Draining & flushing a small form factor waterloop

[Call_Me_Daddy]

Hi guys !

 

 

I'm starting a new challenge : building my 1st custom waterloop from scratch using hard tubing in a "small form factor" case : Phanteks P350X. Did I tell you that I like challenge ?

 

As long as I have not much space, I went on a Phanteks glacier R160 Reservoir which is screwed directly to your fans, has a back radiator (mabe not that useful) and main advantage to me : you can mount a DDC pump directly to its back so that it's unseen and won't take much space.

 

OK so I did a sketch of how i think i'll do it. For more convenience, I labeled each end with a letter (See attached picture)

 

My beginner problem is I totally forgot to put a flush point to my loop... and as it is a hard tubing loop i can't just unplug it take the tube out and voilà !

 

So. My question is : Where and how (what kind of parts) should I use for flushing & draining purpose ?

 

There are some elements to take into consideration :

• I may HAVE to position my rad ports downside like on the drawing for space matters but I also MIGHT not have to do it as long as I didn't try yet. So I decided to turn it down on my first sketch as you can see.
• The reservoir has a drain port, but as you can see it should not be the lowest point on my loop so as far as I've read it won't suit. Any thoughts ? Should I lower the res and use this slot as a draining point (it would still be above rad fittings)? http://www.phanteks.com/assets/manuals/PH-R160-R220-manual.pdf
• I initially thought I would just put a T between points A and C as it may be the lowest point but 1) Got not much space 2) it's not linked directly to the pump 3) it's at the same height as the rad fittings so water may remain.

 

And parts I'll use :

• Res is a Phanteks R160
• Rad is a EK 280 SE rad
• 13-16mm hard tubing

 

Again, I'm an absolute beginner to custom waterloops, I've read a lot about all this but couldn't find solutions that match my case. Any help will be welcome ! I'm also open to redesigning the loop a little bit.

Thank you very much !

 

i saw the second picture at thermaltake website. Would it work if added a tube from drain output (reservoir, point G) running to the lowest point with a drain valve ? I’m not sure that it would be enough to drain the lowest tubes ?

[Blai5e]

I don't know if you have room in your case but I'd go with using a Y-Splitter running from the radiator port (Point C) which is the lowest point of your loop.One side of the Y would go to your block and the other to a 2-way ball valve. If space is a premium, you could go with using a T-Splitter at Point B (using it to perform the 90° bend in your tube run) and use soft tubing to again connect the 2-way ball valve off 3rd the T-Splitter port. In either case, install a ¼" plug into the 2-way ball value outlet when not in use.

 

NB. All parts are available from EKWB but similar should be available from other water cooling companies.

[Call_Me_Daddy]

2 hours ago, Blai5e said:

I don't know if you have room in your case but I'd go with using a Y-Splitter running from the radiator port (Point C) which is the lowest point of your loop.One side of the Y would go to your block and the other to a 2-way ball valve. If space is a premium, you could go with using a T-Splitter at Point B (using it to perform the 90° bend in your tube run) and use soft tubing to again connect the 2-way ball valve off 3rd the T-Splitter port. In either case, install a ¼" plug into the 2-way ball value outlet when not in use.

 

NB. All parts are available from EKWB but similar should be available from other water cooling companies.

 

 

This is very useful thank you !

Would putting a T valve between A and B work as well ? 

 

I made a quick redesign of the loop (see picture) 

 

I like may go with thermaltake fittings but they do 4-way splitters which I could use as a T-splitter & I like their flushing fitting very much.

 

Any thoughts ? 

[Benjeh]

if your rad has a fill or bleed port you can drain from there, your drain should always be at the lowest part. don't be afraid to use Y spliters and mod your case to fit ports.

[Blai5e]

On 2/23/2019 at 5:19 AM, Insorior said:

 

 

This is very useful thank you !

Would putting a T valve between A and B work as well ? 

 

I made a quick redesign of the loop (see picture) 

 

I like may go with thermaltake fittings but they do 4-way splitters which I could use as a T-splitter & I like their flushing fitting very much.

 

Any thoughts ? 

That should work, as Benjeh stated, the drain should be at the lowest point in your loop. Using a 4 way would work much the same as long as you plug off the unused port For the ball valve, take a look at the Phanteks offering - it's pretty sweet.

 

One note regarding draining,,, no matter how well you design it into your loop, some coolant will remain in the system. You'll end up tilting, shaking and possibly swearing to get most of it out which should be easier in a small factor build (mine is quite heavy being housed in a  Phanteks Luxe with 2 radiator (480mm 420mm & 240mm), 2 GPU blocks, a CPU block and a res/pump combo). I screw in a piece of soft tube to the top of my reservoir and use a compressor's regulated spray gun outlet (set to a relatively low pressure) to push out the stubborn coolant via the drain port (which again is connected via soft tubing into a 5lt bottle sitting in a bucket to reduce the risk of a mess/spill).

