Accidentally Opened AIO

[PotatoDave]

No, he literally did it just now, that's hilarious though!

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, PotatoDave said:

He only lost a few drops because the block was at the high point of the loop when he opened it.  But will it seal shut again?

 

Yes.

[Bombastinator]

10 minutes ago, Danioki said:

maybe if you clean it first and then use treated distilled water.

Likely won’t have the same characteristics.  The thing was designed for what was put in it.  Gravity house radiators are actually specifically designed for tap water for example.  It’s one of the reasons the pipes are iron.

[PotatoDave]

3 minutes ago, Spotty said:

There was another thread with the exact same scenario a week ago. That was a Corsair AIO as well.
 

I wonder if that was your friend posting? If not then I guess your friend can take some satisfaction in knowing he isn't the only one who made this mistake.

 

In some sense, if two people did this in a week it kind of suggests a design flaw.  I can see why they both would think "oh I'll just remove the screws" but what can Corsair do?  Maybe torx screws or something?

[RonnieOP]

18 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

But with what?  The problem with AIOs is they like to fill them with weird, proprietary, and sometimes toxic stuff

I mean whatever they use works really well.

 

They require no servicing and last years.

[Spotty]

Just now, PotatoDave said:

 

In some sense, if two people did this in a week it kind of suggests a design flaw.  I can see why they both would think "oh I'll just remove the screws" but what can Corsair do?  Maybe torx screws or something?

Exactly! Torx screws (or any type of "security" screw) will go a long way to preventing people from accidentally opening their AIOs. While I normally don't like manufacturers that unnecessarily put in torx/security screws to prevent people from repairing their devices, there are situations like this where it makes sense to use them to prevent people from damaging the item.

 

If it has happened to two people on these forums in the past week then I'm sure it's happening to plenty of other people as well.

[PotatoDave]

1 minute ago, Spotty said:

Exactly! Torx screws (or any type of "security" screw) will go a long way to preventing people from accidentally opening their AIOs. While I normally don't like manufacturers that unnecessarily put in torx/security screws to prevent people from repairing their devices, there are situations like this where it makes sense to use them to prevent people from damaging the item.

 

If it has happened to two people on these forums in the past week then I'm sure it's happening to plenty of other people as well.

Yeah, he's a smart guy.  He's been streaming his build all day and I've been stepping through it with him, I'm gone for like 5 or 10 minutes, I come back and it's like "dude, we have a problem."  But I can see what he was thinking.  He needed to remove something, there were screws near it, he had a screwdriver right there....

[Bombastinator]

16 minutes ago, Spotty said:

Exactly! Torx screws (or any type of "security" screw) will go a long way to preventing people from accidentally opening their AIOs. While I normally don't like manufacturers that unnecessarily put in torx/security screws to prevent people from repairing their devices, there are situations like this where it makes sense to use them to prevent people from damaging the item.

 

If it has happened to two people on these forums in the past week then I'm sure it's happening to plenty of other people as well.

To in a hour. This week?  At least 4 ive seen.

[SolarNova]

Put it back together, assuming only a few drops leaked out it will be fine.

 

Dont worry about air in the AIO, they have a small amount of air in them anyway, they are not made in a vacuum.

 

The more important issue is making sure the motherboard and all the electronics are dry before trying to put power through them.

[xKeyserSoze]

This also happened to me the exact same way trying to remove the intel brackets, dunno way i thought removing those screw will help( I’m an idiot i know). Mine was more than a few drops don’t know if it will work will put it on my system this Saturday (im missing a part amd stock mobo stock mounting bracket) i will see how it works and if I’ll have buy a new aio water cooler again(ellite capellix h100i) or try too refill it.

[RTX 3090]

On 3/8/2020 at 4:09 AM, RonnieOP said:

Its possible to refil an aio but its not easy.

Could OP not just submerge it in a bucket of water (with biocide) and then close the connection whilst it is in the bucket. That way no water would escape

[Bombastinator]

35 minutes ago, RTX 3090 said:

Could OP not just submerge it in a bucket of water (with biocide) and then close the connection whilst it is in the bucket. That way no water would escape

That is one method.  The bucket must of course be completely clean. The air must be worked out of the line completely, the open end must be the highest point while still remaining submerged.  As was stated, complicated.

[RTX 3090]

53 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

That is one method.  The bucket must of course be completely clean. The air must be worked out of the line completely, the open end must be the highest point while still remaining submerged.  As was stated, complicated.

But if you completely submerge it the air should escape if you just leave it for a few hours, right ?

[Bombastinator]

2 hours ago, RTX 3090 said:

But if you completely submerge it the air should escape if you just leave it for a few hours, right ?

  Bubbles that are trapped by gravity would be trapped. Bubbles can move with time out of a loop that is running if the water is moving, so if you put the thing in a bucket and ran it that could work.  I don’t know if that’s possible though. The outside of a loop isn’t really meant to get wet.

[For Science!]

16 hours ago, RTX 3090 said:

But if you completely submerge it the air should escape if you just leave it for a few hours, right ?

I don't think you can submerge the CPU block as there are non-sealed PCBs and control units for the pump there. It would be possible however if you submerged the radiator portion instead.

[Rocketdog2112]

On 3/7/2020 at 10:04 PM, Bombastinator said:

Disagree with this.  It might be why every one I ever bought had super annoying bubble sounds though.  Air makes noise.  Lots of it.

Air in a cooling system causes cavitation (the noise you hear) and cavitation causes erosion.

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, Rocketdog2112 said:

Air in a cooling system causes cavitation (the noise you hear) and cavitation causes erosion.

It might also cause cavitation.  We might not be talking about the same thing.  My understanding of cavitation happens when water is forced to travel faster than it’s actually able to.  Little vacuum bubbles will for which collapse with a lot of force and can actually put metal.  Doesn’t require air. 

[Rocketdog2112]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

It might also cause cavitation.  We might not be talking about the same thing.  My understanding of cavitation happens when water is forced to travel faster than it’s actually able to.  Little vacuum bubbles will for which collapse with a lot of force and can actually put metal.  Doesn’t require air. 

We might be on the same train of thought... somewhat. Ever seen a video of a boat prop under water when under power and how it separates the air out of the water causing cavitation? That is basically the same thing an impeller in a cooling system water pump is capable of. Not to that extreme, but you get the idea. You are correct about the bubbles bursting and causing minute damage. 

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, Rocketdog2112 said:

We might be on the same train of thought... somewhat. Ever seen a video of a boat prop under water when under power and how it separates the air out of the water causing cavitation? That is basically the same thing an impeller in a cooling system water pump is capable of. Not to that extreme, but you get the idea. You are correct about the bubbles bursting and causing minute damage. 

I have and that’s not what happens.  Well. It’s not what cavitation is anyway.   A bubble doesn’t necessarily have air in it.  I understand cavitation bubbles are generally superheated steam.  An object has to move pretty fast to cause it.  Water cooler Pump impellers might of course, I don’t know how fast they go.  
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation

 

the issue with noisy AIOs isnt cavitation, or at least not the noise I’m talking about, cavitation noise would happen whether a loop was totally full of water or not.  it’s the air bubbles in the not totally full of liquid system “burbling” like a brook.

Edited December 10, 2020 by Bombastinator