Swiftech H20-120 problem, please help!

V

Valkadesh

n00b
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Jan 16, 2006
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I'm hoping that someone out there with this kit or more experience water cooling can help me out with a problem. I've already done a search on these forums and found the issue a few times but no solution.

I've got the kit installed (H20-120 Premium) and have probably run it for about 5-7 hours now to make sure there are no leaks. This kit uses a 5.25 reservoir/pump setup. Well my problem is that it makes a constant "splashing and slushing sound". I've topped off the fluid mixture as far as it'll go, but if I look at the mounted reservoir from below with a flash light i still can see tiny air bubbles and about an 1/8 of an inch that isn't filled with water.

Needless to say the noise is annoying and i can't figure out any way to fill it the last 1/8 of an inch or find any way to stop the noise.

Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated. This is frustrating for my first watercooling experiment!

Thanks!
 
First things first, you must bleed the system. This is easier out of the case. Since some lines are going to be in your case the eaisiest way is to just have your res tank and everything else installed but not secured down. You are going to have to move some stuff around.

Basically it wouldnt hurt to actually remove some fluid from the res at first. as air comes out it tends to burp at you, dont make a mess.

1. Make sure the fluid tank (reservoir) is higher than any other component in the system.

2. Move the water blocks around to get any air bubbles out and up into the reservoir. i had to move mine around in clockwise and counterclockwise circles, and then upside down and back until all air comes through the line into the res. Keep moving it around until the air starts coming out. You will quickly see what i mean when you start to do this.

3. Now you have to do the same thing with the radiator, it can hold a ton of air. It will definitly have some if it was just installed, they tend to trap air. Cars do the same thing. In fact they are both very similar systems. Make sure you disconnect the fan before you go tipping it around. Dont ask

4. While doing all of this it is tricky, but possible to keep the cap off of the res. You have to give the air somewhere to escape. Tilting the res during bleeding to let the air go towards the cap. This is why you might not want it full. You can also do this first if you want to try and get some of the air out, but i can almost assure you that you have air in at least two different places. You can leave it secured in the drive bay by having someone help you tip the case, but you could also spill stuff inside your case.

Hope i helped, if you have any questions ask. I have had a swiftech system for about a year now, and it works great. AMD 3500+ alone in the loop runs at 19-21C. I have never added a vga cooler because i always buy big cards that dont need much overclocking. I have no doubts though that this system could handle a hot running graphics card as well. Great systems, all of them.
 
I appreciate the advice and response. Sounds like i'll have to remove a few components, however at this point anything is better than the sound of water splashing.

I'll let you know if it fixes the problem!
 
You might not need to go through that much dis-assembling. Most of the air will be trapped in the rad, so if you can rock the case enough to release the air bubbles, all should be good. If not, you should only have to unmount the rad and give it a good tilt-a-wirl.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. The Rad is completely unbolted right now and i've twisted it around in every way possible while the system was on. The only thing where air might be trapped in is the water block.

I'm going to play around with it some more tonight. You would think that the pressure of the water running through the system would naturally work the air out of the system, but i guess it doesn't work that way. More shaking for me tonight.

Thanks again!

--Valk
 
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