help noob at watercooling

hi,

ill be travelling to the states in 2-3 days and im planning to get the asetek water cooling kit with the black ice pro radiator and the antartica block, i think its called L20 the kit, its a complete kit with all 3 blocks and stuff.
now my question is firstly i am VERY VERY new to this, its my first time. i want to know apart from this kit what else do i need to buy?? i mean what fluids and ****, whats the procedure in water cooling maintenance, what do i need to look at??? is water dye recomended, what the the effects of WC... i have soo many questions. ummmmm is it safe. if its installed once what r the chances of corrosion or i dont know what other things can happen. im very very paranoid thats all. i have a very expensive RIG and this is a big risk ill be taking.. if someone can help me out here ill BE VERY VERY GRATEFULL..!!
i need alot of advise and help from anyone..!!

Thanks alot..!!
o2H

First off, in Watercooling... Don't ask for advice "From anyone"... The questions you are asking need to be answered by experienced water cooling practitioners. As, in general they tend to know more about it then people who simply think they do... Which is also why I wont give any advice right now, seeing as I'm still working on my first WC system.

Second, if you are as scared that something bad will happen to your rig as your post suggests... DONT DO IT! If you are scared about it, you're more likely to forget something... like a clamp in a vital place... This is so with anything in life...

read the stickies, THEN post.

please.

i have read the stickies... anyways

then you should know about safety and corrosion...all your questions could be answered with the search or stickies

Greenman. QUIT HARASSING OUR NEW MEMBERS!

If you want to be a pompous @SS, go over to the [H], this needs to end NOW. If you don't like what someone posts, do not say anything. You should be ashamed as this wasn't the way you were treated when you first came here. We were all treated nicely when we joined, and I wouldn't have stayed at this forum if I had been treated the way you treat people here.

If you are too lazy to read and search for someone else, then don't tell them to go do it themselves.

...I don't see how I was being rude, I said please.

Why would i read and search for someone else when it is THEIR problem and THEIR question?

If your theory were true there would all professional consulting services would be free

aTk_H2o, I'm also a newbie with WC but I have been reading these forums for the past week. What I found is the best WC system is the one that you build your own with best parts you find. It's like building your computer really. I was thinking of getting a Koolance case or the Asetek kit but these guys talked me out of it. I bought parts that people recommend and then buy them one by one. For me, I have a pentium IV system so decided to get the Swiftech cpu and nb blocks (not the best but best for value with good performance) then a pump of your choice (most like Eheim 1250 from what I have read but via aqua is cheaper and performs almost same after modding it to make it more silent). My suggestion is not to get the Black Ice pro but get a heater core instead. From what I read, you get better performance with heater core. You can buy an auto heater core for cheap but you will have to modify it some way or another.

As I said, I'm a newbie so don't take my suggestion seriously but I'm just relaying of what I read.

IMOG said:

Greenman. QUIT HARASSING OUR NEW MEMBERS!

If you want to be a pompous @ss, go over to the [H], this needs to end NOW. If you don't like what someone posts, do not say anything. You should be ashamed as this wasn't the way you were treated when you first came here. We were all treated nicely when we joined, and I wouldn't have stayed at this forum if I had been treated the way you treat people here.

If you are too lazy to read and search for someone else, then don't tell them to go do it themselves.

Click to expand...

how does this help the original poster?

more suited for a PM, maybe?

blue stars mean...?

furthermore....stars at all mean....?

best bang for the buck, based on testing at procooling

swiftech 6002
mcp600
heatercore
fans
tubing
hose clamps
t-line
distilled water
10% antifreeze, 90% water mix

corrosion will not be an issue, no alu/cu mix

it will be as safe as you make it

anything else?

From what i've read corrosion is always an issue. Or was it oxidation? I don't remember, but the point is, always put an additive that prevents (sp)oxidation/corrosion.
Water and copper don't mix to well...

lucas81 said:

From what i've read corrosion is always an issue. Or was it oxidation? I don't remember, but the point is, always put an additive that prevents (sp)oxidation/corrosion.
Water and copper don't mix to well...

Click to expand...

water/copper is ok

water/copper/alumnium not ok

10%antifreeze will take care of corrosion problem if no alu is present

ath_h20, can you please post your rig's specs?

BTW, there's nothing to be scared of... It appears it's harder to kill components than I once thought with distilled water. When I set my wc'ing up, I leaked water over the mobo and vid card with the computer turned on. It didn't hurt anything, so if you DO screw up, hopefully you won't kill anything Just use distilled water in your system for the first few days, so that the water won't be as conductive as it is when you add additives.

If you're really paranoid, use fluid xp, it's pretty much non-conductive, so if your loop leaks, it won't kill components.

