On vacation......do you worry about leaks?

[orion456]

You are away for two weeks. Do you leave your computer running and do you then worry about the consequences of it leaking when you aren't there?

[JTanczos]

Unless I need to access the computer from afar I shut it down when I leave for more than 3 days.

JT

[cripy]

yea I would turn it off.

[Son1990]

I never leave my comp on if im going to be gone for more the 6 days. Usually cause im worried about power surges and the likes. I otherwise leave on all the time. No real point to leave on tho if your going to be gone on vaca.
~Ken

[Sneaky]

if im not gonna be home for more than a day, it gets shut down, and ethernet & PSU gets unplugged incase there's a storm

[eobard]

Will you need to access it remotely while you are away? If not then I suggest shut it down.

[inkfx]

I shut mine down if I go on vacation. Dont need it to be on if im not going to be using it.

[citronym]

Always running. I've been away for up to 2 weeks. I'm paying for bandwidth, so I'm using it!

[Sshadow]

As eoboard said, better shut it down, if you don't access it from afar.

I usually do access mine, when i am not at home. Its convenient, but if temps seems to be trailing up to much i remotely turn it off. My favorite program is a old program for accessing is Remote Administrator (Radmin). One time i forgot to set useraccess, 2 weeks and not even to be able to monitor it. Now i run Apache + sysmon + radmin just in case i wanna check-up on the computer. The neighbour water the plants, so they can shut it down just in case of high temps, water leaks and the likes.

//Christian

[lowfat]

I haven't shut mine off in months, and i have left town up to 5 days, never have had a problem.. I have confidence in my system. In the case that the pump dies, the computer should turn off once it gets too hot.

[Perseus]

You are away for two weeks. Do you leave your computer running and do you then worry about the consequences of it leaking when you aren't there?

Nah, if I was worried about leaks I'd NEVER turn the thing on. :p My main box snaps on every morning at 0200 for 2-hours worth of maintenance and shuts off. I'm sure enough of my plumbing to allow it to do so during an extended absence.

[smesx1]

I turn it off and unplug if gone for more than a few days. Dont want an act of god (lightning) messing up my rig, some surge protectors dont cover that.

But if i didnt have to worry about lightning i would leave it on. My plumbing is tight.

[buttonmash]

I dont think anyone with watercooling would leave their PC on unattended for days on end when idle. If youve played with water, then you know it can be unforgiving. So I dont think anyone responsible would do such a thing.

[orion456]

I'm on air and fold 24/7, 365. I guess water is out of the question then.

I am considering a new rig for next year and wanted some idea how useful liquid cooling would be if you are running all the time.

[johan851]

Liquid cooling is plenty useful if you're running all the time, but I just like to be around. I usually leave it running all day and all night, but if I just leave for a couple days, it's safer to just turn it off.

Not that the system is leaky...watercooling just requires more maintenance than air.

[Perseus]

I'm on air and fold 24/7, 365. I guess water is out of the question then.

:p Only if you buy the idea that it's somehow hyper-dangerous, which it isn't. TBH, it isn't like you're trying to tame the Pacific ocean or anything like that. Secure each barb with a passion, leak test thoroughly and don't be bashful about asking questions. If water-cooling was the disaster in waiting that some insist on thinking it is, I wouldn't have gone near it. ;)

[Deathknight]

I'm on air and fold 24/7, 365. I guess water is out of the question then.


It should be pointed out that a large # of the people that said they would not leave their computers on when gone for extended periods do so because of fear of electrical storms and the like, which is an issue for air cooling as well.

[ls7corvete]

Silly people you cant fold with the power off.

[sunrunner20]

Silly people you cant fold with the power off.

And you can't fold with a cooked system. I generally turn my system off if nobdy will be home when im out. Just out of sheer paranoia. If somebody is home, I just have them check on it ever now and then.

[JTanczos]

Naw. I turn it off because a few times a hard drive stopped functioning and the computer kept rebooting itself all day. I luckily recovered everything from the drive but it permanently crashed shortly after that.

