CPU water block weird problem

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glytch5

glytch5

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So I bought a CPU waterblock, and I am using primochill PETG revolver fittings.
The block is made of the plastic/acrylic POMM material or whatever you call it. The threads are also made of that.
so my system was up and running for 2 days, then the bottom port of the CPU block started a very slow leak... I put on new O rings on the fitting and tried again... two days later same thing, leak right where the fitting meets the block.

So I tried for a THIRD time with a new fitting, this time I tightened it down quite a bit more... same thing, very very slow leak between the block and fitting!

When I removed the tubing, the compression O ring was completely dry on the outside, and all the water was on the G 1/4 threads from what I can tell. Did not seem to be leaking from the compression seal on the tube.

Is it possible for a block to be bad in this way? I set up a return to Amazon but man... this is weird to me. Do you guys have any suggestions? Anything I can check or test? Thanks.
 
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n0ns3ns3
aquacomputer is probably the most tech advanced watercooling company - they make a lot of cool thing beside the blocks :)
so far, there is only one thing that is "cooler" that I found elsewhere - pump tops and pump/res mounts from Singularity Computers.
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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acrylic is very different from POM. POM is the black one that is relatively soft. if you use too much force on tightening fittings, you can easily kill the thread.
acrylic is much harder clear material that is cracking when too much force applied.
its hard to tell what exactly wrong with the block, but it seems like there is a crack near the thread or the thread is too loose. when under load (heat) it expands enough to develop a leak.
of course imperfections are possible with everything.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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I did the return through amazon... this sounds weird but I think because the Thermaltake block has a black cover over the acrylic stuff that is there for looks, the o rings on my fittings might be sealing against that, and not the acrylic.
Most fittings use a standard O ring that wraps around the g1/4 threads... with primochill fittings its a different O ring that has its own groove on the bottom of the fitting... it is not quite touching the threads when the O ring is in that groove...
So i'm thinking the O ring is not contacting the block where it should to make a good seal... strange only the bottom port would leak though. Tried everything I could think of.

 
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glytch5

glytch5

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I figured out the problem!
It is the design of the primochill fittings... the threads are much deeper than most fittings, and actually the O ring never even contacts the block... same problem I had with this old set of silver ghost fittings...
My XSPC and other fittings screw right down into it. Thats why it was leaking... there was nothing wrong with the block.... so I guess I need to return the next block to amazon as well and get something else... what a shame. I guess I could make my loop with my XSPC fittings, but I invested so much in the primochills.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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Yes... but the XSPC fittings use a different size tubing than all my primochill fittings... and for what I have setup I actually need 8 fittings! Only got 6 XSPC.

Here is my plan:
tomorrow the replacement thermaltake comes, i'm going to just send one back and use my primochill soft tubing fittings for now... for whatever reason these newer primochill fittings screw all the way down no problem... but the revolved fittings don't.
I can't seem to find a CPU block that I like in terms of looks, so i'll have to just worry about it later.

What do you like for a CPU block that has ports top and bottom, instead of left to right?
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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those are the best CPU blocks out there:
https://shop.aquacomputer.de/index.php?cPath=7_11_12_2694
the link is for the intel 115x socket, but there are version for every socket. also, they release mounting kits when new socket is released for future upgrades.
there are 3 major versions (materials aside):
1. simple one
2. VISION - with small oled screen that shows useful info and a thermal sensor of the liquid
3. VARIO - adjustable block geometry to tune the performance to different CPU die layout.
and of course any combination of the above 3.
you can read more in the description what every feature does.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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oh maaaaan, those look sweet!
Have you used one personally with the screen on it?
can you find them in the USA? Their a little more expensive than what I wanted but thanks for the advice.
Have you ever heard anything about the Bykski blocks? FrozenCPU gets them and sells out of them immediately... the gentlemen was recommending that. He also said the XSPC raystorm blocks are pretty good quality... hate the looks for AMD though... that rectangular look is not up my alley.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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Actually these are prob a little out of my price range... I would have to have the vision and they are not cheap... plus shipping from Germany and paying in Euros....
Anything else more common you like?
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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you can buy it in US shop like this one:
http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cooling/cpu-water-blocks/cpu-water-blocks/?p=3&o=3&n=12&f=74
or this one:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/water-blocks-cpu/shopby/brand--aquacomputer/

BTW, when you buy from Europe, the price you see include taxes. As a foreigner, you are not paying VAT which is about 18-20% depending on the country.
the price in order with no EU shipping address, will be adjusted.

