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Leak!

W

WCES Ryan

Gawd
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Messages
723
Well, I just finished assembling my loop. Started filling it with coolant, and by the second pour, we noticed the coolant leaking out of my CPU block, down on to the back of my X-Fi, and on to the floor of the case. For what we had put in, I would say a fair bit leaked. Got it all wiped up, cleaned the sound card as best I could for tonight.

So I obviously am going to have a few questions... first being, aside from the obvious (take apart the loop and rma the block), what do I do now? Second, what do I use to clean the sound card, rubbing alchohol? Third, how do I disassemble the loop?

Please help with whatever info you can, this was my first water setup, and if you've ever had a leak or ever even used water before you can imagine how I am feeling right now :(

Thanks.
 
Others prolly can telll you better than me about cleaning it..

but run the WC system outside the system next time to check for leaks..
 
first being, aside from the obvious (take apart the loop and rma the block), what do I do now? Second, what do I use to clean the sound card, rubbing alchohol? Third, how do I disassemble the loop?

First: Is it leaking directly from the block, or from the fittings? If it's the block... Rma. If it's the fittings... Try using some hose clamps.

Second: Yes, rubbing alcohol. Wipe it off with rubbing alcohol, and let it sit for a day or two.

Third: Opposite of assembly :) Dump the fluid out of the reservoir, undo all the clamps, then pull it apart.

I know how bad having a leak is. That is why leak testing is really really important. The last time I had a leak, it claimed the life of my Pentium 4 northwood ES. :(
 
You should always leak test for about 24hrs before installing and running the system. For future reference.
 
He hadn't even gotten around to starting his leak test from what I understand.

Anyways, when I leak test I leave the motherboard and CPU in, and anything else being cooled. Taking out everything else, dont have any power connectors plugged into anything. Plug the pump into the PSU, and jump the PSU. If anything leaks you just have to clean it up....nothing can short out because there is no current flowing through it.

I dont like leak testing outside of the case because something might come loose between leak testing and moving the loop back inside the case.



Depending where the leak is on the block you have a couple choices. If it is between the tubing and the fitting, get better hose clamps and try again. If it is from the fitting and the block, take the fitting out get some good thread sealant, and put the fitting back in. Third if it is from the block, RMA the block...or open it up and see if the O-ring or however it is sealed is seated properly.
 
It looked like it was leaking directly from the block, but I will have to check again later.

How do I get all the fluid out by emptying the res? turn the case upside down and let it all come out the bottom?

I don't think I'm going to give it another shot, this was just an ugly reminder that things like this don't always work as good as you dream they will.
 
Hopefully your PC wasn't powered on.

If so, yeah, like others have said, you can use rubbing alcahol and a box of cotton swabs to clean the parts. Disassemble everything (i.e. pull the cards from the slots).

After cleaning, let everything sit in the open air for a couple days. Coolant leaking on a powered-off machine is no biggie... it happens to most at some point. Your only real issue is trying to power on with water still trapped in an AGP/PCI slot, the CPU socket, etc.

Once everything is dried out you should be good to go.

If you're really not going to try to go back to WCing... let us know when you post your parts on eBay/here.
 
I hear ya, Ryan. I just had a leak last night myself. Couldn't figure out why the computer wouldn't boot... opening it up, looking inside... water on the RAM. Burnt it up good. I hope the motherboard etc is ok (seems to be). But now I have to buy new RAM (the stuff I had was Mushkin Redline BH-5 that cost me over $200 10 months ago). I had been contemplating upgrading to 2x1GB anyway, but still... I'd much rather it be my choice (and leave me with a couple really good sticks of 512 for another computer).

Not sure what to do now... I can't even figure out where the water is coming from, and this is from a machine which has been in use for weeks. No idea how it spontaneously started leaking.

Probably not going to stop watercooling all of a sudden, but it does put a damper on my WC experience.

-Nate
 
The PC wasn't on, the leak was almost right away when we poured coolant in, by the second pour my dad noticed that fluid was leaking on the sound card and we stopped.

From what I can tell, nothing got on the motherboard or anything else, just on the sound card. All I saw on the mobo was a couple drops on the side of one of the PCI slots. I had a good look inside my case with a super bright work light and that is all I could see.

But the thought that popped into my head last night was that this is a hobby for me. Hobbies should be fun, not a pain in the ass. I was freaking out over the whole thing last night when I went to bed, and waking up sweating in the middle of the night because of how bad this stressed me out is definitely not something I want out of a hobby, so back to air it's going to be. An expensive lesson, but one well learned.

Keep an eye on the forums for when the kit comes up f/s.
 
i think that the most important thing to consider before you move to water cooling is this simple question: "can i afford to replace anything that i break?"

watercooling has the potential to ruin your computer, and as such you have to be prepared for the eventuality that you will break components due to watercooling. it just happens.
 
BioPort said:
i think that the most important thing to consider before you move to water cooling is this simple question: "can i afford to replace anything that i break?"
Click to expand...

