Reservoir Gurgling

I just set up my first WC setup and everything went pretty good. I have a Swiftech reservoir. This reservoir has a vent hole in it. I have filled it up covering the vent hole, tipped the case and reservoir every which way to make sure its as full as can be. Yet there is still air in the reservoir and it makes a slight gurgle about every 20 seconds. Is there something I'm missing here or is this normal?

Did you bleed the system?

vwturbourbod said:

I just set up my first WC setup and everything went pretty good. I have a Swiftech reservoir. This reservoir has a vent hole in it. I have filled it up covering the vent hole, tipped the case and reservoir every which way to make sure its as full as can be. Yet there is still air in the reservoir and it makes a slight gurgle about every 20 seconds. Is there something I'm missing here or is this normal?

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also check for leaks

Fighter2a said:

Did you bleed the system?

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^^ exactly

THere are no leaks and I bled the system. It seems like its impossible to completely fill this res. There is always a pocket of air at the top that no matter how I tip things doesn't go away. Also there are absolutely no bubbles or air running through the tubes. I want to finish this up since I've been working on this for 2 nites now and need my computer back.

Any advice on what to do/try?

Well I'm about ready to give up on this. I have tried for the last 5 hours to get this air out of the res and cannot do it if my life depended on me. Please someone help before I just throw everything in the trash.

As long as I have flow and temps are in I do not worry too much about it. I have found that starting and stopping the pump over the next few days helps get all of the air out of the system. Location of the res can have a huge impact, especially if there is an air leak to the res. I personally do not run resevoirs, just a t-line at the pump which is the lowest point.

Well I have the Swiftech h20 120b 3a yada yada yada kit. So the res and the pump are located at the top bay. It's just a really annoying sound and frustrates the hell out of me so thats why I want to figure out how to completely fill the res.

it will hopefully go away as all of the bubbles make their way to the res and collect there. once they are there you'll hopefully be able to get them out of the air hole and then all will be well. the gurgling is air bubles probably getting smacked around by the impellor in the pump. they should hopefully manage to eventually collect in the res and stop getting through the loop.

i think that with cycling the pump a couple seconds at a time gets the air bubbles moving, but then gives the water some stopped time for them to collect in the res.

Well it seems that all the air is collected in the res. Theres about 1/8" of air at the top of the res that I can't get out.

The trick with that res is to not fill it too much when you are bleeding the system. When you first fill it and are bleeding it, if you add too much water (past the sunken in fill hole), the air cannot escape.

What you want to do is add just enough water so that air doesn't get to you discharge side. Then after you are certain all the air is out, and it only takes a couple of minutes, you can fill it more. It does help too if you tilt your case all around, being careful not to let any spill from the fill hole, and also do not tilt it in the direction that would let air get to the discharge side.

Lastly, I usually prop my case up at the front and tilt it a little so that I can add as much water as possible, and this way you have no splashing sounds. Put the fill cap back on and then after a day or two, loosen the fill cap with the system running. You'll notice there was a lot of vacuum and I'm pretty sure that vaccum is air that was still in the system, but opening the fill port with the system running will let water fill that.

Btw, you cannot fill the res up completely, but if you fill it as much as pozzible by tilting the case with the system running, you can fill it enough to prevent the splashing sound.

Thanks for the great info. So do you think I need to empty all the water out and rebleed? I'd rather not have to do that. Also the vent hole in the res do you fill up the water over it and keep the water level just under the hole?

No need to empty the system again. Just add/top up the water if the level drops to just below the fill hole.

Fighter2a said:

Did you bleed the system?

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He shouldn't have to actively bleed a reservoir-based system, at least if he has a moderately powerful pump. It should happen over time with no intervention other than topping the res off. I have noticed that my rad chirps at regular intervals after putting new coolant in, but that goes away after not too long and has nothing to do with my res.

Under the fill cap there is a little vent hole. The water should be just below this vent hole so that trapped air can escape, correct?

vwturbourbod said:

Under the fill cap there is a little vent hole. The water should be just below this vent hole so that trapped air can escape, correct?

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Correct. Actually, per the instructions, the optimal fill level is really less than that. I think the instructions say to fill only up to the mold mark in the res, but I've found the res to be too noisey if you leave it there. You should only fill to that point for bleeding though.

Right now, you can take a about a 3' lenght of tubing (the longer, the better) and syphon out enough to let it bleed properly, then fill it back up when done.

I must be a complete moron. I cannot get this air at the top of the res out. All you hear is the water I guess splashing around in there. I thought these swiftech res/pump things are supposed to be easy to use.

You are not stupid. I had that same annoying gurgling sound (it was kind of loud) and a little bit of air at the top when I had that res no matter what I did also. I finally gave up and just went with a t-line. I just made my own acrylic res friday-today because I missed the ease of the res at filling/bleeding.

Well I took the res and pump out of the 5 1/4 bay so I can see exactly whats going on in the res with that pocket of air. Basically whats happening is the air just goes around the fill port. Because of this I don't see how its possible to completely fill this res and get the gurgling to stop. I guess I will give this damn res one more day of trying to stop that gurgling sound. Has anyone successfully filled one and have it quiet?

Also I would really like to start using my computer again, its been down since Thursday because of this kit. Even though theres air in the res and it gurgles can I hook everything up and start using the computer?

Well I think I'm goign to say goodbye to this res and put in a t-line. I'm a bit confused on where to place my components when using a t-line. I have the rad at the bottom front of the case. Where should I put the pump? Should it also go on the bottom now or should I keep it up in a bay at the top of the system?