Ek d5 pump res combo drain port location question.

[MoonFrost]

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-xres-140-revo-d5-rgb-pwm-incl-sl-pump

 

That's what I have, with a taller reservoir. I purchased the multi port res top in order to use the top as an inlet. 

 

I'm mounting this vertically between my gpu and front 360 rad. 

 

My question is, since the pump base only has 1 inlet and 1 outlet, can I use the inlet at the base as a drain port. 

 

The reason I ask is because of space constraints. I can't figure a way to attach a ball valve to the outlet with a T junction. If I point it down, it hits the base of the case, if I point it out it hits the glass of the case. 

 

Edit: this is what my build is going to look like. Differences being: the bigger d5 pump, taller reservoir with the inlet at the top from the front radiator, and 1 graphics card not 2.

 

I don't fully understand how fluid physics work, and how water gets out from say, the cpu block, since water has to travel up? 

[Mick Naughty]

Yea the inlet can be used for that. Would just feed from the res like normal. 

[MoonFrost]

2 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

Yea the inlet can be used for that. Would just feed from the res like normal. 

Thanks, do you know much about how fluid physics work? I can't figure out how in that picture water would leave the tubes that connect to the cpu block and how he would fully drain that system. To me it only look like his reservoir,  graphics cards and the tube from the top gpu to the radiator would drain, and the system would still be full of fluid. Or am I wrong? 

[Mick Naughty]

No idea how it would drain without seeing where the drain port is actually connected to. Can’t always build a loop to completely drain using a single drain port. Not worth worrying about honestly. 

[MoonFrost]

18 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

No idea how it would drain without seeing where the drain port is actually connected to. Can’t always build a loop to completely drain using a single drain port. Not worth worrying about honestly. 

Like if I put my pump there, with the drain port on the right inlet.  I'm worried because I don't know how I'd drain the rest of the fluid, unno if people tip their system upside down, or take it to the tub on its side and start taking off fittings, etc. 

 

Thanks for the info anyways. 

[Mick Naughty]

I just use an air compressor blow it out.  Not gonna make the perfect setup that can completely drain with one port unless it’s very small. 

 

Need more then one port, that’s the only option if you want a setup like that 

[MoonFrost]

9 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

I just use an air compressor blow it out.  Not gonna make the perfect setup that can completely drain with one port unless it’s very small. 

 

Need more then one port, that’s the only option if you want a setup like that 

Hmm thanks for the tips, actually helped. I don't have an air compressor but I don't see why I couldn't blow into it through some soft tubing. 

[For Science!]

4 minutes ago, MoonFrost said:

Hmm thanks for the tips, actually helped. I don't have an air compressor but I don't see why I couldn't blow into it through some soft tubing. 

The principle of a succesful drain relies on siphoning. This is where given a gradient of gravity, the movement of water effectively pulls the solution through the tube. It only works if the tube is sufficiently small enough that air doesn't rush up the bottom of the tube.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon

 

 

Given that you have the front mounted radiator with the ports up, this region that I circled will likely not drain at all by gravity. With suffficient tilting, you may get some more out, but given the radiator position it will be difficult.

 

I don't really recommend blowing into the loop since human breath is generally quite disgusting in terms of contaminants.

 

 

[MoonFrost]

7 minutes ago, For Science! said:

The principle of a succesful drain relies on siphoning. This is where given a gradient of gravity, the movement of water effectively pulls the solution through the tube. It only works if the tube is sufficiently small enough that air doesn't rush up the bottom of the tube.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon

 

 

Given that you have the front mounted radiator with the ports up, this region that I circled will likely not drain at all by gravity. With suffficient tilting, you may get some more out, but given the radiator position it will be difficult.

 

I don't really recommend blowing into the loop since human breath is generally quite disgusting in terms of contaminants.

 

 

I had the front radiator placed with the ports on the bottom, but someone said they should be at the top in order to get air out during bleeding the loop. 

 

Do you have suggestions on what I should do when it comes time to drain the loop? 

[For Science!]

7 minutes ago, MoonFrost said:

I had the front radiator placed with the ports on the bottom, but someone said they should be at the top in order to get air out during bleeding the loop. 

 

Do you have suggestions on what I should do when it comes time to drain the loop? 

If you don't have access to compressed air, then just tilting the case like nuts is really the only option - draining the loop, especially in the CPU region will likely be a PITA. If that tube in front of the radiator didn't go below it, technically by putting the drain on the radiator, and then putting the case on the front fan side down, then it would become a very effective drain (except for the radiator itself). 

