Finally!!! My watercooling is up!

[altec]

I have been waiting so long for this! I have the loop in my box right now, and it is bleeding. I didnt feel like messing with the cables tonight, so I'll have my computer all back together tomorrow...Im so happy!

I am running:
Eheim 1250
D-tek WW
Heatercore w/ custom shroud: by Excelsior
1/2" Clearflex tubing

:clap: :D :) :p :attn:

Hope fully this will help me get to 2.6Ghz with my current CPU. :burn:

I will borrow a digital camera and post some pics ASAP.

[sandman001]

Congrats, I now envy you.

PICS. NOW. ;)

[altec]

I used this anti-freeze that gave the water a nice green look. The only problem I seem to be having is that the water has gotten foamy...almost like there is soap in there. Will that clear up? What is it from?

[altec]

All I need is 70Mhz more and I am at 2.6Ghz. My CPU is a beast.

[Suma]

Welcome To the world of w/c!
:D :D :D

pics plz!

[altec]

Well guys...I think I killed my CPU. I dont know, I just tried to bood up, no POST. I reset the CMOS, and it POSTed but then it rebooted when it tried to get to windows. I tried again, and it got to my Password screen for windows, I tried to log in, and the thing shut off. I tried again...poered off. I am soo f**kin p**sed right now I dont know what to do.

[Mekks]

you make shure you pump is pluged in??? my cats always fighting bhind pc and unplug the pump, this happens to me about once a month. and my pc does same thing

[altec]

Pump is plugged in. Everything is in place (from what I can tell), and everything is dry.

[thorilan]

check your bios to see if you have cpu stepping set up to power down at certian temps

[altec]

It is set to power down at 65C, but I checked BIOS right before that and it was 29C...

[[OC]This]

have you tried re-installing your block?.. it is possible your block and the cpu isn't making a nice even contact. you could also be getting a descent 29C cpu temp when your system is set back to default speeds. It'll require a lot more cooling power/ cpu & block contact to do overclocked speeds.. Try reseating the block.

[altec]

The CPU is at stock and wont go to windows. I never re-set the overclocked speed after I reset the CMOS>

[Cathar]

Re-apply the water-block.

Your CPU is not dead - but it certainly seems like it's making poor contact with the water-block.

[Janissary]

You mentioned the foam in the water, you may need to change the coolant because the foam may kill your CPU. It can stop up the water flow in the block just like a heart attack.

[altec]

I took everything apart and re-assembled it today. I re-seated the block and low and behold I got everything to work. My only complaint is that the temp is the same as my air cooling at my overclocked settings. 45C idle and 49C load. It dropped 2C on the load tem, but I was hoping for more. I seated the block exactly as the instructions that came with it said...I wonder what the problem is?

[Gautam]

You have the NF7, which has an insocket thermistor. Some people may remember me posting a long rant with some calculations complaining about why my temps only went down by 3°C. In socket thermistors like airflow; this is one of the reasons that they sometimes read aircooled rigs as being lower than watercooled ones. Your temps are most likely perfect. They're very similar to what I get. Do have bios 1.4 or higher, btw?

[altec]

Well I am also still running the BIOS that came with the board...so what kind of temp decrese comes along with flashing to the newest BIOS?

[Gautam]

Around 10°C on water, and 3-5°C on air. Make sure that there are no kinks or clogs. The foam means that your system probably isn't fully bled yet. Btw, glad to see your proc isn't dead :).

[altec]

Thanks man. There aren't any kinks...but I had to route the tubing kind of strangely in one place to preven kinking. Yeah, it is bleeding now...what is the best way to get all the air out of the heatercore...it sounds like therer is still air in there...like a gurgling noise.

[Gautam]

I just leave my system on, and the air naturally finds its way out. Its worked for me every time; takes around 12 hours or more to be 100% bled, but its still perfectly usable in this time frame. Someone else probably has some better advice, though.

