watercooling Watercooling maintenance questions

[eamonrocks]

I have some questions regarding the maintenance I'm going to have to do soon, since I put the loop together more than a year ago so it's long overdue:

• I'm doing a block teardown, including the Z170S monoblock and the 1080Strix GPU block. What do I need to do the reassembly? Do I need to get O-rings? Do I need to get thermal pads?

• Can I reuse the EKWB compression fittings?

• How do I flush the radiators and clean the blocks? Its a copper/nickel loop.

• I'm planning on using the EKWB Monarch RAM modules without the actual watercooling part, just as a heatsink. I heard it's enough, I just wanted to make sure.

I'll be posting the process since it's going to be a pretty spicy mod so expect a post in 2 weeks or so and many thanks in advance for taking time to respond to the questions!

[Lord Nicoll]

7 minutes ago, eamonrocks said:

I have some questions regarding the maintenance I'm going to have to do soon, since I put the loop together more than a year ago so it's long overdue:

• I'm doing a block teardown, including the Z170S monoblock and the 1080Strix GPU block. What do I need to do the reassembly? Do I need to get O-rings? Do I need to get thermal pads?

• Can I reuse the EKWB compression fittings?

• How do I flush the radiators and clean the blocks? Its a copper/nickel loop.

• I'm planning on using the EKWB Monarch RAM modules without the actual watercooling part, just as a heatsink. I heard it's enough, I just wanted to make sure.

I'll be posting the process since it's going to be a pretty spicy mod so expect a post in 2 weeks or so and many thanks in advance for taking time to respond to the questions!

Hmm, I have a friend called Eamon lol.

 

You don't need anything other than the right tool to tear the blocks down, and the o-rings are reusable unless their damaged, which they don't seem to be. The same goes for the thermal pads. The ones EK uses don't fall apart that easy. Provided they're not in bits they'll be fine. Fittings are reusable yes, just undo the collar and remove the tube. 

Cleaning parts is pretty standard, depending on dirt. EK themselves have a large list of ways to clean, but generally I've found just soapy water to be the best in most cases, as it's gentle but also actually cleans. 

[Dissitesuxba11s]

12 minutes ago, eamonrocks said:

I'm doing a block teardown, including the Z170S monoblock and the 1080Strix GPU block. What do I need to do the reassembly? Do I need to get O-rings? Do I need to get thermal pads?

-The O-rings should still be good and the thermal pads are reusable assuming they were not damaged during the teardown.

12 minutes ago, eamonrocks said:

Can I reuse the EKWB compression fittings?

-Yes, you can reuse the fittings.

12 minutes ago, eamonrocks said:

• How do I flush the radiators and clean the blocks? Its a copper/nickel loop.

•  

-You can get the Mayhems Blitz cleaning kit for the rads, or just use a vinegar/distilled water mix. For cleaning the blocks, I use whitening toothpaste and an old toothbrush.

12 minutes ago, eamonrocks said:

I'm planning on using the EKWB Monarch RAM modules without the actual watercooling part, just as a heatsink. I heard it's enough, I just wanted to make sure.

-No experience with those, so somebody else chime in on this. But from looking at them, it looks like it should be able to cool even through air cooling but I could be wrong since it's just one solid piece.

[Lord Nicoll]

7 minutes ago, Dissitesuxba11s said:

-No experience with those, so somebody else chime in on this. But from looking at them, it looks like it should be able to cool even through air cooling but I could be wrong since it's just one solid piece.

Yeah the RAM modules shouldn't get that hot, unless he's running like 1.6v through the memory on a daily overclock. Air cooling should be fine for memory even without heat spreaders, assuming there is airflow in the case