• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

How to bleed your loop in 40 mins or less! (T-Line)

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

darkcow

Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2006
I've posted about this before, but then I didn't test it entirely, but now I have the perfected method.

1) Put your loop together like normal, but don't hook up your fill port just yet. just connect a long hose to the T-Line so you can move it.

2) turn your computer on its side, so your motherboard is flat, but everything else is sideways.

3) take your T-Line fill tube and lift it so its the highest point in your Loop and perpendicular to the ground.

4) fill your loop, slowly, and tilt your case everywhich way trying your best to fill the radiator.

5) once you've filled it to a point where adding more water just spills out of the T-Line, put your computer upright the normal way, and connect your T-Line to your fillport or w/e

6) turn on your pump, and then add some Providone Iodide, let the Iodide froth up, wait an hour or so and bam, no more bubbles. All be it, your water may still be white, but it won't harm your performance at all and it will clear out soon.


note: I recommend getting a funnel

note: I recommend after adding the Providone Iodide add some more water to help push the iodide to the bottem of the fill line.


WARNING: this method doesn't replace leak testing! leak test for at least 12 hours!
 
The best idea would be to not add any additives until the distilled water is completely bled. That way the additive is spread evenly by the pump and has no air to foam up.
 
The best idea would be to not add any additives until the distilled water is completely bled. That way the additive is spread evenly by the pump and has no air to foam up.

But thats the whole point, is to let it froth up, it makes bleeding so much faster. And it does mix evenly, the pump does a great job at that. My lines went completely clear after 4 hours.

I can see how your thinking about it not mixing evenly, but In my own experience there wasn't any place where there was any Iodide sticking to the tubing or anything like that.

Also because the Iodide flows slowly down the T-Line its not like your adding it all at once, it adds very slowly. and you don't need much iodide at all.

so if your in a rush like me (have a lan party to go to) this method is great. if you have time you can do it the normal way.
 
No I wasn't commenting on the mixing, it mixes fine regardless, but foam and small bubbles are the reason bleeding takes so long. It takes a matter of minutes to bleed out big pockets of air but foam and small bubbles take the majority of the time. Only a few of them escape each pass.

And isn't that how you'd normally fill a loop? That's how I filled my loop when it had a tee-line...
 
Mine bled 85% of the air out in the first 5 mintes and after about 30 minutes I would say my loop was 99% bubble free. That involved shaking, tapping and tilting everything to make sure I got the air out.

That little ol Swiftech MicroRes is an awesome reservoir.
 
Mine bled 85% of the air out in the first 5 mintes and after about 30 minutes I would say my loop was 99% bubble free. That involved shaking, tapping and tilting everything to make sure I got the air out.

That little ol Swiftech MicroRes is an awesome reservoir.

yea, thats true, but having a T-Line is a different story.


the White foam froth that builds up will bleed out significantly faster and its significantly quieter than small air bubbles. You know how your pump makes a lot of noise when the air hasn't bled out yet? Well, with my method that doesn't happen.
 
That foam IS small air bubbles.

This was my system after having been on for about 20 minutes:
case10.jpg

That is not fully bled, and has tons of air in it. It was quiet compared to the giant air bubbles in the line, but still not close to how it should be.


Here it is again after being fully bled:
case12.jpg

Those lines are clear with no air in them. Between that first pic and the 2nd, I also had to add quite a bit more water to it, as the level would have dropped below the top of the T.

As you recommended, leak test for 12 hours. I actually did mine for 24. During that time, yea it'll finish bleeding out, but it doesn't change that it isn't bled until the line is clear.

The res will bleed those tiny bubbles faster because they have more time to float to the top of the res than the top of the T.

Either way, it doesn't change that it still needs to be done.
 
Thats exactly how its supposed to work, make all the large bubbles, in to smaller bubbles that bleed out faster. I guess its just hard to convey what I'm trying to say.

In my findings a ton of small bubbles (white foam) bleeds out faster than larger bubbles. Plus the foam doesn't make noise and doesn't affect your cooling performance in any significant way. Basically, it just removes the need to tilt your case around and inspect your loop for hours trying to get out every single bubble, it just does it by itself, fast.
 
You should only put a few drops of iodine in your loop.

Smaller bubbles take FOREVER to bleed out. Bigger bubbles allow water to flow in and the exchange happens right away. However, the smaller bubbles (foam) get sucked right back into the pump and just keep on moving before they enter the tee. The tee has a very small opening and only a few bubbles go into that opening each pass, where they then settle in the tee-line as foam. In addition, I'm almost positive running a loop full of foam will lower your temps as opposed to a loop full of water. The air just doesn't conduct heat as well as water, its a thermal insulator.

I dunno how your loops have been, but all of my loops, the large bubbles bleed out within a matter of minutes. The pocket is big enough that the third opening in the tee-line has no water under it (as opposed to the foam) and water can freely fall in before the air pocket ends.
 
Thats exactly how its supposed to work, make all the large bubbles, in to smaller bubbles that bleed out faster. I guess its just hard to convey what I'm trying to say.

In my findings a ton of small bubbles (white foam) bleeds out faster than larger bubbles. Plus the foam doesn't make noise and doesn't affect your cooling performance in any significant way. Basically, it just removes the need to tilt your case around and inspect your loop for hours trying to get out every single bubble, it just does it by itself, fast.

It doesn't bleed faster, and foam is not "bled".It's not fast, and your line is not bled until that foam is gone.Foam means there's a ton of air still in the loop. Sure, it's not a giant airpocket, but it's still a bunch of air. And in reality, any bubbles that settle in a place like the radiator, will turn into a big bubble after settling.
 
with all that wasted time, why not just use a good res?

Kamski



Space. Hell, a 1/2x1/2x3/4 copper tee holds about half-3/4 as much as a micro-res, so that's a great option. Tees are much easier to route in a loop, in fact I kind of want to use one for my next loop but I already have a micro-res.
 
I've filled/bled my loop in 5 minutes using a low T line and a high T line. Just point the low one at a bucket until it's time to cap it ;).
 
with all that wasted time, why not just use a good res?

Kamski

There's really no "wasted time" if it takes a couple hours to bleed it. Not saying you need to run it for 24 like I did, but who really builds, fills, and has the system go live immediately? Even if you don't run it just to check if everything is alright, go out and get a sandwich or something.
 
Back