[Enemy Down!]

are there any closed loop systems (besides the H50 and similar prodcuts) that you never have to worry about coolant levels? for example, i am thinking since i have a corsair 700D case, i should put a triple radiotor inside it and water cooling the cpu and gpu but do not want to deal with filling coolant, cleaning, and bacterial growth in the reservoir if it requires opening and closing to add water / coolant.

[m0r7if3r]

recommended maintenance is a teardown every 6 months (on distilled water + PTNuke). when you fill the loop, you may have to top off the res every now and then for a good week or so, but after that it's pretty much set-it and forget-it. The thing about watercooling that you should keep in mind is that it's a hobby, if you're getting into it for just a next step from air, you very well may end up miserable...do it because you want to, not because you feel it's necessary. That said, it's a hobby! Have some fun with it if you do get into it, fawn over your loop, hang out with the guys on this board, talk about stuff that most people don't care about, get into heated arguments and flame wars over distilled vs fluids...just generally enjoy yourself.

EDIT: Just realized, i didn't see closed loop...there's no closed loop 120.3's, coolit has a 120.2, but if you want a 120.3 rad you'll have to mod, then it's not closed loop, then there's no reason for you to have bought an inferior product.

[beenthere]

Or skip the H2O and clean your PC once a year.

[deadlysyn]

Originally Posted by m0r7if3r

recommended maintenance is a teardown every 6 months (on distilled water + PTNuke). when you fill the loop, you may have to top off the res every now and then for a good week or so, but after that it's pretty much set-it and forget-it. The thing about watercooling that you should keep in mind is that it's a hobby, if you're getting into it for just a next step from air, you very well may end up miserable...do it because you want to, not because you feel it's necessary. That said, it's a hobby! Have some fun with it if you do get into it, fawn over your loop, hang out with the guys on this board, talk about stuff that most people don't care about, get into heated arguments and flame wars over distilled vs fluids...just generally enjoy yourself.

EDIT: Just realized, i didn't see closed loop...there's no closed loop 120.3's, coolit has a 120.2, but if you want a 120.3 rad you'll have to mod, then it's not closed loop, then there's no reason for you to have bought an inferior product.

There's also the Corsair H70, which is a 120.2.

As far as the flame wars over which liquid is best, we already know that distilled is the best. Both by temp margins and the amount of maintenance. I think Skinnee just proved that point too.

[Conumdrum]

The H70 is just a thicker rad, not a 120x2. Bit better performance and comes with two fans.

[BugFreak]

Honestly, the maintenance on a loop isn't too bad. The hardest part imo is keeping the radiators clean which only takes a shot or two of some compressed air to clean. With the right mix of water and additives a loop will easily go for a year. Sure at first I watch it a little closer and check it more but that's just my paranoia, after that everything smooths out and runs easy. Just take your time setting it up, plan your parts and water mix based on the endless "rate my sedtup" threads on here and everything will be fine.

[crazy8s846]

Originally Posted by deadlysyn

There's also the Corsair H70, which is a 120.2.

As far as the flame wars over which liquid is best, we already know that distilled is the best. Both by temp margins and the amount of maintenance. I think Skinnee just proved that point too.

Yea but fluid looks alot better, than everyone just having clear boring water in their lines. If i want to see clear fluid run through a line, ill buy a clear graden hose, and water the garden. One day when i get lazy ill run distilled, so i wont have that amount of maintance, that i have never seen in 5 years of useing premix.

[Nebulous]

Originally Posted by crazy8s846

Yea but fluid looks alot better, than everyone just having clear boring water in their lines. If i want to see clear fluid run through a line, ill buy a clear graden hose, and water the garden. One day when i get lazy ill run distilled, so i wont have that amount of maintance, that i have never seen in 5 years of useing premix.

Premix of what? 5 years of no maintenance is a train wreck waiting to happen.

I've been running "clear boring water" plus PTNuke in my lines since as far as I can remember. I do maintenance once a year cuz I want to, not because I need to. No growth of anything and my lines are still clear.

Only 1 time I used distilled water with some other crap I can't remember off the top of my head. I wanted the "cool fluid look" and the end result was sludge in my lines/pump and waterblocks in less than 6 months of usage. The pump was a lost cause along with the lines. Took me 2 days of blasting boiling hot water thru my rads and scrubbing my blocks clean.

[crazy8s846]

Originally Posted by Nebulous

Premix of what? 5 years of no maintenance is a train wreck waiting to happen.

I've been running "clear boring water" plus PTNuke in my lines since as far as I can remember. I do maintenance once a year cuz I want to, not because I need to. No growth of anything and my lines are still clear.

Only 1 time I used distilled water with some other crap I can't remember off the top of my head. I wanted the "cool fluid look" and the end result was sludge in my lines/pump and waterblocks in less than 6 months of usage. The pump was a lost cause along with the lines. Took me 2 days of blasting boiling hot water thru my rads and scrubbing my blocks clean.

Did i say i did no maintance, thats what you get when you assume something. I take my cooling down every 6 monthes to one year never had sludge in the last 5 years, not saying all premix is equal. I was refuring to the extra maintance that all of you seem to think you have to do, when using premix. Your watseing your time replying to anything i say, it will all be deleted.

[Nebulous]

Originally Posted by crazy8s846

Did i say i did no maintance, thats what you get when you assume something. I take my cooling down every 6 monthes to one year never had sludge in the last 5 years, not saying all premix is equal. I was refuring to the extra maintance that all of you seem to think you have to do, when using premix. Your watseing your time replying to anything i say, it will all be deleted.

