Any advice for someone thats new to custom water cooling?

[OnlyStealth]

I've been wanting to make a custom loop in my build for a while but i havent had the money but now i will be able to get one but first i have a few questions that i have before i do it...

 

Do you ever have to change the fluid?

If so how often?

Best water cooling guide on youtube? (link me :P)

Best water cooling kit? (I rather build a kit than get individual parts)

The best fluid and dye?

Whats the best way to test for leaks?

What does bleeding mean?

 

Thats it

[AutonomousRedux]

Yes.

About every six months.

Go watch JayzTwoCents beginner's guide.

You're either going for an EK watercooling kit, an AIO like the Kraken or H110, or individual parts.

Primochill's Utopia mixed with distilled water. Dye with anything from the name brand manufacturers. Primochill, Mayhem, etc..

Paper towels under every component that has a fitting installed.

Getting rid of air in the system.

 

Always make an easy way for your system to drain by installing a t-fitting, two male to male fittings, and a valve at the lowest point in the loop.

[The Sloth]

 

[pbx2]

6 minutes ago, OnlyStealth said:

I've been wanting to make a custom loop in my build for a while but i havent had the money but now i will be able to get one but first i have a few questions that i have before i do it...

 

Do you ever have to change the fluid?

If so how often?

Best water cooling guide on youtube? (link me :P)

Best water cooling kit? (I rather build a kit than get individual parts)

The best fluid and dye?

Whats the best way to test for leaks?

What does bleeding mean?

 

Thats it

 

Watch JayzTwoCents for advice on watercooling.

[Cyracus]

9 minutes ago, OnlyStealth said:

If so how often?

Depends, fluids will usually state how often they should be changed if using something designed for water cooling, or if you use distilled water with a silver coil in the res every 6 months. 

[Froody129]

I would only custom loop it if you already have very high end hardware. No use custom looping a 1060 or 970

[PrimeSonic]

I agree with all others here that there's really good resources on YouTube for water cooling, mainly from JayzTwoCents.

 

In the meantime, I'll see if I can answer some of these questions.

 

Do you ever have to change the fluid?

Yes.

 

If so how often?

Depends on the fluid. General wisdom says every 6-12 months but check your fluid package for specifics.

 

Best water cooling kit? (I rather build a kit than get individual parts)

EK, Alphacool, and XSPC all offer kits and they're all reputable brands.

Feel free to browse around Performance-PCs.
There is no real "best" only which one is best for you, your needs, and your aesthetics.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/complete-kits/shopby/brand--xspc--alphacool--ek-waterblocks--swiftech/?

 

Whats the best way to test for leaks?
Run the pump for a while (without powering any other components).
Leaks will typically show up immediately.
Run it for several hours with paper towels under all the connections to spot any smaller leaks.

 

What does bleeding mean?
Getting the air out of a loop.
You don't want air in your loop but getting it out can take a while.
Sometimes, air could be trapped in certain parts of the loop and take days/weeks to fully "bleed" out.
A reservoir will help with that, giving that air somewhere to safely accumulate.

[OnlyStealth]

I'm not planning on cooling any graphics cards i use 3 1080p ultrawides so i dont feel like i need anything higher than a 1070 and i dont feel it needs to be oc and temperatures in the uk are always low. This is mainly for aesthetics due to there not being any white AIO coolers. 

[OnlyStealth]

3 minutes ago, PrimeSonic said:

I agree with all others here that there's really good resources on YouTube for water cooling, mainly from JayzTwoCents.

 

In the meantime, I'll see if I can answer some of these questions.

 

Do you ever have to change the fluid?

Yes.

 

If so how often?

Depends on the fluid. General wisdom says every 6-12 months but check your fluid package for specifics.

 

Best water cooling kit? (I rather build a kit than get individual parts)

EK, Alphacool, and XSPC all offer kits and they're all reputable brands.

Feel free to browse around Performance-PCs.
There is no real "best" only which one is best for you, your needs, and your aesthetics.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/complete-kits/shopby/brand--xspc--alphacool--ek-waterblocks--swiftech/?

 

Whats the best way to test for leaks?
Run the pump for a while (without powering any other components).
Leaks will typically show up immediately.
Run it for several hours with paper towels under all the connections to spot any smaller leaks.

 

What does bleeding mean?
Getting the air out of a loop.
You don't want air in your loop but getting it out can take a while.
Sometimes, air could be trapped in certain parts of the loop and take days/weeks to fully "bleed" out.
A reservoir will help with that, giving that air somewhere to safely accumulate.

So do you bleed the system with no fluid inside? and how does the air get out? btw great response! i really appreciate putting effort into that reply to help me c:

[PrimeSonic]

Just now, OnlyStealth said:

So do you bleed the system with no fluid inside? and how does the air get out? btw great response! i really appreciate putting effort into that reply to help me c:

You bleed the loop when you're filling it. Water will go in, but it has to replace the air that's already in there.

 

There's videos by JayzTwoCents about bleeding loops, but in short:

1) Add water to reservoir

2) Run pump until water level goes down but before the pump runs out of water

3) Repeat from step 1 until the water level in the reservoir doesn't go down anymore.

[PrimeSonic]

4 minutes ago, OnlyStealth said:

I'm not planning on cooling any graphics cards i use 3 1080p ultrawides so i dont feel like i need anything higher than a 1070 and i dont feel it needs to be oc and temperatures in the uk are always low. This is mainly for aesthetics due to there not being any white AIO coolers. 

This is a perfect response.

 

For anyone going into custom water cooling, the question of "benefits" should really be secondary.

If your reasons for wanting to build a custom loop can't be boiled down to "because I can" and "I want to" then you're not in it for the right reasons.

 

If you're looking for white radiators, I would suggest looking at what Hardware Labs has to offer.

That's what I use in my rig now. Good quality radiators too.

I don't think you'll find any kits with these so be ready to do a little research and prepare to go fully custom if you don't find a kit with the colors you're looking for.