Watercooling on a flat bench

[ortega10]

I have built a pc in side of a desk. I wanted to add a watercooling system but i am having issues with the flow of the coolant. The pump would start moving the water in the loop but after a second it would stop moving. i have a 360 radiator, 12 volt 18 watt pump, cpu waterblock, and dd-rad reservoir. The flow goes from the pump to the resorvoir to the cpu block, to the radiator, and back to the pump.

I was told that the issue is due to the fact that all my watercolling components are sitting flat inside the desk. Therefore there is no gravity involved since all the components are level.

Does this mean it would be impossible to make this work on a flat surface without the resoirvoir standing up straight?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanx

 

[RJR]

Res to Pump to CPU or rad

Pump to res is a big no-no.

 

[delluser1]

^+1

 

[rubix_1011]

No, in a closed loop, gravity isn't really an issue as much as you think. Consider how you can siphon water from a tube out of a barrel over the side, even though the side is higher than the height of the water inside. As long as the outlet is lower, it will continue to maintain the siphon. Similar principles work for watercooling loops.

As long as your reservoir 'feeds' into your pump, the remaining component order isn't important; in a decent loop, there will only be 5-8C difference in temps from any one point to another.

Also, make completely sure you don't run the pump without water, make sure you get all the air out of the radiator (air likes to accumulate there, so tilt it to ensure flow pushes it out) and be sure to leak test several hours...overnight is best. If you have any questions to anything posted, please ask...

More excellent reading on just about anything for watercooling:

http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/226970-water-cooling-essential-threads.html

 

[ortega10]

i just set it up in that configuration. res to pump to cpu to rad. still getting the same results. im startying to think there may be something wrong with my pump.

 

[rubix_1011]

Can you tilt your radiator around to see if any large air pockets come out? I'd try to see if there is any air to bleed, first.

If there aren't any air pockets in your lines before/after your pump, and your pump stops...I'd say there is something wrong. Does the pump make any weird noises when it runs/stops working? (It should really only make a 'hummmmmm' sound)

 

[ortega10]

i think i got it working. there was a little bit of air that i was able to get out.

The only thing im worried abnout is that my flow meter is not doing what it is supposed to .

i have this flow meter http://www.frozencpu.com/products/2102/ex-flo-03/Innovatek_FlowMeter_PRO_Rev_36_500870-02.html?tl=g30c229s582

It is supposed to blink if there is flow but mine does not blink, even though i can see the turbines inside the meter spinning. Also the pump is making barely any noise at all. I can feel it vibrating so i dont know if it is supposed to be this silent.

Thanks a lot for your help rubix.

 

[rubix_1011]

If you see it spinning, you know your pump is working. To be honest, I've never used a flow meter...and most really don't. It's typically a tool for new users that want reassurance your pump is working, but in reality, almost every motherboard/CPU/GPU made will shutdown once it reaches a certain thermal threshold to prevent damage. Your machine would power off before your hardware would melt. It's easier to download free temp monitoring software and run it...they can also be set to shutdown at other thresholds the user determines, if you'd like.

And no problem...that's what we are here for...

 

[Shadow703793]

@OP: Mind listing full specs?

 

[ortega10]

got the system up and running but,


all this was put together in custom built desk with plexiglass top- including 2 multicard reader and zalman fan controller

p6t7 ws supercomputer

corsair 1000

corsair 600

2x galaxy gtx 460

core i7 980x

6 gb ddr3 ram

q-see 8 channel dvr

1 seagate 1tb hd

1 wd caviar green 1tb hd - in single 3.5 inch bay hot swap

2 ssd in raid 0 - intel 80 gb and 60 gb ocz vertex - in 4 ssd hotswap

1 ssd ocz onyx 30 gb - in 4 ssd hot swap as well

1 lg blu-ray rewriteable drive

 

[delluser1]

Pictures ?

2 power supplies ?

 

[duk3]

Corsair 1000hx and Corsiar 600t I think.

 

[delluser1]

Corsair 1000hx and Corsiar 600t I think.

Well, he does say that "I have built a pc in side of a desk" and that his build is in a "custom built desk with plexi-glass top " so I guess maybe he could have laid a 600T on it's side. Doubt it though.

 

[ortega10]

The desk i bult it in is pretty big so a lot of the cable from the psu did not reach... also I didnt have enough connections. So i put an additional 650 watt power supply that i had on hand on the other side of the desk to power a few of my devices.

I am working on fixing up the plexi-glass top>> i will post picturres when im down... looking pretty awesome tho i must say.

 

[duk3]

Oh, didn't notice the 1st part. That is overkill on power for sure, but if the cables don't reach it's fine.

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, please post pics when done.

Also, how are those temps holding up? Still doing well once you got the air out and the loop flowing OK?

 

[ortega10]

i am down to mid 30's for my cpu temps so the cooling system seems to be working very well, thanks for the help.

 

[ortega10]

hey guys i posted the pics on another thread, check it out

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/299926-31-desk-built#t2225860

 

[ortoklaz]

very nice ,don't mean to crap on your parade but some cable management would improve the esthetic's ,speakers was nice touch,are you going to cool the GPU's ,how many rads you have and where they are?
Edit; missed 360 inside ..cool
this may gave you some ideas ;
http://www.youtube.com/user/l3pje
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDvic-srFnc

 

[rubix_1011]

I like the ingenuity applied here...great work. The great thing about watercooling is that there isn't a specific way you have to build a loop. Once you have the basics, the best part is finding the best way that works for your application.