[[OC]This]

mine completes bleeding in 3 sec. once the switch has turned on..


:cool:

[Miralcos]

Give it a couple days altec, it should go down more when the thermal paste sets in. Glad to hear your processor isn't toast. I should get my WW tomorrow. You liking yours so far? :D

[altec]

Yeah, its a good block from what I can tell...

I hope that I can figure out how to make this temperature drop. Hopefully I can find a way to get the BIOS flash so that I can know what my temps really are. My main rig still has no internet connection, and my laptop has no floppy or port for a floppy...so I need somewhere to make a new BIOS disk.

Kind of frustrating that I spent so much $ on this setup and the temp is just about the same as my air cooling was. :(

[Yuriman]

You need a bios disk? Doesnt abit have some sort of windows flashing program like asus or gigabyte?

[YviE]

To get all air out of my rad, i just took and turned it upside down. To my surprise there was a lot of air in there even after 1 week of use.

[altec]

Well it seems that the god of overclocking do not want my watercooling to go well.

I was looking at the block this afternoon, and it didnt look like it was seated totally evenly, so I stuck my hands in there to mount it a little better. Right when I finished, I was taking my hands out praying that this would make the temps drop some, and I set the computer upright to put the window on, and the tubing slid off the outlet of the pump, bumping water and antifreeze all over my motherboard. I had a hose clamp on it, and I made sure it was super tight before I put the loop into my case. This is just ridiculous...everything that could have gone wrong has. It is drying right now.

What is the probability that the stuff will live? I am a little concerned since I am 17, have no money, and have probably invested over $2000 into the machine.

:( :cry: :bang head :cry: :(

[tio]

As long as your machine wasn't on when this happened, if you let your board and other components dry, there's a good chance that you didn't damage anything. I'd let it dry for a few days and then try it. I wouldn't be surprised if it works perfectly for you afterwards.

[altec]

How long should I let it dry for? it has been like 3 1/2 hours...and there aren't anymore noticeable wet spots.

[tio]

I would let it dry for at least another day before trying to boot up. Don't let your impatience murder your computer - trust me on this! I fried a processor a while back after I lapped it. I had too much water on the sandpaper and some of it seeped below part of the PCB on my Willamette P4. I was impatient and tried to boot after about 6 hours of drying... I fried the processor.

[altec]

I am gonna let it dry for like 24hrs. Will there be any negative results if I take a blow-dryer to it for small intervals of time?

[sandman001]

I'd stick a house/desk fan blowing on it.

If you don't have that, I'd take any Pc fan you have, and power it off another computer blowing on your new computer.

With the hairdryer on fan or low heat it should be ok though.

[tio]

Originally posted by altec
I am gonna let it dry for like 24hrs. Will there be any negative results if I take a blow-dryer to it for small intervals of time?

Nope. No negative effects.

This will help to speed up the evaporation process, but be sure to still let it dry for at least 24 hrs.

[DodgeViper]

Remember Antifreeze is petroleum based product and will leave an oily film on whatever it came in contact with. I have to ask, why are you using Antifreeze?

[altec]

Dodgeviper: The water additive I am using is a Prestone Antifreeze/Coolant that has very good corrosion inhibiting properties. Is this a bad choice, if so for what reason? Also what will the effect of the oily film that may be left on the motherboard? Is there anything that I can do that is relatively safe to get it off?

I think I will try to use the hair-dryer idea, but for short ammounts of time. I am most concerned about the water seeping into the areas that I simply cannot get to with a paper towel or toilet paper because of the capacitors and other odds and ends on the motherboard. Is there any other way to get in there well? ??I tried using Q-tips and they do not seem to be very absorbant...they only smear the water around. Thanks for the help.

[DodgeViper]

I would visit to your local electronic parts store (NOT RADIO SHACK) and purchase a contact cleaner that is safe to be used on the motherboard. These type of prouducts evaporate very quickly when sprayed onto the board. It will clean and dry out the MOBO.

