Leaks happen

[Dragon99]

Much to my dismay I found after about 5 days running a small pool of water on my video card. I had run the system through a 24hr leak test and didn't see a drop. Dunno if heating the system up started the problem or what. Quick fix was to tighten the barbs on the block a bit. Seems OK now.

 

[Domingow]

Wow, thats awful. Did it damage your vid card?

 

[xBuddhax]

Oooofff dude!! Praying for you right now that it didn't blitz your card man!

 

[J-Mag]

My personal pref is push and fit or compression fittings as you rarely will have leaks with either option if your first 24hr test shows nothing...

 

[Top Nurse]

Those barbs are highly dependent on hose clamps and a good seal on the NPT thread. So if you have to use NPT threads then make sure you are sealed well with lots of goop/tape and tighten the hell out of the clamps. Another alternative is to use one size smaller tubing and heat it up before pushing it onto the barb.

Compression fittings or push-fits don't leak. Just say no to barbs.

 

[xBuddhax]

dlb post..

 

[J-Mag]

Compression fittings or push-fits don't leak. Just say no to barbs.

Well there is always user error... My first set-up with push fits turned into a freaking gyser.
it was totally my fault though because I didnt know how much force to push the tubes in. Once you get it down, you can't really screw it up.

I honestly don't even leak test more than just turning the pump on for a few secs and if I don't see anything I go with the flow (so to speak).

 

[xBuddhax]

I don't think it's leaking from the tubing section. Look closely and it appears to be leaking at the base of the fitting where it screws into the block itself. He said all he had to do was tighten it and it hasn't leaked since.

 

[xBuddhax]

dbl post again...

 

[Bio-Hazard]

Those barbs are highly dependent on hose clamps and a good seal on the NPT thread. So if you have to use NPT threads then make sure you are sealed well with lots of goop/tape and tighten the hell out of the clamps. Another alternative is to use one size smaller tubing and heat it up before pushing it onto the barb.

Compression fittings or push-fits don't leak. Just say no to barbs.

OK, I'll go over this one more time with you I guess. The leak was between the barb and the block, and as you should know by now, the storm block uses "O" rings to seal between the barb and block. And you should also remember that the storm block doesn't have NPT.................. I figure if I tell you enough times maybe you'll remember..............


http://www.swiftnets.com/products/STORM.asp

 

[J-Mag]

I don't think it's leaking from the tubing section. Look closely and it appears to be leaking at the base of the fitting where it screws into the block itself. He said all he had to do was tighten it and it hasn't leaked since.

Yeah looks like you are right...

 

[Bio-Hazard]

wrong quote.

 

[Erasmus354]

Those barbs are highly dependent on hose clamps and a good seal on the NPT thread. So if you have to use NPT threads then make sure you are sealed well with lots of goop/tape and tighten the hell out of the clamps. Another alternative is to use one size smaller tubing and heat it up before pushing it onto the barb.

Compression fittings or push-fits don't leak. Just say no to barbs.

Compression fittings or push fits could leak in the same way those barbs did

When used properly neither barbs, push fits, or compression fittings will leak.

 

[Top Nurse]

Compression fittings or push fits could leak in the same way those barbs did

When used properly neither barbs, push fits, or compression fittings will leak.

True, but why more often than not is it the barbs we hear about...because they are problematic.

 

[DFI Daishi]

True, but why more often than not is it the barbs we hear about...because they are problematic.

or is it simply that more people use them? more users, same probability of leakage, end up with more leak stories for all of us to read about.

i don't honestly know for sure, however i rather suspect that most people who watercool use barbs. i could be wrong.

 

[Erasmus354]

True, but why more often than not is it the barbs we hear about...because they are problematic.

Compression fittings and push fits are problematic as well. They are both more bulky solutions than barbs, and more expensive. There are tradeoffs in anything and this is no different.

Anyways this thread is getting off topic. I believe the problem here is not with barbs themselves, however the sealing between the waterblock and the barbs. I think that the moral of the story is : make sure you tighten the barbs enough so that the O-rings make a proper seal.

 

[J-Pepper]

it's probably because the well where the o-ring sits is too deep... I probably would've had the exact same problem.. but before I installed mine, I checked the O-ring and found it was actually quite useless and changed it was a fatter one.

 

[Erasmus354]

it's probably because the well where the o-ring sits is too deep... I probably would've had the exact same problem.. but before I installed mine, I checked the O-ring and found it was actually quite useless and changed it was a fatter one.