[Call_Me_Daddy]

18 hours ago, Benjeh said:

if your rad has a fill or bleed port you can drain from there, your drain should always be at the lowest part. don't be afraid to use Y spliters and mod your case to fit ports.

It does not have one. I picked a EK coolstream SE 280mm Rad because I only have space for a 240 or a 280mm rad (other fan mounts aren't large enough for other rads) so I picked a 280mm one for better cooling. As a counterpart I had to take one with no drain port buy you're definitely right I'll use splitters. Furthermore, my case already has a 2x3cm hole on the bottom above the PSU & cables area which I guess is meant to be used for this flushing purpose. I currently use it as a path for my GPU cables but I may lead them elsewhere and use this hole as a draining path with a T splitter

 

11 hours ago, Blai5e said:

That should work, as Benjeh stated, the drain should be at the lowest point in your loop. Using a 4 way would work much the same as long as you plug off the unused port For the ball valve, take a look at the Phanteks offering - it's pretty sweet.

 

One note regarding draining,,, no matter how well you design it into your loop, some coolant will remain in the system. You'll end up tilting, shaking and possibly swearing to get most of it out which should be easier in a small factor build (mine is quite heavy being housed in a  Phanteks Luxe with 2 radiator (480mm & 240mm), 2 GPU blocks, a CPU block and a res/pump combo). I screw in a piece of soft tube to the top of my reservoir and use a compressor's regulated spray gun outlet (set to a relatively low pressure) to push out the stubborn coolant via the drain port (which again is connected via soft tubing into a 5lt bottle sitting in a bucket to reduce the risk of a mess/spill).

That's something that I was wondering about. The radiator will prevent all fluid from going to my flushing point. I saw people having dual flush port but I think I'll take some extra time tilting and blowing whenever that's needed. My case being quite small & light is definitely a plus. Thank you !

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, Insorior said:

-

I didn't read everything, but a T-splitter and a ball valve between B-C or A-C should be just fine. I wouldn't have any long tubes coming off the splitter though, just buy a soft tubing and a fitting that you can screw into when needed.

 

You might need an angled fitting if it's extra tight. See below in my Ncase M1 log.

 

[Call_Me_Daddy]

3 hours ago, For Science! said:

I didn't read everything, but a T-splitter and a ball valve between B-C or A-C should be just fine. I wouldn't have any long tubes coming off the splitter though, just buy a soft tubing and a fitting that you can screw into when needed.

 

You might need an angled fitting if it's extra tight. See below in my Ncase M1 log.

 

That’s definitely the kind of things that I’m planning to do now ! Thanks for the picture and piece of advice !

[Benjeh]

15 hours ago, Insorior said:

It does not have one. I picked a EK coolstream SE 280mm Rad because I only have space for a 240 or a 280mm rad (other fan mounts aren't large enough for other rads) so I picked a 280mm one for better cooling. As a counterpart I had to take one with no drain port buy you're definitely right I'll use splitters. Furthermore, my case already has a 2x3cm hole on the bottom above the PSU & cables area which I guess is meant to be used for this flushing purpose. I currently use it as a path for my GPU cables but I may lead them elsewhere and use this hole as a draining path with a T splitter

 

That's something that I was wondering about. The radiator will prevent all fluid from going to my flushing point. I saw people having dual flush port but I think I'll take some extra time tilting and blowing whenever that's needed. My case being quite small & light is definitely a plus. Thank you !

Any form of splitter will work, just plug off unwanted ports like said. What i meant by modding the case is you can get bulkhead ports that you cut a hole into the case then screw it down as it has a little collar to hold it in place, they have internal thread so you can screw fittings or plugs into. I'm using some to externally plumb a 1080mm rad.

[Call_Me_Daddy]

On 2/24/2019 at 7:04 AM, Benjeh said:

Any form of splitter will work, just plug off unwanted ports like said. What i meant by modding the case is you can get bulkhead ports that you cut a hole into the case then screw it down as it has a little collar to hold it in place, they have internal thread so you can screw fittings or plugs into. I'm using some to externally plumb a 1080mm rad.

1080 ? Are you watercooling a server bay ? :)

[Benjeh]

On 2/25/2019 at 10:46 AM, Insorior said:

1080 ? Are you watercooling a server bay ?

no i want to run my fans on the lowest setting while everything is overclocked up to its teeth. more rad space, lower the fan speeds.