Water Cooling Issues?

[JayJayGolden]

Hello Overclockers!

I've got some things going on in my watercooling loop that bother me. It's been this way for about 2 years now and i've finally decided maybe it's time to see if it's a problem and if i can fix it.

My setup goes from res to pump to cpu to 120mm rad to res. My cpu is an fx 8350 and my temps are idle: 26-33*C and load: 55-62*C at stock clocks (these temps were lower when i just installed the loop. They're also hot summer day temps. On a cold day it doesn't get higher than 46-50*C)

So, for one, every once in a while i'll find air bubbles have spawned in my loop, usually in the radiator. This obviously causes my temps to rise rapidly, and i resolve it by adding more fluids and trying really hard not to care about it. I've checked multiple times for leaks to no avail. Further, my watercooling pump gets really really hot. like I almost burned my finger on it today. It's also not infront of a fan. The pump feels like it's chugging (it bumps lightly in a steady rythmic pattern. bump, bump, bump, bump. Like a heart) water, but if i hold my ear close to my loop it does sound like water is rushing through.

Is any of these things normal? And which of these things shouldn't be happening at all? I guess the fix is to replace parts in most cases huh?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Blaylock]

Welcome to the Forums JJG!

First a few questions for you. What's the model pump you are using and how old is it? Did you buy it new or used and does it run 24/7?

OK, it's not uncommon for certain pumps to get hot. They do make heatsinks for some pumps like my Swiftech MCP-35x to help keep them cool. It's also very normal for your temps to rise in the hot summer months. Remember water cooling can only get you closer to ambient temps. It makes sense that as ambients rise so will your water temps.

My pump is also making that bump bump bump feeling and not always starting up. I've accepted the fact that it is old and needs replacing. I can't say for sure that is the same for your case so please wait for others to reply on that issue.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Welcome as well.

Give us a list of your PC parts and water cooling as well as a image of your PC to better understand your air flow, etc.

 

[JayJayGolden]

Welcome to the Forums JJG!

First a few questions for you. What's the model pump you are using and how old is it? Did you buy it new or used and does it run 24/7?

OK, it's not uncommon for certain pumps to get hot. They do make heatsinks for some pumps like my Swiftech MCP-35x to help keep them cool. It's also very normal for your temps to rise in the hot summer months. Remember water cooling can only get you closer to ambient temps. It makes sense that as ambients rise so will your water temps.

My pump is also making that bump bump bump feeling and not always starting up. I've accepted the fact that it is old and needs replacing. I can't say for sure that is the same for your case so please wait for others to reply on that issue.

I don't remember what model it is. It was bought at the very least 2 years ago, it had been used for a very short period of time before i bought it, and it nearly 24/7 yes :,D I do know it's manufacturer is stationed in germany. But for all i know it could be made in china and rebranded.

Do you recommend trying to place it next to a fan though? Or will that not help at all?
Or perhaps I should get a new pump?
Would getting another radiator be recommended or perhaps even neccesary?

As a side note, most of the stuff in my watercooling loop is secondhand, because i had a very very low budget at the time :,D



Also @GTXJackBauer I can give you a list of PC parts right now but taking a proper image is gonna be a pain in the rear end.

Case: Cooler Master Sniper AMD Dragon black edition
MoBo: ASUS Sabertooth 990FX
CPU: AMD FX 8350
GPU: AMD r9 290 with custom air cooler
RAM: 16GB of **** i forgot.

 

[Lochekey]

Have you had the loop apart for a good cleaning since you originally built it?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Have you had the loop apart for a good cleaning since you originally built it?

Doesn't look at it as he said it's been two years.

OP, I think its time to tell us what H20 gear this is and taking it apart would be the right thing to do for a complete clean up and investigate.

 

[Lochekey]

That was my assumption but figured I would ask.


I guess while I'm at it what type of fluid are you running, premixed, distilled with biocide/kill coil, dyes, something else entirely?

 

[Blaylock]

Agreed. Even if replacement parts are in order a full tear down will be necessary so might as well do an inspection.

Is the water in your reservoir a shade of green or still nice and clear? Also, you say it was bought used and was only used for a short while. That's ok. Many of us have and still buy used. DI'd you do a proper flush and cleaning of the system before you used it (rad dance included)?

 

[JayJayGolden]

Agreed. Even if replacement parts are in order a full tear down will be necessary so might as well do an inspection.

Is the water in your reservoir a shade of green or still nice and clear? Also, you say it was bought used and was only used for a short while. That's ok. Many of us have and still buy used. DI'd you do a proper flush and cleaning of the system before you used it (rad dance included)?

