Educate me about maintenance

[Quartz-1]

I'm a set it and leave it type of guy. What can I do to minimise maintenance? I know that even the sealed units will need maintenance over time.

For example, replacing distilled water once a month is too much like hard work. Are there other fluids I can use (fluorinert?) that require less maintenance?

 

[celwin]

Who said you replace distilled water every month? I replace mine once a year. If you have a kill coil or some biocide with distilled water, you should be good. Some disemble their loops every 6 months for cleaning. I will be doing mine once a year.

 

[aphasia]

i can't remember the last time i did any maintenance on my loop except dusting the fans and radiator. i must be over 2 years since the water in my loop has been open to outside air.

probably the biggest chore is getting rid of dust. radiator fins clogged with dust drastically reduce performance.

if you don't add any shit to the water (except silver as celwin mentioned), the loop should run for years. some people may lose some water thru evaporation, personally i haven't noticed a drop at all though i do have a large dual bay res.

 

[Quartz-1]

Who said you replace distilled water every month?

It's in the FAQ.

 

[Aus10]

i can't remember the last time i did any maintenance on my loop except dusting the fans and radiator. i must be over 2 years since the water in my loop has been open to outside air.

probably the biggest chore is getting rid of dust. radiator fins clogged with dust drastically reduce performance.

if you don't add any shit to the water (except silver as celwin mentioned), the loop should run for years. some people may lose some water thru evaporation, personally i haven't noticed a drop at all though i do have a large dual bay res.

Even then you can buy dust filters that fit over the rad that reduce that too you just have to clean them from time to time.... Right?

 

[aphasia]

Even then you can buy dust filters that fit over the rad that reduce that too you just have to clean them from time to time.... Right?

i'm fairly lazy so i clean em (rads) when the temps start to get a little high.

depending on your definition of 'time to time', i'm guessing thats more often than 'my cpu is on fire. better dust those radiators.' if you're after a time frame, i suppose i blow the dust out every 4-6 months.

you can minimise that further by creating positive pressure environment in your case.

 

[Tsumi]

Replacing distilled water once a month is excessive. More like once or twice a year, with topping off once a month if the water levels fall.

 

[86 5.0L]

It's in the FAQ.

For those who wanted to keep distilled water for more than 1 month should consider adding 1 or 2 drops of a biocide (copper sulfate like PT Nuke) to stop the growth of algae.

thats why we add a silver coil or PT nuke

 

[Aus10]

I think the dust levels depends on the amount in your house too.

 

[ghost6303]

It's in the FAQ.

i just read it over twice- i dont see this anywhere in the faq. its false information if it is actually in there- you do not need to change your fluid monthly.

 

[magoo]

I look at the water level in the reservoir once a month to make sure it hasn't gone down.

I change my water out about every 6 months or when I change MBs or CPUs.....but just the water......takes about an hour and then a couple hours to get the air bibbles out.

I tend to change tubing completely about once a year.....mainly because I get tired of looking at the same things. I'm becoming very fond of black Tygon.

I use distilled and silver killcoils.

 

[nobody_here]

I look at the water level in the reservoir once a month to make sure it hasn't gone down.

I change my water out about every 6 months or when I change MBs or CPUs.....but just the water......takes about an hour and then a couple hours to get the air bibbles out.

I tend to change tubing completely about once a year.....mainly because I get tired of looking at the same things. I'm becoming very fond of black Tygon.

I use distilled and silver killcoils.

which is why i got away from water cooling, the payoff is far from worth it. I will have 10 degree higher temps on good air cooling and literally not do any more than a quick air dusting periodically before I go through all that.

 

[Cruiza]

which is why i got away from water cooling, the payoff is far from worth it. I will have 10 degree higher temps on good air cooling and literally not do any more than a quick air dusting periodically before I go through all that.

Water cooling is a hobby, plain and simple. If you're doing it for any other reason you will surely be disappointed.

 

[Colonel_Panic]

I use FeserOne coolant and will probably won't replace it for at least a year, maybe longer. My loop is cooled passively with 2 Zalman Reserators so dust build up isn't a problem, but what is a problem is sludge build up inside my Aqua Computer fluid filter. That part I try to clean every few months (usually when I'm making changes to the loop).

I think by taking the proper precautions as mentioned about (bio killer in fluid, only distilled water, etc.) you can minimize maintenance so it becomes at most, an annual clean.