GPU water block leaked again.

[BowdonUK]

Hi all,

It seems I've developed another leak on the system. Same place as before, underneath the water block on the gpu.

I sent the computer back to OC last time and they fixed it by replacing the water block.

It seems to have happened again.

The only thing I've done recently was plug a second monitor in to the dp port of the graphics card. But surely this shouldnt cause a leak underneath the water block.

Do water blocks leak a lot or am I just unlucky? So far the first, and now this one have lasted me 6 months before they are leaking.

I contacted OC to see what they can do. I'm a disabled guy so I struggle to get down on the floor and even picking the unit up... its the heaviest machine i've had. I hope they can fix it.

 

[BowdonUK]

looks like I'm unlucky..

my 2 monitors kept flicking off and on now too.. looks like something is going wrong.

This is putting me off watercooling.

 

[BowdonUK]

Just had a weird thing where the 2nd monitor (hdmi) lost connection and come back on again.

Then both monitors went off and on, and windows said g-sync now activated (it was activated before). Seems odd.

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate it.

 

[BowdonUK]

The first time this happened it was an EK Water block that was leaking from underneath. They replaced that with another brand.. i forget which.. this one is a dark unit, the ek was a see through one.

It seems to be the block itself. But im not 100% sure. I felt a bead of water underneath the block. But not on top or around the connectors.

So far monitors are back on. It they start going off again then ill turn the comp off until it gets repaired.

I'm not sure why these are cracking.

Maybe its because i try and keep my room cool with my fan and then when it goes under heavy load it cracks the block? Seems abit odd. I've never seen 1 part break so many times before.

 

[BowdonUK]

When the block last leaked OC had me take some photos of it and upload it to imgur. I had posted them here: http://bowdonuk.imgur.com under waterleak before and after. That was the transparent water block.

The block in now is a dark non-see through one.. and the water bead again is underneth. I remember it was a different brand of water block though, not EK.

 

[BowdonUK]

On the second pic the the right hand fitting looks like it has some water/condensation on it also it doesnt look like its its been 100% threaded into the terminal properly.

Edit:If you have a dark block now its probily an XSPC one

The XSPC sounds familiar.

On the old block in the picture it turned out that the water cooling system wasnt fully connected properly and I used to get bubbles in the water chamber bubbling up.

The guy who fixed it, Stuart B, did a good job in fixing it all up.

That's why I'm surprised that this leak is happening again on this water block. Both times this as happened everything was going fine then suddenly the water level drops a centimetre in the water chamber. I usually keep my eye on that.

I wish I could find the OC folder that came with the computer. When is someone going to invent a device that beeps if we lose things lol.

 

[BowdonUK]

I got a reply back from the OC people via email and he said to bring it in and let them have a look at it. So I'll get that sorted.

I was wondering if maybe it was when my room goes colder at night. But then I thought surely they test enviromental changes for any potential damage occuring.

The last time I had a constant issue with a part of the computer was when I was back in windows 95 and a dodgy hard drive lol. I must have kept re-installing windows 100 times before i could afford to upgrade the hdd lol

 

[BowdonUK]

Taking the system in to OC tomorrow for them to test it.

The water system was great for months. The only thing I've done recently was plug in a second monitor. It shouldnt have caused this problem. But just seems very coincidental. I'll update the thread when I hear an update.

 

[BowdonUK]

Just giving an update.

The leak turned out to be a slack fitting. But during testing there was an issue with the gfx's cards. OC replaced the 2x 980ti's with 1070's. They rebuilt the waterblocks back on. But found the system unstable. They ended up upgrading the cpu to an i7-7700K.

I think OC just became my favourite computer shop of all time!

Can't fault the service.

 

[BowdonUK]

I agree about the fittings thing. From what I've read the loose fittings seem to be a thing with water cooling. Something to keep an eye on.

Yes, that was a surprise about the gfx cards and cpu. A belated Christmas present! lol

It shows what a difference it is to have the personal service when buying computers, especially the very expensive ones. It's always good to buy from a good computer shop rather than business retailers.

Hopefully it'll give people confidence when dealing with OC themselves too. It's good to know that if something goes wrong we're not left holding the baby, or in this case, the water block!

 

[BowdonUK]

Comp arrived back today... I wish they wouldn't put so much packaging inside the comp. By the time I pulled it out I noticed the water tank was leaking from the bottom. I tightened it up.. so hopefully that will have fixed that. I'm going to keep my eye on it.

