Bloody fingers, busted system

Note: Please read the last paragraph if you want to skip the story and get to the point!

Well, I finally assembled the final design of my first water cooling system, filled it up......and it didn't work. I'll explain all the stupid events that led up to my disassembling the whole thing and walking over to a computer lab to write this post.

I've been designing my first w/c setup for the past few months in between classes and exams. I wanted to make my own version of the Swiftech fill & bleed kit, only using 1/2" ID tubing of course. Since I couldn't jam all that into a drive bay, and I didn't want to use springs, I designed this elaborate plumbing nightmare that basically had two t-fittings in the main loop on either side of a main loop valve which led to the fill & bleed valves. Here's flow diagram. I'll draw a picture later if you guys are having trouble visualizing.

Pump > BIM II > RBX > Maze4 GPU > Maze4 Chipset > 1st t-fitting > main loop valve > 2nd t-fitting > back to Pump

A short tube came off of each of the two t-fittings and each was connected to a ball valve that were meant to serve as either the inlet or outlet while filling and bleeding the loop. During operation they were suppoed to be closed and the main loop valve open. It was very expensive and difficult to jam into my Praetorian, but I finally did it, and although it looked kind of crammed, I was positive that it was going to at least function properly.

After leak-testing the loop outside of the case, I applied all the TIM, and shoved everything in there. I mixed a 1:20 ratio of Zerex and water and dumped into the filling container. I flipped the switch and......wondered why the entire loop was filling up with suds. I cleaned the container that I was using to fill the system with soap a little while ago, and although I went through great pains to make sure that all the soap was gone, aparently I hadn't and the entire loop filled up with purple suds. Ok, not a disaster, but not great either. After a while the suds settled down and I decided to live with it knowing that I was probably going to get warmer temps with the soap in the loop. I was already pretty upset at this point on account of my own stupidity. On top of that, the system, which was supposed to be easy to fill and bleed, actually pretty difficult to fill and bleed. But, after shaking it around and gyrating the case, I got all the air pockets out. I felt a little better. I turned the pump on and off a few times to get some more residual bubbles out.

Hey, what's that? I heard something when I turned off the pump. Oh man...the radiator's leaking. Drip drop drip drop. So that's it, gotta take it all out now. As it turns out, I screwed one of the fan screws in too far and it punctured one of the flat tubes in the rad. Now I had sticky, soapy, zerexy water dripping all over my case. Turned everything off, started draining it and pulling it apart. I spilled a few cups of sticky, soapy, zerexy water on my carpet in the process because I was just too upset to take my time. Pulling all the clamps and tubing off is where the bloody fingers came from, and the busted system, well...a system that leaks sticky, soapy, zerexy liquid is a busted system...

Sorry for the long post, but I figured I would share my exerience with you guys. I guess I learned a lesson. I shouldn't try to be so innovative on the first try, haha! I thought I could make something cool and brag about it here, but I guess I needed to plan things out better. I probably also need a much larger case if I want to do something like that. It was so cramped in there, I was considering re-designing it anyway... It's just a pity that I never got it to work and that I spilled sticky, soapy, zerexy water all over my new case... What's the best stuff to use to get rid of all that sticky stuff?

So now what do I do? I'm going to just make a t-line. Can I see some pictures of your t-lines? How long should I make it? Please keep in mind that in my Praetorian, the highest point in my loop is going to be almost at the top of my case. Also, do I really have to keep filling it all the time? I don't see why I would have to fill a t-line at all since the liquid doesn't have anywhere to evaporate to if I put a plug on the end you know? Thanks for listening guys... There's no one around here to help me out or provide support, so you guys are my water cooling family, haha! Please try to post some pictures if you can. Thanks a lot~

funny thing is i did the same with my BIM2 but the owner of the company (willie) was kind enough to replace it for me. and your prolly gonna hate hearing this but you will not like your cooling results. i currently use a BIM2 in a loop of 2 waterblocks and its just not enough.im getting a bigger core to replace it =/

That sucks...a lot...because I've spent so much money before. But that's the biggest thing I can fit in my case without modding. I can't fit a heater core in my case without modding it, and I don't have the skills to make a clean mod. I can't turn back now. I don't have the resources I need to change directions completely. What kind of CFM did you have through your BIM II?

By the way, what gives? The search function is all messed up. I can't search my own username to monitor all the threads I've started/contributed to.

I've definitely been there. The last I was swapping fans in my case, I ended up putting a screw right through one of the water channels in my BIX. Thankfully, I had stuffed some absorbent paper towels inside my case just as a precaution, so nothing got soaked when I turned on the pump, but I still had a big hole in my radiator.

I was pretty ticked off at myself, but I knew it wasn't the end of the world. I build race cars as a hobby, and I can't even remember how many times I've fixed holes in gas tanks and radiators with a little bit of epoxy or JB Weld. I just poured the rest of the water out of the radiator, mixed up some epoxy, and sealed the hole real nicely. The next day, I hooked up the pump and the radiator worked just as good as new.

