A Few Questions

[UnusualSuspect]

I've just bought my watercooling setup and, before I put it all together, I want to ask a few questions.

1) I didn't buy a fillport. As far as I can tell its something that connects to the outside of the case. Am I right or wrong? What is a fillport and do I need one?

2) I want to put the whole thing together outside the case then fit it when I'm certain theres no leaks. Is it possible to go from testing to install without having to remove all the water, or is that a bad idea?

3) Bleeding. What is this? I'm pretty sure its removing the water from the system, but how do you go about doing it without getting water everywhere?

4) How do you get the water in there, especially without air holes? If I pour it into the reservoir, does it simply flow around the tubes until its full, or is there something special I have to do to get it all set up properly?

I've bought the following setup:
Laing 10w DDC-1T Pro Pump with Alphacool Top and Water Tank Attachment.
Black Ice GT-Stealth I Radiator.
EK-FC8800 8800GTX Block.
Danger Den TDX 775 Block.
Danger Den Maze4 Chipset Block.
1/2" Tygon Tubing.

Also, anyone tried setting this sort of thing up in an Antec 900 Gaming Case?

 

[Cob]

1 - A fillport is only needed if you're using a t-line instead of a reservoir.

2- It depends if you will be fitting everything inside your case or if you'll be attaching the radiator outside the case. If everything will be inside the case then yeah you can refit after testing without disassembling the loop. But if you need to feed tubing through holes to an external radiator then you will ofcourse need to empty the loop after testing.

3 - Bleeding is removing trapped air from the loop. To empty the loop of water I quickly remove a tube from a vertical barb and place it in a basin. The water usually gushes out into the basin. I'm sure there's a better method, but it works for me.

4 - If you can, turn your pump speed down a bit, then fill the res to the top. Then start the pump and keep filling the res til it can take no more. It's really important not to stop pouring before the loop is full because you can damage your pump if it is allowed to run dry. To remove any trapped air you just tilt your case and radiator til the trapped air escapes through the open res. Patience is the key.

 

[UnusualSuspect]

4 - If you can, turn your pump speed down a bit, then fill the res to the top. Then start the pump and keep filling the res til it can take no more. It's really important not to stop pouring before the loop is full because you can damage your pump if it is allowed to run dry. To remove any trapped air you just tilt your case and radiator til the trapped air escapes through the open res. Patience is the key.

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. This number 4 though, I'm a bit curious about how exactly you do this with a pump thats attached to the computers power? As the Laing takes its power from the standard 4 pin. I can't really turn the computer on and off until its done, thats sure to do it no good, and as far as I remember you can't get power flowing unless the motherboard is plugged in. Is there another connector I can use, or do I just keep pouring water in as soon as its on and hope for the best?

 

[Chris Beard]

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. This number 4 though, I'm a bit curious about how exactly you do this with a pump thats attached to the computers power? As the Laing takes its power from the standard 4 pin. I can't really turn the computer on and off until its done, thats sure to do it no good, and as far as I remember you can't get power flowing unless the motherboard is plugged in. Is there another connector I can use, or do I just keep pouring water in as soon as its on and hope for the best?

You can start the PSU by shorting two of the pins. I forget which ones however. You can use a fan contoller with the pump. You can turn the psu off at the back on most good PSUs.

 

[Cob]

Yeah, or you can but a little adapter for a couple of quid from most watercooling specialists. It plugs into the 24pin plug and starts the system as soon as you switch the PSU on at the back/plug socket.

 

[UnusualSuspect]

Yeah, or you can but a little adapter for a couple of quid from most watercooling specialists. It plugs into the 24pin plug and starts the system as soon as you switch the PSU on at the back/plug socket.

I just went back to the website I bought the cooling equipment from and found one of these for sale. Awesome. Thank you very much for the info, you're a lifesaver.