Air in top hose = normal?

d4ns · 3 Dec 2011 at 13:08

Have just setup my first system, but when the system isnt running there is quite a bit of air in the top hose that runs from the pump to radiator. Can see some air going around the system when running, but not much.

The case is a thermal take level 10 gt and the reservoir is an Alphacool repack bay reservoir. The reservoir is in the top slot, but below the the grommets for the external rad so presume it is normal?

Idle temps are 27C and on max IBT is 62C. Is a good 10C cooler than the h100, but just want to know how much air is normal of how to get rid of the rest if needed.

Shadz · 3 Dec 2011 at 13:25

If you want to get rid of the air out of the loop then have a look at this post

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18345037

Guy has the same problem and my suggestion worked for him m8.

Let me know if it works.

d4ns · 3 Dec 2011 at 13:35

No trapped air, it just seems to have a lot of air when not running? is that normal?

s7cn · 3 Dec 2011 at 13:47

You should have no air when it's filled, you need to bleed the loop - you can turn the pump on and leave it for several hours and the air eventually moves to the reservoir. Or what I tend to do is lie my case in many different directions to help the air bubble move to the highest point of my case. You will notice that when air moves to your res, your water level will lower.

Shadz · 3 Dec 2011 at 13:56

Of instead of moving your case in silly directions just open the cap on the res and leave
the system running for a couple of hours that way the air will be pushed to the highest point
quicker. I think that's the easiest way.

d4ns · 3 Dec 2011 at 14:16

a lot better now. Hardly any bubbles going around. Think the problem was that the res isnt a brilliant design and pump feed is not low enough, which means that if the res isnt 100% full, the turbulence in the water is enough to let it suck up bubbles. Running with the cap off now and is a lot quieter too.

Do you have to leave a bit of space in the res for expansion?

matt100 · 3 Dec 2011 at 14:31

its not to much expansion its more than the water will settle so I've had reservoirs overflow when the system isn't running before now, not by my but yeah I'd leave a bit of space. Once the system is bled properly it won't be chucking bubbles around anyway so it doesn't need to be full.

d4ns · 3 Dec 2011 at 14:40

Spot on. Thank you.

s7cn · 3 Dec 2011 at 15:30

I wish my 480 wasn't at the top of my case, makes bleeding such a pita

d4ns · 3 Dec 2011 at 15:42

Is there much advantage to fitting bleed valves? Suppose it looks a bit messier.

Hyburnate · 3 Dec 2011 at 15:45

d4ns said:
Is there much advantage to fitting bleed valves? Suppose it looks a bit messier.

I believe its easier to bleed but if its like bleeding a household radiator you need to be careful, I had wet feet last time

sunama · 3 Dec 2011 at 17:50

Shadz said:
Of instead of moving your case in silly directions just open the cap on the res and leave
the system running for a couple of hours that way the air will be pushed to the highest point
quicker. I think that's the easiest way.

That's what I do.
Works every time.

bilston · 3 Dec 2011 at 21:55

sunama said:
That's what I do.
Works every time.

How can that work if air is physically stuck above the point at which it needs to travel? In an upright case, the CPU block is prime for this depending on which way it's seated and which way your loop is running. Or does that stuck bubble in the block eventually work its way out? I cant see how it would, even with 2 hours.

sunama · 3 Dec 2011 at 22:47

If water is flowing (albeit with bubbles), when you run the pump for X hours (where X can be any number, really), eventually the bubbles (air) will move to the highest point.

This is why, if you have a reservoir, you should always place this at the highest point in the loop.

If you do not have a reservoir, you should place a bleed tube, which stick out from the top. When you the run the pump for X hours, eventually all the air will end up in the res OR out of the bleed tube. If you are running a totally sealed system, only after all the air has been expelled should you remove the bleed tube and seal it all up.

One of the reasons why I decided on having a reservoir is that it virtually eliminates problems with air bubbles.

bilston · 4 Dec 2011 at 06:53

That all seems like sound reasoning

However, for example:
By design of the EK HF block, I think it's possible to permanently have a stuck bubble. Ive seen it and it definitely requires moving of the whole case so that it can get sucked back in to the loop. I understand that roaming bubbles will eventually get there yeah, but actual stuck air, even with the res at the highest point is a complete pita and does require more than faith that it'll eventually end up in the res. Ive seen this happen everytime I re-bleed my system.

Maybe it's just the way I have the block mounted or the order in which I've plugged it in, but it definitely will have air stuck unless I do something about it.

All this makes me just want to go and re-seat my HF just to see what would happen, then probably kick myself for thinking I need to perform case acrobatics everytime for the last year