How safe is water cooling?

[Alan Sr]

I'm really lookin into water cooling, but I'm hearing so much negitive info on it.
Most people I talk to say that leaking is a very hard problem to keep under control.
So what do you water cooler users suggest?
and about how much should I be lookin to spend?

[Rob Cork]

My watercooling cost me about £60 - roughly $100. I'm using 3/8" tubing with the Danger Den Copper Cube radiator and copper Maze waterblock, so there shouldn't be any corrosion issues. To hold the tubing to the nipples on the block and radiator I'm just using standard hose clamps, and I haven't had any problems with leakage so far (been watercooled for over 5 months now). Where the tubing joins the pump, as both the inlet and outlet were the wrong sizes I had to come up with some dodgy homemade adapters, which I sealed completely with epoxy glue to prevent leaks - again, no leakage problems in all the time I've been using it. As long as you're careful, and are sure to thouroughly test the system before putting it in the case, leakage shouldn't be a problem - though it did take me a week or so before I was able to forget about the water flowing around inside my computer - LOL :-D

[TT120]

I've been watercooling for about 3 months now and have never seen any kind of leaking.

[oc jason]

Just wondering do you need to fire up the watercooling first to chill the chip or does it all turn on at once-and the ater cools it in time??

[Rob Cork]

I have mine rigged up so it all turns on at once - when I had the pump on its own switch I forgot to switch it on a couple of times, but the comp still managed to run for a minute or two without crashing. I guess then it doesn't matter whether there's a slight dealy - the waterblock can absorb the initial heat output.

I've actually got mine wired up via a relay to a separate mains supply and the psu 12V line, so that when the psu comes to life the pump starts up. It's quite easy to do - there's an article by Joe somewhere here, can't find it right now though...

[Rob Cork]

Here's the article: http://www.overclockers.com/tips242/

[Mark]

I have been using one of the Koolance cases and am getting ready to build a homemade H2O cooling system using a Danner pump model 1.9 @190gpm, an acrylic flip top canister from walmart as my resevoir (got the idea from Casetc), 1/2" tubing and SS hose clamps from Lowes, Water Wetter from Pep Boys auto parts, Distilled Water from the grocery store, a 12V coil plug in relay from Radio Shack, a water block and 4" x 4" radiator and hold down bracket from Cool-Computer, and Arctic Silver II paste and a non-conductive shim for a socket A CPU from Cooler Guys, 4-92mm Panaflo low noise fans.

Short answer, use a relay to start your water pump as your board and CPU powers up. Look at this link for additonal information: http://www.arncom.com/rr/guides/watercooling.htm

I have had no trouble with H2O cooling so far, but just like any O/Cing project, there is always some element of risk. Do not gamble if you can't stand to lose!!! nuf said.

[AMDGuy]

I had the same fears as you do. I just got into watercooling (last night to be exact). After over a month of research I built a custom system and if there are no leaks when I get home from work today I'm going to put the finishing touches on it. It's been running since 6pm last night and so far this morning no problems. A well designed system will be dependable. Imagine what people said when someone first water cooled a car's engine!

[Fjeld]

As long as you are concerned abut hose clampings and connections, there should not be any probs with watercooling! I made my own cpu waterblock, and are working on w-blocks for the northbridge and vidcard as well.
Believe me; there´s no substitute for watercooling, when properly arranged.
My system doesn´t have a radiator for the moment, so I run the whole thing by a cheap pump submerged into a 1,5ltr bottle.
So go on, and good luck to you :)

[n2]

hey bro!
i'm also looking into various set-ups for water.
look at it this way.. in your car you have a radiator and hoses, clamps, etc...
how often does that leak? i'm a mechanic... and from the hardware standpoint... i see not a chance in hell of it leaking... WHEN the proper attention is given to your connections.
aside from hose clamps, which are sufficient in my book,
there is a product called "seal-it" available at K-mart for $3 a tube.
a very CAREFULL insertion of just a tad, inside the tube, or on the nipple of the block... would very effectively seal your connection. the stuff does remain flexible somewhat, and is clear. this is a great product, for many uses.
just an idea, but be carefull not to use too much of it, lest you seal up everything :D
water is a great idea. the corrosion is the only issue i see, and it's easily avoided. no worries...just dont spill your resevoir on your box!