Give me a few hours while I look up the asetek kit you mentioned.

and Welcome to the forums!!!!!

greenman100 said:

water/copper is ok

water/copper/alumnium not ok

10%antifreeze will take care of corrosion problem if no alu is present

Click to expand...

I was under the impression that water and copper don't mix to well and that you had to add an additive to prevent that reaction. That's why I added some zerex super racing blahblah in it.
I must have been mis-informed then...

Welcome to the Forums! (and the insanity contained herein. )

Water cooling is a great hobby.

It can also be a good way to keep your computer running cool and quiet.

For best results do NOT rush into any purchases or actions before doing the research: there is a lot of great information around (here and elsewhere) and there is also a lot of very WRONG info!

Believe the wrong stuff and you may end up with a system that barely cools your pc. And still makes a lot of noise!
And that is if it doesn't leak.

All that said- Asetek makes some pretty good stuff, amigo: it doesn't perform quite as well as a good "Do It Yourself" system and it costs more, but for the money you get a system that has far fewer worries or hassles, especially when you are new to water cooling.

Additives:
Sticky
A lot of info there.

Personally, I use distilled water, about 5% auto antifreeze and a small amount of Water Wetter in my systems and I think it works just dandy.

I have messed with quite a few varied additives and percentages, but this seems to be the best in my book.
Most of my systems have copper blocks and copper/brass radiators so corrosion is minimal....it DOES happen though. Virtually ANY system will have some amount of corrosion, the trick is to keep it minimal to avoid problems.

Note that I have one radiator that is Aluminum and I use the same solution in that system- radiator is around three years old and has been in constant use with no noticeable loss of performance.

lucas81 said:

I was under the impression that water and copper don't mix to well and that you had to add an additive to prevent that reaction. That's why I added some zerex super racing blahblah in it.
I must have been mis-informed then...

Click to expand...

good to have an additive, not totally necessary

plenty of people run straight distilled

A note on additives in general:

ANY additive will reduce the cooling provided by distilled water: straight h2o is best for cooling. (Also best if you do have a leak as it is non-conductive.)

Straight distilled water can present other problems though, especially in systems with mixed metals.
Corrosion happens.
Growth can happen. (Algae or some such I guess; I haven't had any so....)
It is tough to SEE straight distilled water in tubing.

Many use additives that add colors to their coolant for visible effect, some just for corrosion and growth prevention.

A system that has no additives may need to be checked and flushed more often than one that does have "preservatives".

I have had some of my current systems running for well over 6 months and done nothing but add a bit of water and WW once or twice- and I am talking SMALL amounts.

Maintenance for a water cooled system doesn't need to be much more involved than the work needed for an air cooled system:
Clean fans, radiator add a bit of H2O.

You should use something to break the surface tension of the water... Better temps. Using straight distilled is NOT best for temps.

Thank you for all the replys ppl much appreciated. cyrix_2k my PC specs are P4 3.0 HT, Gigabyte 8KNXP Mobo, x800 pro, 1 GB OCZ500 DDR, 520 vantec PSU, 250 WD HDD, Thermaltake Xavier III, and alot more....

right now im air cooling i have a SLK-947U on my Processor but i like doing new things to my PC and have been looking into WC for sometime.. but i wish i was living in the states i would have done it without thinking twice.. living in Karachi, Pakistan its a little tough Bcz u dont get the stuff here i have to get it from the US which i vist in 2 days.. so i also need to know what stuff apart from the Asetek Kit im getting should i get.. i need to take it all back with me just in case.. i dont know when i will come back here.. i need to know how much of what fluids i should take and what Brands are the best. 1 more thing how do u mesaure the water and fluid quantity u put in ??? im very confused.. u ppl say 90% water and 10% anit-freeze.. how would i mesaure that??
The exact link to my Kit is
http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/ex-wat-20.html

i dont have time to shop for seperate things i have to go for a kit so i thought this was the best one out there?? if some other kit is better do let me know please..!!

one more thing this kit includes heat conduction compound.. what the heck is that for???? is it something like Arctic Silver for the Processor Water Block..
Whats Oxidation?? i know about Corrosion?? do u have to change the water in your kit often or no?? its a question.!!
anyways thanks alot ppl for all ur replys and help i hope i can find a few more answers to questions that i need.. ill be printing out a lot of articles and taking them for my 16 hour Plane Ride to the USA : D heheh something to do..!! ohh and also watching tons of CS demos... anyways thanks for everything waiting for your replys : )

P.S Ummm Greenman100 its all cool man nothing taken against you regarding your post i guess everywhere a Newbiee is Drilled B4 Blending in : P.... thanks for ur replys though : ) cheers !!!

whats a shim????