New to water-cooling, have I installed it correctly?

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

Hello, I've installed for the first time custom water loop, The EK P280 kit which is my first experience in building any custom loop and I'm nervous, I'm not sure I've tubed the route correctly. Can you please confirm if everything is ok? I followed some scheme on the guide, I just hope it the correct one. Another thing, air bubbles inside reservoir is normal?

I've followed this scheme in step 1, then the picture underneath it shows different location to connect the tube from the pump out.. that's why I'm confused.

ssjwizard · Apr 24, 2017

Even if its backwards it wont matter. Looks fine to me.

Later on down the road when you are more comfortable with the system though I would recommend that you clean up your tubing runs a little. They look kinda hap hazard right now. An you may want to pick up a couple of 90degree fittings for the pump. Of course that is all mostly ascetic as it doesn't effect performance.

Blaylock · Apr 24, 2017

Yes it looks correct to me. Those mini bubbles will settle down after a few hours. You just need to make sure there are no major bubbles in your loop. It helps to tip your case sideways and front to back to help dislodge any potential air in the loop.

EDIT: I would flip the fans however to exhaust out the top of the case.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

ssjwizard said:
Even if its backwards it wont matter. Looks fine to me.

Later on down the road when you are more comfortable with the system though I would recommend that you clean up your tubing runs a little. They look kinda hap hazard right now. An you may want to pick up a couple of 90degree fittings for the pump. Of course that is all mostly ascetic as it doesn't effect performance.

Thanks for the reply. Another thing it says in the book installation guide is to run a 24 hours leak test. I assume I should do that while the pump is running of course? Because that's what I'm doing now and the water inside the reservoir seem to boil a little (because the fans are not working and only the pump) maybe I'm losing a little water that way.. is that procedure is normal?

- - - Updated - - -

Blaylock said:
Yes it looks correct to me. Those mini bubbles will settle down after a few hours. You just need to make sure there are no major bubbles in your loop. It helps to tip your case sideways and front to back to help dislodge any potential air in the loop.

EDIT: I would flip the fans however to exhaust out the top of the case.

EK recommends to put the fans the way I did.. are you sure?

ssjwizard · Apr 24, 2017

Those are just bubbles even with the fans off that radiator will easily dissipate the heat generated by the pump.

Expect to see little bits of air in the loop for the first day or so. As Blay suggested rocking the case from side to side and front to back will expedite the bleeding out of any air trapped in the system.

Fan orientation is all about preference. My system is setup for top rear intake and bottom front exhaust because I live in the desert and it used to sit on carpet. The main thing is to have directional air flow through the case.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

Another couple questions.. should I control the pump speed or leave it as default? (And how do I do it).

I've seen on my MB which is Asus Maximus IX Apex a 4 pin place called W_PUMP+ , any one knows if it fits to connect the pump header to there? Should I? (The radiator fans are connected to CPU_FAN).

Suppressor1137 · Apr 24, 2017

yep, looks like it's one complete circuit. Agree with the notes mentioned. the res line being crossed is a little weird. but functional.

ssjwizard · Apr 24, 2017

Metalsnake said:
Another couple questions.. should I control the pump speed or leave it as default? (And how do I do it).

I've seen on my MB which is Asus Maximus IX Apex a 4 pin place called W_PUMP+ , any one knows if it fits to connect the pump header to there? Should I? (The radiator fans are connected to CPU_FAN).

Im not familiar with the pump in the kit. If its variable speed PWM then ya you can hook it up to the motherboard. If not I would just let it run full speed directly connected to the PSU.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

ssjwizard said:
Im not familiar with the pump in the kit. If its variable speed PWM then ya you can hook it up to the motherboard. If not I would just let it run full speed directly connected to the PSU.

There's a Molex connection that's already connected to the PSU, and there's another 4 pin header cable (that fits like a fan) that I can connect. That 4 pin header reads temperature? And might let me control my pump? Where to connect it. No information about it in the installation manual.

Blaylock · Apr 24, 2017

Metalsnake said:
EK recommends to put the fans the way I did.. are you sure?

