Morality and faults...

[DeathPrincess]

I need to know if this is my fault before I start the RMA/get a replacement.

Its for a Resevoir. It mainly included because it looks pretty and I was too lazy to drill the hole for the fill line, so it keeps the T nicely backed up by 500ml (about) of coolant. One by a company i'm not going to list so it doesn't cause them any negative publicity, as I so often see people going (company) did this to this and it messed up my shit and even though I spray it with liquid nitrogen and funked my spunk on it, it's their fault!!!

Theres already a timeline for this thing.

I received it from FedEx (they suck penus so I don't care about them)
It's an all acrylic resevoir, and has two brackets that hold it into place over a 120mm fan/radiator. Now when the thing arrived, one bracket was very tightly on. and the other was loose. The one that was loose was broken, FedEx had been playing the usual game of "let's throw expensve throw shit around, because we've been payed already, so what are you going to do now bitches." everything else was fine, apart from a bent fin and chips on the radiator. The company packed everything in foam and were very careful, so I don't blame them.
I contacted them, and told them FedEx suck penus, and they sent me a replacement.
Now, I'm in europe to be all educated, so they shipped it and it cost them $26 to ship $2 new brackets (it's an american company, that makes stuff in america). They said it would take a while, so I installed it all anyway without the broken bracket, as it was sitting ontop of the case, so newton himself would be pleased with the lack of force due to the mass upon them brackets fer shure. I also had no intention of kicking it, or indeed moving it around, save for a few bubble extractions. The system was leak tested for more than 24 hours before it did anything. And 12 hours after it did.
Then came the customs crazies.
The company had added the cost of the shipping onto the cost of the goods, so it was $72 more in value. So @17.5% I was paying $12.60 extra. I thought of the $26 it cost for them to ship the replacement brackets and let that one go (their still 14.40$ behind.
Then came this problem.

Ok, the radiator is ontop of the case. It has 2 sythe gentle typoon 1450rpm fans blowing up from underneath of it. This is because of the tinyness of the case it's in. Now because of the cases weird design, the back 120mm fan slots top screw is covered by the side panel, so the only place left to mount it was the top radiator.
Now theres not so much heat coming out of it, as its only running a 930 i7 at 3.0gh/z currently (i'm not really doing anything that needs more) Tempretures are aroud 45 at load. But thats not far above the tempreture of the room (I hate heat)
Now, its not been used for very much due to me having all the files on the old computer. Its been a rather expensive web browsing machine. But for the first time, I transferred everything across, put it in the main computer place, and played a game (red faction).
After about 2 hours of playing, I looked round and saw green liquid dripping onto the thermi (470 type, lots of heat, but no steam damnit!) I have UV CCFLs so this looked quite aesthetically pleasing, but regardless, I held the POWER switch and then flicked off every power switch availible.
There was coolant on the bracket, so I was sure of the leak coming from the resevoir (it was dripping through the radiator and fan, but as there was coolant above the raditor, and fans arn't watercooled, I was sure it was the resevoir). So I popped off the top of the brackets and took it off the top and wire'n'taped a new vertical stand. (its on the top end). And used some tissues on the cards and resevior, and stuffed everything at the top with tissues to stop anything still flowing through overnight.

Now, the leak in the resevoir is definately between the top bulkhead, and the middle tubing. I checked the fillcap on the top, bit it was impossible to remove, and completely dry. I've held the thing upside down, full of coolant, and nothing comes out. Infact, however I hold it nothing comes out. But left overnight, there was a single green drip on the desk when I left it held horizontally.

Now I thin what has happened, is that there was a microfracture in there somewhere because of the people aren't so careful when stuff is shipped event. Then when I cranked up the heat of the cards and CPU combined coming out the top of case must have expanded it, and caused the leak.

But now comes the issue. I've already contacted them twice. Once over the broken bracket. Once over the customs (I just told them they did it all wrong with the shipping, and never to do it again, but don't worry as we all make mistakes, apart from me).
Should I contact them again over this? I don't want to use the resevoir, but have nothing to replace it. I liked how it looks and would want to use the same one. And they'd have to pay probably the cost of the radiator again to ship it (it's a 35$ object).

With who does the fault lie..them (is it a fault with the thing, for whatever reason), or me (for placing it over the radiator).

I'm not sure what to do now...

Theres no pictures because of the first statements. And also, nothing would show up in photos crack-wise (i'm not miss loh*n).

 

[Justintoxicated]

This is why I try to avoid acrylic parts. Go buy a hole saw and cut in a hole for a T-line and be done with it. Less connections, less acrylic, less chances of a leak. If the T-line is placed properly air in the loop will eventually make it's way up the T-line, no need to a reservoir. Call the company and see if you can get credit if your happy with them but blame fedex. Also I would check your seals in the rez, acrylic tends to eventually crack where the threads are cut, and that could create a small leak, also when using the pump there is pressure in the loop, that could also help things to leak.