The people that sold it to me had cleaned the used parts out themselves so I wouldn't have to do it. The fluid I use is Mayhems X1 UV red. My reservoir looks nice and clean except for a slight white stain that reminds me of salt stains you see after evaporating salty water. I've always assumed this stain was here because my reservoir once got extremely hot because of the disappearing fluid problem.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

There will be several stains in the loop. Now lets hope there was never any blockage and no offense to the sellers you bought it from but I always advise on cleaning it yourself as well. Some people might have different methods of cleaning. In the end, you have to do it yourself.

Two years with Mayhems UV red? I'd love to see many pics taken of the break down if you may. If things will show up, it will be a great learning experience for you as well as many other forum members that pass through here that are looking to learn. Many have documented before as its been some time since.

 

[Blaylock]

OK. Well 2 years is a long time to go between cleanings so we need to start there. We generally recommend not using dyed coolants as they have a tendency to gunk up water blocks and other components. Stick with plain distilled water and add a biocide and/or a silver kill coil for the best results and least trouble.

Conundrum wrote a very nice editorial here on how to properly clean a loop. It's a bit older from 2010 but still a great read and a solid place to start.

Finally the white salt like build up in your reservoir will be through out your loop and is actually plasticizer. If you wish to avoid this in the future we recommend using Primochill Advanced LRT tubing. To my knowledge no one has reported issues of plasticizer leaching from the Adv LRT tubing.

Lets post up some pics too. A picture really is worth more than a 1000 words and it's the only way for us to SEE what's going on inside.


EDIT: Ninja'd by Jack once again. LMAO

 

[JayJayGolden]

There will be several stains in the loop. Now lets hope there was never any blockage and no offense to the sellers you bought it from but I always advise on cleaning it yourself as well. Some people might have different methods of cleaning. In the end, you have to do it yourself.

Two years with Mayhems UV red? I'd love to see many pics taken of the break down if you may. If things will show up, it will be a great learning experience for you as well as many other forum members that pass through here that are looking to learn. Many have documented before as its been some time since.

Alright. I'll try to find a moment to do all this after my birthday. First i'll need to order new fluid at the very least. Might aswell get a new pump just as a precaution?

 

[Blaylock]

I would wait until we see what we're dealing with.

Also scroll up. seems we're all on together right now.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I wouldn't add anything to this existing loop. Its either going to get cleaned, partially or completely replaced. Rads are the worst when it comes to cleaning out stains, gunk and plasticize. Might just have to replace those and the tubing only. Won't know till we start opening things up and posting some images here to analyze.

 

[sporktar]

I'm interested in seeing some photos of the existing configuration, and the broken down loop. Knowing more info about the watercooling parts would be helpful (we can probably pick out what parts you have on photos alone.)

Like mentioned above, i would hold off on buying coolant. Most everyone on this forum recommends running distilled water (gallon jug at walmart for almost nothing) and a few drops of pt nuke to keep any bio growth away.
And your pump may be perfectly fine. Don't buy anything until you know what you need to actually replace.

 

[Conumdrum]

PHN Nuke.

 

[JayJayGolden]

I'm interested in seeing some photos of the existing configuration, and the broken down loop. Knowing more info about the watercooling parts would be helpful (we can probably pick out what parts you have on photos alone.)

Like mentioned above, i would hold off on buying coolant. Most everyone on this forum recommends running distilled water (gallon jug at walmart for almost nothing) and a few drops of pt nuke to keep any bio growth away.
And your pump may be perfectly fine. Don't buy anything until you know what you need to actually replace.

Distilled water is pretty hard to come by in the netherlands for some reason, and expensive too :s I also really like my red fluid. I've been told there's some colored coolants that give gunk but in dutch and german watercooling forums they say that this coolant is generally safe.

And when I take it apart and take pictures I need to put it back together and refill it ASAP cause it's my only decent computer.

I could try to take pictures of the inside right now though.

And it would make sense if the biggest problem was in the rad, considering it's an offbrand rad and considering it's the place where fluid seems to disappear.

 

[Conumdrum]

Deionized or good Reverse osmosis water will do just fine. The stuff they put in babies humidifiers.

 

[JayJayGolden]

So it's been a while but i'll update you guys on the current situation. I swapped my pump over to a higher power outlet the day I posted this and the loop's cooling performance has been doing a lot better. The pump still gets hot, but none of the loop's other parts seem to be storing heat anymore and just lose it through the radiator. I'll keep it like this for a while and if I get no disappearing fluid anymore i'll simply not worry.
I still want to upgrade the loop at some point (I mean the 8350 now gets up to 62*C overclocked during prime 95. Which is hot but I think that's to blame on the tortured FX 8350 rather than my watercooling loop). Would more rads/bigger rads give better results or a better pump?

 

[Blaylock]

Happy belated birthday JayJay. I don't recall, or maybe you haven't mentioned, what your radiators you are using. Generally adding more radiators and/or additional fans for a push/pull configuration will help get you closer to ambient temps. There is, however, a point of diminishing returns. That is, for each radiator you add you will receive less and less improvement until it's no longer worth adding more.