Need help with first water loop

[Pachuca]

 

On 12/24/2017 at 1:14 PM, Mick Naughty said:

What plastic pieces did it come with to fill wholes? Also did you over tighten the base?

here is what came with the res. I have more pieces, but this is to give an idea of what i'm using. The nickle piece is an extender and the black plastic piece is what I used to cover the res, that's where I found it leaking. 

[Pachuca]

I think I solved the problem. The leak happened at the bottom of the res, you can see it in the pics. I removed those plastic stoppers and replaced them with the same plastic stoppers that I was using in other parts of the system. I think I messed up when screwing them in as you can see in the pictures they are torn up because I was using a screw driver. Also, they are kind of bulging out in the pictures. I didn't realize a quarter would do the job without messing them up like this. After replacing and using a quarter to screw them in they are no longer bulging out. Now the system is filled with water and pump is running. It's been an hour + and so far no leaks. Is there something I can get to replace these plastic pieces? I don't feel comfortable using them anymore.

[For Science!]

@Pachuca, Wow you really shredded those stop plugs....Honestly I would just use those plastic ones since they are fit for purpose. However if you can something else just make sure that the outer rim is slim enough to actually go into the recess and seal via the O-ring. Otherwise the same leak would happen.

 

I think EKs screw filtting stop plugs work. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-plug-g1-4

[Pachuca]

Thanks for all your help guys. I have one more question, how much EK Cryofuel should I put into the system? It says 1:9 ratio, but I didn't exactly measure how much water I put in there. Is too much of this stuff in a loop not good? It seems like using a kill coil would be so much easier than worrying about how much cryofuel to use and when to refill it. Does a kill coil work to prevent algae growth too?

[Mick Naughty]

You can't use a coil now and it's not worth it. You prolly have a more then 900ml so dump the whole thing in there. That is the easier method over a coil aside from getting premixed which is what I do now. 

[Pachuca]

5 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

You can't use a coil now and it's not worth it. You prolly have a more then 900ml so dump the whole thing in there. That is the easier method over a coil aside from getting premixed which is what I do now. 

I was thinking that too, but I heard some negatives about premixed fluids that they could build up residue forcing you to replace your parts altogether  and some of them actually cause corrosion. Idk how much of this is true and how much is rumor, but the consensus seems that distilled water + cryofuel is the way to go. What's you're experience been like with the premixed stuff?

[For Science!]

15 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

Thanks for all your help guys. I have one more question, how much EK Cryofuel should I put into the system? It says 1:9 ratio, but I didn't exactly measure how much water I put in there. Is too much of this stuff in a loop not good? It seems like using a kill coil would be so much easier than worrying about how much cryofuel to use and when to refill it. Does a kill coil work to prevent algae growth too?

Kill coil is a bad idea. it does not have any anti corrosive properties and is another metal go be considered for galvanic corrosion.

 

Either just guestimate and put in a bit more the you need. it does not have to be super accurate.

[Pachuca]

5 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

You can't use a coil now and it's not worth it. You prolly have a more then 900ml so dump the whole thing in there. That is the easier method over a coil aside from getting premixed which is what I do now. 

Thanks, that answers my question. It can't hurt to put more of the cyrofuel in. I'll probably use 1/2 or 1/3 because the distilled water bottle was 1L and I used half of it so far which is about 500mL. I disposed of most of the water from that amount while testing for leaks anyway so I would guess there is about 350-400mL in the loop now. 

[Mick Naughty]

So what rads did you end up going with? 

2 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

Thanks, that answers my question. It can't hurt to put more of the cyrofuel in. I'll probably use 1/4 because the distilled water bottle was 1L and I used half of it so far which is about 500mL. I disposed of most of the water from that amount while testing for leaks anyway so I would guess there is about 350-400mL in the loop now. 

 

[Pachuca]

5 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

So what rads did you end up going with? 

 

EK-CoolStream CE 420 (Triple) and EK-CoolStream SE 420 (Slim Triple)

[Pachuca]

5 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

So what rads did you end up going with? 

 

oh I see why you're asking this... I made a mistake. The water bottle is 1Gal not 1L so it's about 3.78L. I checked the capacity of the rads/res and it's about 370mL on the triple and I guess about half that on the slim triple and the res is 250mL. So 370 + (370/2) + 250 = 805mL. Guess I'll have to order more. I'll get the premixed stuff as well for next time. Do the premixed liquids expire quickly or do they last for years when in storage?

[Mick Naughty]

Not sure how long anything lasts. I know my rigs took over a liter each. So you if you're around 800/900ml of water then dump the whole ek thing in, make room for it if you need to. This is why I used premixed as I don't know how much I need and I don't wonna mix two bottles unless I wanted pastel. 

[Pachuca]

Update: New problem. Looks like the thermosphere isn't making contact with the gpu. I have a 1080 ti... what to do? 

[W-L]

44 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

Update: New problem. Looks like the thermosphere isn't making contact with the gpu. I have a 1080 ti... what to do? 

I must have missed out what was earlier but why are you using a thermosphere and not a full cover block? 

