Leak testing and draining question...

Legend · 20 Oct 2016 at 14:57

So I've just began leak testing my loop. Should I run the pump at full bore for the duration of the test? It's an EK-XRES 140 REVO D5 PWM (connected via molex only so it runs at 100%).

I have filled my res about halfway... is that correct?

I am running the test with plain distilled, so when I come to drain that and put in my coolant, I'm a bit concerned about getting every last drop out. How important is that? I do have a drain valve at lowest point. I will be using Mayhems X1 Clear Blue UV.

Greebo · 20 Oct 2016 at 15:23

A little bit of distilled water won't matter.

I leak tested mine with de-ionised. Never got all the fluid out of mine before putting my propper stuff in. Didn't matter.

I started my pump on t2 first to check for leaks (I had 3

)

Once I was sure there was none, I ran it on full bore for the long term test. You should full stress your system out plus on full bore the pump adds quite a bit of heat to the coolant which is also important.

Sometimes you can have no leaks at cold but when things warm up they leak.

Legend · 20 Oct 2016 at 15:31

Cool thanks... actually I have de-ionised also. How long does it take for things to 'warm up' as you say? How long did you run test for before you saw leaks? I have seen some recommend 24 hours, but others say if you are bone dry after 3-4 hours, then there's virtually zero chance of a leak developing short term.

tyler_jrb · 22 Oct 2016 at 11:29

Test as long as you feel comfortable. I'd usually say at least a few hours at full speed. If I can I usually leave mine overnight.

Distilled will mix fine anyway. But in the future if you want every last bit, or as much as possible. Drain then attach a pipe furthest away from the drain and blow. Will push it all through and out the drain port.

Legend · 22 Oct 2016 at 13:21

All completed and no leaks. I couldn't see where to attach a pipe to blow (there was too much water still in the tubes so I didn't want to detach anything), but I just sucked on the tube at the back haha! It worked... surprising actually how much more came out after I'd tipped out as much as I could. Obviously I wouldn't be doing this with coolant, but I'd like to figure out a way to siphon it out or use some device to replicate what I did... definitely works.