convince parents it ani't gonna leak

How do I convince my parents that a water cooling system won't leak and kill $800 of CPUs (SMP) and MB.

Point out that if leaks and cpu death were so common, watercooling would not be going mainstream the way it is with just about every company producing their own kits. DIY is always better

btw where in NYC are you? you could always site me as an example

by building it and giving them a test of the w/c system assembled outside of the case running for xx hours.

Just curious, but why do you even have to ask? If they're like my parents, it may be impossible.... Fortunately my parents don't care what I do to my comp...

Good luck....

DP

Use hose clamps, and leak test it for ~24 hours either outside of the case or in the case without any of the components. If you are using a dye or water wetter (like you should) then the water will have a slight color to it, and if you place paper towels on the bottom of the case, if it leaks you will be able to spot the leak. If you use hose clamps, and it doesn't leak after 24 hours then it's good.

bulk88 said:

How do I convince my parents that a water cooling system won't leak and kill $800 of CPUs (SMP) and MB.

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Cuz all the cool kids are doing it

Go overboard. Put hose clamps everywhere, leak test at every stage of the process for at least 24 hours, use too much flourescent dye or food coloring (unless it's expensive), basically, do everything you can think of that would cause a leak. If you can create conditions that you know will be significantly more stressful than those in your box and show that your cooling system won't leak, you'll probably be able to convince your parents that you know what you're doing.
If that doesn't work, try to think about it from your parents' point of view.
I assume that the SMP box is yours. If your parents are clueful enough to have an SMP box but don't want you watercooling it, it's probably time for plan B.

Also, make sure that you don't say that you're doing it for status. Watercooling is expensive and potentially dangerous, and if you don't know what you'll do before you start, you need to reexamine your reasons. Make sure that you have a list of convincing reasons why watercooling is worth the cost compared to aircooling.

hehe, i just got my setup in and my parents didnt say anything. I just asked my mom if i could borrow her cred card and pay her in cash for a water cooling setup i was going to build. My parents even helped in me getting it set.

One of the reasons I decided to go with watercooling is because NEC started selling watercooled pc's.

I figured that if a mainstream manufacturer like NEC thinks that watercooling is safe, reliable, and effective enough to include in one of their systems, than it should be more than ok for me.

As a parent I know that you are simply approaching the situation wrong.. You can not convince your parents that it will not leak simply because you, and they know that this is a possibility.
Rather than argue, get your facts straight and question their concerns.. If the main worry is regarding the chance of leakage could damage things then do not lie and state that it will not leak because it could do... simply look at the water running through your home, there is the chance that this may leak at some time and the financial damage would be far greater than in your situation however they do not show concern for this.. why ?

Take the time to gather evidence of watercooled systems and show that it can be remarkably safe if approached in the correct and responsible manner.... and ask for justification on why they are against it, then find what is needed to change the opinion.

Simply do not look at proving yourself right, look at reasuring your parents


Take it from a educational perspective and provide the information to show that this is a professional and widely used cooling method

Acrylic Conformal spray helps to some degree. Lots of of it

Very informative guys, I am having the same problem here. I watercooled before (but i pushed my processor too far, and electron migration took its toll) so my dad assumes if i do it again, I will kill another processor.

I think I can convince him otherwise though.

Electron migration in chips now is almost unheard of, so watercooling and pushing the chip is no problem.

bulk88 :

Don't build anything, buy it all, or at least at first, then when they gain confidence, you will be able to do more. Trust me, I have parents like yours from the sounds of it.

Christoph said:

Go overboard. Put hose clamps everywhere, leak test at every stage of the process for at least 24 hours, use too much flourescent dye or food coloring (unless it's expensive), basically, do everything you can think of that would cause a leak.

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I'd stay away from the food coloring. Some of the particles in it can clog up some waterblocks. (mainly the Cascade)

My parents won't pay for watercooling becasue they say that the worst will happen and the system is dead. First time I am doing water cooling because my temps refuse to go down, they are near core burnout with the side panel on. Next I have never done it and should know how to do it. Also I can claim a have a WC rig. My parents know that I know what I am doing. You can check my sig. I have like 35 rigs for cracking (I crack keys, not fold). All my rigs are used (dells, compaqs, gateways, off corporate lease, last load came from NJ DOT) or they were hand built by me, I opened and worked on each. The used ones often don't come with a critical component like RAM or a HD.

Even with my experince my parents just don't belive it won't leak. They say the pump will die and the whole thing boils and explodes (all my rigs run 24/7 at 100% cpu), or the clamps become lose, or the solder cracks, micro-fissures in the hoses, kinked hose, plastic in hose wears down and explodes, metal pipe corrodes from the high flow. And they say others were lucky, you won't be. The only thing I can think of is a OEM machine of a high volume vendor like dell or compaq with water cooling. Voodoo and Falcon Northwest won't do. Alienware is questionable but I don't belive their systems are water cooled. If I can show them a high volume stock machine with water cooling they should belive me it is safe.

So, why don't you pay for it then?

Maybe try to convince them its your computer and if it leaks and frys something itll be your problem not theirs. I donno thats just the way I always put it and I can do whatever w/ my system.

I am the father of four. All girls, (god help me) two of which are teenagers, 17 & 15 plus one 11 and one 3 (don't ask). I have some experience here.

No. 1: Who paid for the system? And honesty is the best policy here. It may look cool to say that you did, but if your parents really did, then I can see their concern about pumping virtually thousands of gallons of water through what they probably paid several hundred dollars for.

No. 2: Why? What is wrong with the system the way it was originally? Why is all of this extra cooling necessary? Are you overclocking just to see if you can? If that's the case, then maybe you should re-think your motivations. This reverts back to number one. If you have a leak severe enough to damage the machine beyond repair, your parents may not be able to afford to replace it. Frankly, I am building my first o\c machine. I have good reasoning behind me: I am currently running a PIII 450. While it is fine for many applications, it will not run many newer programs. To avoid another costly upgrade in the near future, I am building a machine that I can overclock to a higher speed at a lower cost than the same machine with the higher specs. I cannot afford to buy a 2.8G machine from a "dealer", so I am setteling for the next best thing. Building an o\c machine is cheaper, in other words.

(are you getting the subtle hints here?)

No. 3: If you're parents use the same machine, maybe they are concerned that a disaster would leave them without a computer.

Summary: If you paid for the machine yourself, I don't see any reasonable parent objecting to your desire to water cool, unless of course you intend to cut holes in the walls of your bedroom and tie into the bathtub cold water line. However, if your parents paid for it, thank them, love them, and honor their wishes.

bulk88 said:

Also I can claim a have a WC rig.

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This concerns me about your motivations for water cooling.