question about water coolant

[Meescha]

Hi, im getting an open loop water cooling system, i opted for a https://www.alphacool.com/shop/sets...9/alphacool-nexxxos-cool-answer-240-lt/st-set due to this being my first watercooling build it comes with its own water coolant, and Im curius how good that coolant is i know people say not to buy pre mixed coolant, but since this coolant is coming with the package is it safe to use? or do i need to go out next week and buy other thigns to mix with distilled water when the watercooling kit arrives

heres a link to the coolant tho this one is 30l the one in the package is only 1l but for reference sake the link would do

https://www.alphacool.com/shop/cool...ol-ckc-cape-kelvin-catcher-clear-kanister-30l

Thank you for any answers

Also while im asking for when i do clean out the system in the future, how often to clean out the loop, and when i do refill it, what additives would be good to add

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Those who oppose on buying premixed coolant are just trying to save a few bucks. I say stick with clear premixed fluids from reputed custom water cooling companies and you're good to go. Just make sure how long you're able to use it for as it's different for some products. Most fluids in a loop last for a year and are recommended to drain and refill with fresh fluid. There is one fluid out there that says it will last for 2 years in a loop because of its high concentration of toxins in it. You can choose w/e you like. I don't think you should have a problem with Alphacool as I use Aquacomputer's clear DP Ultra. I think they might be fairly similar.

This should leave you mostly maintenance free and you should only do a tear down if you feel the need to or you see signs of decreased performance on the loop, i.e. high temps, low flow, etc. Otherwise, a annual drain and refill or the recommendations from the fluid will suffice.

 

[Haturee]

Yeah, as long as it comes from a reputed source like GTXJack mentioned. You should be good.
Other wise the people who throw the big bucks into their loops wouldn't do it.

 

[Meescha]

ty for the replies, i have one last question i was thinking about yesterday, when the watercooler set arrives it comes with a power supply bridge, and at first i was thinking why would you need a second power supply then i thought oh wait its probably to hook up the pump and pull out the air in the lines before hooking the power supply up back to the motherboard and turn on the pc, air in the loop can cause overheating. but then i ways thinking, and here is where my question lies, should i leave the loop running for an hour or a day before turning on the pc and seeing if theres a leak? or would it be immediatly noticeable if there was a leak.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

The PSU jumper is used for the pump(s) for priming them, bleeding the loop and leak testing for a 24 hr period before powering everything else. This info should be found in our intro to watercooling stickies I hope you've read.

 

[Meescha]

GTXJackBauer thank you for the tip i went and checked it out and read it, really good read

 

[Meescha]

Well it took 6 and a half hours to put the water cooler into the pc, we would have been done hours sooner buut, as to the first time using an open loop things go wrong, for one, when we switched on the pump it didnt want to pump the water through the system, so we had to pull the radiater out and try to twist and hold it in various places to let gravity fill the system, which then finally after a while we got the loop running, and then we found out the hoses are on wrong, the guide on the alphacooler said to do it one way when that was the wrong way, they had the order wrong on the documentation, so the flow was going the wrong way, we hooked the loop up in the order the manual gave, which then on the cpu cooler the inflow ended flowing where the out was supposed to be, which caused air bubbles to get trapped in the cpu block, so then we had to drain some of the water to pull the hoses off the cpu block and switch them, and then we ended up having kinks in the system cause one of the hoses was too long, so we had to drain the entire system again, to shorten the one hose, and well by the time everything was done, and put together its six and a half hours later and now finally going through the leak proof.

worst part is, that was just one pc lol, we have two, we bought two new pc's with two water coolers, so now we get to do the whole thing over again. but this time we learnt from our previous mistakes so maybe the second one will go alot smoother.

well time to shut down my pc and do it, ill report back when done lol

 

[exadeuce]

Is your reservoir feeding to the pump via gravity? That should be really the only thing that matters as far as filling and priming goes. It sounds like you were going radiator -> pump?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Is your reservoir feeding to the pump via gravity? That should be really the only thing that matters as far as filling and priming goes.

+1 This.

It should be easier now and you should try routing the loop in the case to get good measurements.

 

[Meescha]

Is your reservoir feeding to the pump via gravity? That should be really the only thing that matters as far as filling and priming goes. It sounds like you were going radiator -> pump?

Cant gravity feed this pump ive added a photo to this post which shows the reservoir which has the pump buildt onto the back, which im guessing is a bit poor design, but it does work once you get the water through the line.

well the second computer went easier, tho we still had to drain once only this time due to a kink in a hose. but it went quicker, we let them leak test all night, and are now running smoothly.

https://imgur.com/8L30k4W

https://imgur.com/aONP7lA

https://imgur.com/5aaXPmg

https://imgur.com/9SiHOHx

https://imgur.com/Kz1gEfz

 

[Conumdrum]

'grats