Next time just use distilled water and Water Wetter. If I am not mistaken you are not mixing aluminum and copper in your system. Water Wetter can be purchased at Pep Boy's.....

[altec]

I have some water wetter, but I did not know if it stopped corosion, and if it stopped bacterial growth, so I used the antifreeze. What ratio of Water Wetter to water should I use? If I do not have any means to get any contact cleaner, what should I do. I dont have a drivers liscense...and the only electronics store around here is Radio Shack...

[PerpetualBliss]

the pump needs to match the set-up very well or efficiency will drop like a rock.

It isn't the relative velocity adding pressure. It's the restriction that adds back pressure. Remember with the WW the actual flow rate is decreased. Unlike adding a bigger pump where the flow rate itself creates the added pressure.

don't go overboard with the pump Cathar considers the WW a mid-flow block and warns against using anything larger than a Eheim 1250 and states even that is operating inefficiantly. Dumping too much heat back into the system.

I'd think a Eheim 1048, Hydor L20 or Danner 250 would be about perfect.

If the computer wasnt on when the hose came detached you will probably be O.K. BUt man that would have scared the !*$#@! out of me. GOOD LUCK.

[therudyq3]

I feel bad for ya Altec...hope that all will work out well.

Chances are you'll be OK if you let it dry out. Get some paper towel and work carefully on all the spots that has some grease/moisture.

It happended to me...some coolant had leaked into my agp slot and VGA card ..and after I dried it out properly, it still works.

This is why I prefer an external rig.

[tio]

I think if I were you Altec, I'd buy a bottle of 99% Isopropyl Alchohol (rubbing alchohol) and then submerge my motherboard in a container full of the alchohal. That would do a fairly good job of cleaning off some (if not all) of the antifreeze, and it would dry off fairly quickly too afterwards.

[modenaf1]

Originally posted by PerpetualBliss
the pump needs to match the set-up very well or efficiency will drop like a rock.

It isn't the relative velocity adding pressure. It's the restriction that adds back pressure. Remember with the WW the actual flow rate is decreased. Unlike adding a bigger pump where the flow rate itself creates the added pressure.

don't go overboard with the pump Cathar considers the WW a mid-flow block and warns against using anything larger than a Eheim 1250 and states even that is operating inefficiantly. Dumping too much heat back into the system.

I'd think a Eheim 1048, Hydor L20 or Danner 250 would be about perfect.

If the computer wasnt on when the hose came detached you will probably be O.K. BUt man that would have scared the !*$#@! out of me. GOOD LUCK.


http://www.theforumisdown.com/uploadfiles/0103/welcometotheforums.JPG


altec, :thup:

but i dont really understand, what does flashing the bios do? and if your not sure about your temps just reach in and touch it. ;)

good luck!! i hope you get it to go 2.6 or faster!!

one thing that might be the case, is even though your temps arent that much lower, maybe the w/c will keep them from rising as easily, so you might be able to up the vcore and speed and the temp wont rise much :)

[Nico3k]

good idea what tio said. submerge your board in rubbing alcohol, then let it dry for a day or 2 while a fan is blowing on it.

its nothing to panic about, ive given my whole computer a nice shower of water wetter, water, and antifreeze +more 4 times already. i just let it dry and it lives on.
in fact ive gotten a mixture of battery acid and distrilled water on it last week.

good luck

[altec]

Well it dried, and I got everything back up and running. I got the computer to boot once, and when I went to BIOS to check the temps it said 34C...so hopefully the temps have dropped some. I then saved and exited BIOS, and I think my PSU is not dying. When it restarted, my cathode started blinking really fast, and I could hear the fans throttling down and up. I flipped the switch on the back of my PSU to see if it would be normal if I left it for a while, and when I tried to turn it back on same thing...This is so frustrating.