You can buy some good binary epoxy at hardware stores or places like Home Depot. It's pretty cheap, too, about five bucks. There's lots of different kinds, so if you're not sure, ask someone who works there what kind is the best for sealing leaky radiators. That should get you back on track.

By the way, in my experience, you always tend to get really small sudsy bubbles the first time you turn on the pump after filling the loop. All of the bigger bubbles still trapped in the system get shredded going through the pump, blocks, and rad. They tend to work their way out of the system in the T-line or reservior pretty quickly, though, so no worries there.

Good luck!

the thing was i didnt just puncture 1 hole, i puntured all 16 holes. i used 4 80mm fans on mine. the company sent me the radiator without the screw they were supposed to provide me. but i had to go find my own and look what happened ><

A-Speck said:

By the way, in my experience, you always tend to get really small sudsy bubbles the first time you turn on the pump after filling the loop. All of the bigger bubbles still trapped in the system get shredded going through the pump, blocks, and rad. They tend to work their way out of the system in the T-line or reservior pretty quickly, though, so no worries there.

Good luck!

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Yeah, I know I've experienced those kinds of bubbles during testing, but this was like foam, bubble bath style, haha! Anyways, that's the least of my worries. I'll try the epoxy stuff, hopefully I won't bond my hand to my forehead or something!

Since I'm going to redesign my plumbing, how long should my t-line be? The highest part of my loop is going to be very close to the top of the case, so there's not much room for a long t-line. Does it have to be long? Will I have to keep filling it?

GV2NIX said:

Since I'm going to redesign my plumbing, how long should my t-line be? The highest part of my loop is going to be very close to the top of the case, so there's not much room for a long t-line. Does it have to be long? Will I have to keep filling it?

Click to expand...

Any ideas?

My T-line is 6 inches or so long. It doesn't really matter how long your T-line is, though, just how much fillable tubing you have before your pump. You probably will have to refill your T-line multiple times while filling your system, regardless of its length and location. I don't know exactly how your setup is put together, but you shouldn't have any problems with it, as long as you slowly add fluid and make sure to get the bubbles out.

And unless they constitute a significant portion of the fluid volume, I still wouldn't worry about the bubbles. Just keep your system topped off and they'll eventually work their way out of the loop. Besides, soap decreases the surface tension of water, which enhances it's wetting properties. Surfactants are actually one of the main ingredients in Water Wetter.

Let me know how the epoxy works out!

Should my t-line be at the highest point of my loops so that bubbles converge at it during times of inoperation? Or should my t-line be right next to my pump intake, which would be at the lowest point of my loop?

Also, I plan on using a big funnel to fill my system, so I can just keep pouring liquid in as I'm running the pump. After my loop is filled and bled, I shouldn't need to top off the t-line again should I? I mean, unless my line is leaking, there shouldn't be any loss of fluid right?

I'm just curious, exactly how far in did you screw in your screws? I've actually been kinda overprecautious myself after seeing how my BIX120 screw holes are setup. Are we talking just barely hitting the fins here or full on into the fins and hitting the plenum(sp?) I think the closest one of my screws has come was probably about .1mm down into the rad, bending a fin a tiny bit. I havn't completed the setup yet, but I've tested the system with a vacuum. And sorry to hear about your rad. I looked the BIX over really well and I kind of thought that even if a screw did go down into the fins that I wouldn't be close enough to the plenum. Guess I was wrong.

On the inlet/outlet side of my rad, the mounting holes are farther away from the fins and flat tubes (plenums?) than on the opposite side. I managed to screw in one of the screws too far on the side where the mounting holes are closer to the fins and flat tubes. Unfortunately, most of the holes are directly above a flat tube. The copper is so soft that I didn't even know I was boring into the tube. In the end, the hole that I made was miniscule, but that was enough to make the rad leak under pressure. I hope I'm giving a decent description. Let me know if you have any more questions. I had to use longer screws than the ones that were provided because I adorned my fans with all sorts of grommets to keep the vibration noise down. I wish I could take apart my case fans and balance the fins with sand paper or something, haha!

GV2NIX said:

Should my t-line be at the highest point of my loops so that bubbles converge at it during times of inoperation? Or should my t-line be right next to my pump intake, which would be at the lowest point of my loop?

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Anyone?

most people have it next to the intake, just make sure the t-line tube is above everything else so it is the highest part of your system. You could also put it between your WB and radiator to make it higher so less tubing is needed.

Right next to my pump intake is the lowest point of my system. That means that my t-line would be have to be basically the whole height of my case. Is it bad to have my t-line coming out at the top of my loop?

The bubbles will come out of the system better if you place the T-line farther away from the pump and higher in the system.

If I put the t-line at the top, the bubbles will slowly work their way up to the t-line when the system's off right?

Yep. There's also less chance of them getting sucked into the pump during operation. You'll just have to make sure that you keep the system topped off.

Alright, I guess that settles it. I'll be putting my new system together tomorrow after I patch up my old rad (or buy a new one ). I need to get this rig set up before I leave town on Monday. I'll post back when it's done. Hopefully everything will work this time. I can't afford another disaster...