 

While it is easier to bleed air if the ports are up, I think its such a big headache to not be able to drain the loop properly so I always have my ports down. When bleeding air, you have the rapid flow of water that can knock air out (with a bit of tilting help), whereas when draining you only really have gravity to help you, so in my opinion prioritizing draining over bleeding air any day of the week. I guess people normally think about "what's the fastest way to get going" rather than the maintenance they will have to do 1 year later.

[MoonFrost]

12 hours ago, For Science! said:

If you don't have access to compressed air, then just tilting the case like nuts is really the only option - draining the loop, especially in the CPU region will likely be a PITA. If that tube in front of the radiator didn't go below it, technically by putting the drain on the radiator, and then putting the case on the front fan side down, then it would become a very effective drain (except for the radiator itself). 

 

While it is easier to bleed air if the ports are up, I think its such a big headache to not be able to drain the loop properly so I always have my ports down. When bleeding air, you have the rapid flow of water that can knock air out (with a bit of tilting help), whereas when draining you only really have gravity to help you, so in my opinion prioritizing draining over bleeding air any day of the week. I guess people normally think about "what's the fastest way to get going" rather than the maintenance they will have to do 1 year later.

Alright thanks. I'll go back and try to figure out my runs. I don't think I have a choice atm, I'm pretty sure the pump bracket won't have clearance if I have the ports on the bottom. Guess I'll just have to tip it when the time comes. 

 

Edit: or add a second drain port at the top of the vertical radiator somehow

 

unno if anyone is still here following this, but I finally got home and took a picture of what I have so far, cant fully install anything until I take apart stuff when Im ready.

 

the black squares are just reference for what 90 degree fittings ill be using and in what direction. Im hoping I dont need the ones for the vertical radiator but we'll see how tight my bends can be.

[andrewmp6]

The thing with water draining is it needs air behinde it to fully drain good,So most open the drain and crack a extra port on the res or rad just enough to let air in.And you will have to title the case around sometimes to get most of it out.And unless you see build on the blocks or inside the loop most just change the coolant out when its due time.Which means drain it and fill the loop with distilled water let it run a few mins then drain it and do this 3 or 4 times before refilling with the coolant they want.And your loop looks fine to me as long as you have enough stuff to do it

[For Science!]

6 hours ago, MoonFrost said:

unno if anyone is still here following this, but I finally got home and took a picture of what I have so far, cant fully install anything until I take apart stuff when Im ready.

You're really not doing yourself a lot of favors by having your drain where you put it. Hypothetically if you were to flip you radiator and change your loop like this, the region circled in white will still not drain when you open it. But I suppose its better than probably 80~90% of the liquid will drain in this configuration.

 

 

 

[MoonFrost]

1 hour ago, For Science! said:

You're really not doing yourself a lot of favors by having your drain where you put it. Hypothetically if you were to flip you radiator and change your loop like this, the region circled in white will still not drain when you open it. But I suppose its better than probably 80~90% of the liquid will drain in this configuration.

 

 

 

With my current pump, pump bracket and case. I can't have the front radiator ports on the bottom, there's no room. The pump is literally up against the ports in that picture, can't even put a fitting there let alone tubes. 

 

Thanks for the assistance, I've been researching and planning this for years since around the time the 6700k came out and just finally started putting stuff together(ended up getting the 8700k)

 

I thought I had everything figured out but it's just one miscalculation after another. I've already spent like 900 dollars on the watercooling parts alone and honestly I'm about to just give up and have an air cooled system at this point. Nothing is making sense and it's getting frustrating/defeating. Honestly don't know what to do at this point other than buy a bigger case. 

 

The whole physics of how the liquid drains doesn't make sense to me on paper. 

[Mick Naughty]

Doesn’t need to make sense. A compressor is only a few bucks. Put two drain valves in, preferably with a t fitting so you actually drain a section of the loop and not just the res. 

[For Science!]

3 minutes ago, MoonFrost said:

-

Don't give up, when you watercool a lot of things cannot be accounted for until you have the parts in front of you. For example, I had planned to put a pump/res combo on top of my graphics card. It would clear the space, but meant that I had no way to fill the system, so I had to split the pump and res (and buy parts to accomodate accordingly). Also had to remove my motherboard I/O bracket because that interfered with the radiator etc etc.

 

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is don't be too discouraged about it until you actually do it. A lot of things will not go to plan, but that is normal and also part of the fun. To quote @PrimeSonic who gave me advise almost a year ago before I started watercooling:

Quote

Be ready to have things not turn out quite as planned. You may have an idea for how you'll be doing your tube runs (and you should have a plan) but be prepared to improvise a bit here and there when things don't quite fit as expected. This especially when you're working in a "tight squeeze" case.