[Miralcos]

That sux man, I'm with ya tho, I carved a notch in my motherboard installing my WW. I think getting the new block caused us to get into a bigger hurry than normal. Of course it could be just me. hehe Hope you get it figured out. :)

[Hurk]

I did the exact same thing. I had that Antifreeze and it dripped all over my video card. I let it dry for a couple days, and booted it up, and had problems from the get go. I noticed a oil film on the card and decided to clean it. I submerged it in 99% Isopropyl Alcohol over and over, rubbing the board with my finger tips. After it dried, there was still a film there. The best thing to do if this happens again, is immediatly submerge it in the alcohol so nothing bonds to anything and that nothing has any dried or wet impurities.

I RMA'd my Video card and got a new one.. btw..

[DodgeViper]

The best advice is to run the system outside of the case for a few days pulling on the tubing, rechecking every fitting. Taking time to look everything over, install the system, recheck everything again, USE WATER WETTER, and distilled water.

Lessons are learned the hard way. I bet that you’re using 1/2” OD tubing over 1/2” ID fittings and yes the tubing will slip off if you are not using some means of a clamp. I use 3/8” ID tubing over 1/2” OD fittings and NO hose clamps and do not have a problem. I can not even pull the tubing off. My temp’s DO NOT suffer using smaller tubing even though some preach in these forums they see HUGE temp changes going from 3/8" to 1/2", BS. Good luck……

[Akira283-IGN]

I set up my first water-cooling setup last night, and it is bleeding right now. I used a 20:1 combination of distilled water and Zerex racing cooling. After an hour of running, the water was an opaque peach, but this morning, it has changed to a translucent pink. So the "foamy" appearance you mentions should disappear over time.

[altec]

DodgeViper, I ditched the anti-freeze and used my water wetter and distilled water. I cannot figure out what is wrong with my computer now though. It seens like the PSU but before I had this problem the PSU was working well. IT was even running strong for the first couple of reboots after my board was dry. Any ideas fellas? Could there have been water in there, and it is just shorting out? Should I open up the PSU and take a hair-dryer to it? Should I just get a new PSU? Thanks for the help.

DodgeViper, I also use 1/2" ID tubing and most of my fittings are 1/2" OD, while a few of the fittings are 5/8" OD.

[[OC]This]

Is this your first time watercooling or have you been doing this for long time.

Insure your water/liquid is full in the watercooling system.

You will get foams if the water is not full.

Any of air leaking areas will cause foams too.

Even if it's not leaking, you need full amount of liquid, period.

Warm water will get you nice high temperatures.

Check for water flow to make sure it's at full strength.

The part of the problem is the amount of water is limited by your system. More liquid would help some. A good heatercore would help some but still has its limit. It can only do so much.

and as mentioned by me and Cathar, insure your block and cpu is making a nice firm even contact.


hehe

[altec]

I reseated the block yesterday after everything dried out. When I booted to BIOS I went to the PC Health Status and watched the temps for 5min. It stayed at 34C. I then booted to windows and looked at MBM5...still 34C, but the CPU was running at like 584Mhz or something. So i rebooted so that I could re-set the overclocked settings that I use, to see what the temp was under those circumstances. After windows shut down, the computer will no longer boot. My cathode blinks very rapidly like a strobe light, the LED's on my motherboard blink very rapidly, I can hear my fans throttling down and up, and the LED's on the front of my DVD drive and my CD burner blink very rapidly.

I have a feeliong that it is my PSU. I dont know what could have happened to it, and that is what I am asking for help with. This is a new problem as of last night, and it is really bugging me.

