Trapped air, can't clear.

[welshmousepk]

hey guys, so i'm just trying to get my new loop put together and its not going well. in fact, im on the verge of throwing the lot out and going back to air cooling.

so ive installed part of the loop (couldnt install the gpu block and second rad, which was the entire point of this new loop, but nvm) and now there is LOADS of air trapped in the loop.

I'm thinking the pump may be broken, but im unsure.

annoyingly, this stupid res (i got the raystorm combo from frozencpu) has only a tiny gap in the res for air bubbles to drain. but all the bubbles are bigger than the gap itself, so they are just going straight back into the loop. after running the loop for just a few seconds, air gets trapped in the pump and it sounds LOUD. im worried that it may break the pump if its not already.

ive tried turning it off and on over and over, and ive shaken and jiggled every way i can. but theres still air circulating in the loop and it keeps getting stuck in the pump.

any help appreciated.

 

[kitsunestarwind]

Try leaning it over sideways or even laying it on it's side, you sometimes really have to lean them different directions till all the air is clear of the loop.

 

[welshmousepk]

ive tried leaning it every way possible, the problem is that the air keep recircualting back into the loop. theres literally a 2mm gao between the tunnel in the res and the pump. ive tried turning the pump to its lowest setting, but still thr air just doesnt have time to escape through the tiny gap.

 

[scout_03]

could you inject fluid in the system to fill it up so air bubble could go out

 

[toolmaker_03]

hay, here is how I do a fill system for my builds. http://www.fastfittings.com/plastic-push-in-fittings I use two T's and three shut off valves, you can usually find these at a hardware store. configured in this order T than shout off valve than the second T this should make a straight shot from one end to the other, now where the T's branch off is where the other two shout off valves go. now I usually would attach this right after the pump but any where will work. now you have the ability to force the system to flow throw a make shift reservoir. a 2 liter container or half gallon container works well for this purpose. attach hoses about two feet long to the ends of the two shout off valves, and put both of them into the container. you will need to fill the container with distilled water or whatever you use as a liquid coolant. ok so you know the direction of the flow, that is that, one of the hoses is putting water into the container. while the other one would be pulling water out of the container, pull the draw line out of the container. the easiest way I have found to prime a system is to either use a large syringe( not the type with a needle)but used for filling medical nutrition bags, for line feeders, or a squeeze bottle with a end that is large enough to be pushed into the end of the hose to make a tight fit. then start filling your system as much as possible by hand. then when you don't think that you can get any more air out of the system by hand. fill the intake hose as much as possible and shove it back into the container and turn your pump on. it may take a little time to get all of the air out of the system but the pump should be able to handle it from here. once all of the air is out of the system simply turn the intake and outlet valves off and the center valve to the on position remove the fill hoses from the shout off valves and you are done. this might be a solution to the issue.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Fill res as much as possible Mousey, remember to replace lid
jumper the Psu for two seconds,do not let the level drop to the point that air gets into the pump, refill(remember the lid),
repeat until flow starts feeding back into res,
then go through the tilt/twist/lay on side/back rigmarole, topping up as needed,
you are right about running the pump with air, its loud and damaging to the bearing inside, but keep it topped up and before long you'll be ok mate
@Toolmaker, your method is very similar to my design, bleeding/flushing is a simple job thanks to some (ok, a lot of) fore-planning hehe
Moto

 

[toolmaker_03]

thanks, I hate to see people get frustrated about the build process. especially when I find it to be fun, and exciting. to play with and build systems. so don't give up out there, just ask questions. i don't mind

 

[welshmousepk]

thanks moto, i just left it running with the pump at the lowest speed, and it seems to have quietened down. last time i restarted it though it became loud again for 20-30 mins. I'm a little worried it'll be doing that every time.
my temps also seem very high now, but im wondering if its just because the pump is on such a low setting. It works though, so i think im going to wait until i get a new case to fit my second rad before i change anything.

EDIT:just restarted it to check, and the pump was very loud at first sounding like it was pushing air. only took a minute to go quiet though. definitely think there's some trapped air somewhere. ill wait until i re do the while loop though before i do anything. ill take the pump out of the bay and make sure its mounted properly though. im a little concerned the pump itself is damaged. it was in pretty bad condition when it arrived. it looked almost second hand...

 

[Lutfij]

one other way is to have the parts inside case but not hooked upto the mobo. leave them inside case and have the block dangle off the tubing. give it afew shaky shaky and like modo mentioned, bleed the system by rocking the case as the rad+res are fixed into place.

The best way to deal with a frustrated build is to give yourself some time and space and think it through. maybe get some fresh air

did you contact frozen about that pump?

 

[welshmousepk]

no, even if its broken i'm not gonna send it back. it took over a week for it to get through customs...

im just gonna let it run for a while and see what happens.

 

[toolmaker_03]

hay, the fact that it got quieter for a bit is a good sign, and the fact that it still has a good draw is a good sign, there is a good possibility that the pump is ok. most pumps are pretty strong, and a couple of hours of trying to push air through them, is something that a lot of pumps have done, without being damaged. it takes more than that to knock a pump out.

 

[rubix_1011]

If you only have the res filled and there is still a large amount of air in the rest of the loop, you are going to have this problem. If your pump doesn't have a good amount of water feeding the reservoir and inlet, you are going to encounter an airlock. With a bay res/pump combo like this, it is often helpful to use a T-line in your loop where the tubing is is return-feeding the reservoir and pump. This way, as your pump is pushing water from the res through the loop, it is still able to pull water from the return line into the res to replace the water it's pushing out. You'll want to maintain a funnel and tubing and continually fill as needed during this process.

 

[welshmousepk]

Best answer selected by welshmousepk.