Losing water, but not through a leak?

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gwai lo

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
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So when I refilled my loop when getting back from school, I filled the res all the way and just let it run for a bit. I normally sit there and turn everything around to get the air pockets out, but I was going somewhere, so I just filled the res to the top. Usually, as the air bubbles bleed out, the water fills the volume where the air bubbles were. Thus, the res shouldn't stay topped off once the system is bleed (conservation of mass, right?)

Anyway, I come back and evidently, when I filled it the first time I did a decent job because the res was still pretty much topped off. Since I couldn't see any damage caused by a topped of res, I left it alone (that and I'm lazy). So I have a bleed system with a topped off reservoir, the next day there is a rather significant drop in water level (maybe 5-8%) and I was like "WHOA". My system is pretty much all external though except for the waterblock (which I had not touched when putting the loop back together). So I checked all connections and I checked everything for a some sort of evidence of water, but I didn't see anything.

Instead of being the freaked out hardware owner I should have, I decided to go to work. I'm sure you guys know the feeling, that one time where you just didn't feel like figuring out the problem? Well that was me, everything was working normally, I had somewhere to be, so I just went. This went on for maybe three or four days, the water loss that is. Finally, when the level dropped to where I normally fill it to it seems like the system reached some sort of equilibrium. I have a Switftech res, images here, and I normally fill to .75" over the "Swiftech" lettering. It's been weeks now and the water level has not dropped.

So, it seems like the system found its equilibrium and has not lost any more water. Has anyone seen this before? I have two ideas:

1) Small crack in reservoir above the letter, not enough to cause puddles, but enough to evaporate out water?

2) When the water is over the letter, the pressure is increased just enough that a small crack opens up or the fittings will release water. However, once the level drops, the pressure drops right back under the pressure offered by the fittings and everything is all good again.

Sorry for wall of of text. This isn't really a huge problem for me, as the system is still going six weeks later and I haven't refilled res yet, but I'm just curious.

CLIFFS:
1) I top off Swiftech reservoir
2) Water level drops ≈5%-8% for about four days
3) Water level stabilizes just above "Swiftech"
4) Why?
 
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did you fill it again and see if it goes down to that same spot again? maybe you just had more air in your loop than you thought and it finally all got out.
 
hm, that makes sense. Guess there were some large pockets of air sitting around somewhere in the loop.

...how dumb...

Yeah I actually hadn't thought to refill it again, mostly because it wasn't causing any problems. That would've actually made this a much more interesting post if it happened again.

Okay my bad. ><

Just sitting here bored out of my mind at work thinking of random things..
 
Make sure your water cooling isn't exposed to direct sun light. It'll evaporate quicker over time.
 
angelicvoices said:
Gross.. seriously?
Click to expand...

Yes, seriously. There is a reason why even if you don't mix metals you should still have a biocide in the coolant (to kill algae before it starts).

Loops will lose water over time, but not nearly as much as you were seeing so it was most likely trapped air coming out late in the bleed process as has already been concluded.
 
Well there can be a few reasons why this happens. Air in the loop, water being absorbed by the tubing, or when you turn your pump on the water level will go down. That last one always gets me when filling my loop with the pump on. Turn the pump off and flood :|
 
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