with what I know from now on and using Feser coolant, love that stuff, had it in loops for 8 years and never had a single issue.

 

[Surfie]

I disagree on that to be honest. I have had my coolant in use for 2 years now. Hasn't lost any colouring. Pastel Green holds strong.

@ OP

I do hope you flushed your rads and system completely before adding new coolant. Its very easy to contaminate new liquid if you have even a small amount left over from previous.

Well, one rad is going to be brand new and uncontaminated. I've flushed the other rad a while heap of times, and the water coming out of that after vigorous shaking with hot water, is clear, ask it's about as clean as i can get it. I also cleaned out the cpu block with got water and dish washing detergent, ask that (along with res/pump) is also clean. It's just the gpu block now, and i need to buy a tool to open it, before i can clean it.

My Pastel blue and orange both degraded into pretty nasty colours. I wouldn't touch that stuff again if you paid me I've seen the explanations and stuff and I'm afraid I just don't believe half of it, especially after running my own tests. It's extremely bad for the environment too, much like their cleaning kit that they tell you to just pour away, despite it being acid based...

Just screams shed chemistry to me...

Sticking with what I know from now on and using Feser coolant, love that stuff, had it in loops for 8 years and never had a single issue.

And that's a fair enough point too. I'm at a stage where if it goes nasty, then I just rinse it All out and revert to the red dye that i had previously. But i gotta say, if the pastel holds, it will look awesome.

Sadly i can't use those premixed coolants, dye to the tubes i bought. If i had my time again, I'd probably go for acrylic, even though it is harder to bend.

 

[AlienALX]

My Pastel blue and orange both degraded into pretty nasty colours. I wouldn't touch that stuff again if you paid me I've seen the explanations and stuff and I'm afraid I just don't believe half of it, especially after running my own tests. It's extremely bad for the environment too, much like their cleaning kit that they tell you to just pour away, despite it being acid based...

Just screams shed chemistry to me...

Sticking with what I know from now on and using Feser coolant, love that stuff, had it in loops for 8 years and never had a single issue.

All of that ^. Distilled vinegar FTW.

 

[Surfie]

Still waiting on my new radiator to arrive. Been continuing my clean of the old blocks. I gotta say, I'm really surprised at how much dye the cpu block retained, compared to the gpu block.

The cpu block took about an hour to scrub clean (pro tip: hot water and dish soap clean mayhems red off pretty much everything REALLY well. Just gotta rinse it all out thoroughly). By comparison, despite the larger surface area, the gpu block was done in about 30 minutes (the disassembly/reassembly took a lot longer though).

The top rad was done in about the time i expected.

So i got a bit fidgity. Kept looking at the rad and at the case....then went off to the hardware store and bought myself a little something new. You'll see what it was soon enough....

I'm really pushing myself with this project. Never wrapped a case before this... Now done. Also not done what I'm doing to the rads before. Will be doing it as soon as the new rad arrives and has been flushed. Never used pastel coolant before (may never use it again), also checked off the list.

10 internet points to whoever can guess what I'll be doing to the ras. Bonus points if you can also guess what else I'm looking to do (i just need to find one bit....).

 

[AlienALX]

Keep it going man glad you are visiting the hardware store. I like to potter around on Ebay looking for ideas etc. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to. I had my flu jab today so dead arm and feeling tired FTL. Hopefully I will return to mine tomorrow as it's about 90% there now. Then all I need is the sun to behave

 

[Surfie]

Ok, so finally an update. Complete with pictures!!! But first, to attend to the quotes!

Keep it going man glad you are visiting the hardware store. I like to potter around on Ebay looking for ideas etc. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to. I had my flu jab today so dead arm and feeling tired FTL. Hopefully I will return to mine tomorrow as it's about 90% there now. Then all I need is the sun to behave

Thanks man. I've been watching your build log as well. Gotta say - it really inspired me to push myself for this one. I'm not sure that the results were worth it, but I can't say that I didn't try! I do think that it will be worth it though - at the end - when i'm looking back on it and remembering all the fun I've had doing it.

