Loop testing: outside or inside case?

[KillSwitch87]

So I'm finally getting the loop up and running tomorrow but can't decide whether to test the it inside the case or outside the case?

I would personally feel better with testing outside but then can I install the assembled loop into the machkne as is or would I have to disassemble it? Also, how do I get the pump working without connecting it to the mobo? It has one line going into the PSU and one to the mobo.

If I test inside the case then for how long? I can't sit in front of it for 12 or 24 hours and watch it like a hawk but if I don'g and there's a leak ot'll flood my system while I'm away/sleeping.

What's everyone's take on this?

[W-L]

You should be testing with the system assembled as in place and do not power the motherboard. Run the pump directly from the PSU outside of the case and have lots of paper towels around justincase there are drips or a leak that will occur. Leak testing should be at the very least 6 hours and just leave it to run since nothing in the system is powered it it does leak the likelyhood of something dying is quite low. Usually a leak will occur immediately is something is wrong. 

[For Science!]

I recently posted a detailed picture of how to power a pump with a jumper.

[kitsune1324]

I'm with W-L, if you run the loop outside the case to test for leaks you'll have to redo the same test inside the case. You can get a cheap molex psu or something to power the pump while you test it. In my most recent loop, even though everything looked good to go, I had a leak that was dripping right on top of my HDD. What I do when testing is set up some thick paper towels by every fitting in case a leak occurs. Here's an example of my system when leak testing:

)

[Mick Naughty]

I test mine fully built. If  my pump doesn't see a signal it runs at 100% anyway.
I normally just turn it on, fill the loop as much as I can before it slows down. Then get into windows, turn the pump to max and keep filling the loop.

If im doing any like this, that means the distilled water is fresh and isn't gonna do anything anyway. Ive had every component covered in water at some point. Havent lost a single one though.

 

Even iff you do test it out side, moving it all into the case could loosen something and cause a leak afterward. I prefer to do things the simpler and faster way.

[KillSwitch87]

5 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

I test mine fully built. If  my pump doesn't see a signal it runs at 100% anyway.
I normally just turn it on, fill the loop as much as I can before it slows down. Then get into windows, turn the pump to max and keep filling the loop.

If im doing any like this, that means the distilled water is fresh and isn't gonna do anything anyway. Ive had every component covered in water at some point. Havent lost a single one though.

 

Even iff you do test it out side, moving it all into the case could loosen something and cause a leak afterward. I prefer to do things the simpler and faster way.

 

 

I'm not brave enough to test it with the computer I use for work, school AND have no money to buy new parts for atm if something does go wrong powered on Especially since the only thing I could find over here was 'purified water' whatever the Hell that is and not distilled so I have no clue how conductive it actually is. 

[KillSwitch87]

11 hours ago, kitsune1324 said:

I'm with W-L, if you run the loop outside the case to test for leaks you'll have to redo the same test inside the case. You can get a cheap molex psu or something to power the pump while you test it. In my most recent loop, even though everything looked good to go, I had a leak that was dripping right on top of my HDD. What I do when testing is set up some thick paper towels by every fitting in case a leak occurs. Here's an example of my system when leak testing:

)

 

That looks safeish I guess (nice loop btw) I mean if there IS a leak it's probably gonna be a small one and not like a garden sprinkler. I have soft tubing but I did always wonder how ppl with hardline tubes test outside of the case

[KillSwitch87]

11 hours ago, For Science! said:

I recently posted a detailed picture of how to power a pump with a jumper.

 

Thanks that helped a lot, I was tryin to figure out how I'm supposed to connect the pump to the PSU. First time building a PC AND a loop lol

The pump has 2 cables, so I assume I only have to plug in the molex and leave the other one alone?

[KillSwitch87]

11 hours ago, W-L said:

You should be testing with the system assembled as in place and do not power the motherboard. Run the pump directly from the PSU outside of the case and have lots of paper towels around justincase there are drips or a leak that will occur. Leak testing should be at the very least 6 hours and just leave it to run since nothing in the system is powered it it does leak the likelyhood of something dying is quite low. Usually a leak will occur immediately is something is wrong. 

The GPU is not gonna be connected to the loop yet and it's the most expensive part of the system, can I just take that out of the case while testing? If anything does leak it'd be right on top of that I can put it back in the case without disturbing the loop with my setup after I'm done. 

[Mick Naughty]

the power is connected to molex and the other goes to a header on the mobo or fan controller. Or leave it disconnected to it runs at 100%.

3 minutes ago, KillSwitch87 said:

 

Thanks that helped a lot, I was tryin to figure out how I'm supposed to connect the pump to the PSU. First time building a PC AND a loop lol

The pump has 2 cables, so I assume I only have to plug in the molex and leave the other one alone?

 

 

[KillSwitch87]

30 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

the power is connected to molex and the other goes to a header on the mobo or fan controller. Or leave it disconnected to it runs at 100%.

 

Ok thanks. Running it on 100% isn't an issue as long as it's not running dry right?

[Curufinwe_wins]

4 hours ago, KillSwitch87 said:

Ok thanks. Running it on 100% isn't an issue as long as it's not running dry right?

Nope. Although as a convenience note... ramping between 50 and 100% every 30 sec or so seems (in my experience) to be the best way to bleed a loop quickly and efficiently.

 

 

[W-L]

5 hours ago, KillSwitch87 said:

The GPU is not gonna be connected to the loop yet and it's the most expensive part of the system, can I just take that out of the case while testing? If anything does leak it'd be right on top of that I can put it back in the case without disturbing the loop with my setup after I'm done. 

That's why we place lots of paper towels around the the system to ensure if something does leak it get caught. Since it's not powered the likelyhood of any damage is minimized and any fluid can be cleaned off easily with some isopropyl alcohol. 

