Bay Res Questions

[Drew Learns Tech]

So I've been considering going and making a custom loop and I've really been trying to do my research on it and I think I got just about everything but I have the last few questions.

So currently I am using a CM Scout 2 Advanced which in all honesty would suck to do a Tube setup because there is nowhere that it can be properly mounted. So I've decided to go with a bay res. which I haven't seen anyone really do. So does anyone have some tips or concerns I should have? One thing I've already become concerned on is how to fill or drain the loop with it being located where it is. So if anyone has some advice on that or anything else for a first-time water cooler please help me make sure I don't screw myself. I'm more than happy to elaborate or answer any questions that need to be answered to better help.

 

Thanks

 

Oh and if anyone has pictures or links to videos of people using bay reservoirs (especially pump res combos) that would be really appreciated as I haven't seen many except in really shitty videos.

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

So I've been considering going and making a custom loop and I've really been trying to do my research on it and I think I got just about everything but I have the last few questions.

So currently I am using a CM Scout 2 Advanced which in all honesty would suck to do a Tube setup because there is nowhere that it can be properly mounted. So I've decided to go with a bay res. which I haven't seen anyone really do. So does anyone have some tips or concerns I should have? One thing I've already become concerned on is how to fill or drain the loop with it being located where it is. So if anyone has some advice on that or anything else for a first time water cooler please help me make sure I don't screw myself. I'm more than happy to elaborate or answer any questions that need to be answered to better help.

 

Thanks

Bay res units are good if your case has space limitation, but they do tend to be slightly more difficult to bleed air out of a new loop. The main concern I would say is the vibration from the pump if it's a combo unit as it readily transfer into the case more so than say a tube combo unit. 

[Drew Learns Tech]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

Bay res units are good if your case has space limitation, but they do tend to be slightly more difficult to bleed air out of a new loop. The main concern I would say is the vibration from the pump if it's a combo unit as it readily transfer into the case more so than say a tube combo unit. 

How big of an issue do you think this would be. The whole point of me doing this is to lower the noise of my desktop. Would a separate pump res help? and how would that work (I haven't seen many)

[Benjeh]

They're a pain to fill and drain but once you get teh hang of them they're pretty straight forward. I still have mine, keep meaning to move it on. You don't technically need a reservoir, they just make filling and bleeding a loop 100x easier.

 

Just now, Drew Learns Tech said:

How big of an issue do you think this would be. The whole point of me doing this is to lower the noise of my desktop. Would a separate pump res help? and how would that work (I haven't seen many)

They do vibrate a bit but a thin peice of rubber soon makes light work of the noise, tbh it's not even that noticable.

[Drew Learns Tech]

1 minute ago, Benjeh said:

They're a pain to fill and drain but once you get teh hang of them they're pretty straight forward. I still have mine, keep meaning to move it on. You don't technically need a reservoir, they just make filling and bleeding a loop 100x easier.

Can I just have a split line somewhere that connects to a ball valve to drain it to help make that easier?

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

How big of an issue do you think this would be. The whole point of me doing this is to lower the noise of my desktop. Would a separate pump res help? and how would that work (I haven't seen many)

Yes if noise and vibration is a concern I would suggest to use a tube res combo or completely separate pump and res. Some tube combo unit even have vibration isolating mounts to ensure it doesn't pass it into the case. 

 

For a separate pump and res all you would require is to configure the res so it's above and before the pump with a section of tubing to ensure it has a constant supply of fluid to never run dry. 

[Benjeh]

1 minute ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

Can I just have a split line somewhere that connects to a ball valve to drain it to help make that easier?

Like this?

can you see my drain valve?

[Drew Learns Tech]

Just now, W-L said:

Yes if noise and vibration is a concern I would suggest to use a tube res combo or completely separate pump and res. Some tube combo unit even have vibration isolating mounts to ensure it doesn't pass it into the case. 