[Pachuca]

5 hours ago, W-L said:

I must have missed out what was earlier but why are you using a thermosphere and not a full cover block? 

all the blocks for my card are sold out. I haven't seen new stock in almost 3 weeks. Here's a link to my card https://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1080-ti-32-140444.htm

[W-L]

30 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

all the blocks for my card are sold out. I haven't seen new stock in almost 3 weeks. Here's a link to my card https://www.ncix.com/detail/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1080-ti-32-140444.htm

Hmm it seems they don't plan to make one for the block, Phanteks might have one I know they make some obscure blocks. Getting back to to topic at hand however, for the thermosphere you need to make sure the correct mounting plate and stand offs are used for your series of cards. 

 

@EK Luc @EK_Derick Should be able to help with that, it seems the standard mounting for the block is compatible with the series of cards listed below but not too sure about the 10XX series. 

Quote

• Ready for use with modern NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 900, 700 and 600 series graphics cards. To use this product with other graphics cards it is mandatory to purchase additional mounting plates!

 

Edited December 25, 2017 by W-L

[Pachuca]

2 hours ago, W-L said:

Hmm it seems they don't plan to make one for the block, Phanteks might have one I know they make some obscure blocks. Getting back to to topic at hand however, for the thermosphere you need to make sure the correct mounting plate and stand offs are used for your series of cards. 

 

@EK Luc @EK_Derick Should be able to help with that, it seems the standard mounting for the block is compatible with the series of cards listed below but not too sure about the 10XX series. 

 

Thank you, that worked. I fixed it, I had the wrong standoffs on there. It was like a really tiny amount .1 mm higher and the block and card didn't make contact until i switched them. 

[Pachuca]

Here's the final build:

 

Also, I noticed a weird blueish residue in the cpu block. I took some pics, but it's hard to see. Is this anything to be worried about?

[For Science!]

20 minutes ago, Pachuca said:

Here's the final build:

 

Also, I noticed a weird blueish residue in the cpu block. I took some pics, but it's hard to see. Is this anything to be worried about?

Did you pre-wash your radiators? Could be flux.

 

Another few comments:

Your loop flow is in reverse order. I believe the inlet for the heatkiller block is in the middle. Currently your flow goes in the "wrong way" for the CPU block.

 

Your drain port is only capable of draining the reservoir and draining will be annoying with substantial tilting and or compresed air. i would move the drain port to the vertical radiator.

[Pachuca]

31 minutes ago, For Science! said:

Did you pre-wash your radiators? Could be flux.

 

Another few comments:

Your loop flow is in reverse order. I believe the inlet for the heatkiller block is in the middle. Currently your flow goes in the "wrong way" for the CPU block.

 

Your drain port is only capable of draining the reservoir and draining will be annoying with substantial tilting and or compresed air. i would move the drain port to the vertical radiator.

I cleaned the radiator out with tap water. Does the reverse order on the cpu block have a big impact on things? I thought it could go either way.

[W-L]

1 hour ago, Pachuca said:

I cleaned the radiator out with tap water. Does the reverse order on the cpu block have a big impact on things? I thought it could go either way.

It can affect performance a few degrees as your pushing water backwards through the jet plate. Just something I wanted to mention but for the drain portion ideally you don't want to have a length of tubing like that as it leaves the loop with an area with stagnant fluid. It's best to have the valve right up the the res with say an angled adapter and then when you need to drain it to attach a short length of tube out of the case. 

[Pachuca]

how often do you guys change things in the loop in terms of maintenance. For example how often should the water be changed or how often are fittings and tubes replaced. 

[W-L]

Just now, Pachuca said:

how often do you guys change things in the loop in terms of maintenance. For example how often should the water be changed or how often are fittings and tubes replaced. 

The fluid usually can last between 6-12 months and depending on the situation if you see build up the loop may require a tear down for cleaning and flushing. For tubing if you notice it becoming stiff or discoloring it's best to change it during when you do a fluid change at the same time, usually I don't run soft tube for more than a single maintenance cycle. 

 

Fittings don't need replacing but orings and seals are the most important if there are any that are stiff or not as plyable they should be replaced. 

[Pachuca]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

It can affect performance a few degrees as your pushing water backwards through the jet plate. Just something I wanted to mention but for the drain portion ideally you don't want to have a length of tubing like that as it leaves the loop with an area with stagnant fluid. It's best to have the valve right up the the res with say an angled adapter and then when you need to drain it to attach a short length of tube out of the case. 

Yeah I realized it after the fact. That tube is there for now, but I can just as easily remove the entire res and flip it upside down to start draining the system. I'll try to adjust it next time when I drain the system. I won't do it now because I already used up all my cryofuel and would need to re-order the supplies. What's your advise on mother board blocks for the x99 platform? From what I gather it would be mostly an aesthetics feature and does very little for performance. Please correct me if I'm wrong.  

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Pachuca said:

Yeah I realized it after the fact. That tube is there for now, but I can just as easily remove the entire res and flip it upside down to start draining the system. I'll try to adjust it next time when I drain the system. I won't do it now because I already used up all my cryofuel and would need to re-order the supplies. What's your advise on mother board blocks for the x99 platform? From what I gather it would be mostly an aesthetics feature and does very little for performance. Please correct me if I'm wrong.  

Motherboard blocks can help a little with VRM temps as those are the hottest components but you get little to no performance gain as that board does have fairly decent heatsinking. As it's an X99 board your going to need to look for old new stock or used blocks for that platform if you want to go that route.