I used Water Wetter and distilled water this time around. After 12hrs of bleeding the foamyness is gone and all I have is water in the system. I have the most liquid that the watercooling loop will take in there and some extra in the t-line incase there is more air in the loop that just isnt showing itself. It is not leaking...I made sure. The water I am using is by no means warm. It has been sitting in my room for 3 days, and my room is around a constant 64 degrees F. I have a good ammount of flow throughout the system. My heatercore is relativly good. I assume it is a chevette core since it is about the same demensions. When I re-mounted the block I am sure I did a pretty good job. If the temps are outrageous when I re-overclock my CPU I will reseat it and see if I may be wrong.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[[OC]This]

did the system ever reboot when you try/or accidently moving/ touching the ATX Power connector or the Wires that goes to the ATX Power connector? I found some Abit NF7 board does it, which happens to be defact.


and check and see if you have any corrosions on the resistors/ capacitors on the circuit on your board.

[tio]

REQUEST:

People, please read through the thread before posting a response here. Thread topics have a habit of changing over the course of a few days when the thread-starter keeps updating his situation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Altec: I suggest you try to find an alternate power supply (maybe from another one of your rigs or from a friend's rig) and see if it really is your PSU that's crapping out on you. From what you have said, it does sound as though your PSU could very well be the problem.

[altec]

I swapped out with my old Dell PSU and it does not seem to be the problem. The motherboard is toast I think. I called Abit Tech Support, and told them the entire situation. The guy told me that it sounded like I have BIOS corruption or some other problem, and told me to just RMA the board. I just finished my RMA request, so hopefully I will have a new board soon.

[[OC]This]

REQUEST:

People, please read through the thread before posting a response here. Thread topics have a habit of changing over the course of a few days when the thread-starter keeps updating his situation.
REQUEST:

People, please pay attention to those who "actually" knows what's been happening with Altec's system. Even though the topic discussion has been changed over time, they are "aware" of what's has happened and changed with his system.

;) ;)


I swapped out with my old Dell PSU and it does not seem to be the problem. The motherboard is toast I think. I called Abit Tech Support, and told them the entire situation. The guy told me that it sounded like I have BIOS corruption or some other problem, and told me to just RMA the board. I just finished my RMA request, so hopefully I will have a new board soon.
As I knew, the motherboard could easily be the problem. Many people tend to blame on the PSUs, very easily. At some point, they automatically blame on the PSUs. PSUs can go wrong yes.. but there has been more problems with the board causing problems than the PSUs do lately.

As I have mentioned before, motherboard can cause this. It happened to me before. Almost similar problem as Altec's, which is, system auto reboot and fans go up and down as if the system is ready to go "sleepy". ;) That's the board that is causing problem, not necessarily the PSU. I have tried three different PSUs on that same board. Antec PP403x 400watt, Antec TruePower TrueControl 550watt, and Antec SmartPower 350. All gave same problem. The problem remained. It was the (excuse me)Freakin' board. I have plenty of experience with all these boards. People also blame on the PSUs because they can't overclock to where they want when there were actually other components were the limiting factors, including your cooling/overclocking skills. ;)



and this is why I asked him:
did the system ever reboot when you try/or accidently moving/ touching the ATX Power connector or the Wires that goes to the ATX Power connector? I found some Abit NF7 board does it, which happens to be defact.

The words aren't just there to fill space. They have meanings.. and not trying to waste time either. Very powerful meaning.
:cool:

[altec]

Thanks for the assistance [OC]this. I have a good feeling that it is in fact the motherboard that is the culprit since I did a pretty good job of covering my other bases before jumping to conclusions: different CPU, different memory in all the dimms, reset CMOS, switched PSU, and reseated every connector that was there.

[tio]

Glad to hear you've found the culprit (I hope).

[altec]

I even took the board out of the case, set it on a static bag on my desk, hooked up only the necessities...CPU (air cooling this time), memory, video, and harddrive...and still no POST. Everything is not throttling down as it was before, but it will not POST just sits there with all the fans at full throttle, motherboard LED's on, and then shuts itself off in about 30sec. Oh well...good thing Abit agreed to RMA it with a $25 USD charge. ;)

[tio]

Yeah. I'm actually faily surprised they're letting you RMA the board. Oh well, at least you'll have a new board in a little while. :)

[[OC]This]

No problem.. altec.. and good luck on your next board. :)