Another time there was another problem that caused a different computer to reboot at my work and it beeped non-stop every second all night long. Was trashed the next morning. Another time a PS/2 mouse was extremely hot for some reason. Started smoking when I noticed it and quickly unpluged it.

If something bad happens its gonna happen when you arnt home and there is nothing you can do to stop it either way. But letting a computer smolder for a week probably wont be as "safe" as a few hours.

JT

[voigts]

As was stated above, I don't leave it running when away because of lighting concerns and general hardware issues. And it is so true that a computer will mess up when you are away, to be sure.

I am not one bit concerned when it comes to the watercooling. If I was really paranoid about it, I would not watercool, or I would do whatever it takes to make it totally leak-free. For example, I recently built my own res out of acrylic. I very thouroughly glued it together, making absolutely sure each joint was solid. I hooked it up to my kitchen sink via a waterbed hose fitting and partially put my cap on and let it run under moderate sink pressure for an hour. This is a lot more pressure than it will ever get in my watercooling setup, and I feel very confident with the final result. I feel like I have set up my system securely to the point that a leak is about as probable as lightning striking is.

[goodolarchie]

I turn my PC off during the day while at work (peak power hours), have it fold at night (when kW/h is about 5x cheaper) and check it every morning. I would never leave it running with ounces of liquid death flowing through it while on vacation. That's just asking for trouble, IMO. If you must access it remotely, couldn't you just call somebody at home or nearby?

[arisythila]

If were gonna be outa the house and not comming back, Ill turn it off. no reason to waste electricity.

[rogerdugans]

I dont think anyone with watercooling would leave their PC on unattended for days on end when idle. If youve played with water, then you know it can be unforgiving. So I dont think anyone responsible would do such a thing.

You wouldn't call me responsible, methinks. ;)

I am no longer running computers like I used to, thanks to rising cost of electricity, but in the past I have had 3 or 4 water cooled rigs running 24/7 and they stayed that way when I went out of town.

My main machine still stays on all the time, and yes, it is water cooled and at this point it is often idle when I am not using it.

Water cooling should not be at any more risk of damage than air cooling for extended periods of time, and the risks are exactly the same as for air cooling: power outages, hardware failure, etc.
In fact, a water cooled computer is slightly LESS at risk than an air cooled one:
If an important fan on an air cooled system dies (cpu, video or maybe chipset) and is left that way for any period of time you will probably kill something.
With a water cooled system that has cpu, vga and chipset blocks, there are few ways to have catastrophic failure- basically 2:
*small but vital leak shorts something out. (This can usually be avoided by clamping tubing.)
*Catastrophic tube failure where a tube blows out completely, draining the system of all water.

If the water pump stops: the system will slowly heat up and give even the slowest-acting mobo plenty of time to shut down without damage.
If the radiator fans die..same as above, but even slower to heat up. :)

I am no longer very comfortable with air cooling at all:
dead fans have cost me one great video card and two power supplies.

Air cooling is just too risky for me.

[Silversinksam]

Will you need to access it remotely while you are away? If not then I suggest shut it down.

When I go away for extended periods of more than a few days I shut down the pc and give a next door neighbor my PC remote control (http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=29467). If I need to access my pc on the road I tell my neighbor to hit the remote control. I like this method better so my pet sitter/housesitter cannot turn on my pc as it's impossible to turn on my PC without the remote. The pet sitter can use a laptop I have that does not have anything on it I don't want them to see. (No I am not talking about pron, but rather troll info and info to moderate here and such, which I keep confidential) The remote control bypasses the ON/Off and reset buttons and the PC case is bolted to the floor and the case is locked, when I leave I take off the door with the window and replace it with the steel door.

[nikhsub1]

My rig is ALWAYS on, if I went away for 6 months that sucker would be left on.

