how to watch water flow (aesthetics)

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zuluHammer

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Dec 15, 2005
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i dont have a watercooled setup but i was wondering if there is anything you could add so that you could watch the flow of water as it circulates. I am not talking about a flow meter, like an additive that looks like bubbles for example or something to make it look cooler. this is just a hypothetical question so no flaming please...(btw i know bubbles are bad for a watercooled setup)
 
I don't think it would be good to add anything that would indicate flow; it seems to me like that's a clog waiting to happen. Maybe if there's some dissolving additive that would react to slight changes in temp, but I'm not sure that anything like that exists.
 
ok here was my idea... could a person theoreically agitate dyed mineral oil in the resevoir to make bubbles of oil suspended in water and then pump that through the tubing?
 
i don't think actual floating things would be possible since it would get caught in the pump or resevoir or bends etc etc.

one thing that you might be able to do (but not at all recommended) is putting some streamers of some sort at the outlet of a certain connection.

kinda like the ones on the end of the handlebars of your banana seat bicycle.


lmao.

iono.
 
no

end of story, at least not unless you are willing to hurt your setup.

Any type of additive that would let you see the flow would have some sort of particulate. Adding a particulate like that can gunk up everything in the loop and perhaps even damage the pump. The other option as you mentioned is somehow have visible bubbles. Well bubbles are made up of air....there is a reason why you are watercooling and not air cooling, because air is crap at moving around heat. One of the main steps to running a watercooling isn't bleeding the air from the system for nothing.
 
hrm.. I was always wondering the same thing about "watching" the water go through the system. I don't think I'd put anything else in it except the approved coolant, but if you could use some of that really really really fine glitter, just a pinch might work. But then again, it could clog something. You wouldn't want to do that, or at least I wouldn't want to risk it. There might be some sort of additive that is oil based and safe for the system that separates from water like you said before.. but I haven't seen it. I know for river flow testing, the engineers use dye.. well, you could do that with a deep red dye or something on a much smaller scale to watch it flow. It would only be temporary of course.
 
ugh i hate to hear "no", you mean no one has come up with a way to watch the water flow?? I dont think particulates would clog up the system as long as you have no "dead ends" in your flow, but the risk is obviously there. What about the mineral oil could that work? From my understanding mineral oil does not spoil or gunk like cooking oil, so as long as its mixed with the water, flow should be visible.
 
With my res I can see the water splashing against the glass... looks cool. Here is a still of it although in person it really moves.

closeangle.jpg
 
aight im getting really into this i dunno why :p I contacted 3M (the huge chem products manufacturer) about this, they seem to make some sort of thermally reactive coolants but I dont know if they have or know about what I am searching for...I will keep you guys posted (assuming somebody is interested...)
 
You might be able to get some type of ball shaped rubber object, and put it in your res, proivded it was big enough to not fit through the barbs, however this might stop flow if it got stuck... seems like more risk than its worth.

-Cameron
 
maybe an aerator of some kind... something that makes tiny bubbles.

you'd have to have some type of air release at the end of the loop but I think air might be a better call than anything solid.
 
I have an idea... if you have an open (non pressurized) system put the pump right after the resivuar. then after your water block and before the resivuar add a T connector and feed a bubbler in there... the bubbles can run through the line untill the resivuar and vent to atmosphere...
 
Problem with the open loop is evaporation, and therefore sediment buildup (unless you're using distilled water, which is a PAIN IN THE ASS to go get from the store once a week).



Calling 3M was a good call (literally :)).
 
Get a larger acrylic reservior. Mount a small LCD behind it. Display a video of bubbles in water on this. For extra points, mount a flow meter and speed up the playback rate of the video clip proportional to water movement.

:)

More seriously, I have a little acrylic bayres and the small amount of air that I can't get out of it makes nice active patterns in it.
 
how bout first you water cool your kit and then decide if you want some more eye candy

lol @ first line of first post.
 
I did a summer research project in the fluid dynamics lab (the EIFL) at U of Alberta a while back. One of the things they used to visualize turbulence was pearl essence. It was used quite effectively to capture the scales of turbulence in apparautses made from acrylic.

The effect is visually stunning. This is what goes into "shimmering" cosmetics. I can only imagine it'd be even better in blacklight. The powder is incredibly fine: 30 x 6 micometers. (There's also a "small" formulation with nominal size quoted as 7 x 4 micrometers.)

The keyword is: "Mearlmaid Natural Pearlescence". Good luck finding a small batch; it seems like it's lostly sold as an industrial ingredient for cosmetics and personal care products. You might have some luck with a sample request from www.thornleycompany.com. The formulation that the Alberta EIFL lab used was the "Mearlmaid Natural Pearlescence AA". I think the AA formulation is an aqueous suspension. You might be able to find it in powder form too.
 
There was a project or two by someone who took an old fan, covered the two open sides with plexi, and then cut intake/outtake holes for barbs. As long as this container was fully filled, water would flow along and spin the fan blades while passing along in the loop. It would take a bit of engineering to get it to work right without impeding the flow, but the effect would be great (especially if you got some LEDs in there).
 
ikellensbro said:
There was a project or two by someone who took an old fan, covered the two open sides with plexi, and then cut intake/outtake holes for barbs. As long as this container was fully filled, water would flow along and spin the fan blades while passing along in the loop. It would take a bit of engineering to get it to work right without impeding the flow, but the effect would be great (especially if you got some LEDs in there).
Click to expand...

You can pair something like that with some LEDs and some circuitry and make yourself a homemade flow meter. Have the circuitry measure the times the LED is cut off by the fan blade, do a little math and you have your flowrate. I saw a worklog of someone who made something like this, very cool.
 
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