Scoob
New member
Hi,
As some of you know I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to water cooling. I’ve helped friends build water loops to their own specs, helping assemble blocks etc, but I’m yet to do a build for myself. With this in mind I have a couple of fairly basic questions, based on my observations:
Res location:
How can a system ever effectively bleed its self if the res isn’t at the highest point in the loop? I mean, air rises in water right? So surely we’d want the escape route for that air to be at the highest point. Isn’t there a danger with the res at the bottom that air will never find its way completely out of a top mounted rad say? This effectively reducing cooling performance of course.
How about bay res’s - which I like incidentally and one is on my list for WC parts. Even with the bay being higher up, a rad in the top of the case is higher still and so potentially a problem too? A particularly stubborn air-lock/bubble in a rad won’t be displaced without almost inverting the rig surely? Something that might prove somewhat tricky – my non-water-cooled case is pretty weighty as it is!
Filling a system for the first time:
Linked to the above, here’s a concern I have. WC Pumps are designed to pump water, not a surprise. However when filling a system with the res/pump at the bottom – like in one of Toms beginners videos – the system isn’t full of fluid when the pump starts first time. Now, we see in the vid that tom keeps the res topped up so the pump is never sucking air, which is good. However as the system isn’t full of water isn’t it likely that the pump doesn’t have to work so hard? I.e. it’s moving some water but mostly displacing air from elsewhere in the loop until the loop is near full.
With the pump not having to work quite so hard (less resistance) the impeller will surely spin faster, drawing more current for the given voltage rating of the pump – voltage that remains constant of course. Couldn’t too much current at this early stage potentially shorten the life of the pump in theory, or worst case cause it to go pop?
To me, again I remind you I’m new to this, it’s seems logical almost that you’d want your res or res/pump combo to be at the highest point in the loop to allow air to bleed more naturally. Being at the highest point would aid initial filling and having a near-full loop (just letting gravity do its thing) before turning the pump on the first time would be very pump-friendly.
Now, like anyone, I’d like to build a loop that is both effective at cooling and looks neat and tidy. How much is res/pump placement anywhere other than the very top of the case a compromise regards effectiveness overall? Also, how much trouble can it potentially be filling and getting air out when the res is elsewhere?
One more time, to hopefully prevent any flaming, I’m NEW to watercooling and these are things that are on my mind. I’ve seen lots of fantastic builds on this site that seem to totally negate what I (as a noob remember) would consider sensible rules to avoid possible issues.
So, my question, why aren’t the points I’ve raised considered much of an issue? I have some theories of my own but would rather not second-guess anything at this time. I’m here to learn, so if some of what I’ve assumed or been pondering is rubbish then I’d like to know – though I’d also like to know why
I want to build my loops right and sometimes there is so much conflicting information out there!
Cheers,
Scoob.
As some of you know I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to water cooling. I’ve helped friends build water loops to their own specs, helping assemble blocks etc, but I’m yet to do a build for myself. With this in mind I have a couple of fairly basic questions, based on my observations:
Res location:
How can a system ever effectively bleed its self if the res isn’t at the highest point in the loop? I mean, air rises in water right? So surely we’d want the escape route for that air to be at the highest point. Isn’t there a danger with the res at the bottom that air will never find its way completely out of a top mounted rad say? This effectively reducing cooling performance of course.
How about bay res’s - which I like incidentally and one is on my list for WC parts. Even with the bay being higher up, a rad in the top of the case is higher still and so potentially a problem too? A particularly stubborn air-lock/bubble in a rad won’t be displaced without almost inverting the rig surely? Something that might prove somewhat tricky – my non-water-cooled case is pretty weighty as it is!
Filling a system for the first time:
Linked to the above, here’s a concern I have. WC Pumps are designed to pump water, not a surprise. However when filling a system with the res/pump at the bottom – like in one of Toms beginners videos – the system isn’t full of fluid when the pump starts first time. Now, we see in the vid that tom keeps the res topped up so the pump is never sucking air, which is good. However as the system isn’t full of water isn’t it likely that the pump doesn’t have to work so hard? I.e. it’s moving some water but mostly displacing air from elsewhere in the loop until the loop is near full.
With the pump not having to work quite so hard (less resistance) the impeller will surely spin faster, drawing more current for the given voltage rating of the pump – voltage that remains constant of course. Couldn’t too much current at this early stage potentially shorten the life of the pump in theory, or worst case cause it to go pop?
To me, again I remind you I’m new to this, it’s seems logical almost that you’d want your res or res/pump combo to be at the highest point in the loop to allow air to bleed more naturally. Being at the highest point would aid initial filling and having a near-full loop (just letting gravity do its thing) before turning the pump on the first time would be very pump-friendly.
Now, like anyone, I’d like to build a loop that is both effective at cooling and looks neat and tidy. How much is res/pump placement anywhere other than the very top of the case a compromise regards effectiveness overall? Also, how much trouble can it potentially be filling and getting air out when the res is elsewhere?
One more time, to hopefully prevent any flaming, I’m NEW to watercooling and these are things that are on my mind. I’ve seen lots of fantastic builds on this site that seem to totally negate what I (as a noob remember) would consider sensible rules to avoid possible issues.
So, my question, why aren’t the points I’ve raised considered much of an issue? I have some theories of my own but would rather not second-guess anything at this time. I’m here to learn, so if some of what I’ve assumed or been pondering is rubbish then I’d like to know – though I’d also like to know why
I want to build my loops right and sometimes there is so much conflicting information out there!
Cheers,
Scoob.
