Aquacomputer's new "Leakshield" prevents water cooling leaks!

[Senzelian]

The German water cooling component manufacturer Aquacomputer just released their new "Leakshield". As the name implies, this device is designed to stop any custom watercooling loop from leaking liquid. But not only is it supposed to stop leaks, it warns you if there are any leaks detected and helps you with bleeding the air out of the loop and filling the loop with liquid.

 

 

 

 

Quote from German news outlet PC Games Hardware:

Quote

 Das Grundprinzip ist dabei simpel; eine Kombination aus Sensoren und kleiner Membran-Luftpumpe erzeugt einen kontrollierten Unterdruck im Kreislauf. So kann durch eine Undichtigkeit nur Luft ein-, aber kein Wasser austreten und das auch nicht unbemerkt. Nach eigenen Angaben konnte Aquacomputer sogar sämtliche Schrauben eines Kühlblocks lösen, ohne dass es zu einem Wasseraustritt kam. Im PCGH-Selbstversuch war die Grenze des sicher Möglichen zwar bereits nach Lockerung einiger Schrauben erreicht, aber mit spröden Dichtungen, unzureichend angezogenen respektive mit Rissen rund um zu fest angezogenen Anschlüsse wird das System locker fertig. 

[...]

Nach soviel durchgängigen Lob müssen noch 1-2 Schattenseiten erwähnt werden. Ganz weit vorne steht der Preis: 120 Euro möchte Aquacomputer für das kleine Technikwunder.

 

Rough Translation:

The Leakshield is made up of a combination of sensors and a small membrane air pump, which produces a controlled vacuum inside the loop. In case of a leak, all that can happen, is for air to enter the loop, but no liquid will exit the loop.

According to Aquacomputer, they were able to dismantle an entire waterblock, without any leaks, but in PC Games Hardware's tests, they were only able to losen a few screws, without the loop leaking. On the other hand this should still easily be good enough for the occational bad fitting or O-ring. 

 

One large disadvantage of it, is the price at ~ 120€.

Another disadvantage is that Aquacomputer recommends at least 100ml of air in the reservoir for the pump to be able suck enough air into the loop.

 

(As seen in the picture, when a leak is introduced into the system, air rushes into the loop and preventing the leak.)

 

 

(The Leakshield sends out an audible and visible alarm if it detects a leak)

 

 

(PCGH's video in German)

 

 

My thoughts

This seems like a fantastic idea. It prevents leaks, helps you bleed the system apparently and at the same time looks decent and also offers monitoring of the loops conditions.

It also seems easy to install, but with a cost of 120€ it will mostly be an accessory for high end loops.

 

 

Sources

https://www.pcgameshardware.de/Wasserkuehlung-Hardware-217994/Specials/Leakshield-Vakuum-Wasserkuehlung-1373931/

[Tristerin]

Aint this neat!  I like the thought of it.  I build cheap-o-depot loops so wouldnt fit in my wheelhouse but if I ever decided to put good money into a loop, Id get one of these for sure.

[Senzelian]

4 minutes ago, Caroline said:

Here's my leakshield

 

There is only one tape that can fix any leak!

 

[RollinLower]

nice idea, but i just really don't like the looks of this. too bad too, because this is targeted at high end waterloops, which are pretty much all about looks at that point.

[derr12]

if they were real clever they could splice into the power on MB header and issue a shutdown when the sensors start going off.

[Senzelian]

Just now, derr12 said:

if they were real clever they could splice into the power on MB header and issue a shutdown when the sensors start going off.

This is possible in combination with aquacomputer's "D5 Next" pump as far as I know. At least for the pump, not the entire system.

[Touch My Hamm]

dam thats neat. I love cool little parts like these. Im a sucker for small tech things like flow rate monitors and the like.

 

I used to be one of the small few who had ram fans LOL.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

3 hours ago, derr12 said:

if they were real clever they could splice into the power on MB header and issue a shutdown when the sensors start going off.

You could probably do this your self with some soldering and a good understanding of the PCB layout and function .

[HenrySalayne]

This is quite an interesting concept. But lower pressure means water will evaporate more easily so refills might be more frequent with something like this.

[Senzelian]

16 minutes ago, HenrySalayne said:

This is quite an interesting concept. But lower pressure means water will evaporate more easily so refills might be more frequent with something like this.

There is a constant pressure from the outside. Yes water, will evaporate more easily in a low pressure environment, but it has nowhere to go. It can't escape, because it has to fight against the outside pressure.

[Sauron]

If it actually works (and it seems to, at least for small leaks like the ones you're likely to get in normal operation) then 120$ doesn't seem like a very steep price in proportion to the entire cooling loop. It can save hundreds or even thousands of $ worth of hardware so it's probably worth the cost.

[HenrySalayne]

20 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

There is a constant pressure from the outside. Yes water, will evaporate more easily in a low pressure environment, but it has nowhere to go. It can't escape, because it has to fight against the outside pressure.

No, the evaporating water will somewhat equalize the pressure and the pump has to kick in to bring it back down, exhausting the evaporated water. This process is probably rather slow for low coolant temperatures, but if the system is under load and the water gets hotter, it will certainly be a noticeable difference compared to a normal loop.

[leadeater]

On 6/17/2021 at 6:38 AM, GodSeph said:

I used to be one of the small few who had ram fans LOL

I'm part of the even smaller few who water cools their ram lol

 

P.S. Don't do it, it's a pain in the ass. Mind you I did ridged tubing which is 90% of the problem. 

[Touch My Hamm]

On 6/19/2021 at 7:06 PM, leadeater said:

I'm part of the even smaller few who water cools their ram lol

 

P.S. Don't do it, it's a pain in the ass. Mind you I did ridged tubing which is 90% of the problem. 

My old overclocking system I used for no other purpose but to top charts for small % of the time used external rad which I put into cooler which got fed Canada cold -40C air. It was a beast back in 2004 lol. I remember trying to watercool the old raptor drives when I got a used one. Ah I miss times when Watercooling looked like Frankenstein's monster. 

 

[AnonymousGuy]

I'm the ideal person to test this thing, because I know for a fact right now my loop has a leak and I know where it is.  "why don't you just fix the leak": cause that would require like 3 hours worth of effort.  It's a long story with how industrial my setup is, the leak is on a 1" NPT stainless fitting and fixing it would involve draining the thing out, scraping off teflon tape, and welding it permanently together.

 

Then there's my server loop which is very similar to my desktop loop.  It's either a completely undetectable leak or natural loss through the tubing walls, because I have like 20 feet of tubing on that loop but I have to top up the reservoir every few months.

[Bitter]

Ok but hear me out. Alarm goes off, you slap the power switch on the back of the PSU in a panic...anti leak pump turns off too NO VACUUM, COOLANT LEAKS. Needs an external power supply people!!

On 6/21/2021 at 3:26 PM, AnonymousGuy said:

Then there's my server loop which is very similar to my desktop loop.  It's either a completely undetectable leak or natural loss through the tubing walls, because I have like 20 feet of tubing on that loop but I have to top up the reservoir every few months.

That can totally be normal depending on tube type! Silicone tubing I used for it's easy softness and long term non hardening is super lossy! Just sitting on the basement floor not running my loop is almost empyet after a few months.

[Senzelian]

1 hour ago, Bitter said:

NO VACUUM, COOLANT LEAKS

But also no pressure, since the water pump turned off too.
In most cases water cooling loops leak, because of the pressure that is build up by the pump. O-rings will start failing after time and can't hold the pressure anymore.