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Single bay res vs dual bay res. Even suppliers are confused!

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MoreGooder

Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
Location
Saint Louis, MO USA
Hey peeps!

I've been shopping for a new reservoir for my water cooling rig since my Senfu res developed lovely cracks and leaks from a warped lid. So, doing a Google led me to the single 5-1/4 bay res manufactured by Angel Eye. I ordered one from case-mods.com. A couple of days later I happened across a new res product line from Primochill called the Typhoon, one version of which is a dual bay 5-1/4 res, which in my opinion is perfect for my application. So, I emailed case-mods.com to cancel the single bay order, following their proceedure of course. Here's the reply I received:

Thanks for emailing. We are aware of the product you mentioned. There are a few things you should be aware of when deciding to purchase the Typhoon reservoir. Firstly, the typhoon reservoir does not aid in the cooling of the water cooling system as they make you believe. The claim that cooler water will arrive to the next block is false. The fact is that on average water temperature rises less than 1 degree when passing through a block. Moreover, even if the water was to rise more than 1 degree per block, in the end all the warm water will return back to the reservoir and the overall water cooling system temperature will be the same. Also, after some time ( less than a few hours), the overall water temperature of any water cooling system stabilizes and there will be negligible difference in the temperature.

Secondly, the Typhoon reservoir features a horizontal bar which causes water to fall off the edge below, causing turbulence inside the reservoir. This does not rid the system of air; it actually adds air to the system as the turbulent water at the bottom of the reservoir continues out to the blocks. The added turbulence will slow down the flow of water in the reservoir and cause a decline in performance. With the position of the inlet barbs in the Typhoon reservoir, you will need to ensure the water level never reaches below the top of the inlet barbs; if this happens the water will shoot through the air in the reservoir. The Angel Eye reservoir on the other hand has a vertical bar, which has proven to calm the water as it passes through the reservoir; this is why the design has been duplicated by 3 other companies since Angel Eye tech released the original bay-res.

Thirdly, with 3 inlets and 3 outlets, you will need two times the amount of tubing, barbs, hose clamps, and of course free drive bays. The added connections also increase the chances of leaks occurring in the system. Moreover, if you have a radiator with only 1 inlet and 1 outlet, you will need to use a series of Y barbs to have the radiator in your system; this setup will slow down the flow of water in the system, which will lessen performance. You will need to use a series of Y barbs into and out of your pump as well.

Nevertheless, we always believe the customer has the right to purchase what he wishes. We have removed the bay-res from your order and the amount will be refunded back to your paypal account. If you decide to change your mind and purchase the Angel Eye bay-res, please do let us know and we will gladly add it to your order.

-

Case-Mod.com Shipping

Firstly, in case someone from Case-Mods.com is reading this post, I wish to extend my gratitude for the time taken for the lengthy email and for the refund to my Paypal account, which took place very very quickly!

There are a few things in this email that I should like to point out:
1. I agree with the first paragraph for the most part. The description for the Typhoon dual bay res is really silly and does indeed have such claims. (discussed later in this post)
2. The second paragraph suggests that it will not be possible to get all the air out of the res, which I disagree with entirely. They think that I won't be able to tip it or something. Secondly, they claim that there will be too much turbulance of the water and will impact pump performance! I find that humorous, and pointed out in a reply to them that their single bay res has been shown to be more apt to allow air back into the pump inlet in reviews. One could equate their bay res as being a large ID tube bent into a U shape, so with a high water flow there will be air sucked back into the pump before it has a chance to settle to the top. The review I saw suggested that to combat this problem one should fill the res all the way up to the fill cap.
3. The third paragraph is just inaccurate completely. The Typhoon comes shipped with caps that you can use to close off any of the ports. There are 8 ports on the back, 4 on the top section, 4 on the bottom. It comes with 6 caps. This means you can choose to have parallel setup or series setup for multiple WB's. It also means you have more options for selection of barb fitting location in your rig. I find that design to be far superior, assuming that the caps don't leak. I don't think they will because they have o-rings that go with them. Should be highly reliable.

Here's the description for the Typhoon dual bay res taken from the voyeurmods.com website:

"Ready for the Next Gen in water cooling reservoirs? With the Typhoon design, you will be able to return your warm water to the reservoir, instead of the "Next Block" in your system. Perfect for any "Multi-Block" cooling system. This Dual Bay can be mounted in 2 empty 5 1/4 bays."

All of this goes to prove one point: Reservoir manufacturers really don't know what we want in a reservoir, and probably don't read the forums for information and education. This market still has a tremendous amount of growth ahead, at least technologically. Most res products offered today are either modifid plastic bottles (*snore*) , round, bulky canisters, use small ID fittings, or are acrylic assemblies that have been known to crack and leak. We need BETTER products on the market.

Links:

Primochill Typhoon can be found at: primochill typhoon

Voyeurmods description of the Typhoon bay res: Typhoon dual bay

Angel eye single bay res: angel eye res
 
I would have to disagree with you on:

The second paragraph suggests that it will not be possible to get all the air out of the res, which I disagree with entirely. They think that I won't be able to tip it or something.

When I had a Typhoon bay rez it was impossible to get all the air out of the rez without submerging the reservoir- the caps have an indentation in the top that causes a small air bubble to enter the circuit when the cap is screwed in.

The rez worked fine, but little bubbles did get sucked into circuit from the turbulence (all it took was that one small amount of air in the cap). A T line is more cost effective, and more space effective than a reservoir.

