Pressure buildup

[FriendKiller]

Hope you guys will be able to help me

I've been having a small (or big) problem with my loop recently. Recently there has been an issue where when I turn off the system for the night, I will see that a tube has popped out of the fitting because of the pressure being built up. When the loop is running, I can open the reservoir cap and hear air seep out, like opening a carbonated drink.  I've never had this issue before and have had the loop for 2 years now. I have only cleaned it once and am only using distilled water. When the system is off, I can also hear bubbles in the radiator, like little clicks as if there was soda in there. Is it a chemical reaction? Any help would be greatly appreciated, and If I need to do a deep clean, how would I go about doing that? Mix vinegar and warm water? I'm using PETG with copper CPU block and a Acetal+Nickel GPU block. Thanks!

[Jimkirk363]

Air must be getting in some how to cause bubbles and pressure.  I doubt its a chemical reaction but could be wrong.

 

Make sure all connections are tight.

[FriendKiller]

Just now, jimkirk363 said:

Air must be getting in some how to cause bubbles and pressure.  I doubt its a chemical reaction but could be wrong.

 

Make sure all connections are tight.

Yeah it seems all connections are tight. I never messed with it and now all the sudden it's being weird. Any way I can clean it though? I want to do that later tonight.

[Jimkirk363]

I dont think its possible to clean without empying it.

 

I wouldnt use Vinegar on Acetal and Nickel

[For Science!]

25 minutes ago, FriendKiller said:

Yeah it seems all connections are tight. I never messed with it and now all the sudden it's being weird. Any way I can clean it though? I want to do that later tonight.

Pictures will be of great help. Are you only using distilled water? no additives?

 

Also generally listing out all the components in your loop will also help too.

 

[FriendKiller]

2 hours ago, jimkirk363 said:

I dont think its possible to clean without empying it.

 

I wouldnt use Vinegar on Acetal and Nickel

What would you recommend? 

[FriendKiller]

2 hours ago, For Science! said:

Pictures will be of great help. Are you only using distilled water? no additives?

 

Also generally listing out all the components in your loop will also help too.

 

I am using only distilled water, no kill coil, no additives. Parts of my loop are as follows:
 

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45
GPU: MSI R9 390X (x2)
Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K
RAM: Corsair Vengence 32 GB
CPU Cooler: Custom Water cooling loop
PSU: EVGA 1000W G2

The CPU block I'm using is from a kit on Amazon: 
https://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Pacific-Riptide-Extreme-CL-W125-CA12RE/dp/B01FGD03ZW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1527738266&sr=1-1&keywords=watercooling+kit+thermaltake+420

And the GPU blocks I'm using is:
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-r9-390x-tf5-acetal-nickel

Here are pictures of my build currently as I just took the pics

[W-L]

16 minutes ago, FriendKiller said:

-SNIP-

You have a mixed metal loop, with no additives or biocide. It's not recommended to run a mixed metal loop to begin with and if you do you absolutely must use a compatible fluid to prevent corrosion. As of currently your copper based blocks have potentially corroded heavily due to the lack of proper anticorrosives. Your best option would be to tear down the whole loop to do an indepth inspection to see if the blocks are still intact and to ideally change out the rad to not have a mixed metal loop. 

[FriendKiller]

12 minutes ago, W-L said:

You have a mixed metal loop, with no additives or biocide. It's not recommended to run a mixed metal loop to begin with and if you do you absolutely must use a compatible fluid to prevent corrosion. As of currently your copper based blocks have potentially corroded heavily due to the lack of proper anticorrosives. Your best option would be to tear down the whole loop to do an indepth inspection to see if the blocks are still intact and to ideally change out the rad to not have a mixed metal loop. 

Yeah, I just noticed today that the loop is mixed  Welp, no idea what the white stuff is or why I keep getting air in the system but hope the damage isn't too bad

[For Science!]

2 hours ago, FriendKiller said:

Yeah, I just noticed today that the loop is mixed  Welp, no idea what the white stuff is or why I keep getting air in the system but hope the damage isn't too bad

In addition to potential corrosion, that water looks murky as well. If you have biological growth in your loop, that will also put pressure on the system.

 

All in all a problem that could have been avoided with a proper coolant.

[Lathlaer]

7 minutes ago, For Science! said:

that will also put pressure on the system.

Exactly, I highly doubt it that some air just entering the loop would've caused that much of a pressure buildup - especially since if the air can get in, it can also get out.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if something grew in OP's rads and/or blocks putting more resistance than needed.

 

@FriendKiller

You need to redo your loop without mixing metals and if you really want to use distilled water then use a couple of drops of biocide.

 

If you are not feeling safe regarding the pressure in your loop, you can get special plug fittings that allow you to constantly depressurize the system. Put one on top of the reservoir and it will allow the air to constantly escape.

[Dschijn]

Hard tubes and a warm loop will create pressure because the liquid is expanding. Maybe consider sth like this https://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?language=en&products_id=2933

 

You also have too much air in the loop. Normaly the water should be clear... Are you running the pump at high speed and the air in the reservoir can't settle at the top but instead is beeing sucked in by the pump?

