water radiator leaked!!

H

HeroofSpirits

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Dec 22, 2010
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hello all, first time post, long time lurker

i have recently upgraded to water cooling as during summer in australia can get quite hot and it becomes a nightmare to turn on my pc and play

anyway after leak testing for apx 12 hrs (yeah yeah) i decided to get everything inside the computer

setting it all up, checking barbs and all that i began to add the coolant again

while doing this, I began to notice coolant pissing everywhere all over my hardware.

natually i freaked out and began ripping things out the computer, while draining the res (outside the case)

with everything out (and after about an hour of padding dry all components) I discoverd the radiator was the reason for the leak. beats me why it was fine in leak testing (had it all elevated like it was in the case and shook it a little like a table bump)

sending the bugger off when the seller replys to me, but am concerned about the coolant getting all over my gear. it is all dry now and there was no power to the computer as it happened during assembly

TL;DR will the coolant stuff up my gear when i turn on the computer???

coolant is Thermaltake Big Water - 1L Coolant | UV Green | Cooling
radiator is EK CoolStream XT 360 Water Cooling Radiator 3x 120mm

pictures if needed can be suplied
 
As long as the components were not powered up and did not pop when they were being leaked on you should for the most part be ok. Just make sure everything gets 100% dry and be sure to clean any residue (In this case you can use a UV light to easily find it) from your components prior to firing them back up. This is one of the big reasons why a lot of folks prefer to go with distilled and a bit of biocide or a silver kill coil over the colored fluid.

As far as the leak goes, where is the rad leaking from? Did it possibly get disturbed during assembly?
 
I find that 90% of radiator leaks are because people attach the fans and screw right into the fins. Apart from that everything that MrGoat said should get you back up and running.
 
I've spilled water on my gear many times while setting up my loop, just let it dry and you'll be fine.
That thermaltake stuff is mostly water and glycol (iirc) anyway, and even with the dye it's probably harmless once dried.

It might look a little funny if you're planning to actually have some powerful UV lighting since random parts might glow a little. That is, if you don't clean it off.
 
[H]jimmy;1036603966 said:
I find that 90% of radiator leaks are because people attach the fans and screw right into the fins. Apart from that everything that MrGoat said should get you back up and running.
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yep thats what happened looked over it and found thats what i done ha ha i feel like a noob...

oh and ythanks everyone for the replies helps to know that it my system is safe, will adjust banner / signature soon but have decided to use my old 4870x2 untill newyears as the supplyer is on holiday
 
Fan screw. Did that myself once; lesson learned, JB-Welded it.
I've also leaked coolant on my hardware more than once, normally i'll use an aerosol electronic cleaner to get coolant off any contacts, etc. It's always a good idea to power your loop for 24 hours or so to check for any leaks that aren't immediately apparent.
 
Siriso said:
That thermaltake stuff is mostly water and glycol (iirc) anyway, and even with the dye it's probably harmless once dried.
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theres a reason to use distilled water- the dye and ethylene glycol dont dry. they form a sticky gel when the water evaporates, and this gel collects dust and crap and becomes conductive eventually. it also accelerates copper oxidization, like traces and pads on the motherboard.

if you had spilled distilled water, you could just let it dry. since you are using antifreeze-type fluid, you now must carefully take everything apart and clean all the antifreeze off with electronics cleaner or rubbing alcohol and Q tips. its a massive PITA, and you probably wont ever get 100% of it out from under all the chips.
 
Clean the components like the guy above me said......good 95% alcohol and soft swabs.

As for the Radiator, if you know where the hole is, use JB Weld to fix it. Works exceptionally well and will hold up way after all of us are dead.
Can be found at any tractor supply store or farm supply store, comes as a two part epoxy, buy the "original" stuff.
 
thanks for the help, will look into the weild stuff
btw computer works!!!
have to use a 4870x2 though, and damn does it run hot lol already running very hot!!!
 
and then there are guys like me that fire it up for about 30 mins, no leaks then use it right away
 
It's good to leak test everything outside of the case. However, you have to actually test it all when it's finalized in the computer by using a jumped psu. Some fittings only have to be turned very slightly for you to lose a perfect seal and a very minor leak can form.
 
tip for fans. i don't use screws, i use that outdoor grade double sided gummy tape...it comes in red wrapping and you have to peel off both sides. i use it to hold fans on all my rads, if i need them off about 10 secs with a flathead screwdriver does the job...and no leaks
 
EricFX1984 said:
and then there are guys like me that fire it up for about 30 mins, no leaks then use it right away
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+1 for that. Only i extend mine for 1 hour. Bottom line is you run the risk but you knew that when i added water to your computer.
 
ghost6303 said:
theres a reason to use distilled water- the dye and ethylene glycol dont dry. they form a sticky gel when the water evaporates, and this gel collects dust and crap and becomes conductive eventually. it also accelerates copper oxidization, like traces and pads on the motherboard..
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I've had glycol leaks from a burst resevoir and it cleans straight off like water. There was no copper erosion or sticky residue, it took 3 minutes with some tissues. All the parts that it leaked on are still fully functional and don't have sticky dust clumpsor stickyness of any kind. Many of the glycol solutions also have copper oxidization preventation chemicals.

