Flow monitoring?

[Blackjack Davy]

Hi what are peop's opinions on flow monitors? I'm about ready to jump into the murky waters of water cooling and I'm worried about what happens if/when the pump fails.

Are they worth bothering with or are they simply a gimmick? I think I read somewhere that if the pump stops the CPU will overheat so rapidly especially if it's under heavy load/overclock that it shut the system down faster than you can hit the off button...?

I guess I'm worried about damaging the CPU and/or the block if the pump stops circulating I have pictures in my mind of steam explosions... guess I'm a worrier huh?

I also read here that my Laing D5 pump can have tach wire soldered to give a measurement of RPM which I've looked into trouble is the large capacitor is awful close to where the wire would have to be fixed and theres very little room to maneuver a hot iron and my skills with said iron are mediocre at best.

So what are you guys opinions on this? Cheers.

 

[4Ryan6]

Normally if the CPU overheats it shuts down the computer, I'm not using a flow indicator simply because I'm running a clear acrylic water block top, so I can see into it through my side window.

If the water stops flowing the water block heats and forces the liquid out of the block which is visually evident, and the machine shuts down, my water stopped flowing not because of pump failure but my peltier froze the cold pickup block.

That's another story altogether.

Flow indicators are generally restrictive especially if you're running 1/2' ID or larger tubing, but you have to do what you're comfortable with.

 

[toolmaker_03]

i have used flow meters For years without issue the koolance flow meter is the one I bought for my current build it is not restrictive at all, it is a little on the expensive side $50 US, but I think it is worth it. It gives me a visual indicator that the system is working and if connected to the mobo as the CPU fan and the CPU fan fails most new mobo will shut down regardless of temps. I tested this with my Asus crosshair II board and it worked quite well.

 

[rubix_1011]

Temp monitoring with a shutdown script to trigger at a specific temp threshold that you've determined to be high enough not to trip under normal 100% load scenarios.

CoreTemp and RealTemp both offer this, as does HWMonitor, I believe. This also means you don't have one more thing adding to your flow restriction.

 

[4Ryan6]

the koolance flow meter is the one I bought for my current build it is not restrictive at all.

Wrong!

Every flow meter on the market has some level of restriction!

 

[toolmaker_03]

have you seen the tests that i did on the flow of the system if not here thay are





the only thing in the loop is the fittings and a flow meter if it is restrictive it is not much at all.

 

[rubix_1011]

I'd rather monitoring software to do an immediate shutdown rather than hope I look to see if some doo-hickey has stopped spinning to see if I should shut down my machine. Regardless, your rig should thermal shutdown on it's own before anything bad happens...the point is to determine a safer point before that hard stop that you understand for your own hardware and implement a fail-safe based on that value.

The more stuff you add to a loop, the more stress you put on the pump. RAM blocks, various chip blocks, HDD blocks, flow meters, etc all cause restriction, slowing the flow rate and causing your pump to work harder. Like any other motor or engine, the harder you push it over time, the less of that time you push it.

 

[4Ryan6]

I'd rather monitoring software to do an immediate shutdown rather than hope I look to see if some doo-hickey has stopped spinning to see if I should shut down my machine. Regardless, your rig should thermal shutdown on it's own before anything bad happens...the point is to determine a safer point before that hard stop that you understand for your own hardware and implement a fail-safe based on that value.

The more stuff you add to a loop, the more stress you put on the pump. RAM blocks, various chip blocks, HDD blocks, flow meters, etc all cause restriction, slowing the flow rate and causing your pump to work harder. Like any other motor or engine, the harder you push it over time, the less of that time you push it.

Affirmative!

Thank You Sir! Ry

 

[toolmaker_03]

I like flow meters for lots of reasons; they indicate if you have a kink or collapsed line in the loop, and Most pumps slow down before stopping completely. I have used them for years, are they necessary? No, but I will continue to use them.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

I cannot see my tubing, my resses are all 100% full so I have no way of seeing if my loops running or not,
I know its running because my Pc hasn't exploded or shut down plus my delta would shoot up alerting me to the fact something was wrong long before there was any danger,
Room temp 28.31, water temp 29.63 currently, loop is working
Moto