 

WRT to the drain situation, ultimately you only have to drain enough liquid so you can start dismantling the loop. So even with an imperfect drain, there will be a way to do it. For example in my threadripper build, that part circled in red does not drain very well at all, because I put the tubing going from CPU --> res upwards, whereas had I followed the normal way and put it on the bottom it would have drained much better.

 

However even in this scenario, a bit of tilting, or even just accepting the remaining liquid and then just sealing the ends of the tube and dismounting the whole block works as a way. And when it comes to maintenance you'll be doing that anyway. 

[MoonFrost]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Maybe I just need a break. Since December when all my parts came in and constantly ordering stuff I overlooked I think I'm just burnt out from researching every category for hours everyday. I'm the type of person who watches a video 5 times before doing it myself. I was planning on doing this on Tuesday but maybe I'll wait a week or 2 when I'm more excited about it, right now the excitement is gone and I'm dreading the experience. 

 

 

[PrimeSonic]

@For Science! Thanks for the shout out. I'm happy to hear that a bit of encouragement can go a long way.

 

And @MoonFrost don't get too discouraged.

I don't think anyone gets it perfect on their first try.

Heck, in my case, I take the opportunity to re-do my tubing runs every time I do maintenance because each time I make it a little better.

And each time I run into something unexpected that breaks some of my initial plan.

But that's okay. I just take it as part of the experience.

 

As for an "imperfect" drain system.

I've already had to deal with draining my loop 2 or 3 times, with an imperfect drain system.

You'll get out as much fluid as you can, you'll tilt the case around to drain what more you can, and even then you'll still get wet in the process.

And that's okay. Don't be afraid to get yourself or your PC a little wet.

When everything is turned off, there's no real risk of harm to your components when using a proper water cooling fliud. And you can always just wash it off with alchohol later if you want to be extra safe.

 

All I'm saying is, push through, enjoy the satisfaction of creating something yourself, and don't be afraid of making a bit of a mess in the process.

You'll be fine. Don't give up.

[MoonFrost]

So... I'm still tinkering with ideas and came up with this so I wouldn't have to tilt the case to get water out of the gpu block. Drain port is now on an outlet, inlet is closed. 

 

Opinions on which is better?  Alternatively I could put a piece of soft tubing between the T splitter and the drain valve and just tuck it away.  Asthetically and /or performance wise any opinions? My concern is that the flow from outlet would meet too much resistance going straight to a T splitter like that. 

[For Science!]

5 minutes ago, MoonFrost said:

So... I'm still tinkering with ideas and came up with this so I wouldn't have to tilt the case to get water out of the gpu block. Drain port is now on an outlet, inlet is closed. 

 

Opinions on which is better?  Asthetically and /or performance wise. My concern is that the flow from outlet would meet too much resistance going straight to a T splitter like that. 

doesn' make a difference for draining, the the same as before. your GPU will drain either way. I like this one less.

[MoonFrost]

3 minutes ago, For Science! said:

doesn' make a difference for draining, the the same as before. your GPU will drain either way. I like this one less.

Thanks for opinion, I edited my post adding I could put a piece of soft tubing between the T splitter and the drain valve and just tuck it away.  Would that change opinion on how it looks for you, or would you still prefer what I had in the original photo. 

[For Science!]

47 minutes ago, MoonFrost said:

Thanks for opinion, I edited my post adding I could put a piece of soft tubing between the T splitter and the drain valve and just tuck it away.  Would that change opinion on how it looks for you, or would you still prefer what I had in the original photo. 

that soft tubing will have fluid that doesn' move around. not recommended. original is still better.

[MoonFrost]

13 minutes ago, For Science! said:

that soft tubing will have fluid that doesn' move around. not recommended. original is still better.

alright, thanks for the advice, Ill move it around next time I open the case

[Mick Naughty]

I’d just leave it on the t fitting. Could also put the drain  on the bottom of the gpu block. Get enough to just disconnect the hose and drain the res like normal. 

[MoonFrost]

So I hit a snag and I'm annoyed. My pump has a molex connection as well as a pwm. To my knowledge it needs both to control the speed. My problem is that the pwm pins will not go into the header. I don't know how these connectors attach to the cable, but I stuck a pin in 1, went in fine. But the other seems to be obstructed. 

 

Any ideas? I've been trying for the last hour to get this damn thing in