A little help please

[fivecheebs]

Hi guys,

Ive not been around in a while due to some family form the US visiting for a couple of weeks. Now thats over i can get to installing my Alphacool xtreme pro kit (plus cape NB block). :D

Ive got the rad, res and pump mounted in what i think was a logical way and decided to go down the old "res > pump > CPU > NB > Rad > res" road. I put the blocks in thier approximate positions on the motherboard tray so i could cut the tubing to length (man those pushfits are nice :) ) and subsequently leak test the loop. This leads to a couple of questions...

I thought i had it all sorted so started to fill the res with coolant. and i noticed a drip coming form the blanking piece for the spare hole at the bottom of the res. It would appear that its not tight enough or something but to test its seal without wasting coolant can i use distilled water for the time being? (the res is now sepparated from the rest of the loop with a length of hose joining the inlet and outlet), once i know its sealed i can put it back in the loop and fill with coolant again.

Also because the CPU and NB are fairly close together on my NF7-S i have installed the nexXxos XP wiht the in at the bottom of the block and the out at the top, then fo rthe cape block i have used the lower barb (with barbs being one directly above the other) as the in to give most distance between connections to aid tube routing. They are still fairly close together though and allthough the tube does not kink it is putting a small force on the blocks that will try to pull them away from one side of the CPU or NB. Is this small force OK / normal? or should i try to eliminate this by changing the loop order?

Lastly (as i have misplaced the instructions temporarily), when filling is this the correct way to do it? ... Fill the res and let gravity feed the pump so it wont run dry. then plug the pump onto the PSU and switch on being ready to top teh res up as the coolant fills the componants.

TIA

cheebs

[mrplow]

I often test the loop with normal tap water to save the money on distilled. The problem of buildup and the like it only going to happen over a very long period.

Slap a few rounds of PFTE (sp?) tape around the leaky fitting and screw it back in. Should sort it.

A small pulling force on the blocks should be ok, but it's down to your judgement really. I would imagine the NB block is the one that has a slight chance of being prised away from the chip rather than the CPU block since the NB clips probably aren't too amazing. Maybe you could go CPU > GPU > NB > wherever.

Your filling method sounds fine. I often find I need to fill up, turn the pump on, let it all flow through, turn it off and repeat that process a few times.

[Darv]

I've not used an Alphacool kit so I'm not 100% certain but I can answer some of your questions.

Using just distilled water for leak testing will be fine. In that short amount of time there will be no problem of corrosion between different metals.

The NexXxos block should have the inlet at the bottom and the outlet at the top so you have infact mounted it correctly.

As long as it isn't pulling too much then I imagine the blocks will be fine.

That's the way I would fill the loop, fill the res as much as you can, wait for it to sink to the bottom of the loop and then top it up some more. Then turn on the pump and fill the res as it empties.

[fivecheebs]

Cheers guys

If tap water/distilled water is ok for leak testing then great. I wondered if tap water could leave some residues that could grow with a nice shade of green. Tap water will do well for testing the res alone as i can dry that out well.

It was late last night when i tested the loop and found the leak so i havent had much of a play with it yet to fix it up but i was thinking about PTFE tape if i cant tighten it sufficiantly first.

Great news about the correct orientation of rthe nexXxos block darv... ta.

If i had a GPU block i would put that in the middle probably but as my card is due for an upgrade that can wait for a little while. As far as the force from the tubes goes i guess ill have to see how i find it when i actualll mount them to the board. I guess im just a little concerend that the socket retention clip with the central screw wont be an even force on each side of the block. Ill just have to suck it and see....

[Starbuck3733T]

I wouldn't use tap for more than a few hours at a time - I ran a small loop to test my home-made (now unused) res for a few days w\ stragiht tap water. 2 days later it was covered in calcium deposits. Distilled ins't horrendously expensive, and I keep 8-10 gallons on hand in the basement (worth about 5 quid to you guys I'd imagine).

[fivecheebs]

Hmm ... I wasnt going to actually pump tap water round the loop, just put it in the res to see if any drips appear from the offending plug ... maybe ill just use distilled for that as well as a propper leak test. As you say star, its not expensive.

[scopEDog]

I wouldnt use ptfe tape to seal the bsp fittings on most euro h2o kits. The threads are not tapered like on US npt fittings, so most likely it will leak. Not sure if they sell GOOP in your neck of the woods but you can use a similiar sealant for that fitting.

