Any advice on quick disconnects?

[Valantar]

Hi! First post here, so I hope there isn't some exhaustive guide to this hidden somewhere. I searched, I promise! Anyhow, I'm interested in adding some QDCs to my water loop. The loop has been running perfectly for a few years (first installed in my old Fractal R4, now in an NZXT H200), ever since I made the move to Ryzen. It's a CPU+GPU loop (EK blocks), with a 240mm (EK) and a 120mm (>10 years old, from the long-defunct Norwegian brand MIST) radiator, EK ZMT tubing, and an EK-XRES SPC somethingsomething reservoir. I'm interested in QDCs mainly for convenience, as I loathe the hassle of disassembling my loop (the one downside of that tubing is that it is quite stiff and very grippy, making it a bit of a handful in a "small" case), and I'm likely looking at a complete system upgrade around the end of the year, so I thought that would be a good time to simplify things a bit. If everything comes together I'll also be downsizing to a new case, likely a CM NR200, and replacing the old 120mm rad with a new 280mm. I'll also likely be ditching the pump+res and CPU block and installing an Alphacool LT Solo instead. I might add a second small pump somewhere in the loop if that turns out to be necessary, but I hope to avoid that.

So: does anyone have any advice on good QDCs? I'm looking for something that isn't huge (required), doesn't impede flow too badly (considering the types of pumps I'm using, also required), and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

I saw a semi-recent thread here about leaky Koolance QDCs, which was disappointing as that was one of the better-looking brands. I've also been curious about Barrow's QDCs, as they are reasonably small, cheap(ish) and easy to get, but I haven't found anything about their performance. Those are the two brands available from my preferred Norwegian water cooling store, though there are obviously others out there too. Any tips?

 

[EarthDog]

When I used these back in the day, I recall grabbing the Bitspower QDCs. They worked well for me, didn't leak hardly at all when connecting and disconnecting properly.

 

[Valantar]

Thanks! I took a look at them, and while I think I would prefer the type that use a spring-loaded collar for closing (seems a bit more secure?), they do look relatively compact (~80mm total length, a bit shorter than most). I'll definitely keep them in mind.

 

[EarthDog]

I believe they are spring loaded and lock? I haven't used others, but know these worked well for me in my builds.

 

[BugFreak]

I picked up some Koolance at the Sidewinder closeout sale not too long ago. My original plan was to use them around the graphics card so it could be swapped out in the near future but ended up never using them (Glad I didn't after your info on leaking!). They were huge and look extremely restrictive after I looked them over in person. I have a large case and honestly still couldn't find a place to install them where they wouldn't stress a tubing bend or just look plain terrible. I don't know the size of the Bitspower ones but the Koolance are massive.

 

[Luis_GT]

I'm using the EK plastic quick disconnects after my old set of Koolance QDC discolored and the spring rusted up and damaged my old loop.

 

[Dr_Emmett_Brown]

They don't last forever. After weeks of troubleshooting a vapor phase change system, I discovered a 6 parts per million leak in one of my quick disconnects. It was enough to have my cooling solution go from 10% more heat removal than a good quadruple radiator system to overheating to the point of causing CPU throttling on a mere CineBench run.