Interesting, I wonder if all of the Swiftech STORM blocks have this same issue with slightly undersized O-rings or if some of them have smaller ones and some larger ones. It seems like the O-ring might be large enough to seal if the barb is tightened all the way, but not otherwise.

 

[Bio-Hazard]

The "O" ring on mine was large enough to fill the socket and provide a great seal without cranking down on the barb, just nice and snug is all it should take.................
excuse the crapy pic, but as you cann see in the pic, the barb flang isn't even touuching the block cover. A little surgical lube also helps seat the "O" rings properly..............

 

[revenant]

So - how is the video card??

 

[Erasmus354]

Also : That coolant is really REALLY bright green. Is that Hydrx? I had no idea the green was that vibrant....good pictures.

 

[incomudro]

Ohhh man that sucks. And this ladies and gentelmen is why I dont so WCing.

 

[Digital Oxide]

If there is one word to describe my feelings, it would definitly be.. Empathy. I've just realised how easy it is for something to happen. I guess i'll wait till I start with the whole water concept. doot air ftw atm--;

 

[Dragon99]

Didn't let any of the magic smoke out. The machine was actually humming along quite nicely when I noticed the leak.

The green is from Hydrx/water. Its probably a little stronger than normal. It supposed to be a 1ounce per 1L mix, but I was a bit shy of 1L of water.

 

[revenant]

Nice! whew...

 

[Jag]

Well, I too have a Storm waterblock and all i can say is that with the original fittings there are no leaks whatsoever.
From forum experience most of the so called problems are originated by the users themselves.
As far as the barbs being worse than P&C or compression fittings, from my personal experience that isn't true and i´m not referring to NPT threads.
Also in normal condition P&C or compression fittings aren't prone to leaking as Erasmus stated.
In the case of P&C + hard tubing all you have to use are these:

 

[Dragon99]

I would agree that user error is more to blame. The fittings are fine. When I installed the tubing there was some twisting involved and I didn't make sure the bard was still screwed tightly onto the block. Live and learn...

 

[drizzt81]

I would agree that user error is more to blame. The fittings are fine. When I installed the tubing there was some twisting involved and I didn't make sure the bard was still screwed tightly onto the block. Live and learn...

so, is your Vcard fried or not!?

 

[ikellensbro]

Damn, that really sucks

As with anything potentially dangerous, people should always double check anything potentially hazardous, but this doesn't appear to be your fault xBuddhax. If you didn't take the barbs off you could probably get Swiftech to cover part of the damages in there are any, but it is easy to miss seeing that the barb isn't screwed in all the way when the O-ring, barb, and block top are all black, if you didn't know to look for that.

As for barbs being the fault, this has nothing to do with the part of the barb holding onto the tubing. The problem was the barb not being tightened all the way, which could have happened with push-fits or compression fittings if they too weren't screwed down all the way.

 

[Silent Assasin]

I saw the pic and dropped to the floor looking in my case..... I was a bit paranoid about first putting in water, but I regret nothing....

But man, hows the vid card holding up for ya?

 

[Dragon99]

Card is fine. No problems caused at all really from the leak.

Unless you count the fact that I feel the urge to check for leaks every 5min....

 

[Ingonuts13]

LOL...he does not seem to want to answer the ??s.

How is the Vid card doing????

 

[Erasmus354]

LOL...he does not seem to want to answer the ??s.

How is the Vid card doing????

He just answered for like the third time that the card is fine lol....did you all put him on ignore or something?

If it were me I would take the card out and make sure that nothing got into the PCIe socket.

 

[CoW]8(0)]

Eh, taking the video card out when it's working perfectly fine is just asking for something to go wrong [/superstition]

If you didn't take the barbs off you could probably get Swiftech to cover part of the damages in there are any

Damages to the WC system or to any components because of the WC system?

Would be great to see WC manufacturer coverage like those of surge protectors. Too bad it's never going to happen...

 

[Erasmus354]

Eh, taking the video card out when it's working perfectly fine is just asking for something to go wrong [/superstition]


Damages to the WC system or to any components because of the WC system?

Would be great to see WC manufacturer coverage like those of surge protectors. Too bad it's never going to happen...

It might under the condition that it was a fault with the product...like the block leaking between where the middle and bottom plate are detached. Anything pertaining to the barbs or tubing however would be out of the question since that is usually attributed to user error.