Watercooling Successful Leak Test - Noisey EK 580 Block?

Hey all, successfully leak tested my first wc loop overnight. Bleeding was apparently successful, shook the machine gently and tipping the unit over left and right you could hear the air trapped in the rad being pushed out into the res and dispersing, the res is now relatively bubble free so it appears thats all good.

I am not sure if I have an issue with the EK580 waterblock, in my opinion it is quite noisey, you can hear the water 'rushing' through the block and is a little louder than the pump itself.

Loop is: -

DDC Ultra 18W > RX480 > EK580 > EK Supreme HF > EK Multioption 250 Res

I am using 1/2"ID Primochill tubing and high flow compression fittings throughout - no 90 degree adapters used. Distilled water and silver coil.

I have a feeling it could just be the high flow of the loop and the water is literally racing through the block - althought cpu block is near silent. Anyone else using one of these EK 580 blocks? Is it silent?

Cheers

 

Hmmm......I did exactly the same as you last night, and now have a bubble free res and loop (took some time though). I'm not sure about your problem however. I also am using EK 580GTX waterblocks, but they're totally silent, which I guess is how they're supposed to be. Although I can't even hear my pump either.

As you don't have any bubbles in your loop, I'm a bit clueless. You could try putting the flow rate down a bit.

 

It'll be air trapped in the block. Lay the computer on it's back and turn the pump on/off a few times as this should force them out

 

The more I listen to the sound it does sound like trapped air - have tried on its back but not starting and stopping the pump. Will try that in a minute Pete and report back! Thanks

 

Starting and stopping the pump quickly and repeatedly really helped me get trapped air out of my system.

 

Ok have spent a few hours bleeding the loop over and over again and am still getting the noise though the gpu block. Stopping and starting the pump with the case in various orientations (particularly on its back) freed up a litle more air but not a great deal.

Imagine a water pipe with fast flowing water passing through it - thats what it sounds like. It will probably be inaudible with the side panels on but having never watercooled before I have no idea how quiet the block should actually be.

Should you hear the flow of water through it at all?

I should be in position to fire it up properly tomorrow so I guess temps will give some indication if there is air in there!

 

You shouldn't hear the water. I no longer bother to rotate the case as I've found pinching the tubing for a second or two repeatedly as well as stop/starting the pump until I no longer hear the bubbles does it. It can take a while.

 

Thanks Elf. I can hear water passing through the cpu block too, am pretty sure this was silent before - guess its just a bleeding issue then. Will have another bash tomorrow.

 

I also find tapping it with a finger helps free up stubborn bubbles too

 

I personally don't deal with bubbles. They should disperse over a week and it would be fine.

 

Took the card and cpu (still connected in the loop) out of the case and gave them a good individual shake. Pinched tubes, stopped and started pump many times until giving up at 3am. There is absolutely no difference at all and no further air has has moved out of the loop.

I had the machine on its back so the res is absolutely at the top of the loop and it still didn't achieve anything.

I made the last minute decision to fit a T line and drain pipe so will drain the system and refill it on its back today and see if that reduces the initial air in the loop.

Thanks for all your advices will keep trying!

 

Mine was pretty noisy for a couple of days until it settled down.

 

Mine settled down in about 48 hours without much interferene. It made plenty of noises as bubbles were still being sucked round the loop but the res did it's job and now it's whisper quiet.

Most of it was time I think. The small bubbles that clinged to the walls of the tube took a day to dissapear, while the system was switched off.

 

Mine was bubble free in about 3 - 4 hours. I filled it so that the reservoir was overflowing (back up the tube that I used to funnel water in). Everytime it looked like it was about to use up the excess in the tube due to losing air, I just added a bit more. Doing this, combined with tilting the machine from side to side every so often proved very effective.

Any extra water that was left in the funnel tubing after filling was just syphoned off.

 

One of my systems bleeds in a couple of hours, another one takes up to 3-4 days for all the bubbles to disappear although the large ones have usually gone within 24 hours. I usually leave the plug off the res until they've gone (remember not to move the case around too much if you do that).

 

Well after much draining and refilling and bleeding most of the day its still the same situation. Will give it a few days to see if it settles down a bit.

Doesnt seem to be causing any issues with the card idle at 28c - just popped a Win7 install to check it so hopefully it will quieten down!

Lol Elf - had rig on its back and forgot I had removed cap earlier before starting the pump - was like a whale blowholing! Fortunately water shot straight into some paper towelling I had left in place to be safe!!

 

If you do move the case around it's a good idea to hold the res as upright as possible otherwise you can get air sucked back through the loop.

 

Yep I learned that fairly quickly, have to make sure the outlet on the res is always 'submerged'. I was wondering where on earth all this air was coming from when I first bled it a few days ago! Then quickly realised what I was doing wrong lol

Temps are pretty good - have left the machine folding on the GPU for the day while I'm at work and is maxing at 32 degrees after 30mins. Fans on about 60%

Now have a problem with 2 of my Scythe GT's rattling. Have painted them now so no returns for me. I've stripped and checked them but they look fine, no stray paint etc. Will try a little 3 in 1 oil later but really want to to get some graphite powder - sounds like bearing rattle to me.

Why is nothing ever straightforward!

 

Painting them might have unbalanced the blades, did they rattle before you painted them? Silicone oil seems to work well on the bearings but only a tiny drop.

 

Didn't fire them up before painting so unsure. One was fine for a good few hours then just started playing up, the other periodically starts being noisey. If you slowly move the blade with your finger on that one you can hear the bearing making a slight 'grating' noise.

Will nip out at lunchtime and pick up some silicon oil - they havesome at B&Q which is nearby although it is a spray.