Where is all my coolant going!?

OK, I've had this setup running for about a month now....but it keeps losing water. My TLine slowly and slowly loses water. There is NONE anywhere in the case. But the level drops about an inch a week. Is it evaporating? I thought water could not evaporate if its sealed? Any ideas? Thanks!

-Collin-

Plastics and epoxies/glues can absorb some water (very little, but some) and the heatercore can lose bubbles that it's holding slowly over time.
Air also "disolves" out of water. Ever sat a glass of water on your desk for a week? Bubbles clinging everywhere.

Anyway, sometimes it can take a while for the system to stop needing a refill. My T line system took well over a month to stop doing the same thing.

There's also one other possibility, a very tiny leak can let water out, but evaporate before it becomes a puddle on anything. Seen it happen.
If it's really got you worried, you can try one of the UV dyes and a black-light for some leak investigation.

Have fun! It's those pesky little problems that can drive you nuts!

I had the same problem in my setup. No apparent leaks yet the water level would noticably drop in my T-line over the course of a week.

The problem?

There was a leak. Kinda like Diggr above noted. A very small gap where one of my tubes wasn't clamped properly. The water hadn't drizzled out, but there was crusty white stuff from dried water-wetter around the join. An obvious sign of a mini leak.


Ultimately, if you're losing water, it's gotta be going somewhere. True, new systems will appear to 'lose' water as all the bubbles get outta the rad. But after that, the main cause is propably a small leak.


Hope that helps

What type of tubing are you using? I believe some have "disapearing water" problems from the tubing absorbing some.

If you don't have your T-line sealed off, the water can slowly evaporate there as well.

My tubing is not totaly waterproof, so that's where MY water is going. What tubing are you using?

I'm just using the good old clear home depot tubing. My tline is sealed off with a screw cap and teflon. I think I will wait a bit longer, then see what is going on. I will give it time, just in case its still bubbles from the initial assembly. Thanks for the help guys!

-Collin-

Thats where its going for sure then. Thats a known issue with normal vinyl tubing from Lowes, HD, etc. I would replace it with some Clearflex 60 or the more expenive version of Tygon. They both work just as good as the other but Tygon bends in a 1.5" radius versus Clearflex at 3". You pay for it though, Clearlfex is .65 per foot and Tygon 2.00 per foot.

You can get them both at mcmaster.com. Search for Tygon then go to cehmical PVC tubing. The clearflex is on the left and the Tyong on the right. Voyeurmods.com is also having a sale on Clearflex for .75 a foot.

I'll check it out. Thanks man.

-Collin-