Hot temps with watercooling rig

[mcrites]

I was wondering if any of you could help me out with my watercooling rig. I am using a dangerden waterblock, a dangerden cooling cube, and a 120 mm fan for the radiator drawing air in. I put some artic silver 2 on the processor core, and spread it out with an old bank card. I am using an eheim 1250 for the pump inline. I am getting like 52C just surfing the internet and it comes up to that quick from 33C or so on first boot. I am scratching my head on this one. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Richard]

What's your CPU and Mobo?

What are you using to measure temps?

 

[mcrites]

I have a amd 1.4 tbird with an epox 8k7a+ using the motherboard thermistor. I am not sure if this is a lot or not. I am going to get a digidoc 5 soon to help with measuring. Will one side of the cpu be hotter than the other which would cause this?

 

[William]

you bleed your system of air?

 

[mcrites]

I was not able to get rid of all the air, there are a few air bubbles, but not many. Would this cause that much of a difference? Also, the pipe where the water is going into the radiator is warm to the touch, however the one coming out is cool.

 

[William]

it can. Usually high temps are either associated with three things

1. High Ambient Temps
2. Air in Loop
3. Water Block not seated correctly.

Check all of those.

 

[mcrites]

1. My motherboard temp thermistor is reporting only 21c.

2. The way that dangerden has you mount the waterblock is via nylon screws and springs. The coils of the springs are all close together and I cannot move the block at all.

3. I dont have that much air in the system at all, but maybe even this can cause higher temps?

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

 

[Richard]

You might need to reseat the waterblock. Make sure it's perfectly flat on the CPU core. Depending on the mounting mechanism it is possible that you have the block tilted to one side a bit.

Check your lines too. Make sure there aren't any kinks anywhere (restricting waterflow.) William brought up a good point about air in the system. You have to be thorough in getting as much air out as possible.

mcrites (Jul 29, 2001 09:58 p.m.):
I have a amd 1.4 tbird with an epox 8k7a+ using the motherboard thermistor. I am not sure if this is a lot or not. I am going to get a digidoc 5 soon to help with measuring. Will one side of the cpu be hotter than the other which would cause this?

 

[mcrites]

There isnt any kinks, and all the springs are tightened to the same pressure as can be determined by sight on the springs. The only thing I can think of is that I just have too much air in the pipes.

 

[Bender]

Try using a reservoir for a while and see if your temps drop. If they do then its probably the air in your lines. You could try setting the pump in a reservoir to get the bubbles out of the lines.

 

[mcrites]

The reason I am not using a resevoir is for space reasons. I will try bleeding my system again next weekend, and remounting the waterblock to see if it would help. That has to be the reason: air in the pipes, the water in the pipes was very warm, and so was the copper waterblock. Hopefully this will clear things up.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Tacoman667]

If the water going into the radiator is warm and exiting cool, the waterblock seating is not to blame. The block is seated correctly and is taking the heat off the CPU as best it can. Make sure to bleed the lines totally, but a little air should only count for about 1-3C though. Do you run your pump all the time? The heat from the pump can warm the water a little too even though it's not submerged. That shouldn't account for the 50+C though. I dont think you are getting the full flow of the pump. How high is the highest point in your setup? Maybe the water is flowing too slow from height and kinks that you think are not there but the littlest ones will cause slowage. Get a big bowl or bucket and put the pump in it. Then lift the exit tube out of the water and check how fast the water is running through your system. Are you leaking at all? That can cause more and more air into the lines. I had to tighten my intake nipple on my 1250 Eheim from a slight leak.

 

[Flash]

My bet would be that the block isn't sitting flush. I don't think a little dissolved air in the tubes would make the temps that high, unless you have a big bubble trapped in the block. When you dismount the block make sure you have the pump running and give the block a good shake.

Is the pump making a loud clattering sound, or is it running almost silent? If it's noisy that's a sign that you have air in the system and it'll cause the pump to run hot, too.

Also, what kind of ventilation do you have? The best water cooling rig in the world won't help you if your case temps are approaching triple digits (F).

Finally, you may be getting false temperature readings from your onboard thermistor. Try pointing a fan at the cpu area and see if that lowers your temperatures dramatically. If it does you're probably getting unrealistically high temp readings, i.e., the cpu isn't that hot, but hot air under and around the socket is fooling your mobo sensor.

 

[mcrites]

Well, I have a leak, i forgot to put a fastener back on. Luckily its on the bottom of the case, so nothing got hit. Thats probably whats wrong. Next weekend I am going to make sure that there is not any leaks for 6 hours or more. I only tested about 3 hours this time. Thanks for all the suggestions. I will post back my continuing ordeal next week.

 

[Tacoman667]

Fix that leak and let us know how things go.

 

[mcrites]

Well, I am bleeding the system now. I probably wont be able to test tonight. I was wondering though, how long does it take to get an inline system bled with a fill pump. I have been filling the fill line with water for the last hour, and its still thirsty for more. Also, if I do watercooling again, I think I would use a resovoir. Even tupperware like some people would be great! Even for a second when I pull out the pump from the bucket and plug the pipe in, it gets a whole lot of air in the system. Oh well, thanks for any suggestions.

 

[bdf24]

I've had the same problem with mine watercooling system. It runs consistantly around 56c or so. I've taken it off and am in the process of redoing the whole thing to make sure there are no leaks or anything.
On mine the block would'nt get hot but the radiator got a little warm. So I don't think it's the pump. If it was the waterBlock would get really hot I believe and so would the radiator.

I'm also thinking of ordering the "Mighty Machine". It's a SK-6, with an 80mm fan on it tunneled to the HS. That way I got a good air cooler in case I need it. Plus I'm a little pressed for space for the watercooling rig right now.