However, I upgraded my older bay rez to a Asetek Waterchill cylinder rez, which looked stunning, and did an awesome job of getting the air out of circuit - it was easy to fill, and kept the bubbles at the top, safe from turbulence. If I had space to still use a rez, I would stick with a lovely little cylinder rez like my old Asetek, and skip the Bay rez. Sadly, space constrictions are a greater factor than my wanting a pretty rez, and I have to go Tee-Line.
 
felinusz said:
I would have to disagree with you on:



When I had a Typhoon bay rez it was impossible to get all the air out of the rez without submerging the reservoir- the caps have an indentation in the top that causes a small air bubble to enter the circuit when the cap is screwed in.

The rez worked fine, but little bubbles did get sucked into circuit from the turbulence (all it took was that one small amount of air in the cap). A T line is more cost effective, and more space effective than a reservoir.

However, I upgraded my older bay rez to a Asetek Waterchill cylinder rez, which looked stunning, and did an awesome job of getting the air out of circuit - it was easy to fill, and kept the bubbles at the top, safe from turbulence. If I had space to still use a rez, I would stick with a lovely little cylinder rez like my old Asetek, and skip the Bay rez. Sadly, space constrictions are a greater factor than my wanting a pretty rez, and I have to go Tee-Line.

Interesting. I find your experience on this to be puzzling. Could you not tip the res so that the bubbles trapped in the port caps float to the the top of the water level?

Also, did you fill the res so that the water level is above the input ports? That would prevent any waterfall effect entirely.

Thanks for your info!
 
I had the single bay version of the Typhoon - the intakes were very badly positioned near the center of the rez - the air bubbles would float to the top of the rez, but would spin around and "dance" due to the turbulence. Little "pilot" bubbles would spin off of the big bubble, and would get sucked into circuit. The "big bubble" was made up entirely of air from inside the top cap.

It was also a PITA to route up, as it had to be slid in to the drive bay (my old case had "locking" bays) to be seated correctly. The problem? I bled my circuit uninstalled, and couldn't fit my radiator through the drive bays, and into the case - meaning I had to pull everything apart, reroute it all, and bleed the system installed (I hope that makes sense) ! :p

You should seriously consider a Cylinder rez if you are set on a reservoir though - they look absoultely incredible with UV dye in the water! :)

Let us know what you choose :)
 
felinusz said:
I had the single bay version of the Typhoon - the intakes were very badly positioned near the center of the rez - the air bubbles would float to the top of the rez, but would spin around and "dance" due to the turbulence. Little "pilot" bubbles would spin off of the big bubble, and would get sucked into circuit. The "big bubble" was made up entirely of air from inside the top cap.

It was also a PITA to route up, as it had to be slid in to the drive bay (my old case had "locking" bays) to be seated correctly. The problem? I bled my circuit uninstalled, and couldn't fit my radiator through the drive bays, and into the case - meaning I had to pull everything apart, reroute it all, and bleed the system installed (I hope that makes sense) ! :p

You should seriously consider a Cylinder rez if you are set on a reservoir though - they look absoultely incredible with UV dye in the water! :)

Let us know what you choose :)

Ahh...... single bay res. That's the big difference IMHO. What you're describing is the same complaint as others have had then. I was confused and though you had tried a double bay.

I am actually using my res in an external rig because I want the least probability of a leak in my computer. It all sits on top of my PC (pump, res, HC). I'll post a pic in a new thread (old res, new res) when it arrives. Should be done with it on Saturday.

Thanks!!!!!!
 
I warn you not to go with a bay rez as they are known to leak. I had one from danger den, and it sprung a leek after about 5 months. I replaced it with a t-line and have been very happy with it. No leeks yet:)

-Noah
 
I also through in my vote for a T-line instead of rez... leaky leaky.. IMO there's not enough gain in be'n able to bleed a system quicker vs. cost of having a big body of water spring a leak inside your computer (happend once... only once ;))..
 
Well, thanks for the advice everyone. Right now I will try the dual bay res and will be watching it closely. It's fully exposed on the top of my machine and will not leak into my system. Right now I don't want to use a T-line because I need an extremely easily seen visual indicator of flow due to my roomate using the machine. Those little spinning wheels that you can get are too flow restrictive in my opinion, so there's no alternative for now.
 
I just recieved my dual bay res and the point about the divider causing a waterfall effect leading to more turbulance and air isn't true. I'm using a eheim1250 and the res wasn't completely full as i still needed to add antifreeze so i had to tip it to see how the system went. I saw the waterfall but air was still being bled out, but maybe it's different if the pump is more powerful.

Also hope mine doesn't crack and leak as mentioned although it is external it'll still be a pain.

Later
 
Update on bay res issues

I received the Typhoon 5-1/4" dual bay res from Voyeur mods, and it had manufacturing problems: literally hundreds of small cracks along the back edge of the the front face plate of acrylic (which will propagate eventually and cause a leak), it was filthy on the inside (which you can't get to in order to clean), and had incomplete adhesive at the joints of the acrylic panels (you could see voids in the adhesive that span the entire .25" width of the wall). I wrote them a quick email explaining all of the above.

Now.... here's where the great news begins:

I recieved a phone call the very same day from Voyeurmods customer service in response to my email. I was completely wrong about bay resellers not reading the forums, because at least they do! They're listening to us, and are aware of the concerns about bay res's. They explained that they are handling the res quality issues. For my troubles, I will be receiving a new bay res, and because they're out of UV blue ones, they're sending me a clear one plus UV blue dye for free!

I am impressed by Voyeurmods. Not only do they have the largest line of mod window kits I have ever seen, but their customer service is top notch. If anyone can find a provider for excellent bay reservoirs, it will be them.

I'll keep everyone posted on this topic, as I'm sure there are others who want an excellent quality bay res too.
 
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