Coolant loss - how much is normal?!

Cenedd · 23 Jun 2015 at 22:28

I reworked my loop at the beginning of the year - mainly because I felt the need to but one of the lies-to-myself was that the res NEEDED replacing because clearly the bodge-job of repairing the thread was causing the slow coolant loss. Roll in new res, flow-meter, DDC pump top, 13/10 Tygon tubing for half the loop and new fittings (including a couple of QDCs). The GFX block, CPU block, XSPC 3x120 rad and 8xCora passive rads along with the 10/8 tubing that connects the Cora's was not changed. The 13/10 wouldn't fit in place of the 10/8 even if I could have been bothered! Coolant is XSPC EC6 clear.

Reservoir (Aqualis 150ml) has dropped about 2cm since around the beginning of the year. Nothing seems to be wet though. Is it normal for this much to evaporate?!

Many thanks,

Gareth

cactusweasel · 23 Jun 2015 at 22:42

that seems excessive, you are sure you didn't have air in your loop which has worked its way round into the res, thus lowering the height the fluid sits at?

Cenedd · 23 Jun 2015 at 22:58

Fairly sure. Did lots of rocking to get the air out of the rad - which is mounted horizontally on the top of the case with ports facing down. Pump is generally running at 8V which gives a flow of 74 l/h so if there's any air stuck there...it's staying there. The tubing I didn't change is quite old. It was stiff and inflexible even when new - which is why I used it on the outside of the case. It's probably a good 7 years old but apart from a slight discolouration from the coolant it's still clear and not furred up. There is a bit of crust in one corner of the rad. Could it be weeping really really slowly?

Glanza · 24 Jun 2015 at 07:53

What sort of temps are you getting?

Cenedd · 24 Jun 2015 at 09:05

Coolant temp is around 30 under load. Probably a bit higher if really pushing it but nothing excessive.

Cenedd · 25 Jun 2015 at 16:05

Turns out that coolant is 34 in the summer. CPU and GPU are 39. This is normal workstation use rather than gaming. Fans are all running around 800rpm for peace and quiet.

I've scraped off as much of the crust as I can and applied some of my trusty LS-X leak sealer. I know it's good because the first centimetre of the tube had set solid leaving the rest perfectly fine. Had to drill through the set stuff to get at the good stuff! Hopefully this will stop the evaporation...cannot really call it a leak as it's not even dripping! Will have to check it again in several months.