I didn't assume anything when you posted this:

Originally Posted by crazy8s846

so i wont have that amount of maintance, that i have never seen in 5 years of useing premix.

and when I reply to something, I never waste my time.

And again I take my wc setup apart because I want to, not because I need to. I enjoy taking my setup apart.

Best cool your jets.

[hokiealumnus]

Originally Posted by crazy8s846

Your watseing your time replying to anything i say, it will all be deleted.

Why do you think that is, exactly? You need to relax and stop being so abrasive. Multiple posts of yours have been combative and rude.

You're welcome to share your opinions and why you enjoy using premix fluids, that's fine and dandy. But pot shots because you prefer how it looks over distilled (i.e. people that use distilled are lazy) are becoming tiresome.

Drop the attitude or find somewhere else to post.

-hokie

[Acuradude]

so on a lighter note!!!!! hokie let me know if i have this right!!! if you have a good colored premix and change it and clean the system every 6 months is that ok? or is there still a good chance of slime and stuff? i like the way the blue looks and i would plan on cleaning the systems every 6 mo.s if not before then because i cant leave stuff alone (too much free time) lol. but i would sacrifice blue liquid for blue hoses if the blue fluid would really cause problems.

[hokiealumnus]

If you tear it down and clean it every six months you'll be fine. The drawbacks are you will suffer a couple degrees performance from the get-go and if it breaks down your loop will perform even more poorly as you get closer to the 6-month mark.

There's no guarantee it will break down at all (though odds are higher with some brands than others), but the possibility is there. That combined with the equally strong possibility of staining parts (like my pretty, clear reservoir) is enough to make me steer very clear of it. Distilled + PT Nuke PHN all the way, all the time.

I see the draw of dyes / mixes. If you like the way it looks, by all means go for it! Having the goal of a sweet looking loop is as much of a valid reason for running it as squeezing every last drop of performance out of it is for running distilled. Different people have different goals...and that's fine (which is why I can't figure out why people get so angry about it). I happen to like the understated look of clear tubing w/ distilled, which is another reason I run it.

As long as you're cleaning with the expectation your cleaning may take more effort than those without die/premix and you're ok with that, every 6 months is fine.

Hope that helps!

[Acuradude]

ok cool thank you for your help and input!!!!i still havent made up my mind on which im going to do when i start putting my water system together but im leaning towards distilled with nuke and blue hoses partly because of the price difference between the two!!!!

as far as hoses go are they pretty much the same??

and is a thicker hose wall better than a thin one?

also one more ? and ill leave you alone hokie if i do the distilled would one gallon last me for a year or would it go bad or something sitting there waiting to be used again???

thanks hokie

[BugFreak]

I prefer 1/2" ID hoses but allot of people run 3/8" ID just fine. As far as the wall thickness that depends on how tight you need bends to be. A thin wall will kink or flatten out if bent to tight.

[m0r7if3r]

Originally Posted by Acuradude

ok cool thank you for your help and input!!!!i still havent made up my mind on which im going to do when i start putting my water system together but im leaning towards distilled with nuke and blue hoses partly because of the price difference between the two!!!!

as far as hoses go are they pretty much the same??

and is a thicker hose wall better than a thin one?

also one more ? and ill leave you alone hokie if i do the distilled would one gallon last me for a year or would it go bad or something sitting there waiting to be used again???

thanks hokie

well...I'm not hokie, but I think I can answer your questions.

Distilled is cheaper and performs better, I'll admit it doesn't look as good in some situations, but generally the look is fine(imo at least) with some colored tubing, especially with some LED's to accent it.

Not all tubing is created equal, but anything you buy from a wcing retailer pretty much will be, the pvc stuff from home depot is pretty junky. Thicker walls mean it is less likely to collapse and kink. That said, I've heard that 5/8"od 1/2"id will take tighter turns that 1/2"id 3/4"od with antikink coiling (lots of it...) because the walls have to stretch less.

as for leaving the water around, depends how you store it, but its <$1 for a gallon, why not just get new water?

[Acuradude]

ok cool thanks. i was thinking that if the hoses where thinner they may give up the heat more before it got to the rad helping cool it that much more but im not sure.

[m0r7if3r]

Originally Posted by Acuradude

ok cool thanks. i was thinking that if the hoses where thinner they may give up the heat more before it got to the rad helping cool it that much more but im not sure.

nah, they actually act as insulators and keep the heat in, but it doesn't really matter because their surface area is so small that even if you were to do runs of tubing in full copper the temp drop would be nominal. I saw a build where that was done, I'll try to dig it up, but it was pretty old.

EDIT: couldn't find it, best i could do was http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?p=1264646

that said, the one i saw done used a combo of both regular tubing and copper, the copper for the straight runs and the regular to connect the copper to the blocks, rads, etc.

[Conumdrum]

Originally Posted by Acuradude

ok cool thanks. i was thinking that if the hoses where thinner they may give up the heat more before it got to the rad helping cool it that much more but im not sure.

If the hose radiates any heat at all, you would need a few thousand doller setup to measure it and a temp controlled room within .05C that would cost $10,000 or more. Basically a high end lab to perform the tests.

So tubing radiating heat is not something we even consider.

The radiator in all practicality is the ONLY heat remover.

[Acuradude]

lol ok cool in hvac its alot different. hvac is what i know! watercooling pc's no so much but thanks to you guys i am learning!! and i thank you all for that!