[dlouly76]

I would turn it off. I am too paranoid to leave a watercooled pc on. What if.. What if it leaks and starts a fire. What if your cat or dog knocks its over and starts a short. What if .. what if.. And questions keep on surfacing while your ON VACATION- YOUR ON VACATION- Relax and dont think about the
"what if's"


;)

[Yuriman]

I don't use water anymore, but I never left my pc of if I were to be away for more than 2 days. It didn't bother me when I had my Via Aqua 1300, but my mag 3 had a tendancy to blow 1/2 ID tubing off of 5/8 barbs unless you really tightened down the clamps. I moved back to air actualy because water cooling is very heavy. (the way I did it)

[JTanczos]

When I go away for extended periods of more than a few days I shut down the pc and give a next door neighbor my PC remote control (http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=29467). If I need to access my pc on the road I tell my neighbor to hit the remote control. I like this method better so my pet sitter/housesitter cannot turn on my pc as it's impossible to turn on my PC without the remote. The pet sitter can use a laptop I have that does not have anything on it I don't want them to see. (No I am not talking about pron, but rather troll info and info to moderate here and such, which I keep confidential) The remote control bypasses the ON/Off and reset buttons and the PC case is bolted to the floor and the case is locked, when I leave I take off the door with the window and replace it with the steel door.

Neat idea. The x10 devices im sure you all know about can be used remotely. Then tie it in with your phone line using a receiver. When you call you punch in a code. Then the code of the device and then the on/off command. With an appliance module and having your computer set to "resume on power restore" it will boot right up.

Or get one of those active home systems with web control that you can log into remotely to turn on your system using the same method.

Or get the temp short switches they have for garage doors and such that would act like the ATX switch but still be connected to the net/phone for remote access without having to find someone to turn it on.

Nifty stuff!

JT

[felinusz]

I run a peltiered watercooling loop, and I will not leave my machine on for extended time periods when I am not around.

Hose clamps and zip ties equal security and leak-free confidence, but there is simply too much that can go wrong.

I am confident in the integrity of my watercooling circuit, but I don't like the dark, looming presence of Murphy's law :).

[Cyrix_2k]

I'd leave mine on if my parents would let me (they won't). It's been running 24/7 for two years with no problems other than my first pump died and it leaked once when I installed my new tubing. The leak was entirely my fault though since I didn't leak test and I didn't use hose clamps :-/ It's been over a year since those two incedents happened and I don't think a problem is going to crop up during the week or two I'm away.

[JTanczos]

..... I don't think a problem is going to crop up during the week or two I'm away.
Murphey is going to make you eat those words. :p

[xCRF450]

Nah, if I was worried about leaks I'd NEVER turn the thing on. :p My main box snaps on every morning at 0200 for 2-hours worth of maintenance and shuts off. I'm sure enough of my plumbing to allow it to do so during an extended absence.


how do you do that, i would like to do that. let me know thanks..

[rogerdugans]

I have far fewer worries about leaks than I do fans crapping out.

Leaks that were NOT a result of me doing something foolish have cost me exactly 0 components.

Fans that died have cost me at LEAST one video card and two power supplies.

I don't worry about my water cooled computers, but I am definitely not comfortable leaving an air cooled machine running when I am not around.

[lowfat]

I have far fewer worries about leaks than I do fans crapping out.

Leaks that were NOT a result of me doing something foolish have cost me exactly 0 components.

Fans that died have cost me at LEAST one video card and two power supplies.

I don't worry about my water cooled computers, but I am definitely not comfortable leaving an air cooled machine running when I am not around.

That's a good point. An air cooled system just has just as a great risk if left on as water, if the water setup was done correctly.

[Perseus]

how do you do that, i would like to do that. let me know thanks..

You mean powering up at a certain time? That's a BIOS feature and should be available on many comtemporay motherboards. This feature falls under the general category of ACPI, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface. As far as the utility runs, I set XPro to power off after 2-hours of no use. Which means I almost never physically turn my box off. After that it's a simple matter to schedule my box to power up at 0155 and set the utlities I run (Disk-keeper, NAV and and Ghost) at staggered times within that 2-hour window.

