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Slowly leaking/evaporating H20!!

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USR56K

Registered
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Location
Seattle, WA
I've been running H20 for 2+ years now (same components). Before I swiched cases, I would have to refill my T-Line every ~3 months or so. Now after the move to the new case, I must refill it every month! There have NEVER been any drips in my case, so I know its not from the fittings. That leaves the radiator....

When I first built the system, I tried to put small threaded rods through the RAD (stupidly w/o pre-widing the fins). Anyways a few got slightly bent and I decided it was a bad idea and stopped. I reverted to using large zip-ties going through the rad+fan+shroud+case.

When I took the system apart in preparation for moving it to the new case, I noticed that the ends of the zip ties had dug a little into the rads fins. No noticeable moisture was detectable, so I thought it was mostly fine.

On the new setup, I used a small screwdriver to spread the Radiators fins apart so I could put a small threaded rod through it (and the ran/shroud/case). After getting the case all setup, I ran it and once again no leaks were detectable. But since a T-Line full of H20 is disappearing every month, it must be the radiator slowly leaking/evaporating it out. My only guess would be that a few fins where moved apart too much or the threaded rod has cut into some of the fine fins.

What can I do to fix this small leak/evaporation problem?


Old case
computer_h20.jpg


New Case
newcase_side.jpg



DangerDen Maze-1, Enheim 1250, The Heater Core, 1/2" tubing
 
Ack!! I just used Zip ties and the same thing happened to me. I am running it atm no detectable leaks but had a bad feeling and I see this thread. Hope its just paranoia.
 
hm..
tip ur case forward so the barbs of your heatercore are pointing up and watch your tubing for any bubbles.
tell me what happens.
 
hm.. strange, my guess was that the heatercore wasn't completly full of water and a whirlpool would every now and then exchange the air with some liquid, lower ur water level, but i guess thats not it.. sorry i can't think of anything else that could be the problem.
u could try putting some uv dye inside ur system and us some uv lights to find a leak if there is one. ur tubing looks kind of uv resistant so that should help find any leaks easier.
 
lol, i have that same tubing ~could tell because it turns that same shade of ...cr@p... after like, a month and a half, and i also have to refill the T-line every month or so. That 'porous' thing...didn't know of that...very interesting...

My circuit does something interesting tho....i have a silicon shipping cork (used in aircraft pumps ~ dad works at an aerospace place ^_^) and whenever i remove the thing, i hear a *FOOMP* and my water level in the 'T' drops SIGNIFICANTLY! apparently like there was a vacuum in the thing! dunno how that is possible...how diffusion works would indicate that if the water evaporated out of the lines, an equal volume of air would come in...so....what the heck?

what tubing stays clear the longest? this stuff is annoying the freak out of me!
 
Tygon is the highest quality tubing commonly used AFAIK.

A once a month fill rate doesn't really sound like a problem to me, but if it is for you, Korndog's UV advice sounds neat.
 
dreammmatt said:
what tubing stays clear the longest? this stuff is annoying the freak out of me!

my vinyl tubing has been clear for about a year now, even after drains, i don't see any stains or anything..
i've actually had the same tubbing at my work for coke dispensers. after 7 years!! no staining, stays very clear (gotta always check if the coke is out)

got it from usplastics.com, go under pvc tubing :)
 
Is that silicone tubing? I read somewhere in a thread that this will cause water lose due to it's porosity (like suggested above). I second the motion that it is your tubing causing this, but I can't explain why it might leak at a faster rate now than before.

Humm......
 
The way to mount to a heater core is with a NYLON Transmission cooler kit.AUTO ZONE part # 226201

It is a long nylon round zip with a washer at one end and another washer you push onto the opposite end, Works like a zip tie except it is shapped exactly like a bolt, long and thin made to slide between radiator fins.. Cam Batteries are dead but will post a pic later for everyone.

These are perfect for fan or shroud mounting as they are designed to install a tranny cooler to an auto radiator.
 
USR56K said:
Didn't see any bubbles moving about when rotating the case 180 degrees.

Oh by the way you should preassure test the core with air. That will for sure let you know if ya have a leak. It wil not be to hard to do but ya do need a compressor or a friendly garage to apply air to the core.
 
Ahh, a nylon mounting kit. Never even heard of that before (course I'm no mechanic either). I'll keep that in mind next time I build up a system. Since this is currently in place I'm not going to take the time to change it out (nor do I have the ideal work space here at college).

As for pressure testing, once again I don't have the time/space to take it apart and do this. How would this work anyways... cap off both ends (with what?) and then fill it up to what PSI?

I'll see about the UV dye stuff today. Got a friend who takes highligher markers and puts them in water... they look pretty cool under a black light. Would what work for me? Also would those chemicals or the real UV dyes damage/stain/corrode anything in my system? Since my case isn't for show (no window) there really isn't any point to go out and buy a whole bunch of dye that I'll never use again...
 
USR56K said:
Ahh, a nylon mounting kit. Never even heard of that before (course I'm no mechanic either). I'll keep that in mind next time I build up a system. Since this is currently in place I'm not going to take the time to change it out (nor do I have the ideal work space here at college).

As for pressure testing, once again I don't have the time/space to take it apart and do this. How would this work anyways... cap off both ends (with what?) and then fill it up to what PSI?

I'll see about the UV dye stuff today. Got a friend who takes highligher markers and puts them in water... they look pretty cool under a black light. Would what work for me? Also would those chemicals or the real UV dyes damage/stain/corrode anything in my system? Since my case isn't for show (no window) there really isn't any point to go out and buy a whole bunch of dye that I'll never use again...

highlighter works fine, make sure to test out the high lighter under uv light first, some highlighters don't glow under UV.
it should damage ur system at all, remember you'll only need a few drops to do the trick, putting to much will probably not make it glow as much. As for staining, i'm not really sure.. it hasn't stained my tubing, but i've never tried silicon tubing..
 
Ok, ran some UV highlighter through it for 36+ hours (looks sorta cool too w/the blacklight). I wasn't able to see anything coming out of the rad nor the tubing. Had to give the black light back to the friend, so I wont be able to see what is going on for another ~3 months until I get home.

Going with the porosity of the tubing... Since I added another ~18 inches of tubing to the system, maybe thats what is casuing the faster evaporation? At any rate, guess I'll just live with it and make sure to check the levels every month now.
 
What sort of caps are in your loop? Are they as air tight as they used to be? (like your T-line cap, it may be allowing faster evaporation if it doesn't seal as well)
 
There is only one cap in my system and thats on the T-line. Yea, its as tight as it has been in the past. Hand tight is what is has been. Both pieces are plastic (of some sort) so it makes a good water tight seal (I've tiped the whole case over before and nothing came out of the threads).

Sorta off topic, but when I went to put in the UV dye, I had to get two pliers to get it unscrewed... and I KNOW I didnt put it on that tight to begin with.
 
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