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Bleeding, T-line, Res, Top-Mounted-Rad, oh my!

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eduncan911

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2004
Location
Upstate NY and NYC
Ok, I just spent the better part of my day reading and taking notes from this stickie about t-line vs. res. All good info, yes. But as a noob, there seems to be a lingering question I can't seem to find in searches.

Air pockets with Radiator on top of case?
There was one small comment that the t-line should be placed as high as possible. I would think this true of a reservoir as well, to keep the air pockets at the highest point of a mid/full tower case. Ok, simple reasoning there.

But what if you place a radiator assembly ontop of your case? Or mount a radiator just above your 5.25" bays (i.e. the Koolance cases):

cas-269_2.jpg

(pump/res is mounted lower in case)

Now isn't this the highest point in your system, and wouldn't this retain air pockets?

I know from the ThermalTake Aquarius III system I had ("had") said not to place it ontop of the case. Well, if I didn't place it ontop I had a large amount of air bubbles. And the highest point then? My CPU's waterblock! Fighting with the system by moving things around for an hour, I still had air bubbles. It was almost instantly that the moment I did move it to the top of the case, all air bubbles came rushing to the top res, and the water dropped almost 2"! I filled it up, and bam. System's fine. But it has to be ontop (res built into the unit).

I'm building my own system this time, have done some major homework. But I am debating two different sized rads. The smaller 120x2 will fit where I'd like it vertically. But the top end would protrude past the top of my case by 1". The larger 120x3 rad would have to lay horizonlly ontop of the case (don't want to suck hot air out of my case).

But it seems to me that by either using a t-line (mounted flush to top of case) or reservoir (5.25" bay, mounted in the top bay) will not keep either one of these designs air-free since both rads would be higher then either approach. This has me most concerned.

I like the neatness of the t-line, but will be working on my system fairly often. Still seems either system wouldn't work in this case. I don't think it matters how strong your pump is, right?

Help! It's the last piece of the puzzle before buying. :)
 
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if your rad is at the top most of the case, regardless of a res or t line you're going to have to tilt the case
 
Gongo56 said:
if your rad is at the top most of the case, regardless of a res or t line you're going to have to tilt the case
Yeah, I've heard about the tilting to get the air out.

So are you saying after I tilt the rad/system and move the majority of the air to the res/t-line, that NO air will make it back to the radiator on top? After the system is functional?
 
My Heatercore Will be on top of my case, but the 2nd highest spot, I think I will have it as a fill point. Have it tilted to one corner and tap that side of the tank and have a small mini-res attached to it.
 
Dude, if yer loop is air tight, once air gets traped at some splace (any) it won't come back to the loop... so if you have a T-line or resorvoir at the lowest point, It won't go anywhere higer(higher?).
So, Tilt once, get air trapped, enjoy OC'ing ;)
PS:Eventually, some air is gonna get in, and yes, it might go to highest place on the loop, but it depends on time and yer skills; Sry 'bout my english
 
When bleeding my systems I turn the case in all directions. Everything from upside down to sideways. You would be amazed at where air comes out of, not to mention it makes where your t-line or res is obsolete. As long as its a closed loop no air will be left anywhere..
 
sunrunner20 said:
Can you still get air bubbles if you system litterally fills from bottem to top like a glass of water?
After 6 months of use, when installing a cd-rw I had to take out my rad (top placed) , and when moving it... SURPRISE! I noticed air in the output hose!
And It was "litterally filled from bottem to top like a glass of water", 'Tho, ATM I guess the water chemical conditions is more important than the bouble (is it?, important the chemical state of water?)
 
A corner of my 2-302 heatercore will be the fill point(with a bit of tubing comeing off of it to act as a fill point), and that corner will be higher than the rest of the heatercore via a bit of sealing.
To fill the system I will pour liquid down that tube and the liquid will go down the tubes and hit the bottem of the system(the pump) and then will fill up the loop from there.
 
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