[FriendKiller]

Update with more pictures. So I really don't know what is going on. I had the loop running, burped the entire system of air and I woke up this morning and it was like this (pics below) I left a bit of room in the Reservoir to keep everything but now the reservoir is completely filled up and there is air coming from my radiator and pushing the water back into the reservoir. I hear light bubbles coming from the radiator still as well. Gonna take the entire thing apart right now and clean it all. 

 

I did leave the reservoir cap loose because if I didn't I'm sure the tube would have popped off.

 

Water isn't leaking out either. I put paper towels under the computer that change color when wet and nothing was dripped on then when I woke up. Only leak is the one I wanted to leak which is the reservoir top cap, so I have no idea where this air is coming from 

 

Attached I also have a sound file of the sound the radiator is making. It sounds like rain but I think it's bubbles forming and Popping.

Voice 001.m4a

[Dschijn]

Could you shorten the inlet pipe a bit and reduce the pump speed? Somehow it seems like your pump is creating to much action in the res and sucking in air bubbles.

[W-L]

1 hour ago, FriendKiller said:

-SNIP-

It just looks like it partially drained the fluid that was higher up near the rad down into the res, it shouldn't be a problem but as of currently your going to want to get proper fluid or swap out that rad after doing a close inspection of the loop. 

[FriendKiller]

6 hours ago, W-L said:

It just looks like it partially drained the fluid that was higher up near the rad down into the res, it shouldn't be a problem but as of currently your going to want to get proper fluid or swap out that rad after doing a close inspection of the loop. 

Just took the entire thing apart, lost a PCI lane in the process (Idiot move on my end) But everything seems to be okay now for the most part. I'll report back in the morning. If nothing works out, I'll probably just RIP. Lol. 
 

[Jimkirk363]

Think of whats happening a bit like a fart.

[FriendKiller]

Think I fixed it (Hope I'm not speaking too early) I did a radiator flush, cleaned most of the tubes and cleaned the GPU block (not CPU as it was late and didn't have any more thermal paste to put back on)

 

The GPU block was horrible, so many white flakes coming out of it. took 30 minutes to clean each block. Both cards seem to be working fine, though there wasn't any temperature drop at all, still at around 28C for everything which is fine. Just have to get a new part from EKWB (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-terminal-dual-serial-3-slot) And I'll be set again!

[W-L]

58 minutes ago, FriendKiller said:

Think I fixed it (Hope I'm not speaking too early) I did a radiator flush, cleaned most of the tubes and cleaned the GPU block (not CPU as it was late and didn't have any more thermal paste to put back on)

 

The GPU block was horrible, so many white flakes coming out of it. took 30 minutes to clean each block. Both cards seem to be working fine, though there wasn't any temperature drop at all, still at around 28C for everything which is fine. Just have to get a new part from EKWB (https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-fc-terminal-dual-serial-3-slot) And I'll be set again!

Were the blocks intact when you opened them up, I would expect heavy corrosion of the copper base plate and fins.

[For Science!]

14 minutes ago, W-L said:

Were the blocks intact when you opened them up, I would expect heavy corrosion of the copper base plate and fins.

I believe it would be corrosion of the aluminium radiator rather than the copper. Either way since OP seems non-receptive to the idea of biocides and proper PC care, I would count this as a lost cause. In two years, same deal all over again Perhaps a punctured radiator next time

[W-L]

9 minutes ago, For Science! said:

I believe it would be corrosion of the aluminium radiator rather than the copper. Either way since OP seems non-receptive to the idea of biocides and proper PC care, I would count this as a lost cause. In two years, same deal all over again Perhaps a punctured radiator next time

Usually yes, in some cases it can be the copper will also corrode a bit if not the nickel plating as long as the fluid was a good electrolyte similar to if they were in direct contact with each other.

 

In any case @FriendKiller it would still be recommended to swap that rad with a copper based one instead of continuing with a dissimlar metal loop. 

[FriendKiller]

4 hours ago, W-L said:

Were the blocks intact when you opened them up, I would expect heavy corrosion of the copper base plate and fins.

No corrosion at all! Just little white flake build up in the GPU block which could be from anything honestly, bacteria buildup or whatever. @W-L

 

4 hours ago, For Science! said:

I believe it would be corrosion of the aluminium radiator rather than the copper. Either way since OP seems non-receptive to the idea of biocides and proper PC care, I would count this as a lost cause. In two years, same deal all over again Perhaps a punctured radiator next time

I am looking into getting proper coolant, what do you recommend? I was thinking of something Red because system is mostly black and red, edgy theme. @For Science!

 

I am honestly looking for suggestions, right now though I need to move my cards up a PCI lane and bend the tubes to fit again. I did the best I could to deep clean them which is good, the radiator doesn't bubble anymore (Honestly have no idea what the hell that could have been but it sounded weird.

 

Regardless, the pressure doesn't seem to be building up anymore, just want to get better coolant that won't destroy my shit.

 

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, FriendKiller said:

-

 

I would recommend EK-CryoFuel, they have a red clear coolant.

[FriendKiller]

1 hour ago, For Science! said:

I would recommend EK-CryoFuel, they have a red clear coolant.

Awesome! I'll give that a try!