[xCRF450]

so where do you get xpro?

[Perseus]

Sorry, I should have said Windows XP Pro.

[xCRF450]

so how can i set that up, i have xp home though... thanks... i really want it to boot up like yours does and do the virus stuff

[xCRF450]

ok i found the scheduled thing, but how to i get it to boot?

[Perseus]

Go into your BIOS and look for something like "Power Management Setup." There should be an option for turning ACPI functionality, enable that. At this point I'd suggest that you go back into XP and see if it finds a new device, or wants a driver. Go back into your BIOS and back into power management. Scroll down and see if there's an option that says something like "Wake on Alarm" and enable that. Some where close under that there should be an option for setting the alarm time in 24hr format.

Since we both have DFI mb's I sure hope some of this is the same for you. :)

[=AG= Devilhorse]

I turn mine off everyday. More worried about the PS than anything. Already had one go up in smoke while I was watching it and been afraid to leave it ever since. I trust my water more than I trust the PS.

[orion456]

I turn mine off everyday. More worried about the PS than anything.

Well, any electrical device can go up in smoke. Both my neighbor and I had extension cords catch fire. His burned the garage down with his car in it and fortunately I there when my cord started to smoke. Both were heavy duty cords that appeared fine. However years of use had caused corrosion on the terminals and the resulting increased resistance produced a significant amount of heat.

Despite that I keep many electrical appliances working 24/7 so I don't see a big difference with a computer. Water on the other hand is known to be a bit funny when mixed with electricity.

[rogerdugans]

Water on the other hand is known to be a bit funny when mixed with electricity.

Agreed.

But that is kind of my whole point:
water in the system should not ever be exposed to electricity.
It is, in fact, far more likely that a fan will die than it is that a well-made water cooling system will have a leak.

[dlouly76]

That maybe true, however we have to look at whats the risk factor and whats the baddest thing that can happend if it leaks and weigh it out on if you can handle coming back home to what has "MAY" of happend if you did have a leak while the it was on. CAN YOU HANDLE IT? AND WOULD YOU RISK IT? . Thats all folks!!

:-)

[johan851]

It is, in fact, far more likely that a fan will die than it is that a well-made water cooling system will have a leak.
True, although...

I keep thinking about a time when I was watercooling my system, and some water started to drip on the video card...I noticed the display starting to act funny, checked the system, and shut it off immediately. What would've happened if I hadn't been there would have been much worse, as the card lived and worked just fine.

If I recall correctly that was a fault of a waterblock with a lexan top, so I don't know if I could classify that particular setup as "well made"...

[rogerdugans]

I do understand the point...really, I do.

But you also reiterate my point, dlouly76: what is the Risk Factor.
The risk of getting hit by a falling meteor is larger than the risk of a water cooling system suddenly developing a leak.

The risk factor is very low, in other words. ;)
The areas of greatest risk in a water cooled computer are:
Fan death
Pump death.

In a water cooled computer, NEITHER of those are likely to be fatal to any other component, unlike an air cooled system. (Exception- any component NOT being water cooled!)

Leaks generally occur for one of a very few reasons:
1) during initial build/testing phase. Leak testing covers this.
2) Experimentation with new components or ideas- user error causes something to be overlooked.
3) User error during build
4) Use of a leak-prone reservoir (Not saying they are ALL leak prone, but some are.)

I can think of no simpler way to put it than this:
If you build a solid, safe water cooling system and test it for leaks then you should have fewer worries than if you were air cooling your computer.

Edit- add these as things to avoid. ;)
If I recall correctly that was a fault of a waterblock with a lexan top, so I don't know if I could classify that particular setup as "well made"...

[Perseus]

This isn't meant to put anyone on the spot, but why use water-cooling if you don't have any confidence in its safety? I've had leaks, sure, but each time it happened it was my fault. There was nothing inherent in my system, or any of my components that caused it. I learned from my mistakes and that knowledge has bred confidence.

[citronym]

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