That would be a resounding no! :p

There is always the ramon diet though to save up and get new gear :D
 
Affording to be able to replace busted components is one thing, doing it is another. Sure, I can afford to replace most of my system at any given time if necessary, but being able to afford it doesn't make it okay for things to go wrong, and that's why I'm making the decision to cancel the water project.

I still think I should get lower temps with air in my new case, I've made some changes to my cabling system that should allow for good airflow, and the larger aluminum case should help a bit as well I would imagine.
 
WCES Ryan said:
Affording to be able to replace busted components is one thing, doing it is another. Sure, I can afford to replace most of my system at any given time if necessary, but being able to afford it doesn't make it okay for things to go wrong, and that's why I'm making the decision to cancel the water project.

I still think I should get lower temps with air in my new case, I've made some changes to my cabling system that should allow for good airflow, and the larger aluminum case should help a bit as well I would imagine.
Click to expand...

Dont let one bad experience turn you away from watercooling. There are non-conductive liquids like MCT-5 which are relatively cheap now. There was a review of MCT-5 over at madshrimps where after about a year of having it in the loop it spilled, and all the hardware was fine.
 
MCT-5 has saved my butt 3 times now. All three leaks were very slow and happened after my 24 hour leak test. Coolant got right down into the CPU pin socket as well as the RAM slot pins. I made a full recovery every time.
 
MCT-5 is what I was using. I know the hardware will be okay if it spills, but the stress of having to clean out the loop, clean the hardware, put it back together, replace parts, be without my good computer... don't wanna deal with it.
 
WCES Ryan said:
MCT-5 is what I was using. I know the hardware will be okay if it spills, but the stress of having to clean out the loop, clean the hardware, put it back together, replace parts, be without my good computer... don't wanna deal with it.
Click to expand...

fair enough. Maybe when the dust settles if you have a secondary system you may decide to get your feet wet again someday. ;)
 
topcat989 said:
fair enough. Maybe when the dust settles if you have a secondary system you may decide to get your feet wet again someday. ;)
Click to expand...
Good pun :p

I was thinking that this morning.. while I may not want to put water and my main machine together, it may be a neat side project if I ever had a spare system to mess with.
 
Man I don't know if I got any fluid on the video card or not... I don't think I would have as the video card is upside down and the fluid should have jsut gone down, but I can't tell. I'm really anxious to put it back together and check it out and see if it works, what do you think?

If there was any fluid on there, would it be visible? The card itself is quite light colored.

I cleaned my X-Fi thoroughly with rubbing alchohol, how long until it dries up safe enough to use it, a couple days?
 
I'm curious to know what system you were watercooling with and what block leaked?
 
WCES Ryan said:
Swiftech Apex Ultra and MCW-60.

MCW-60 leaked.
Click to expand...

Well one advantage of a clear plexi top is you can see if the o-ring isn't sitting in the groove, it's missing, or it's broken. Did you check the o-ring as it sounds to me like your o-ring was damaged or missing to cause that much of a leak just from filling the system. Most watercooling companies pressure test these devices before shipment. Perhaps Swiftech figures they only need to check a certain percenatge of them.
 
It leaked from the block itself.

It was my fault, I had the block open to peak inside and obviously didnt close it up well enough.
 
Is there an O-Ring that you mis-aligned, or some sealent you scraped off?
 
WCES Ryan said:
It leaked from the block itself.

It was my fault, I had the block open to peak inside and obviously didnt close it up well enough.
Click to expand...

Well next time do a quick pressure check after you reassemble. Put your finger on one barb and your mouth on the other barb. Blow. It won't catch a minor problem, but will catch a gross error.
 
BioPort said:
i think that the most important thing to consider before you move to water cooling is this simple question: "can i afford to replace anything that i break?"

watercooling has the potential to ruin your computer, and as such you have to be prepared for the eventuality that you will break components due to watercooling. it just happens.
Click to expand...

I disagree... that's something to conder before BUILDING a computer, lets see:

You could crack a processor while trying to seat a particularly difficult HSU.
You could fry a board with a static shock build up from walking across the carpet.
You could reverse a USB cable.
You could have a small screw flaoting around the case that finds its way to an exposed connection.
You could, clumsily, knock a capacitor from a board.
etc, etc, etc.

Building a computer (or car, house, etc) from scratch has certain inherant risks over purchasing pre-built. That's not to say it's not something to be undertaken or that the reward from doing it yourself doesn't outweigh the risk.

There's risk no matter what method you decide to use to cool a user-built PC. If you cracked a CPU while trying to install a HSU would you decide to cool with a water bottle filled with ice water?
 
Well, it works again :)

the video card does anyway, I will have to test the sound card later.
 
Give it 24/48 hours from the inital leak and it'll work...

Assuming you let the PCI slot air out... you have nothing to worry about.
 
It's working now.

I don't think any got in the PCI slot, I quickly tore the card out as I saw the coolant leaking on it.
 
It's random leaks like this that have stopped me from watercooling so far. How often do these leaks happen? I don't think I could handle the stress of a possible leak if my system was watercooled. I'd be looking into the case on an hourly basis.
 
