Bleeding with rad at top, res at bottom

C.K · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:13

Hi guys, just setup my new water cooling setup.

I am now at the bleeding stage, but finding it abit of a struggle because my radiator is externally mounted on top of my case and my res is at the bottom of my case.

If I leave it running for awhile, the air/bubbles in the tubes disappear, and leaves me with loads of tiny bubbles remaining inside the res. If I tilt my case, so my radiator is on the left side, more bubbles appear, which I assume is the air in the radiator? No matter how many times I do this, it keeps happening.

I am doing this with a plug removed from the top of res, so air can escape, and I am using a D5 Vario pump currently running at speed 5.

At times, it looks like the air is getting pushed into the res, but is getting sucked back around the loop before it goes to the top.

Any tips on bleeding?

Cheers,
Adam

Scon · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:15

C.K said:
Hi guys, just setup my new water cooling setup.

I am now at the bleeding stage, but finding it abit of a struggle because my radiator is externally mounted on top of my case and my res is at the bottom of my case.

If I leave it running for awhile, the air/bubbles in the tubes disappear, and leaves me with loads of tiny bubbles remaining inside the res. If I tilt my case, so my radiator is on the left side, more bubbles appear, which I assume is the air in the radiator? No matter how many times I do this, it keeps happening.

I am doing this with a plug removed from the res, so air can escape, and I am using a D5 Vario pump currently running at speed 5.

Any tips on bleeding?

Cheers,
Adam

Just keep it running, the micro bubbles will go in a few days.

(And just keep tilting for the rad bubbles)

C.K · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:17

Thanks for the quick reply.

I was going to leave it running overnight, but don't fancy running the pump dry as air escapes and water level decreases. But I will leave it running anyway.

Although this will let the small bubbles escape, what about the air that always gets introduced to the loop when I tilt the case? Which I assume is the air from inside the radiator - I obviously need to bleed the loop fully? Somehow...

Cheers,
Adam

Scon · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:19

C.K said:
Thanks for the quick reply.

I was going to leave it running overnight, but don't fancy running the pump dry as air escapes and water level decreases. But I will leave it running anyway.

Although this will let the small bubbles escape, what about the air that always gets introduced to the loop when I tilt the case? Which I assume is the air from inside the radiator - I obviously need to bleed the loop fully? Somehow...

Cheers,
Adam

Just keep tilting it in all directions till it all comes out, no special techniques.

Most of the small bubbles will be gone by the morning, it wont run dry if you've got plenty of fluid in the system.

Jokester · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:19

As long you don't let the loop draw air back in through the res, getting the air out of the rad is what you want to do.

Rizo-UK · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:20

Can you bleed it upside down? I done that with mine as my rad is on top and the highest part of the system.

Scon · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:24

Rizo-UK said:
Can you bleed it upside down? I done that with mine as my rad is on top and the highest part of the system.

I think that would risk getting more air in through the res, and if he has a big case then that might not be possible.

C.K · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:25

Jokester said:
As long you don't let the loop draw air back in through the res, getting the air out of the rad is what you want to do.

Ok, so do I just make sure the water level is always above the inlet & outlet tube inside my res to prevent air being introduced back into the loop?

burrell said:
Just keep tilting it in all directions till it all comes out, no special techniques.

Most of the small bubbles will be gone by the morning, it wont run dry if you've got plenty of fluid in the system.

Ok will do, cheers!

Rizo-UK said:
Can you bleed it upside down? I done that with mine as my rad is on top and the highest part of the system.

I guess I could, but you're not supposed to run the D5 pump upside down?

Scon · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:27

C.K said:
Ok, so do I just make sure the water level is always above the inlet & outlet tube inside my res to prevent air being introduced back into the loop?

As long as it is above the outlet you will be ok, as long as the pump is after the res as it should be.

C.K · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:29

burrell said:
As long as it is above the outlet you will be ok, as long as the pump is after the res as it should be.

My pump is directly after my res, and my water levels are almost to the top of the res, so definatley over the outlet.

Cheers

Scon · 23 Jan 2011 at 22:30

C.K said:
My pump is directly after my res, and my water levels are almost to the top of the res, so definatley over the outlet.

Cheers

You should be fine then, get tilting!

Bubo · 24 Jan 2011 at 08:34

Do the tubes to your rad allow you enough slack to simply remove the rad temporarily and tilt that about independantly? Thats what I did when I had rads mounted externaly. The ports pointed downwards so air would naturally get trapped in the rad, but I had enough slack I could unscrew it from the case and virtually turn it upside down to get the air out. A photo would help.

C.K · 24 Jan 2011 at 09:19

Hi bubo, I can't remove the rad as I have got the tubes going through the top panel of the case into the barbs, so I would have to remove the rivets and remove the top, which I don’t fancy doing whilst all my hardware is installed lol.

I left it running overnight with the stop cap removed from the top of the res, and there’s nothing in the tubes, and only a few miniature bubbles left in the res. If I tilt the case gently so that the rad is tilted almost 90degrees, there’s still no sign of air. But if I was to shake it side to side (quick but carefully) there would be a hell of a lot of air going back through the loop, but could that be me introducing air into the loop by the water shaking around in the res?

Cheers,
Adam