Why isn't my watercooling cooling?

[Stan]

Here is what I did. I redid the plumbing to go from the pump, to the radiator, to the block, and then back to the pump. I first tested the flow of water through my system by timing it for one minute. The setup had a flow rate of .5 GPM. I then tested the ambient temperature of the cooling solution, It read 25C. I then proceeded to run Prime95 and the CPU temp rose to 46C from 32 C and the cooling solution rose to 29C. Air coming from the radiator never really seems to be that warm. Do you think the block could be the problem or is the temp probe on the MB just off by that much? I don't know what to do next!

Thanks

 

[Colin]

In my experience with the Cube, 29C water temps will not yield noticeably warm air are exiting the radiator. 38C water temps will cause a hot desert Ghibli to come off the Cube.

 

[Stan]

How warm is everyone elses cooling mixture under full load with a similar setup?

 

[William]

have you tried using a larger fan on the radiator. It could help. Also, if you made your resevoir bigger, the water would cool down in it as well as in the radiator. Other than that, i don't know why you are having temps so high.

 

[BillA]

Stan, correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be describing a 4C rise in the coolant temp.

By most "standards" that's not so bad - particularly in light of the low flow rates (both). Increasing the flow rates will decrease the temp, but not much.
(As you approach ambient the curve is becomming asymptotic, Joe Citarella's "law" of diminishing returns.)

Do some investigation of the MB probes, I dont use one but there are NUMEROUS informed articles and posts to the effect that the numbers are all over the map.

Watercooling systems are designed empirically as they consist of elements whose specific performance is often poorly defined (or understood, or applied).
Cooling "back" to ambient temp necessitates substantial overcapacity and the "design process" is often a serial selection of components to identify, and then replace, the limiting element.

be cool

 

[stool]

What I have done to keep track of this is to merely keep an eye on my coolant temps. I purchased an indoor/outdoor themometer from the Shack, and placed the external remote into my reservoir.(It is waterproof, BTW) As the CPU heats up, I keep track of ambient and coolant temps, as opposed to the core CPU temp. I use a mix of 90% water, 5% WaterWetter, and 5% anticorrosive. Under a very heavy load, coolant temp doesn't exceed 8-10c over ambient, and is always better than temps I used to record with air cooling. I am also using 2 120mm 120v Orion fans on my radiator(mounted and powered externally away from the case)

 

[BillA]

Hey Stool, sounds like an aggressive - and effective - cooling setup.
You mention "5% anticorrosive", apart from WaterWetter.
What is this ?

be cool

 

[Stan]

BillA,

Could the lack of coolant temperature also be attributed to the fact that the block may not be removing the heat effectively from the core? Thus causing my higher core temps.

 

[BillA]

Its hard to believe the block is the problem.
I have one and don't know what might be better.
(After the current radiator heat dissipation project, the next is to be on waterbolcks.)

So what are the possibilities:
inaccurate MB probe - my vote
poor transfer between cpu and block - ck goop, not too much
too little pressure - should not be a factor with the MCW
poor finish on block - NOT a factor with the MCW

what else ?

be cool

 

[KeyboardCowboy]

do you have a pielter on your water cooling system????

 

[BillA]

Stan, a thought from another thread -

are you sure, quite sure, that the block's setting flat ?

be cool

 

[stool]

BillA (Mar 25, 2001 08:26 a.m.):
Hey Stool, sounds like an aggressive - and effective - cooling setup.
You mention "5% anticorrosive", apart from WaterWetter.
What is this ?

be cool

BillA
I went to an auto parts store, and by the cooling additives I found a cooling system anticorrosive(supposed to prevent interaction between copper, aluminum, and brass from corroding the system. Small bottle will work for 2-3 setups.

 

[Stan]

I also considered the block wasn't perfectly level, but I've seated it multiple times and it looks good and I haven’t seen any change it temps. It's strange because the temperature rise is pretty quick to about 42C and then slows from there until it reaches 46C. However, when I stop whatever program I'm running it cools back down very quickly to under 40C (a matter of 30 seconds or less). I'm thinking it's probably the MB temp probe, but you'd think it would misread the lower temps also.

 

[Stan]

Phobos (Mar 25, 2001 05:03 p.m.):
do you have a pielter on your water cooling system????

Phobos,

Nope, It's a water only setup for noise reasons.

 

[Fazz]

I had a similar problem earlier today as I was setting up my system. Temps would hover in the upper 40C range and occasionally hit 50C with my setup - Be-Cooling Block, dangerden cube, eheim 1046 w/ water, 10% glycol coolant.

I reseated the block several times but temps would still stay in the upper 40's. I finally took off the mobo, disconnected the hoses and reseated the waterblock on the chip & made sure that it was totally flush with the CPU. After reseating, I'm at 38C CPU temp at 29.2C ambient (boy it's hot in here).

It sure looks pretty hard not to seat your block properly but it's seems to be pointing to it now that you've pretty much eliminated everything else...

 

[BigAir]

I didn't read to see if someone posted this suggestion before (I am lazy tonight), but wht don't you install a peltier. That would put your temps down quite a bit with the right size TEC.

 

[BillA]

far more advisable to resolve the heat transferrence problem with the block, BEFORE adding a TEC

Stool, the kind of junk I find is "pump lubricant", which is soluble oil - nothing more.
What is the name of the anti-corrosive ?
thanks

be cool

 

[stool]

I'll take a look tomorrow, and let you know. I have already used mine up.

 

[Stan]

Well I tried reseating the block again with no hoses and the MB laying flat on the table. It appears to sit level because the thermal compound is spread evenly. I think I'm going to try a DangerDen block or something else if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks

 

[Stan]

Well I purchased a new pump and block and both should be here in a couple of days. I'm soon to find out what the culprit is. I'm also building a computer for my wife so the extra parts can be used to water cool her computer.