liquid cooling question

[Hufen]

i dont really know much about it, im trying to find out how duriable it really is, how often on average do leaks occur? are you totally screwed if it happends? just the general info i guess.

thanks.

 

[chuckshissle]

Water cooling leaks mostly occurs from errors installing it and components such as built-in pump and reservoir. Most water cooling manufacturers have address this issue and other have made a fool proof components that reduces leaks. In a distilled water/anti-freeze mixture, when leaks occurs, liquid could pour down to sensitive electrical components and shorts it out. That would ruin someone's day big time.

But now, there are liquid coolant that are made solely for pc cooling that do not conducts electricity. Therefore in an event of leakage of the water cooling loop the liquid pouring down to the electronic surfaces do not get shorted out. Some liquid coolants like Fluid XP+ have this property and have close thermal property of that of water. But this are costly and one litre can go up to $30. Most will just used distilled or deionized water and mix with a little bit of anti-freeze, and you got yourself one of the best cocktail for liquid coolant.

With all the high quality components and non electrical conductive coolants, however it doesn't prevent leaks. Common knowledge and know-hows is the first tool in preventing leaks.

Are you planning to water cool your rig?

 

[Hufen]

yeah i was thinking about getting a pre built one, http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=371333

ive heard decent things about it, what do you think?

 

[chuckshissle]

That's a good LCS case by the way. A bit on the high side but worth it. As for non-electrical conductive coolants, you get some at Frozencpu.com.

 

[waylander]

I have that case with my custom water cooling in it, I have the aluminum one but they are exactly the same except for wieght.

I personally don't like kits or canned systems but that's personal, they work better than air cooling but not in terms of performance vs cost. The top end air coolers will be within 2-3C of that system. You are really paying for the cost of integrating the LCS into the case.

If you ever get to the point where you want to upgrade you'll run into problems, most higher end water cooling components work on a 1/2" ID tubing so all the barbs for the pumps, rads and water blocks are 1/2", you can use reducers but it's annoying.

 

[xnamerxx]

Water cooling setups are great if done correctly. They are not maintaince free, and need general checkups such as fluid change and such. But do work much better then air cooling.

 

[waylander]

Stop with the brain washing, everything is relative. The Scythe Ninja will come very close to matching, if not beating, the perfomance of a Bigwater SE at a lower initial cost and much lower maintenance cost.

To the OP, do the research, go to the coolers section of the forum and read the sticky on water cooling. I did water cooling more for the novelty and challenge, not just so that I can OC.

 

[xnamerxx]

Well I did do a custom water cooling setup with a peltier and it worked great, and even without the peltier it was still a great setup with very little noise. But after a period of time it wasnt practical because of the maintance. I had to change the fluid every so often, it was difficult to move the computer and just wasnt practical enough for me so I ditched it and went with a zalman and a new proc.

 

[Houndsteeth]

OK, going to sound in here. A well designed and implemented watercooling system will not leak unless something drastic happens to it (like falling down a flight of stairs). If your system is going to leak at any point in time, it will happen when it is first put together. Sure, you might have a freak accident where a seal breaks on a water block, but this is outside of the norm, and most reputable water block manufacturers will back up their hardware.

As far as maintenance goes, follow sage advice. Preparation in advance will reduce the time and effort you take later in maintaining the system. First, make sure you clean all the pieces before you assemble the system with vinegar and then rinse liberally with distilled water. Soak your water blocks as well. Use ONLY distilled water. Tap water has free ions and will conduct electricity. It also is a breeding ground for algae. The best advice is to use distilled water with an antibiotic agent. You can use expensive products like Fluid XP+ as well, since it has built-in antibiotic properties. You will also want to use an anti-corrosive agent in order to prevent galvanic corrosion, or you can avoid this by limiting your water blocks, radiator and connectors to either aluminum, copper or brass, but do not mix the metals (ie, do not use an aluminum radiator with copper water blocks).

If for some reason your system does develop a leak, if you are using distilled water with anti-corrosive and antibiotic agents, then you have little to worry about, since distilled water is anionic and has great dielectric properties. Shut your computer down, open up the case, clean up the spill with paper towels, fix the leak and put a big fan in front of the open case for a few hours. Your computer should reboot just fine as soon as it has dried out. Fluid XP+ is also anionic and is just as easy to clean up if a leak should occur.

xnamerxx, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience on your first water cooling setup. Yes, maintenance can be a bear, sometimes. But to tell you the truth, since I switched over to Fluid XP+ with my latest build, I'm going on 7 months now without seeing anything in my fluid, where I used to have to change the fluid at least every three months before due to cloudiness from algae. It ain't cheap, but then, neither is my time.

 

[wun911]

Leeks do occur evey now and then
Sometimes is your own fault like not using hose clamps etc
I have heard of pumps that die (people switch the CPU temp and fan monitoring off in BIOS) pump dies and PC melts.

Would I leave my water cooling rig running for a week while I was on holiday? probably not.

Would I leave an air cooled PC running on for a week while I was on holiday? Yeah no worries