How to get this air bubble out? Drill? Buy a not-shitty block?

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lopoetve

Extremely [H]
Joined
Oct 11, 2001
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I have spent the last TWELVE hours twisting, turning, flopping, etc this damned system and block around trying to get this air bubble out. I made it WORSE instead of better (and had to clean up coolant spills too). I'm at my wits end - the shitty corsair block has a ridge around where the output link is that keeps air from entering. Done it with the system on, off, etc - no joy.

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Time for a not-shitty block? Drill a hole to let the air out and then reseal it somehow (epoxy?). Go back to air or AIO cooling since it doesn't make that much of a difference and I hate swapping GPU blocks on anyway?
 
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More detail - this is with the system on its side, tipped towards the output line. No joy even on that.
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disconnect all the power connectors, take the block off and put it as low as possible, and then jumper the psu and let it run for a while. maybe vent your res if you can.
 
pendragon1 said:
disconnect all the power connectors, take the block off and put it as low as possible, and then jumper the psu and let it run for a while. maybe vent your res if you can.
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Ugh. If I'm going to have to do that I'd rather rip out the system and replace it with an AIO - and find a new GPU rather than swap over to air cooling on it again. Getting the springs and the screws on that block was miserable the first time. :(
 
pendragon1 said:
yeah its a PITA now but you typically want to do this while youre leak testing.
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Permeation. I've done this dance twice now - both times it was full, and I've gradually lost about a full res worth of liquid over the last two years :(

Time to call this experiment done. Water cooling was amusing but it's still too maintenance heavy for me, I think. I'll go find myself a good AIO and pull the system out and trash it. For now I'll leave the res vented so it doesn't blow water out the top when the air bubbles expand.
 
lopoetve said:
Permeation. I've done this dance twice now - both times it was full, and I've gradually lost about a full res worth of liquid over the last two years :(

Time to call this experiment done. Water cooling was amusing but it's still too maintenance heavy for me, I think. I'll go find myself a good AIO and pull the system out and trash it.
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ah.
we have a freebies section...
 
pendragon1 said:
ah.
we have a freebies section...
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Well yeah, it's a pair of very good 360 rads - the block kinda sucks due to the barb fitting (I wonder if reversing the flow would help - the input line apparently doesn't have it, as I can get that bubble into the input line easy enough, but that leads to the GPU block which is a PITA to try and rotate around to get air back to the res...) and I modded the res slightly (cut out the RGB links - that's dumb and there was no way to disconnect them), but the rads are fine.
 
Alternatively, you could just ignore it since it isn't hurting anything. My experience has been that these block bubbles EVENTUALLY over several weeks, work themselves out on their own. Every one of my EK GPU blocks gets a damn near impossible to manually remove bubble stuck in it - I give up because screwing with it is infuriating - one day I look over at the block, and that bubble's just... gone.
 
mvmiller12 said:
Alternatively, you could just ignore it since it isn't hurting anything. My experience has been that these block bubbles EVENTUALLY over several weeks, work themselves out on their own. Every one of my EK GPU blocks gets a damn near impossible to manually remove bubble stuck in it - I give up because screwing with it is infuriating - one day I look over at the block, and that bubble's just... gone.
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Valid. The issue is that the ambient and temp swings are so significant right now that it’s forcing water up the vent stack and eventually out as the bubbles expand 😂.

Starting temp this morning was 22c/58f, ending temp after 30 minutes of Diablo 4 was 34c/98f. That much of a change results in a lot of expansion 😂. I actually have smaller swings in winter or pure summer - were having a long cold spring and it messes with things. And yes, I’ve bled the rest of the system too. It just likes to collect bubbles.
 
What happens if you sit the case front face-down, so that the bubble should be at the highest point in the jacket cavity, and then run the pump full blast? My non-PWM D5 pump would definitely dislodge that bubble eventually if it wasn't stuck in a high spot at the top like that. It might even dislodge it anyway.

But, as mvmiller12 said, you could just leave it, and evacuate enough coolant from the reservoir that it doesn't overflow out of the fill tube when it gets up to temperature. I'll work itself out eventually. Applying a vacuum at the fill port and running the pump full blast might be another option.

If you're losing coolant at a rate that makes this a common issue, you probably have a leak, though.

Edit: Another option is to use a sharpie to color over the clear part of the block so that you can't see the bubble, and then just don't worry about it. :shame:
 
RazorWind said:
What happens if you sit the case front face-down, so that the bubble should be at the highest point in the jacket cavity, and then run the pump full blast? My non-PWM D5 pump would definitely dislodge that bubble eventually if it wasn't stuck in a high spot at the top like that. It might even dislodge it anyway.

But, as mvmiller12 said, you could just leave it, and evacuate enough coolant from the reservoir that it doesn't overflow out of the fill tube when it gets up to temperature. I'll work itself out eventually. Applying a vacuum at the fill port and running the pump full blast might be another option.

If you're losing coolant at a rate that makes this a common issue, you probably have a leak, though.

Edit: Another option is to use a sharpie to color over the clear part of the block so that you can't see the bubble, and then just don't worry about it. :shame:
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That would put the bubble right over the input line- so nothing. If I pivot it on its ass so it’s in the output - so far nothing. Even with it running. But I can totally fill the res and try again
 
lopoetve said:
That would put the bubble right over the input line- so nothing. If I pivot it on its ass so it’s in the output - so far nothing. Even with it running. But I can totally fill the res and try again
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If the line on the left in the picture is the inlet, then you technically have the flow reversed, relative to how most blocks are meant to work. Maybe see if it helps to switch the hoses around so the inlet goes into the jet plate?
 
RazorWind said:
If the line on the left in the picture is the inlet, then you technically have the flow reversed, relative to how most blocks are meant to work. Maybe see if it helps to switch the hoses around so the inlet goes into the jet plate?
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That… would explain the edge around the outlet that is blocking the air.

…

…

FUCK.
 
Pull a vacuum on the res, alter pump speed and jiggle the PC? I've always been able to get away with just altering pump speed and letting it do its thing.
 
Get an AquaComputer Leakshield and these kinds of problems go bye bye. For myself I don't use hose barbs, I use Legris push to connect fittings as they don't leak or let air in. I wouldn't worry too much about losing coolant over a year as it's probably related to insensible losses (where the coolant goes through the tubing walls). I believe that ModMyMods and Titan Rig currently have them in stock.
https://www.aquacomputer.de/newsreader/items/leakshield---innovativer-leckageschutz.html
 
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Sometimes just running for a while and then powering down, allowing everything to settle, and running again is enough to free stubborn bubbles. If it's bugging you that much, just get it tipped as close to the output as you can, let it run for several hours, power off, and repeat. It should work itself free. Personally, it's been my experience that bubbles always find a way to push themselves out eventually -- I don't really worry about it.
 
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