Help with small leak

spook050

spook050

spook050

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4 Nov 2014
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I have had a nightmare 24 hours trying to get my pc up and running again after a pump replacement. Ill cut the story short and say I have had to fill and drain 3 times so far and I am loosing my mind and patience! haha

The latest is that I have now filled the loop with crystal clean distilled water and have been watching it for the last hour. Everything seemed to be going well until I seen a small drip forming on the CPU block. IT appears to be coming from the bottom of the EK "Sticker"(Atleast I thought it was just a sticker). I have used paper towels and confirmed that the top of the sticker is dry, so its not coming from the fitting above it.

Can anyone tell me what that sticker actually is? And any suggestions for quick and dirty fixes as I really do not want to take this thing apart again. Im thinking some sort of plumbers tape or super glue? It is a really small and slow drip.

pic:


Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
:)
 
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As far as I can tell from my own EVO the sticker is indeed just a sticker. Are you sure it's not running to the front edge of the block? A couple of us have had the main O ring fail on this block recently and mine was running down the right hand edge to the bottom of the block. When I took it apart I found the O ring to have gone soft and sticky. EK support was completely useless and I shall not by buying any EK products in future. EK Luc, their rep on here, got me all the O ring sizes and I bought and replaced them myself and all is well again now.
 
Yeah thats just a sticker, if ya google it ya can see side views, so the water must be either coming out of the fitting or something above it and just dripping onto it or just coming out of the seal around the block and collecting there.

I would make sure the washer on your fitting is making good contact with the block, if theres and scratches under a rubber washer the water will get through. I've never used ptfe tape on plastic threads as ive heard a few instances of it causing the plasic to crack but maybe someone else knows better.
 
You guys are right, I left it for an hour and went back to it and it was clearly coming from the fitting and running down the right side of the block. There are a few small visible cracks around the fitting hole where I must have tightened it too tight trying to stop it leaking. Not sure if that's the cause or if it is the o ring you mentioned.

I'll maybe try taking it apart tonight and upload a few pics of the o ring if you'd think that's the best course of action!

Thanks for helping guys, I was getting frustrated with it earlier!
 
If it's coming from the fitting then you have overtightened it and cracked the top so you need a new top. If the mounting holes are the same for the Supremacy and Supremacy Evo then you could buy this set. Other than that I can't find tops in stock anywhere and even if they were in stock most are around £20. I can't even find them on EK's website anymore.
 
If you're after a quick and dirty fix, I can recommend LS-X sealant. I've used it on an acrylic res with damaged threads and it was coolant-tight for years.
If the block has thread damage or cracks, taking it apart isn't going to help you. The o ring they're talking about is the one that seals the top acrylic half to the metal bottom half. It's worth checking the o ring on the leaking fitting though, that could explain it. If it's definitely acrylic damage you've either got to replace the top.....or cheat with the LS-X. Bonus of that is you don't have to dismantle the block (the inner o ring is a pain to keep seated while you put the two halves back together - or at least it was for the Supremacy HF's which I assume are very similar) and you don't have to unmount it from the CPU. I'm assuming your warranty won't cover it if over - tightening is the cause.
 
Thanks guys for giving me some options. I am going to drain the top half of the loop again here and take the pipe off so I can take a better look at the cracks. I will upload a pic if I can get a good one. There is a homebase near me that sells that sealant and is open for the next 3 hours so I will seriously consider that if it looks possible. If not the top that pastymuncher found seems like a steal at £7
 
Ok guys, I think we have found the culprit, it definitely looks like a crack could be causing it.

Below are some of the pics I took of the cracks. They are all pretty small and I can't feel them when running my nail over it apart from the one slightly bigger crack at exactly 3 occlock or 90 degrees. I can feel it with my nail and it seems to be the biggest one - its also at the correct side of the leak. What do you guys think? If I go for the top will I be able to replace it without fully draining the loop, at the minute the top half is either drained or shut-off, so I can work at the cpu pretty independently.

Again cheers for the help guys, this has been invaluable...

 
Yeah, looks like it's cracked through the thread - hence the leak.
The official advice would have to be drain everything and unmount the block first. That said, if you can prevent coolant flowing (either way) to the block and drain the block itself (kitchen towel or wet/dry hoover) you can probably get away with it. The metal mount will keep the block on the cpu and you can just swap out the top. Make sure you have plenty of kitchen towel around it for when you separate it though!
 
Yeah ya can do virtually anything without draining the loop, ya just need some old towels, ive changed gpu and cpu blocks without draining my loop, i get just as much water splashing around filling/draining as i do changing a block.

I keep 4 old towels just for messing around in my PC, i cover everything inside the case with 2 of them, put one on my desk under the case and keep the other for mopping up if i spill anything.

Just take it off for now and put ya stock cooler on, i wouldnt try and use that again now as you might crack it further and cause it to split.
 
Ok quick update guys. I bit the bullet and decided to tried rubbing sealant over it. It's been running the past 60 minutes without a drip. Still might order that top, as I think ill be forever nervous about it if I don't .. I will see how this goes and have a think about it. If it runs for the next 4 hours I might leave it on over night.

I will do a little research to see if that supremacy top will fit my evo top as its dirt cheap. I think you are right, I could probably change it without draining the full loop, I can just get the cpu out of the loop.
 
By the looks of the cracks passing through the threads, you probably want the sealant in among the threads as well as covering the top. Just don't get it inside the block. A smear on the threads of the fitting would do it. It's removable but difficult once cured. You may damage the top doing it....but as it's knackered anyway and you only remove the fitting when you got the new top. Meh! :D
 
Yeah i was gonna suggest silicone but when ya screw the fitting in it would probably push some down into the block, ya wouldnt wanna get bits of silicone floating around in ya loop blocking up ya fins :)

For the sake of running a few days on a stock cooler i dont think its worth bothering trying to fix it if ya can order another cheap top.
 
Looks like the silicon is holding up. Its been running for the last 14 hours with no drips. I think I will power it up properly soon. I didn't put any silicon on the threads, just on the outside and a small amount on the small groove before the thread starts. I also used a little pfte tape on the thread.
 
Ordered the supremacy evo upgrade kit. Hate paying £10 delivery for a £7 item but its a lot cheaper than a new component if it leaks. Silicon fix should hold me over for a while until I get time to fit it.

Cheers again guys.
 
No problem. It's always frustrating when you can't work/game until parts turn up...and it always seems to happen so that a weekend gets in the way!

The PTFE tape on the threads is probably covering that part and the LS-X topping it off. Good for rads too (PC or house) and I think it'll even set on wet joints if I remember correctly.
 
PTFE is brilliant stuff I use it offshore for most high pressure fittings if you can get your hand on Swak it will seal even better (paste form of PTFE)
 
Yeah, gotta be careful with plastic though, like i said ive read a few times that it can cause cracks, or in this case more cracks :)
 
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