Before I have contact with water...

[Th0rn0]

I need to know a few things. I'm about to embark on a quest to liquid cool my PC. Been building PCs for years so I am computer savy.

My main conserns are:
What is the best way to test for leaks and then install it? I mean, I may be putting tubes throw holes in my case which I obiviously wont be able to 'test' on the outside of my case for leaks.

Is non conductive coolant worth it? I was looking at the coolants and I was non conductive. What is the major differences (apart from the conductive and non conductive).

And finally, how do you bleed the system completely? I know I wont have to do this often but just as a FYI thing as you never know

 

[Thrackan]

1: test drive your loop using another PSU. You can do that while its inside the case.
2: use distilled water. cools best and is dirt cheap. you can use color additives if you want. use anti-corrosion stuff ONLY when you mix copper/aluminum in 1 loop.
3. physics my friend bubbles float. Keep your reservoir or anything with a bleeding valve at the top of your loop until it's bled out.

 

[Asylum]

He pretty much covered it there.
But i think he ment to say you can test your setup outside the case to see if you have any leaks.
Just put it together outside your case and hook it up to your PSU and see if they are any problems before you install it!

 

[Thrackan]

He pretty much covered it there.
But i think he ment to say you can test your setup outside the case to see if you have any leaks.
Just put it together outside your case and hook it up to your PSU and see if they are any problems before you install it!

No, I meant inside, because that will eliminate any chance of leaks through disassembling/assembling.
Just make sure you only plug in the pump when you test inside. A little spilled water on components that aren't running won't hurt.

For best results, take a seperate PSU, unplug the system's PSU, cover up some stuff like the video card with paper towels and have a go. That way you'll be sure there's no power running in the system (like USB headers and stuff).

Oh, and stay away from Fesers color additives. They tend to leave small amounts of weird residu in your blocks.

 

[Th0rn0]

Thanks for the advice!!

When I said bleed I actually went empty the loop of all liquid. I guess you take all the parts out and just unhook it.

And I'm still tempted to get non conductive coolant over anything espically seen as its my first loop.

 

[Thrackan]

Distilled water has very low conductivity since it doesn't have the minerals in it that normal water has. There is no such thing as totally non-conductive coolant.

And about draining: it's an art really, I've seen tons of solutions but I just cover some parts with a towel and pull a hose off. Couple of drops spilled at most (unless you count the times I was doing something stupid).

 

[Icewind31]

Thanks for the advice!!

When I said bleed I actually went empty the loop of all liquid. I guess you take all the parts out and just unhook it.

And I'm still tempted to get non conductive coolant over anything espically seen as its my first loop.

Best way to test for leaks inside case and for safety,

Like what others have said, jumper the PSU basically only plug in the pump to the PSU then jump the Green and any black wire on the 20/24pin motherboard connector (you can then use the hard switch on the back of the PSU to turn on/off)

Wrap tissues around all your fittings, not only will it be easy to see if it's leaking, it also helps prevent as much from dripping on your compenents as possible.

If you spill any on components clean w/ rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball/swab.

A coolant may be "non-conductive" but once it comes into contact w/ dust and other particles it will become conductive.

If you want to mix, get some distilled water and some pentosin and anti-biocide, (the ones available from petra works great).

If you want color, the best way is the pre-mixed stuff from Feser, I've used dyes in the past and they contain too many particles that choke your pump.

Good luck!

 

[Icewind31]

If you wanted to drain, a great way is to put a T right after your pump then have a quick-disconnect value connected to it, then when you need to drain, just plug in the other end of the quick-dis, open the plug in your res, and then it'll pump it all out. The koolance ones work great.