Been running my AIO for 8 years, should i replace it?

[Gunnrol]

I have a Corsair H100i I've been running since mid 2013, and it has been flawless. And still is.

But i wonder, for how long can i expect it to keep running since i know the pump can die at one point.

 

Inputs will be much appreciated

[8tg]

Probably best to check on the fluid at this point. That stuff isn’t meant to last forever.

The coolant is a mixture, mostly distilled water with a small bit of antifreeze in it (not for cooling performance, so it doesn’t freeze when shipping in winter)

Drain the cooler, rinse it out with alcohol and water, replace all the coolant with distilled water and a biocide of some variety.

Little bottles of coolant biocides are like 10$:

https://www.performance-pcs.com/water-cooling/watercooling-fluids/watercooling-fluids-additives/dazmode-protector-anti-corrosion-biocide-additive-100ml.html
That’s all the maintenance you’d want to do. If the pump isn’t making any crazy noises it’s probably fine. Pump failure happens but so does mechanical hard drive failure, it doesn’t mean it’s super common.

[adarw]

it depends on the user and how good you take care of it, ive seen someone use a  aio for 10 years but the owner bought a new one for looks. until you start geting high temps your fine i would say. but like @8tg said i would replace the coolent if you can.

[narrdarr]

1 hour ago, 8tg said:

Probably best to check on the fluid at this point. That stuff isn’t meant to last forever.

The coolant is a mixture, mostly distilled water with a small bit of antifreeze in it (not for cooling performance, so it doesn’t freeze when shipping in winter)

Drain the cooler, rinse it out with alcohol and water, replace all the coolant with distilled water and a biocide of some variety.

Little bottles of coolant biocides are like 10$:

https://www.performance-pcs.com/water-cooling/watercooling-fluids/watercooling-fluids-additives/dazmode-protector-anti-corrosion-biocide-additive-100ml.html
That’s all the maintenance you’d want to do. If the pump isn’t making any crazy noises it’s probably fine. Pump failure happens but so does mechanical hard drive failure, it doesn’t mean it’s super common.

Do not do this.

Doing something like this is only recommended once there is an actual issues. And not to be done as preventive maintenance. Once you open it you'll asking for a world of continuous maintenance and lots of highs and lows in preformance. 

 

 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Gunnrol said:

I have a Corsair H100i I've been running since mid 2013, and it has been flawless. And still is.

But i wonder, for how long can i expect it to keep running since i know the pump can die at one point.

 

Inputs will be much appreciated

Now that you've said that, expect it to die soon. (seems that's the way the world works)

 

I'd replace it if you're upgrading the platform. A 5600X for example wouldn't need an AIO to keep cool.

[alyen]

If there is no way to refill it easily on your own don't bother trying to fix it. Sad fate for almost every AIO out there. Unless you want to get into custom loops and find away to reuse it with some new parts then it could be fun project, but it can get expensive.

[narrdarr]

7 hours ago, alyen said:

If there is no way to refill it easily on your own don't bother trying to fix it. Sad fate for almost every AIO out there. Unless you want to get into custom loops and find away to reuse it with some new parts then it could be fun project, but it can get expensive.

actually it its an easy process. remove the the cold plate drain, rinse,, clean, rinse, refill to the best of your abilities to 100%. the hardest part is being quick and refilling. once corrosion from mixed  metals is exposed air it accelerates rapidly. you wont see it as you work on it, but if you let the whole process take less than a couple hours you'll get a negative return on your refurb. example would be having repeating the process every 1-3 months instead of every 9-12 months due to temp issues..  its like 20$ once a year maintain. which is the basically the same cost for an aio.