Distilled water of any kind can pick up reidues left over from manafacture on any PCB and become conductive. I don't really think one is any better than the other. Distilled water is probably easier to clean in theory because of less residue, but the trace elements already present mean i'd end up cleaning it off like glycol anyway. Most goopyness people find tends to be from the cheap tubing they use.



EricFX1984 said:
and then there are guys like me that fire it up for about 30 mins, no leaks then use it right away
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Depends if it's brand new parts or old parts. I usually put stuff together, fill up and debubble then leave for 30 minutes, check for leaks and then fire it up, but wrap bits of white tissue round all the joins. The next day I remove the tissues and check for any signs of a leak.
 
Distilled water? What's wrong with using tap water? If it leaks, I don't think the impurities removed from distilling the water is really going to save you, is it?
 
Skillz said:
Distilled water? What's wrong with using tap water? If it leaks, I don't think the impurities removed from distilling the water is really going to save you, is it?
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Tap water is horrible for a loop since it has a million other things added in that could cause something to grow in your loop, which will eventually clog it if it gets bad enough. You should never use tap water in a loop.
 
In general we're talking bacteria, fluoride, iron, copper, and other impurities which increase conductivity and corrosion/sedimentation in a loop.

Distilled with additive is usually the best bet. Also absolutely positively AVOID de-ionized water. It's actually worse than tap and will corrode your blocks and radiator quite quickly.
 
That's what I was thinking, but I didn't think you could really get distilled water that "pure" for it to make that big of a difference. I wonder how distilled a PUR filter is?
 
Water through a PUR filter isnt distilled at all. A drinking water filter filters any big gunk and typicaly adds a bit of salt for taste. Distilling is much more envolved and not only pulls particals out of the water but also any Minerals etc that are in the water in solution, this prevents any build ups in your loop over time.

DI (De-Ionized) and UHP DI water has EVERYTHING removed from it and as such "wants" to pull any stray materials into solution which is why you will see corosion with it long term. It is however the best bet for rinsing as its very good at pulling any contaminents into solution and out of your loop.
 
I had an old setup using a swiftech Apogee drive...the piece of garbage integrated pump/CPU block. It developed a slow leak unknown to me, and was dribbling on one of my 4870's. I don't know how, but the card kept working fine. I only found out about when I went to redo the water loop...could see the dried coolant stains on the back of the card.
I've also spilled large quantities of water during assembly (powered off components), and simply let stuff dry out and all was good.

As others have said, let it dry...and you're fine. Sometimes you get lucky!
As a side note, that apogee drive went in the trash. Even Swiftech knows it was a piece of shit...hence why they stopped making it rather quickly. I did loose a mobo around that time, but I don't suspect water had anything to do with it. That said, I never figured out why it died....so always be cautious when water cooling!
 
You can buy distilled water by the gallon in most supermarkets. I walked into a local tiny supermarket and they had them in sealed gallons (like the milk containers). Made life easy.
 
NeoMatriX724 said:
In general we're talking bacteria, fluoride, iron, copper, and other impurities which increase conductivity and corrosion/sedimentation in a loop.

Distilled with additive is usually the best bet. Also absolutely positively AVOID de-ionized water. It's actually worse than tap and will corrode your blocks and radiator quite quickly.
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Distilled is what i prefer but your wrong, DI water is just as good. I think youve confused DI water with something else.
 
DI water is lacking any ions and is non-conductive. When put into a loop, it will react with copper and other metals to strip away loose electrons in order to "re-ionize". This causes corrosion in your blocks and radiator.

Distilled water is simply purified water with no minerals and other such contaminants in it.
 
NeoMatriX724 said:
DI water is lacking any ions and is non-conductive. When put into a loop, it will react with copper and other metals to strip away loose electrons in order to "re-ionize". This causes corrosion in your blocks and radiator.

Distilled water is simply purified water with no minerals and other such contaminants in it.
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Youre misunderstanding the differences between distilled and DI. Minerals in water are dissociated into ions. Distilled water is not simply purified water with no minerals or other contaminants, nor is distilled water = de-mineralized water. De-mineralized water is the same as de-ionized water. Neither distilled or DI water have ions and therefore have more or less the same ion concentration relative to the copper and the same chance of picking up copper ions. Which isnt very high at all in the first place. Distilled is only ever so slightly more pure than DI. Both will work the same in a loop.
 
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