I used a GPU block from Bykski for a while and it was OK for the price. I bought it because it was kinda universal and could be used with any reference card from GTX 480 to pascal cards. the downside of it was that I had to cool the VRM on GPU with separate block. It served me well with GTX 570 and even with GTX 1070 for a short time. When I switched to mini ITX, the mess of two blocks on graphics cards was awful. so I got myself a GPU block from EKWB.
It was thinner (with bykski i couldn't route the tubes between the GPU and PSU) and I got almost 10C lower temps.
The CPU blocks I've seen from them are using almost basic design. shouldn't be much worse than others.
Of course you are going to pay more for things like Vision - it's much more HW inside. When I built my rig last time, my current favorites were not yet released. But i have this one
https://shop.aquacomputer.de/product_info.php?products_id=3593
it's the same screen and can be connected to a flow and temp sensors. I use it to automatically adjust the fan speed according to the liquid temperature.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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So anyway...
I got the THIRD thermaltake block in... had badly bent fins with some corrosion in them... three problems. I decided to just run over to frozen CPU, I picked up their XSPC raystorm neo... they had one left in stock. 8 bucks less than the thermaltake and I must say, it looks a lot better in real life than it does in pictures. Got the Dark nickel!
The aqua computer would have been nice... but I needed something right away.

I should have listened to everyone about Thermaltake... but I went my way, and paid for it.

Strange about the threads of the primochill fittings... they have a gasket out right now that acts as a spacer for their hard line fittings... because they have long threads. The new flex fittings have low profile threads, but like the thermaltake block and a certain few EK block, the threads are too deep. I thought that was interesting.

I think those gaskets might have helped with the first block I had.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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interesting, on the pictures those fittings doesn't seem to have longer than usual 4-5mm length.
anyway, this was my first CPU block https://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/ProductImage/35-108-099-02.jpg
guess how tricky it was to find a fitting, other than the ones that came with it, that will properly seal because of that step around the thread. and I really wanted compression fittings instead of the barb that came with it.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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oh maaaan. You mentioned you were into this for quite some time... can you still buy those blocks today?
The guy at FrozenCPU was talking to me about their history in water cooling today... always a great convo. I guess they were one of the first real big USA distributors that had all the EK stuff?
I feel lucky to have them right down the road... had no idea until someone on here linked me to their site.

I originally was thinking " i'll just go for standard barbs" then I thought compression soft tubing... bought all the stuff and then immediately wanted hard tubing lol.

Glad I had all this soft tubing stuff laying around, didn't want to re do all my bends to accommodate this new block orientation. Using primochill flex fittings and advanced LRT tubing.
 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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i wish it would be that close for me - there are practically no liquid cooling parts store in my country.. shipping from FrozenCPU to me is starting at 35$ even for a single fitting :(
it usually takes between couple a of weeks to a couple of months to receive the orders. record holder is the HWlabs radiator order from UK that was declared lost after 2 months by post service, but eventually arrived after 7 months :)

Swiftech is still making cool products. though this specific block is EOL long time ago. I was surprised a bit since I started to use it on LGA 775 and when I got the i7, the block was EOL and yet I was able to order the mounting kit for the 115x socket without problem.
 
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glytch5

glytch5

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You're in the UK? Can't you order XSPC stuff? Isn't bitspower in Europe as well?

I buy everything for all my hobbies online... cuz stores don't carry ANYTHING anymore. The fact that FrozenCPU is a Rochester company really blew me away... so yeah i'm very lucky.

I guess for you having to wait so long for shipping.. you really have to focus on buying tried n true parts lol. Imagine if you dealt with the Thermaltake block stuff I just dealth with? You would have had ur main rig down for like a year! Mine came from Amazon though... i'm sure you have an Amazon center somewhere out there.

 
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glytch5

glytch5

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Damn man... Well thanks for the help. It was good chatting with you about all this. No one else really said much. The one guy chimed in a little thats all.

Best of wishes! I think i'm probably all set now. This is what I have learned:
-Forget about Thermaltake DIY cooling stuff, unless i'm ready to deal with RMA.
-the buildup is just evaporated coolant
-aquacomputer makes some really cool blocks.

 
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n0ns3ns3

n0ns3ns3

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May 25, 2016
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42,715
aquacomputer is probably the most tech advanced watercooling company - they make a lot of cool thing beside the blocks :)
so far, there is only one thing that is "cooler" that I found elsewhere - pump tops and pump/res mounts from Singularity Computers.
 
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