 

[BowdonUK]

Double unlucky to be lucky to having another small has luck. Hopefully res leak is ok

Sadly it seems something is still wrong. Water res is dropping water level an inch per day, and there is a bubble that only grows bigger the longer the machine is on.

It is starting to get very stressful all this back and forth repairing. OC are being good though and correcting things. But it is annoying to buy a £3000+ water cooled computer when its had nothing but issues with it. I think I've only been able to enjoy gaming on it for about 6 months before it developed a (second) fault.

I just want a working PC. I didn't think a water cooled PC would be so delicate. I've just sent a web note to see what we can get sorted.

I like OC and I've bought my new monitor from them and intend to buy more things in the future. I like to support local computer businesses. But my water cooling experience is giving me all the stress I tried to avoid by ordering a pre-made build.

Sorry for ranting guys. It just stresses me out.

 

[BowdonUK]

I wonder if there are bubbles (big ones?!) that have shifted in the loop and dropped the water level that much. If you can't see where the water is going, maybe it isn't a leak but air instead? Have you topped up the fluid at all?

I haven't topped up the liquid. I got it back on Friday and the water res was nearly at the top. Inspecting the inside before I plugged it in I noticed the water res dripping at the bottom, an actual trickle. I screwed the water res tight and it stopped that trickle.

At that point I didn't notice the big bubble. It was only after running the system during Friday that at night I noticed the bubble and also noticed the water level dropped.

The bubble still sits there and the water level still drops. I've no doubt the bubble is keeping the water level high and if the bubble does go in to the res the level will predictably drop lower. I think if there wasn't a leak then the water level would just stay the same until the bubble worked its way out.

I did leave a webnote last night and expected them to reply this morning, as they usually have done before. Instead I got an automatic email asking 'How did we do?" and trying to get me to leave feedback on trustpilot. I think at this moment I wouldn't want to give a probably unfair view of my experiences.

I'm going to leave a message in the private sections in the forum to see if I can get any joy in there.

 

[BowdonUK]

I just had a good reply from Ohlawll off the forum from OcUK. I'm going to take it in tomorrow.

I might opt to pick it up personally rather than let the pallet guy throw it around (nothing against delivery drivers!)

This is the good side of OcUK. They do look out for their customers. Let's hope all is good after I get it back. I might be able to sleep easier lol

 

[BowdonUK]

The first was my original build where I screwed a taper fitting into a non tapered poly res and cracked it. I noticed as soon as I started filling so no damage done. Replaced the res and that build went for 2.5 years with no maintenance needed.

I wish I had your water cooling setup! 2.5 years of no stress

Just to bring the thread up to date. The computer went in for repairs and it was found the report said that the cooler failed, component failure, pump failed causing airlocking. They replaced the pump and re-did the layout, and cleaned cpu waterblock.

I like it that they do repair things and get the job done. Unfortunately my opinion can only be based on my experience, and while its a major plus they do make the repairs needed in a timely manner, ultimately the test is going to be how well the system runs.

I'm hoping all problems will be resolved now and I can focus on some gaming and editing. But if things go wrong this time then I'll have to take it further. Fingers crossed though.

 

[BowdonUK]

The computer arrived this morning. I was extra careful with the packaging i.e. not pulling anything.

The computer is running slightly quieter than before. I guess the test will come after my first and second days use. I'm going to go on gta for a bit later. That usually stresses the comp. Also I usually play black desert online at night for about 6 hours. It's not really an intensive game graphically, though it does use the cpu more. Usually if there is a problem the water will go down. When the water loop was good (before the gpu water block broke) the water level never went down.

This will be my final shot with WC. If I'm losing water rapidly again then me and OcUK will have to come to some agreement.

The funny thing is I was watching a video last night from kitgurutech on setting up a water loop and it did seem kinda easy.. the water bit was the easiest part. The hardest part was physically linking all the loops up. So it seems kinda odd that I'm suffering all these issues. Hopefully I won't be anymore. Fingers crossed.

 

[BowdonUK]

Nice to see some OCUK members also on BDO ;p

Yes

I play with the gf usually on the US servers.. but I have a few characters on the EU servers too.. looking forward to the Dark Knight's arrival.. i think it arrives march 1st.