A Beginner's Guide For WaterCooling Your PC

Features
By Don Woligroski
published

Planning & Installation, Continued

It is at this point that we add the actual liquid coolant into the reservoir. Be careful to fill the reservoir to the level indicated in the manufacturer's instructions. As you fill the reservoir, the liquid will slowly fill the hoses. Pay close attention to all the fittings, and have a towel handy in case the unthinkable happens, such as a leak. At the slightest sign of leaking, stop what you are doing and address the problem immediately.

With all of the components attached, the system is ready for the coolant.

Assuming you have been careful and there are no leaks in the system, you will need to prime the liquid coolant to remove air bubbles. In the case of the Koolance EXOS-2, this is achieved by shorting out pins on the ATX power supply to fool it into providing power to the liquid cooling pump without powering the motherboard.

Let it run for a while, and while it's running it's a good idea to slowly and carefully tip the PC back and forth to make sure that trapped air bubbles are removed from the water blocks. As air bubbles are removed from the system, you will likely find that you have to add more coolant to the system - this is fine. After 10 minutes or so of priming, there should be no visible air bubbles flowing through the tubes. If you are satisfied there are no trapped air bubbles in the system, and that there isn't a hint of leaking, it's time to fire it up for real.

Completed, up and running!

Don Woligroski
16 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ComputerCustomizer
    What an absolutely useless article. Why any enthusiast would choose Koolance over a custom setup that would give twice the performance at the same cost is beyond me.
    Reply
  • tailgunner07
    I have to disagree with the above comment, as a novice to water-cooling I found the article useful and informative. While I would not choose the Koolance kit, due to cost, I now have a better idea of how to proceed.
    I would however recommend using a kit as a starting point and modify it as needed rather than ordering a collection of parts and finding that they do not meet your requirements.
    Reply
  • JDMH22
    I agree tailgunner07. I'd use a kit and then start adding more cooling blocks and accessories to meet my needs. I did learn more about water cooling in this article.
    Reply
  • to ComputerCustomizer look before speaking this article was written over a year a go when people were shit scarred of water cooling setups.
    There weren't too trusty names in the market either. They used the koolance system as it was the easiest for n00bs at the time.
    Reply
  • Koolance also the best water cooling system that are around, there's nothing wrong with this usefull review, don't use water cooling if don't have more buck for it.
    Reply
  • Invid
    I agree with Tailgunner, if one is a novice and feels they do not want to delve too deeply into the realm of water cooling then something like this is perfect and the article is helpful in that sense.

    For custom cooling and purchasing of individual items then this article will not help you but then again this isn't about picking and choosing individual components for custom cooling options.

    - Invid
    Reply
  • Bot Series
    What ever happened to the Cray idea of just dropping your PC into a fish tank full of Mazola?
    Reply
  • jeweel
    so what is the best water cooling system for money now?
    Reply
  • coolronz
    well looks like everyone agrees with tailgunner.. lol i was kind of concerned more about fittings and sizes.. i just got a HAF 932. theres enough room for an internal tri rad 120mmx3 on the top of the case, and a single 120mm rad on the back. i do like how they showed to T off after the CPU. i bought a TT pump, res and front temp gauge off eBay and am in the works of buying the rest of the parts. one thing that confused me is what the heck is a G1/4 fitting? now i get it, its just a common pipe thread size. and then you go to a 3/8" or 1/2" ID hose. would have been nice to get a little into that a little... but then again its a beginners article.. great job!!!
    Reply
  • This is very useful. I believe all who indead would love to ave better and faster cooling will go for a kit like this, despite the cost.
    Reply