[KillSwitch87]

20 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

Nope. Although as a convenience note... ramping between 50 and 100% every 30 sec or so seems (in my experience) to be the best way to bleed a loop quickly and efficiently.

 

 

 

Probably a very stupid question but is there a way to do that with my pump if it's only connected to PSU? Doesn't seem to be any way to set it manually

[PrimeSonic]

2 hours ago, KillSwitch87 said:

 

Probably a very stupid question but is there a way to do that with my pump if it's only connected to PSU? Doesn't seem to be any way to set it manually

Unless your pump comes with a speed control dial right on it, no.

A PWM pump will typically run at 60% while it's not receiving a PWM signal.

 

For bleeding out the air like this, you can just run the pump for a while, turn it off, rotate the case here and there, and run it again. Repeat as often as you have the patience for.

[KillSwitch87]

46 minutes ago, PrimeSonic said:

Unless your pump comes with a speed control dial right on it, no.

A PWM pump will typically run at 60% while it's not receiving a PWM signal.

 

For bleeding out the air like this, you can just run the pump for a while, turn it off, rotate the case here and there, and run it again. Repeat as often as you have the patience for.

Aw crap. Knew I shouldn't have liatened to that sales guy >.<

 

And btw do you attach the tubing before or after you have the wc parts installed? This primoflex thing is ridiculously hard to fet over the fitting

[W-L]

9 minutes ago, KillSwitch87 said:

Aw crap. Knew I shouldn't have liatened to that sales guy >.<

 

And btw do you attach the tubing before or after you have the wc parts installed? This primoflex thing is ridiculously hard to fet over the fitting

Screw in the fittings and push the tubes onto the fittings, using some hot water to drip the ends of the tubes can help soften them and make things easier. 

[kitsune1324]

51 minutes ago, KillSwitch87 said:

This primoflex thing is ridiculously hard to fet over the fitting

That's how you know it's less likely to leak! On my first water cooled loop I got compression fittings, they're less likely to let the tube pop off.

[Revan654]

On 8/7/2017 at 0:16 PM, kitsune1324 said:

I'm with W-L, if you run the loop outside the case to test for leaks you'll have to redo the same test inside the case. You can get a cheap molex psu or something to power the pump while you test it. In my most recent loop, even though everything looked good to go, I had a leak that was dripping right on top of my HDD. What I do when testing is set up some thick paper towels by every fitting in case a leak occurs. Here's an example of my system when leak testing:

)

 

If that is the Aurora Coolant I hope you took out the jet plate on the MonoBlock & are prepared to replace the coolant in a month.

[kitsune1324]

38 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

 

If that is the Aurora Coolant I hope you took out the jet plate on the MonoBlock & are prepared to replace the coolant in a month.

I did not take it out and I have been slowly cycling through a bottle of coolant..what's wrong with the jet plate? I won't lie, I noticed some of the aurora pieces gathering around it..

Can you elaborate on the issue?

[Revan654]

24 minutes ago, kitsune1324 said:

I did not take it out and I have been slowly cycling through a bottle of coolant..what's wrong with the jet plate? I won't lie, I noticed some of the aurora pieces gathering around it..

Can you elaborate on the issue?

 

It clogs up the block due to the particles in the coolant. I has problems passing through it.

[kitsune1324]

31 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

 

It clogs up the block due to the particles in the coolant. I has problems passing through it.

How much clogging are we talking about? I'm running a d5 pump with two gpu blocks as well.
 

[Revan654]

5 hours ago, kitsune1324 said:

How much clogging are we talking about? I'm running a d5 pump with two gpu blocks as well.
 

 

It builds up over time & can causing issues with long term usage..There is a reason Mayhems states the Coolant is not for end users & not for daily usage. It's for Show Only.

[Revan654]

15 hours ago, kitsune1324 said:

How much clogging are we talking about? I'm running a d5 pump with two gpu blocks as well.
 

Should add that Mayhem themselves state that if your dead set on using that Coolant you need to remove the plate. Since the long term usage can cause damage to your hardware, Since it's not being properly cooled & will clog up your blocks(I know one user who said it was a nightmare cleaning out the coolant from his loop after using that coolant due to all the particles in the coolant). There were bunch of other things that Mayhem stated as well about the coolant.

 

Basically only use it if your going to show off your PC at a expo or something like that. For daily usage go with X1, Pastel or XT-1 series. I personally use XT-1 Nuke in my build.

 

--------

 

On a side note, Mayhem is working on Aurora 3, If they can pull it off (There waiting on testing for the particles & chemicals in the coolant). Aurora 3 might finally be able to be used as a daily usage coolant. It's still awhile off before we will see Aurora 3.

[kitsune1324]

25 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

Should add that Mayhem themselves state that if your dead set on using that Coolant you need to remove the plate. Since the long term usage can cause damage to your hardware, Since it's not being properly cooled & will clog up your blocks(I know one user who said it was a nightmare cleaning out the coolant from his loop after using that coolant due to all the particles in the coolant). There were bunch of other things that Mayhem stated as well about the coolant.

 

Basically only use it if your going to show off your PC at a expo or something like that. For daily usage go with X1, Pastel or XT-1 series. I personally use XT-1 Nuke in my build.

 

--------

 

On a side note, Mayhem is working on Aurora 3, If they can pull it off (There waiting on testing for the particles & chemicals in the coolant). Aurora 3 might finally be able to be used as a daily usage coolant. It's still awhile off before we will see Aurora 3.

Well then I might be screwed..I've been running this coolant since 2015.....
Do radiators get clogged or is it usually just waterblocks?