[Starbuck3733T]

Scope: you've got a good point. If the PTFE doesn't work, A small dab of goop around the threads (think like you're putting lithium grease on a bolt you dont want to seize) and then screw it in. Wipe off the excess.

Pray to god you never need to get it out of the threads, because you WONT.

[fivecheebs]

OK so is PTFE worth a try at least, if tighteneing doesnt help?

Also i dont know what this "goop" is? sounds like some sort of thick threadlock. What do i need to look out for?

[Darv]

Goop IIRC is just some kind of sealant that plumbers use. Should be pretty easy to find in B&Q or something.

[scopEDog]

GOOP! (http://www.procooling.com/articles/assets/images/cocool-goop.jpg) :D

[Knipex]

DO NOY I REPEAT DO NOT use PTFE tape. There is a good chance that straight fittings will crack the housings. Make sure you check your O-rings and that they are in good condition. If the fittings are fully tightened they will not leak.....

[Fibbles]

I find it screwy that in nearly all of the Euro kits and bits, there are O-rings on everything, but in the American based kits and parts, there are lots of PTFE tape and pieces that don't screw all the way in. On my 1/2" system I was using Criticools Waterplant ressy, it was nice and all (if round 4" pieces of acrylic are your thing :)), but the brass threads wouldn't screw all the way in and I'd end up coating them with tape (I hate that stuff, it's hard to get on). I've yet to have a leak from any of my German blocks either. Well, aside from not pushing the tube into the Plug & Cool all the way :wacko: <---- was the cause of a major leak I couldn't figure out, so I thought the all steel fitting was broken because there were no plastic rings on it, but the others weren't leaking and they were the same, it finally dawned on me to push the tube in all the way.

[fivecheebs]

Thanks for the pic scope :)

OK knipex, i wont use PTFE, cracked housings sounds bad, thanks. I have since tried to tighten and it did a little but it was plain to see that the O ring still wasnt making a good contact with the bottom of the res. So i try to loosen it and it will only turn about 1/4 of a turn before it locks tight again. I dont want to force it too much, never the less i cant get a good grip on the bottom of the res to put too much pressure on it. Im not sure what to do now. Anyone have any ideas?

[Darv]

Try mounting the res to the case so that it can't move and then use a spanner to tighten it. I don't know how much you will need to tighten it so try tightening it a little, running water through it and seeing if it leaks. Then repeat if necessary.

[fivecheebs]

Thats not going to be possible darv :( The res is mounted using clips that dont completely secure it. Also the plug is in a meatal insert which fits to the bottom of the res and seals with O-rings so theres not much to stop it moving there either. The more i look at it and try to move it, the more i think there is a problem with the thread somehow. Its like there are some burrs inside or they are slightly different sizes or something.

[Fibbles]

Thats not going to be possible darv :( The res is mounted using clips that dont completely secure it. Also the plug is in a meatal insert which fits to the bottom of the res and seals with O-rings so theres not much to stop it moving there either. The more i look at it and try to move it, the more i think there is a problem with the thread somehow. Its like there are some burrs inside or they are slightly different sizes or something.
Could you have it replaced or something? Yapp at the customer service section of where ever you bought it.

[fivecheebs]

Yey its fixed :) cheers Pug :)

Got it running a preliminary leaktest (seems ok so far :) ) tonight then tomorrow night i leak test with it all mounted on the mobo :D. Then thursday night, all things being as i want, my system will be up n running agian :)

/me does a little happy dance

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

lol are you going to share the soloution with us? ^_^

[fivecheebs]

haha ... sorry, Pug replaced it for me in the end. We tried some other tricks but none of them worked.

[Pug]

lol are you going to share the soloution with us? ^_^
Better QC, it would seem. -_-
Turns out to have been a possible manufacturing defect.
AlphaCool are addressing the issue but I'm going to try and check each kit more thoroughly as it goes out from now on to minimise returns like this.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Thats why we shop with you pug, service like that. :wub:

[Darv]

Thats why we shop with you pug, service like that. :wub:
Damn right!!! It's second to none!

[Pug]

Cheers for the props guys. B)
I tell ya, if I could, I'd offer free installation too but I don't want to spoil half your fun. :p :D