Watercooling Virgin in Need of Help

[Deshman]

I finally decided to get off my arse and give watercooling a go so I went off to Specialtech and bought myself the 'Thermaltake VD4000BWS Kandalf LCS': link.

Being a watercooling noob with a 4 year old case that was getting too small for my components I decided it was probably best to buy an in-built system.

I followed the manual step for step, built the loop (Pump -> CPU Block -> Radiator Door -> Reservoir -> Pump) as short as possible and made sure the barbs were all as tight as possible to make sure there were no leaks.

Being my first time I decided it was probably best to do it with no equipment in.

Following the manual I filled the res with water, turned on the pump and kept on filling as the water level decreased. I put one entire bottle (500ml) of the provided coolant in the system which filled the res to max. I realised there were bubbles in the system that weren't moving and there seems to be no flow coming from the radiator to the res, the tube is clearly see through. When the pump is turned off the water flows back through the system and you can see it rising up the tube from the res. My only possible suggestion would be a blockage but being new I have no idea.

Does anyone know what the problem could be?

 

[WinMXer]

Hi.

Good to see someone getting wet for the first time, shame it's with a Thermaltake kit but we all have to live & learn the hard way. Have you given the system a good shake & turned it upside down & round about. Sounds like you have an airlock in one of your components. Giving the system a good old shake with fluid in usually gets the airlock out. It's also good that your testing it out without any hardware installed, always advisable regardless of whether it's your first time WC'ing or your 50th.

Do let us know how you get along.

 

[Deshman]

I'll give it a shake now (it weighs a tonne!) cheers. I was on a stiff budget so I had to go for a case and cooling combined for not too far from £150 with plenty of space. No doubt in the future I'll expand and improve if possible.

 

[Deshman]

Cheers man shaking it seemed to work, I put it on its back so the radiator was effectively flat then turned on the pump and water trickled into the res

I dropped it back flat and opened the res to let out any redundant air pressure and the res level droped so I topped it up with some liquid from the second bottle and tapped the tubes. It bubbled a lot and went a bit foamy with small bubbles but it all seemed to go back to the res and the tubes cleared

I now have no idea if the liquid is moving as I can't measure it by bubbles/sec but there's a nice whirring-whooshy noise so I'm guessing it is.

 

[PV5150]

Nice one. Yeah you'll hear the bubles getting smashed by the impeller for a little while. Just keep turning the case on its side and back for a bit and all the bubbles should make their way to the res eventually.

 

[WinMXer]

Glad you got it sorted mate. If you feel that you need to know that there's flow you could invest in a simple little flow meter that spins when there's flow.

The bubbles will eventually work their way back to the res & disappear, especially once heat is introduced into the loop. I usually prime the loop of bubbles by switching the pump on in repetitive short bursts which knocks most of the blighters free.

Just be sure to give your system the mandatory 24hr leak test before installing your expensive electronics. When I leak test I usually run the pump for 6 hours then leave it off for 6 hours & repeat that again. I have found in the past that some leaks won't usually present themselves until they are left to sit for a while.

 

[Deshman]

Yeah I left it on overnight and that seems to be what happened, it's not making the whooshy noise anymore and the tubes are even more clear. It's all glowing a nice luminous colour from the blue light.

I might give it a few hours on its side again just to see if there's anymore air trapped in the radiator (It's a big 360mm thing).

Cheers for the flowmeter WinMXer but I don't think I'm quite up to bleeding my system just to add it Would have been handy to know beforehand but I guess I can add one when I delve into the world of GPU blocks.

Would you recommend tightening the lugnuts with a spanner or would fingertight do?

 

[Mullet]

Lo Deshman...good to see a fellow countryman on the forum!

I tighten the barbs until they are hand tight then I nip them up a 1/4 of a turn with a small spanner.

 

[Deshman]

Lo Deshman...good to see a fellow countryman on the forum!

I tighten the barbs until they are hand tight then I nip them up a 1/4 of a turn with a small spanner.

Aye that was my idea of a plan, cheers.

I live in Cardiff but I'm not actually Welsh so I'm not sure if it counts

 

[Deshman]

Low quality cameraphone pic of the waterblock on the CPU:

More to come when I get a real camera

 

[duke]

looking good, i'll pop round and have a gander later on if i get my act together