How do you trouble-shoot your build once complete

sy-core

sy-core

sy-core

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So I'm very close to topping up my build and plugging everything in, but I have a massive worry that once it is set up and running, I know I'm going to run into some problems, I know it has to happen, I just can't get this lucky to have to it work first time.

Everything worked on it's dry run, air coolers and Gpu with original cooling on.

So any ideas and anything to look at first if I get no post, or I get some strange mobo code. Anything that has happened to your build and how you fixed it.

Any replies will be much appreciated. Plus I'll keep this thread going to let you know what does happen.
 
sy-core said:
So I'm very close to topping up my build and plugging everything in, but I have a massive worry that once it is set up and running, I know I'm going to run into some problems, I know it has to happen, I just can't get this lucky to have to it work first time.

Everything worked on it's dry run, air coolers and Gpu with original cooling on.

So any ideas and anything to look at first if I get no post, or I get some strange mobo code. Anything that has happened to your build and how you fixed it.

Any replies will be much appreciated. Plus I'll keep this thread going to let you know what does happen.
Click to expand...
Just do a final check before sparking it up, paricularly anything from psu to mobo that it is properly seated, good luck and keep us posted :)
 
typically with me.. though i'm sure others do this.

I tend to build said system with a bog standard air cooler.. or just the basics to get the computer started and check the system posts.. perhaps install an OS while your at it. That way you have confirmed each component works as it should before attempting to connect watercooling components to it... plus it can be a pain if you had to bleed the loop to find out certain parts are broken.
 
When I first built my system it was with just the basics, 1 stick of ram, mobo and psu just to make sure it posts, then I put it all in the case and completed the build but it was air cooled at the time and then I went to watercooling it later.
 
Thanks for your replies people, I was getting a bit anxious with the build, I've only been able to work on it during the weekends and for a first time job, lets just say I took my time. 1 week one 45 degree fitting, next week two 90 fittings, next week an extra 500mm tubing I thought I needed but now don't.

So I did a couple of dry boots (No fluid, so as quick as I could.), and yeah I did do and full air build with it before I swapped all bits over to water blocks. So at first my trident Z 3600 cl 16 ram didn't light up and I thought it was causing issues during the boot loop as the mobo lights for Dram came on, but they also did for VGA, which had me very worried. So at first i wasn't getting any signal at all, so I unplugged gpu and tried and it just came on. So put it all together again and god blessed me it booted to monitor, got a few warning pop up's, hit F1 for Bios, something about no drivers for gpu, boot without etc. Ran it through again and because it it was a dry run it popped up with CPU temps problem so straight off with it.

I will get fluid in it eventually, but unfortunately i have to wait till the weekend again as it's a long working week. Yay.

So after getting multiple mobo codes, which scared the hell out of me and all 4 mobo lights come on, Dram, CPU, GPU & boot issues. I got a picture.

I'll leave you with all i can, pics of the finished project, hope you all like.

And Thanks Again



 
I'm having a nightmare with my pressure test, because it gets so cold the air actually shrinks in the tubes. So last night I set it for a full night pressure test, and I know it drops a tiny bit, but this morning it had dropped by 0.25 bar. Little bit worried but again very cold night last night. Just bought it up to my room where it's nice and warm and it's actually gone back up to where it started. Might do a quick 1hr pressure test and even go for as fill today.
 
Looking really good sy-core. An air pressure tester is a great little tool to let you know if loop is air tight before you put water in.

How many attempts did it take to get the 4 bend run from gpu to lower rad correct ?
 
1st time, I just had a lot of faith in myself and really wanted to do it. I thought give myself some extra will power to see it through and focus. The worst run was the tiny 5in rad to distro, as I never had a 90 fitting and was trying to dead tight 90 with a small kink to get straight in. After a whole day of messing that up and about 50cm of tubing I moved onto that bend, and now I remember, it went wonky without me noticing, but a little heat and a little tenderness and she went straight in.

Worst thing, being able to knock about 2mm off the tubing to make it look perfect and not knowing if the tool would manage it. And also, maybe wish I hadn't chosen 16mm and gone with 14 for a bit more clearance, but by a hairs breadth they fit on.

More horror - I don't have a psu jumper or anything I can sub power to the pump with, I've seen usb to 4 pin adaptors and might just put the laptop next top it for now.
 
My current watercooled system was my first. I didn't feel that there was any alternative but to have the plumbing completed before first boot so that's what I did. I remember the point at which I first connected power and saw the red LED light on the mobo but when I pressed the boot button nothing happened. It turned out that I hadn't actually done what I planned - my mobo had 2 CPU power connectors but I only connected one even though my PSU has plenty, but I used the one which doesn't allow the mobo to boot. Lesson learned there.

I also bought an air pressure test kit. As a noob it was the right decision because it gave me a lot of confidence. But mine (a Barrow) would leak very slowly. So like the OP I found that leaving it overnight damaged that confidence because I thought that my system was leaking. Lesson learned there too.
 
@therealdippy You know what, when I was test booting I was getting the red led, and out of sheer desperation I pushed all of the power connectors in and it turned out the cpu power connector wasn't fully pushed ... or something clicked.

Bad news I've been called into work, next time i can get to it now is Friday night. Lets see what I can muster till then.

Should i buy a psu jumper and possible try to power the pump from my laptop, usb to 3/4 pin connector. I'll order them for the weekend.
 
Not sure about laptop idea
Just use your psu
you don't really need a psu jumper
Any bit of wire will do
Paperclip,staple etc I had some U shaped netting staples
Perfect fit for the job

Did I read correctly earlier?
You powered it on with no fluid in it?
Not a good idea for the pump
Or perhaps you meant dry boot with pump disconnected
I don't read blocks of text very well
So might have read it wrong
 
im4gine3 said:
Use a paperclip
Click to expand...
second this, paperclip trick! Been doing this for 10+ years and it's always worked fine. I have a rather cheap Seasonic psu that came with a prebuild that i use to prime water loops and pumps.

There is no harm is testing your components to see if they actually post without running the pump. All you need to see is the post screen and boot into bios to do a quick check. When you're happy, plug the pump in and run your loop with the pc on and you're good to go.

I use to do a pre test before i fitted any tubing. Just gpu with block in the motherboard slot, cpu with block mounted, ram in and main power cables in for the gpu, cpu and motherboard. Power it on to see if i get a post screen, boot into bios and make sure everything is detected that's connected to the board.

Power off and then carry on with assembly.
 
OK, thanks for the replies. Always appreciate them. The less metal I'm poking the pc with the better off u am. Managed get it filled up today but have a few problems with micro bubbles and some large air pockets in the CPU and GPU blocks. I think I may be running the pump a little bit too fast but I'll have to have a few more runs layer on today and if anyone's got any advice for getting the air bubbles out that would be really appreciated, tried tipping it in every direction, tipping with fill port open and closed but no change. Will put some pictures up later, as I'm on the mobile at the moment.
 


The cpu block on the left isn't as full when running but the gpu block also isn't as bad now.

Will get better pic later.
 
Those are some pretty big air pockets! I would personally think they're not related to the pump being on too fast and more likely you just need to tilt it more.

How far have you gone with the tilting? I would say 60-80 degrees on every axis would get the air out if you haven't already gone that far. Left on the back corner from the picture should clear out the gpu block as a starting point. Either that or turn up the pump? You say it's 'fast' but not how fast...
 
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