The general rule of thumb is for the intake to be at the front and bottom and the exhaust to be at the top and rear. As SSJWIZ mentioned there are exceptions. You usually want your air flow to look like this.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

Blaylock said:
The general rule of thumb is for the intake to be at the front and bottom and the exhaust to be at the top and rear. As SSJWIZ mentioned there are exceptions. You usually want your air flow to look like this.

View attachment 190592

I know that, but EK recommends the other way from some reason.. oh well I'll test it.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

Metalsnake said:
There's a Molex connection that's already connected to the PSU, and there's another 4 pin fan header cable (that fits like a fan) that I can connect. That 4 pin header reads temperature? And might let me control my pump? Where to connect it. No information about it in the installation manual.

Anyone knows anything about that??

R_Pierce · Apr 24, 2017

Metalsnake said:
Anyone knows anything about that??

That "other" wire is the PWM control. Hook it to the AIO pump or water pump header. You can then set the speed to whatever you want in bios

Blaylock · Apr 24, 2017

According to the EK website your kit uses the EK-XRES140 w/D5 PWM pump.

EK says said:
EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM (incl. pump) - high-performance water cooling pump with integrated reservoir. The core of the unit is the market-proven Xylem D5 PWM water pump. The unit features a fully rounded design thus offering greater usability, allowing installation at any angle within 360° of rotation. Special rubber shock absorber is used to de-couple the main pump body from the mounting clip for silent operation, free of vibration induced noise. Additionally, horizontal and vertical positioning are supported for easier tube routing possibilities.

So R_P is correct. If you connect it to the 4 pin AIO_PUMP header on your motherboard the PWM signal from the motherboard should control the speed of the pump.

GTXJackBauer · Apr 24, 2017

You'll want to install the rest of the components like the GPU so you can make things fit properly and not have to make adjustments after already doing the leak test, etc.

The bubbles will work their way to the reservoir or at least you want them too. You will see the fluid level change as the fluid fills in the spots of air pockets in the loop which you want. Just fill in more liquid when its warranted. This process is called bleeding. Just make sure your pumps are primed at all time.

I also advise to go with angled fittings. Loop order won't matter as long as your res is feeding the pump which you naturally have in this combo.

You should give us a list of all your PC components and H20 loop to get a better picture.

To answer a few of your questions, have a look at this video.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

I have a new problem now.. I unscrewed the radiator from the rig in order to flip the fans on it (to circulation style) and the radiator was in a stance of 90 degrees instad of 180 degrees (the way it used to sit inside the case) and I heard and felt some heavy water movement inside but thought its ok... when i put it back inside the rig at the same place 180 degrees I get now from time to time annoying crackling noise that lasts like 5-7 seconds before it dissapirs.. what to do?

.. tried to shake the rig in all sort of ways.. not helping.

||Console|| · Apr 24, 2017

Is it just air stuck in the rad?
Cycling the power helps some time the air should collect in your Rez over time.

Also check you fittings to make sure they are still tight you could be sucking air

Blaylock · Apr 24, 2017

Yeah, you have a large air pocket that's in or was in your radiator. You're going to want to tip you case back and forth up and down, left and right with the pump on to try and push all that air to your res.

Metalsnake · Apr 24, 2017

||Console|| said:
Is it just air stuck in the rad?
Cycling the power helps some time the air should collect in your Rez over time.

Also check you fittings to make sure they are still tight you could be sucking air

Sucking air? From where? If my fittings wouldnt sit the right way id had a leak by now..

The top tiny hole in the rez should be coverd also with rubber band around the cover?

GTXJackBauer · Apr 24, 2017

Metalsnake said:
Sucking air? From where? If my fittings wouldnt sit the right way id had a leak by now..

The top tiny hole in the rez should be coverd also with rubber band around the cover?

What he's basically saying is, check your fittings and loop as a whole to make sure nothing moved or got loose while moving things around.

As for the radiator noise, that is air bubbles/pockets in your rad otherwise it wouldn't be as noisy once the air was moved out. Slowly and kindly tilt your case around when needed, otherwise run your pump at full throttle to help it bleed quicker. Just make sure there's no vortex effect of any sort in the reservoir which would feed the pump air.

Not sure what you're talking about on your tiny hole res comment. If you're referring to the fill port, close it up and only open it when you need to fill.

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