 

For a separate pump and res all you would require is to configure the res so it's above and before the pump with a section of tubing to ensure it has a constant supply of fluid to never run dry. 

In my case there isn't really anywhere other than the side panel to attach a tube res anywhere. Is there a limit to how far away the pump can be from the Res? Here is my current mark up of how I was imagining this would go btw.

[Drew Learns Tech]

11 minutes ago, Benjeh said:

Like this?

can you see my drain valve?

Yes, just like that! does it have to be attached to a rad or can it connect to the res?

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

In my case there isn't really anywhere other than the side panel to attach a tube res anywhere. Is there a limit to how far away the pump can be from the Res? Here is my current mark up of how I was imagining this would go btw.

You would probably be better off with a more suitable case if you plan a custom loop as a single 120mm rad wouldn't really be much better than an small AIO or even the large air cooler you have already. There is no limit to the distance as long as the pump is constantly fed with water you never want to run it dry.

[Benjeh]

Just now, Drew Learns Tech said:

Yes, just like that! does it have to be attached to a rad or can it connect to the res?

Anywhere you want with a few different fittings, you'll need a T fitting and then a male to male fitting to attach the drain to the T. Don't forget the more rad space you have the better the cooling, and with better cooling comes lower noise. When my PC is at idle the only thing you can hear is my pump running (this is due to my desk, for some reason it resonates the vibrations from my case). I have 7 fans, 3x140mm + 3x120mm and a small fan for my VRM oops forgot the fan on the PSU too. Silence and cooling.

[Benjeh]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

You would probably be better off with a more suitable case if you plan a custom loop as a single 120mm rad wouldn't really be much better than an small AIO or even the large air cooler you have already. There is no limit to the distance as long as the pump is constantly fed with water you never want to run it dry.

looks like he can fit a 240mm rad up top.

[Drew Learns Tech]

5 minutes ago, W-L said:

You would probably be better off with a more suitable case if you plan a custom loop as a single 120mm rad wouldn't really be much better than an small AIO or even the large air cooler you have already. There is no limit to the distance as long as the pump is constantly fed with water you never want to run it dry.

 

2 minutes ago, Benjeh said:

looks like he can fit a 240mm rad up top.

I'm trying to get more exact measurements so I can see if I can fit a slim 240 up top. It's only an i5 7600k under there so it doesn't need a ton of cooling. I'm just trying to create something that I can use down the line for my next build in 2020.

[Drew Learns Tech]

14 minutes ago, W-L said:

You would probably be better off with a more suitable case if you plan a custom loop as a single 120mm rad wouldn't really be much better than an small AIO or even the large air cooler you have already. There is no limit to the distance as long as the pump is constantly fed with water you never want to run it dry.

How does that look? Also, Throw a drain port somewhere in there but that comes last.

[Drew Learns Tech]

15 minutes ago, Benjeh said:

Anywhere you want with a few different fittings, you'll need a T fitting and then a male to male fitting to attach the drain to the T. Don't forget the more rad space you have the better the cooling, and with better cooling comes lower noise. When my PC is at idle the only thing you can hear is my pump running (this is due to my desk, for some reason it resonates the vibrations from my case). I have 7 fans, 3x140mm + 3x120mm and a small fan for my VRM oops forgot the fan on the PSU too. Silence and cooling.

Would this work too? https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-af-x-splitter-4f-g1-4-black-7337

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

How does that look? Also, Throw a drain port somewhere in there but that comes last.

Yeah that would work, fora  drain port you can T off of the pump or such as you want to either have it at the lowest possible point or to drain the most fluid possible from a loop.

 

1 minute ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

Would this work too? https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-af-x-splitter-4f-g1-4-black-7337

That splitter you have will work, it will require some male to male fittings to interface a valve. 

[Drew Learns Tech]

8 minutes ago, W-L said:

Yeah that would work, fora  drain port you can T off of the pump or such as you want to either have it at the lowest possible point or to drain the most fluid possible from a loop.

