omg, system has been bleeding for days...

hung · Jun 23, 2005

this is the first time ive used a T line and the dam was level keeps dropping, ever night to the next morning, it drops like...2 inchs, and its been going for days now, is this a problem or normal. i seel the top of the t line with a 1/2 barbed/ fitting with a 1/2 cap

voigts · Jun 23, 2005

That much water going down for days sounds kind of odd to me. I use a t-line, and what I do is screw on an extra fitting and run about an extra foot of line above the cap area and fill it to the top while bleeding just to give it some extra fluid. Pretty much all of the bubbles go out overnight. But I do have my t-line at the top of my loop which makes bleeding it out while filling a lot easier and I can get most of the air out to start with.

honhon · Jun 23, 2005

one thing, with having very short runs of tubing, which is good in the water cooled p.c. world can have side affects.

meaning if you have short runs of tubing means less liquid and evaporation will be alot more noticeable, its just an idea i was thinking of about that.....

what were your temps before water cooling? as to add to my thoughts if you had a HOT cpu before it could be speeding up the evaporation process of course.

again.... just thoughts.... and 2¢

gungeek · Jun 23, 2005

If you did a really good job of tilting the case around to get all of the big air bubbles bled out before turning the pump on for good, then I'd suspect a slow leak. You could try using rubber bands to hold pieces of white paper towel around all of the joints that could leak. After a day or 2, look for coolant colored stains on the paper towel pieces.

What I suspect actually happened was you left alot of air in the system when you turned the pump on for good. I've done that before and was adding coolant every week (or 2-3 days) for a month or more. The CPU block was much higher than the T-line fitting. Eventually, all of the air bled out into the T-line and the level didn't drop anymore for several months. If you can't find a leak, just keep filling as needed.

Worst case evaporation through the softer, silicone-type tubing isn't that big of coolant loss. That would only require topping off every 2-3 months.

As far as capping the T-line, that is only to prevent spills and evaporation of the coolant. It's a good thing if coolant in the T is replaced by air from somewhere else in the loop. It acts as a small reservoir.

blt111 · Jun 23, 2005

honhon said:
one thing, with having very short runs of tubing, which is good in the water cooled p.c. world can have side affects.

meaning if you have short runs of tubing means less liquid and evaporation will be alot more noticeable, its just an idea i was thinking of about that.....

well actually it would work the other way. shorter tubing means less surface area for evaporation and so less of a drop in the t-line. seems like you either have a leak or that the rad is not bled and every so often a bubble escapes

Perseus · Jun 23, 2005

The_WRATH said:
this is the first time ive used a T line and the dam was level keeps dropping, ever night to the next morning, it drops like...2 inchs, and its been going for days now, is this a problem or normal. i seel the top of the t line with a 1/2 barbed/ fitting with a 1/2 cap

For days??? Stupid question: Have you checked your case and immediate environs for puddling? You might check your pumps intake for a solid seal.

citronym · Jun 23, 2005

a good cheap leak tester is using paper printed on your inkjet. the ink runs and smudges instantly, so if u were to put some printer paper around all your connections, it would be easy to spot leaks. that much water loss should be easily visible tho, unless of course your rad is simply holding a lot of air...

capneedle · Jun 23, 2005

I'm still trying to figure out how you get a lot of evaporation in a closed system. Seems to me that in a closed system it would be fairly difficult. If your T-line is open to air, then yes I can see evaporation occuring.

citronym · Jun 23, 2005

personally i dont think this much water loss could possibly be evaporation
its either
a. a slow leak, which should be easily located
or
b. there was a lot of air trapped in the loop, most likely the rad

i vote b, its a prime place for air to hide

Moto7451 · Jun 23, 2005

Shake the water cooling parts to see if any air will come out. If its taking this long to bleed then you may have a lot of air in your rad. Also try turning the system in different directions to get the air out.

blt111 · Jun 24, 2005

capneedle said:
I'm still trying to figure out how you get a lot of evaporation in a closed system. Seems to me that in a closed system it would be fairly difficult. If your T-line is open to air, then yes I can see evaporation occuring.

it's not possible for that much evaporation to occur in such a short time, but evaporation doesn't require an open loop. the tubing is actually permeable to a small extent and the water evaporates through the tubing

hung · Jun 24, 2005

do you guys think its my weak tubing that i use for my T line? cause i have NO LEAKS nothing what so ever lol i have a weak walled piece of tubing used for my t line and i was wondering if i should replace that

and if evaporation occurs, then the water is taken away but the coolant stays correct?

i can figure out where this "air" might be coming from

Javascripterror · Jun 24, 2005

The other cause is micro bubbles formed on the tubing walls which travel eventually to the radiator and get trapped. They accumulate until they overflow the radiator and move to the 'T' line causing an apparent drop in fluid level. After a few weeks of operation these can often be removed quickly by tilting the radiator towards the outlet barb.

Perseus · Jun 25, 2005

The_WRATH said:
and if evaporation occurs, then the water is taken away but the coolant stays correct?

The particulates suspended in the the solution remain. Which means that your coolant would, over time, become more dense. It would take a while before you'd notice this though.

hung · Jun 25, 2005

ok i think im gonna play around with the rad lol

gungeek · Jun 25, 2005

If it isn't leaking, just let it keep bleeding air. That is how T-lines work; they don't bleed fast, but they work. Just give the rad a few gentle shakes or taps. If there are small air bubbles trapped in there, you'll see a surge of bubbles in the tubing and maybe hear the pump get louder temporarily.

Don't worry about the tubing for your T line fill tube. It isn't really under suction pressure so it doesn't have to be as good as the other tubing that's actually in the loop.

hung · Jun 28, 2005

wow, you guys are crazy
i took your guy's advice and shook the rad a bit, and now, the T line's water level stopped dropping lol!
i still dont get how this is but, thx guys! lol

crash013 · Jun 28, 2005

OCForums, we aim to please.

Jas · Jun 28, 2005

With more powerful pumps (Higher pressure and higher flow) it is easier to bleed a system, as the water velecity and turbulence can be more than enough to "knock" any bubbles loose.

One of the things you may notice, is if you put in an adative liek water wteer, or zerex, or soem other type of addative that lowers the viscocity and surface tension of the water, you may see what appears to be a cloudyness in your coolant, which is often micro bubbles. The surface tension of the water has been lowered, so any air trapped in the system will have a harder time forming larger bubbles. These "micro bubbles" can very easily get stuck or trapped in radiators, or water blocks. If you have tons of flow in yuor loop, generally that is enough to knock them loose, but in a loop with a low powered pump they may stick longer, or nto budge at all.

That bring us to the tilting the case around, shaking the radiator, etc.

hung · Jun 28, 2005

ah got cha sith lord

omg, system has been bleeding for days...

Member

Member

Member

Member

Mastering in Physics

Member

Member

Registered

Member

Senior Something

Mastering in Physics

Member

Registered

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads