Resevoir woes

Litfod

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
1,465
I've been running a swiftech apex kit (the storm version) for about a month and the only part of the loop I've had any trouble with is the resevoir. The micro res that came with the kit leaked like a bastard thanks to laughable construction/non-existent qc. I was naturally keen to get the pc back into service so i just overnighted one of those polyethylene bay reses (two actually, more that in a second). I've had a lot of trouble getting it leak-free though, where the barb screws into the res. Nowhere local has a liquid sealant so i've been trying to use that tape stuff. After a couple of attempts I managed to get a good seal, but I was tidying up some cabling yesterday and discovered the res was actually beginning to split at the barbs (I'm relieved i noticed when I did). Anyway as I said I had a spare res, but now I'm on my third leak test of the new unit and I'm having the same problem, and don't want to pack it too tight in case it splits again.
So, finally, I come to the actual question. I'm very tempted to ditch the res and use a T-line. Is there anything I know about them (feasibility in an apex loop, ideal position in loop, bleeding etc) before going down that route? Or can someone recommend a good sealant (available online)? Or a better res (drive bay-style preferred)? Or something else I haven't considered?
Any thoughts much appreciated.
 
Get a non-taper threaded reservoir or a metal one. Otherwise there will be cracks and leaks.
 
TN knows all.......... :eek:

Best thing to do is build your own rez, that way if it leaks, the only one to blame is yourself. Mine never leak and all I use is NPT,
 
Top Nurse said:
Get a non-taper threaded reservoir or a metal one. Otherwise there will be cracks and leaks.


Yeah, because no reservoir ever made with with non-taper threads or that was made of metal has ever leaked :rolleyes:

I should post the movie I took of my old acrylic reservoir and the front right tire of my car. Where's Lothar5150, he needs a good laugh.
 
Top Nurse said:
Get a non-taper threaded reservoir or a metal one. Otherwise there will be cracks and leaks.

I don't think it is tapered on this one, but the tape tends to bunch up into a wedge shape as i screw it in. Either that, or it freely screws all the way in, then leaks. Anyway so far so good this time (~8 hours and counting). I'll try and get hold of some proper sealant, or else a sparkly new res this week.
No one's said a T line would be a good idea which surprises me, they tend to be pretty common in pics that people post here.

(edit: my mistake they are tapered, although they do freely screw all the way in)
 
Did you use o-rings?

I thought those were the style with no taper so they use o-rings for sealing.
 
If it freely screws in with NPT you have a problem . NPT threads when used with plastic can and are overtightened way to often . If you don't work in the trades its a very easy mistake to make. Oh to be young again. You could try teflon tape but once you overtighten the female threads your pretty much screwed and you have a lot of components in your case. I won't give a tip on a fix as I don't want to be the reason you ruin your components. You could get rid of the res and use a fillport in conjunction with a bleed port/ drain port.
 
The micro res has parallel threads with o-rings, but in the one i had, the acrylic panels were hopelessly joined so the leak was through a panel gap (a known qc issue i think). This bay res has tapered threads, curiously the inlet port on both the ones i've had has been fine, the barb screwed in about 3/4 of the way (without over-tightening) and hasn't given me any trouble. The outlet, on the other hand, will screw in all the way which seemed wrong to me but happened on both of them. The plastic barbs themselves aren't really designed to take o-rings. But yes i overtightened them on the first of the two bay reses and was lucky to catch it in time. I've been trying to find the right balance this time, and so far i've been failing. I'm not a fan of this pt-whatever it's called tape though, and would much rather try some silicone sealant or similar, which i'll try and pick up this week.
 
Litfod said:
I don't think it is tapered on this one, but the tape tends to bunch up into a wedge shape as i screw it in. Either that, or it freely screws all the way in, then leaks. Anyway so far so good this time (~8 hours and counting). I'll try and get hold of some proper sealant, or else a sparkly new res this week.
No one's said a T line would be a good idea which surprises me, they tend to be pretty common in pics that people post here.

(edit: my mistake they are tapered, although they do freely screw all the way in)

I know your problem. This is gonna sound stupid... but your using the tape wrong. When you are wrapping the tape on the threads, there is a right way, and a wrong way. If the threads are pointed towards you, you should be wrapping the tape clockwise. If you do it the other way around, the threads will pick up the loose end of the tape and start bunching. Nice little bit of know-how I picked up in the oilfield.

If you are really having a hard time with the tape after that, get some plumbers pipe dope. Only problem with that is that over time it will cure and be hard to take out. Not like locktight would, but still kinda hard.
 
Punx_Clever said:
If the threads are pointed towards you, you should be wrapping the tape clockwise. If you do it the other way around, the threads will pick up the loose end of the tape and start bunching

Good point, and one I discovered through trial and error(s) :) I've had it with tape now, though (still getting a slow leak) so I'm going to try the pipe dope alternative. I'm not worried about the barbs getting permanently fixed since the res is cheap enough (maybe that's the problem...)
 
So the mc-res micro you were using had tapered threads with an O-ring and didn't leak from the inlet or outlet? The only leak that came from it where the acrylic panels which were not sealed properly?

And now the bay reservoirs (which also use tapered threads) you have are leaking from the between of the barbs to the reservoir container?
 
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