ok... coming up near to my watercooling rig project... i need to know what coolant to use. can i use distilled water & antifreeze. as i dont want to buy anything like waterwetter, im already over my budget :| plus its out of stock @ OCS thanks, .icecube
Yeah, 1 part antifreeze on 10 parts distilled water should be OK. Get either the red G12 stuff that VW (the car manufacturer) uses, or get the yellow stuff, which is UV reactive as a bonus.
another thing is, im getting the 250 x 63 res 'The Tube' will that have a little line telling where to fill to, i measure the coolant out, distilliled water and 5% antifreeze, pour it in to the res, put the lid on and switch the pump on. is that all there is to it? .icecube
Not quite. You mix the stuff in a bucket (measuring it out along the way, the res won't have any indicators) to fill your system with it. Coolant must be poured into the res until it enters the pump (i.e. the pump must be "primed") before switching it on. Allow the pump to fill the entire loop. Dangle the tube that normally returns coolant to the res in the bucket, and wait until coolant returns to the bucket after completing the loop. Only then do you stop the pump, connect the tube to the res to close your circulation loop and presto: your system is ready to run. Allow the pump to continue running for 24 hours WITHOUT the Mobo being conected to the power, to 1: check your loop is free of leaks and 2: allow all the air bubbles to get out the loop. You may have to shake and turn your water blocks, radiator etc. to guarantee this.
Priming the pump means there must be water in the pump before switching it on, otherwise it won't work, and get damaged to boot. OK, then, the simple, step-by-step way: 1. Prepare your water/antifreeze coolant mixture in a bucket. 2. Open the reservoir and fill with the coolant. Gravity should cause the coolant to exit the reservoir throught the (bottom) outlet tube, to the pump inlet. Keep filling until coolant has reached the pump inlet, and coolant level is about an inch below the reservoir (top) inlet. 3. switch the pump on. It should suck in the coolant and start pumping it through the system. Keep topping up the reservoir as the pump drains the coolant from it. DON'T let the pump run dry. 4. Keep at this until coolant has gone around the system, and pours back into the reservoir through the (top) inlet tube. Stop the pump and top up the reservoir, until the coolant level is an inch or so below the top reservoir inlet. Close the reservoir. Your system is now filled and ready to go. 5. Run your pump for 24 hours, WITHOUT the computer being switched on. This is to check for slow leaks, and to remove air bubbles. While running the pump, you may have to turn and shake the radiator and waterblocks gently, to allow any air bubbles to escape into the tubes. These will be carried by the flow to the reservoir, where they exit the coolant. That's all there is to it.
ok, thanks alot for that. one thing though. while mixing the coolant in a bucket, how will i know how much coolant i need? thanks, .icecube
u wont....just guess.....i used about a gallon in my lil system so ull probably use more.....just grab a couple jugs of water and one bottle of ww and ull be good....just mix a lil...add it.....c if u need more.....mix a lil.....add it......c if u need more.....ect....
Look Icecube, part of modding is that there are no instruction manuals and that you have to learn to work these things out for yourself (like life itself, really...). Every case (literally) is individual. That's the whole point of modding. It's not rocket science; you know what causes shorts, you know 110V/240V should be handled with great care (you do, do you?), you know the basic limitations of hardware, you know the importance of making seals watertight. There is LOTS of water cooling info on the 'net out there for newbies to read, so if you need facts just do some research! I may be wrong, but I sense that you don't feel confident to do this. Maybe then, watercooling is not for you yet. I know it sure sounds intimidating; it is, after all, pushing water through an expensive and sensitive bundle of electronics, that plugs into the mains. I don't mean this post nastily, so please don't take offence, but I am concerned. I note from your profile that you are 14. You have to feel confident that you know what you're doing before doing this, and you will need some adult input. I don't mean to sound like your dad, but you will be messing with water and mains voltages (in the PSU, at least) after all. Perhaps you want to start with a well-tuned aircooled system first like I did; (believe me, it's an art in itself; I hear that the Swiftech MCX heatsink for P4's has just come out and performs impressively well) and work your way up in due time.
umm, ok.. the reason im asking all these questions is so that i get it right first time around. i dont want to be returning parts or blowing chips. ive searched around and not found many good sites explaining watercooling. i have everything planned out on paper and in my head now, so there wont be any more questions. .icecube