 

[DeathPrincess]

Yes, i've got the T line first after the pump at the lowest point and it works as a bubble tube. The resevoir is attached to the top of this and placeD at the highest point, after about 30cm of tube so theres no pump pressure on it at all. I know it's not really needed but it was more an aesthetic thing! (the thing looks like a pipe bomb).
But, does heat cause the acrylic to expand like this?

 

[Justintoxicated]

Yes, i've got the T line first after the pump at the lowest point and it works as a bubble tube. The resevoir is attached to the top of this and placeD at the highest point, after about 30cm of tube so theres no pump pressure on it at all. I know it's not really needed but it was more an aesthetic thing! (the thing looks like a pipe bomb).
But, does heat cause the acrylic to expand like this?

It could, all my acrylic tops had fractures in them after a couple years of use (although no leaks), I no longer use acrylic in my liquid cooling because of this. Others will argue they have not had problems, but I'd rather just avoid it, when there are plenty of alternatives. I guess you need to decide if you want the cool look, or a more secure system. Without pictures its even harder to help.

 

[BillParrish]

If I understand you your concern is the heat from your rad caused the problem. No way, your rads heat output is within a deg or two of your coolant temp. Even inexpensive cast acrylic should easily withstand temps of 150F and its about 180F where the acrylic starts to soften depending on the exact formulation of acrylic.

Triple check your leak detection and see if you can find out exactly where it is leaking and mark with a grease pencil and send it back. Maybe put some fluid in the res, plug the ports and blow into the fill cap to pressureize it and try to force fluid out of the unseen crack/defect ? It may be that the slight rise in coolant temp and rad air is causing the acrylic to expand slightly and open up the leak more than just sitting on the desk but I am wildly speculating.

If you can find the leak it might be possible to find some acrylic glue (anyplace that sells plastics) and put some on a wooden "wand" and dab the area from insde the res. As there is little pressure in the system more than likely it would stop the leak if its a small area leaking. Now how that would show up with lighting etc. I dont know but imagine a close look whould show a cosmetic flaw fairly clearly.

So I find it highly unlikely heat from your system caused the trouble.


Hmm just saw your follow up post, my bad. As mentioed above the minor heat might make the leak a litle worse and you can test as I mentoned above using hot water out of the tap and maybe a drop or two of food coloring to help you see a leak.

 

[DeathPrincess]

It could, all my acrylic tops had fractures in them after a couple years of use (although no leaks), I no longer use acrylic in my liquid cooling because of this. Others will argue they have not had problems, but I'd rather just avoid it, when there are plenty of alternatives. I guess you need to decide if you want the cool look, or a more secure system. Without pictures its even harder to help.

This is how it's setup (before it was filled) The radiator is on risers too now, to get rid of the center dead spot in the fans flow. The setup is going to be used in a case mod, so within reason I think I need the looks. The problem is how transportable it is...

If I understand you your concern is the heat from your rad caused the problem. No way, your rads heat output is within a deg or two of your coolant temp. Even inexpensive cast acrylic should easily withstand temps of 150F and its about 180F where the acrylic starts to soften depending on the exact formulation of acrylic.

Triple check your leak detection and see if you can find out exactly where it is leaking and mark with a grease pencil and send it back. Maybe put some fluid in the res, plug the ports and blow into the fill cap to pressureize it and try to force fluid out of the unseen crack/defect ? It may be that the slight rise in coolant temp and rad air is causing the acrylic to expand slightly and open up the leak more than just sitting on the desk but I am wildly speculating.

If you can find the leak it might be possible to find some acrylic glue (anyplace that sells plastics) and put some on a wooden "wand" and dab the area from insde the res. As there is little pressure in the system more than likely it would stop the leak if its a small area leaking. Now how that would show up with lighting etc. I dont know but imagine a close look whould show a cosmetic flaw fairly clearly.

So I find it highly unlikely heat from your system caused the trouble.


Hmm just saw your follow up post, my bad. As mentioed above the minor heat might make the leak a litle worse and you can test as I mentoned above using hot water out of the tap and maybe a drop or two of food coloring to help you see a leak.

The company is a reputable one (If you know about them the link I provided should help you identify which company it is) and the acrylic seems pretty sturdy.
The leak detection is difficult, ive left it upsidedown overnight (so the end that leaked was at the bottom) and nothing when it was completely full (its about 400-500ml I think). There is nothing visible at all regarding the leak, its nearly impossible to find now, but it was dripping through originally.
I'm glad to hear about the acrylic! as that was my biggest concern that the placement above the heat source was what caused the failure. the tempretures only reached 113F converted from C (I used ctrl+U on the windows calculator, I didn't know you could do that!) so that sounds well inside the limit!
Thanks for the advice, when I find something to drain it into tommorow i'll give it a try!

 

[Justintoxicated]

In this case I doubt acrylic would be a problem, I just don't like acrylic when used with threaded fittings or when it is under stress, and Heated and Cooled constantly.