 

That splitter you have will work, it will require some male to male fittings to interface a valve. 

Okay cool, So I just did a measurement and I have ~38mm of room total in the top of the case I can't really tell if it would interfere with the mobo and ram or not though. Is a top Rad possible with that much space? even if it's a slim?

 

Edit: From what I've seen online it looks like people throw H100i's in the top but it has to stick out the top in one way or another.

[W-L]

3 minutes ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

Okay cool, So I just did a measurement and I have ~38mm of room total in the top of the case I can't really tell if it would interfere with the mobo and ram or not though. Is a top Rad possible with that much space? even if it's a slim?

 

Edit: From what I've seen online it looks like people throw H100i's in the top but it has to stick out the top in one way or another.

It depends on your motherboard and how the mounting is in the case for it to clear any heatsinks or other obstructions. Most thin rads are 25mm not including a fan (another 25mm).

[Drew Learns Tech]

3 minutes ago, W-L said:

It depends on your motherboard and how the mounting is in the case for it to clear any heatsinks or other obstructions. Most thin rads are 25mm not including a fan (another 25mm).

I think that I'll have to have the Radiator on one side and the Fans on the other which is fine honestly since I plan to change this case in Decemberish to a Fractal Design R6.

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

I think that I'll have to have the Radiator on one side and the Fans on the other which is fine honestly since I plan to change this case in Decemberish to a Fractal Design R6.

It would still be 45-50mm thick so you will want to double check clearance, a simple way to check is stacking two 120mm fans in the mounting spot to approx a thin radiator. 

 

A Define R6 would have a lot more working room, if you plan to get one and wait a few months you could up the size of the rad to 360mm. 

[Drew Learns Tech]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

It would still be 45-50mm thick so you will want to double check clearance, a simple way to check is stacking two 120mm fans in the mounting spot to approx a thin radiator. 

 

A Define R6 would have a lot more working room, if you plan to get one and wait a few months you could up the size of the rad to 360mm. 

Yeah, the only downside I've seen so far is that I still can't go to a tube reservoir because I need the 3.5 drive space. Unless do you think I could mount one to the middle fan fo the Front Res?

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

Yeah, the only downside I've seen so far is that I still can't go to a tube reservoir because I need the 3.5 drive space. Unless do you think I could mount one to the middle fan fo the Front Res?

You can put the 360mm up top that case has a fair bit of space for it or even in front as long as it's thin. The case has two 3.5" options down below in the PSU shroud and some more 2.5" ones behind the tray. 

[Drew Learns Tech]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

You can put the 360mm up top that case has a fair bit of space for it or even in front as long as it's thin. The case has two 3.5" options down below in the PSU shroud and some more 2.5" ones behind the tray. 

Okay so how does this look for a shopping list (how thin would the front rad be I've only ever heard that the top rad should be a slim for mobo clearance)

[W-L]

11 hours ago, Drew Learns Tech said:

Okay so how does this look for a shopping list (how thin would the front rad be I've only ever heard that the top rad should be a slim for mobo clearance)

For the rad it depends on the HDD’s that are in the front. As for the list it’s a good start you will want two fittings per component and some male to male fittings to connect the T fitting to the valve and another component. 

 

I would recommend to go with thick wall tubing, 3/8 ID 5/8” OD and fittings as they don’t kink as easily as the thin stuff. 

[Drew Learns Tech]

7 hours ago, W-L said:

For the rad it depends on the HDD’s that are in the front. As for the list it’s a good start you will want two fittings per component and some male to male fittings to connect the T fitting to the valve and another component. 

 

I would recommend to go with thick wall tubing, 3/8 ID 5/8” OD and fittings as they don’t kink as easily as the thin stuff. 

Okay, so 6 fittings, larger tubing, and 2 M-M fitters to connect the ball valve to the T splitter (like these? https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-af-extender-6mm-m-m-black)

 

Did I get that all right?