Unfortunately the build itself is NOT complete yet, but there is not too much left to do. Just need the new rad to arrive so I can give it "the treatment". That's what I bought at the hardware shop yesterday.... the treatment.

What? What do you mean you don't know what "the treatment" is. Well, let me explain it to you.

First, it's the traditional flushing of the radiator. I'm sure you are down with that one already, so i'm not showing you images of it.

Then, it's scuffing up the shroud, and applying some blanking material so that the next stage of the treatment doesn't mess it up entirely...

Then, it's the application of a thoroughly nice pastel blue to the entire thing. This one is not perfect, so I will need to re-scuff it and re-do it

Then, since I was painting anyway, I figured "meh, may as well paint the raystorm cover thingy"

I think, for both of these I might have been a little heavy handed in the spraying. Since it's my first time, i'll try not to be too hard on myself. I just gotta do better NEXT time.

Oh - and it seems that I attracted the attention of some locals....

That's where it is at tonight. I have leak tested the now reassembled blocks, and happily: no leaks after 3 hours of constant running. Better still, the liquid, when going in clear, did NOT end up like this:

I'd like to point out, that liquid above, it was NOT DYED. It started out as pure distilled water. It went that colour, with NO components generating heat. That is what decided me on scrubbing the blocks...

Check out how red the res was....

Anyway, I got to bending some tubes, and laying out my new runs. This was PRIOR to the complete teardown... I will be posting updated photos with the bulk of the items in the rig tomorrow.

Tube 1 & 2:

Tube 3 & 4:

Tube 5 - the horrible, horrible tube...

I'd just like to point out, the photos look worse than it actually is - I can't take a good square on shot to save my life!

Anyway, that is it from me tonight.

Catch you on the rebound!

 

[AlienALX]

Noice. Just remember, mod everything, then mod it again, then you are done

 

[Surfie]

Noice. Just remember, mod everything, then mod it again, then you are done

Ha. Not too many things in this build haven't been modded...

Soon the build will be done....

 

[Warchild]

Well, one rad is going to be brand new and uncontaminated. I've flushed the other rad a while heap of times,

You need to flush the new one too very thoroughly or you may contaminate your loop with Flux. Even EK who claimed their new Coolstream rads were flux free needed flushing as I found particles and other contaminants in there when I flushed them into a filter.

 

[Surfie]

You need to flush the new one too very thoroughly or you may contaminate your loop with Flux. Even EK who claimed their new Coolstream rads were flux free needed flushing as I found particles and other contaminants in there when I flushed them into a filter.

I wasn't suggesting that normal radiator flushing was not going to be needed.... Simply saying that it would not be contaminated by dye

But you are right. It will need a good flushing. It's an alphacool, and they are notorious for being full of rubbish.

Anyway, I've been a busy little beaver since i got home. Second coat of paint onto the cpu cover thingy:

second coat onto the old rad:

Then i started this:

Yet another mod. I thought about painting the other fans, but they aren't really going to be visible.

Now, VERY early in the process, I mentioned that there was going to be a roof mod. While I did cut a hole or two into the roof, that was not what I was referring to. THIS is what I was referring to (well, this and another piece or two):

Finally, look how clean the water is!

That was taken this morning, after leaving the DI water in the res/pump, cpu, gpu loop all night.

I think it's safe to say that it is clean. Not sure yet exactly HOW clean (i.e. will more come out when I do an acid wash with vinegar)?

 

[Surfie]

Aaaaaaand i've got even more done...

Finally completed that roof mod. Just gotta bolt it in place:

And then came the PSU cover. I was contemplating going full length, but the moulding of the MB tray towards the front of the case quickly dissuaded me from THAT idea:

And the both mods together (along with a toaster, a kettle, and some screws):