I'm in the process of leak testing my third build right now. It's been running for 16 hours now without a drip, drop, cascade, spray, spirtz, or anything.

My first build initially had a leak (I over tightened the crappy plastic barb on the radiator because, as everyone knows, tighter is better, right?). After correcting that problem and using plumbers tape on the threads of the barb that machine has been running without problem for more than 3 years now. Currently I've stopped upgrading it and only use it in my workshop for a jukebox.

My second build initially had a leak because I was anxious to get her fired up so I slapped everything together and didn't spend enough time making sure I was doing everything right. After correcting that issue I never had another problem. That machine is currently my game rig (until the next build is completed). It's on about 4 hours a day and I've never had a problem with leaks.

The current box is not showing any signs of problem because I took my time with assemby (and stopped using crappy plastic barbs). I'm confident that she'll stay dry for years to come.

Basically, unless you're checking the CPU, GPU, NB, Case, etc fans inside your case every hour to make sure they're still spinning, once you've assembled a machine and properly tested it, you shouldn't have anything to worry about.
 
There is one thing that everyone should agree with. The AC Plug and Cool connectors are the best when it comes to leak-proof. That IMHO. Knock wood, after three different setups in the old rig, I never had a leak. Of course if you dont check your blocks, that is a different story. I guess that is one of the reasons I chose AC for my first rig. This next system will employ a mix of AC, Alphacool and Innovatek(RAD).
 
theseeker said:
There is one thing that everyone should agree with. The AC Plug and Cool connectors are the best when it comes to leak-proof.
Click to expand...

I've never used the Plug-n-cools but I'll stick with compression fittings myself. I used compression fitting when I was building race cars. If it can handle a 90 PSI fuel pump, I'm more than confident it'll be able to handle a water cooling loop. I personally would never trust a Plug-n-cool on the same application.

That's just my opinion though, I'm not trying to start an anti-AC flame or anything.

I think the one thing that everyone should agree with is that crappy plastic barbs suck. After testing I never had a problem with them, but getting everything dry often requires some trial and error.
 
Meh, I disagree again. what should be readily apparent is that so long as you know how to use the equipment you have, more that likely you wont have any problems.

Remember, he didn't have problems with the barbs leaking... it was the block. Your standard barbs are not that hard to get right.
 
BellaCroix said:
I've never used the Plug-n-cools but I'll stick with compression fittings myself. I used compression fitting when I was building race cars. If it can handle a 90 PSI fuel pump, I'm more than confident it'll be able to handle a water cooling loop. I personally would never trust a Plug-n-cool on the same application.

That's just my opinion though, I'm not trying to start an anti-AC flame or anything.

I think the one thing that everyone should agree with is that crappy plastic barbs suck. After testing I never had a problem with them, but getting everything dry often requires some trial and error.
Click to expand...

my first rig i used hardware store bought push-fit connections (plug and cool) and for the 1/4" ID tubing i ran they are rated at 150 PSI ;)

i don't know what PSI the AC plug and cools are rated but i bet it's more than enough, many times over, to be stronger than any pump that is used for computer water cooling.
 
i've never had any trouble with the barbs plastic chrome or brass they all work fine, i have has some issues with teflon tape.... get teflon paste insted, problem solved, the newer DD blocks, use and o-ring on the barbs, i've had one issue with a barb spinning loose on me, and that was my own fault, i've had problems with hose clamps... again my own doing... (usually forgetting a clamp... ) i've had water squirt like a jet from the cpu block WHILE THE PC IS ON ... it hard locks... hit the power button figure out whats going on... let it sit for 48 hours hit the power button again... every thing is golden... 'ive watched water leak from bad tape and drip on to the vid card while running Q3 ... didnt even so much as hiccup lol i just kept going (i was useing it as an excuse to upgrade, but it never died...and this was back when i was being a cheap bastard and running tap water....) and this is the 3rd case (7th full build [12 partial builds) ) that this single loop has been apart of, and its about to get tossed into yet one more full build..

now, haveing as many leaks as i've had, what i've found to be the worst are 2 things, if it gets into/under the pci/agp slots, or if it gets under the NB (i guess ram would be pretty bad, but i've never had it anywhere near ram... ) regardless, the best way i've found to get water out/off a pcb is to use canned air, the air will move the water out of any little nooks and crannys and will blow it out from under chipsets, the seconed part of the trick is, once you think you have allthe water out, flip the can upside down so it frosts, and freeze where ever you thing water may still be hideing, for somereason if theres any water left freezeing it will force it to evap quicker (i know it dosent make sence to me eather but it dose) it seems that when you flash freeze the water like this it skipes the liquid stage and goes straight to vapor, and seemes to work best with straight distilled, if you use additives it may not be so good (water wetter for example, dosent like to freeze... or (duh) antifreeze)

next time you get a leak give it a shot if you have some around.... it will lessen the down time (if you dont have canned but rather an air compresser then use it, atleast it will find the better part of the water)

ofcourse... just leting it sit for quite sometime will do the same... but who likes to wait.. ;)

thore
 
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