new to Custom Water cooling

[chris blackford]

hi looking to upgrade my cooling on main pc thinking of going Custom Water cooling have a few q's


Q1 how do you know what sized tubing you need?

Q2 do all the parts like rads and pump's water blocks come with all the bits you need like screws and the bits to connect to the tubing?

Q3 are there any parts or brands to stay away from?

Q4 what do you need to drain the loop?

Q5 do you need to buy any thing special too clean the loop?

Q6 can you mix parts and brands?

Q7 is it possable to have too meny rads?

 

[chris blackford]

It depends on which fittings or barbs you use. The fittings and/or barbs must be large enough to form a watertight seal with the tubing.



Nope - they may be missing a pump top, they are unlikely to include fittings and they may not include a reservoir (which is optional, but extremely common)



Mixing Aluminium and Copper - or Aluminium and any other metal - is something many stay away from to avoid the hassle of galvanic corrosion; although most AIOs have mixed metals so it's not an absolute rule.

Everything I've bought - even banged up radiators off auction sites - have been watertight and worked well. With that said it might be best to stick to known brands such as EK if you're asking for a recommendation.



A drain ports helps, a lot. I lived without one for years and it is a quality-of-life upgrade I should have done long, long ago. You don't actually need anything other than patience to drain the loop. JayzTwoCents over on YouTube has a couple of vidoes where he drains a loop that might be worth a watch.



No - there's a recommendation of using something to clean rads before using them; normally people recommend a mix of vinigar and water followed by baking soda and water followed by water. Sometimes I do this, other times I don't bother; depends on where I got the watercooling stuff from. The 1080ti watercooled card I bought on the Memebers Marketplace was so obviously cleaned recently that I just plumbed it directly in (for example).

You can buy special cleaning kits - I think this is more relevant if you have used coloured fluid in the past or you get algea build up.



See note above - but yes. I have EK, barrow, OCUK, Swifttech, monsoon that I can see just looking at my loop now.



See these videos - Linus stacks some radiators & Jay builds a very big radiator (but no, no it's not)

Q8 how do you know what fittings or barbs to use ? dose the rad or other part have certain size it needs or are all the in takes and out takes the same?

Q9 is it better to get a separate pump/ reservoir? or is the combo ones just as good?

Q10 are reservoir and Distro Plate the same thing?

 

[chris blackford]

All fittings and barbs used for PC Watercooling have a screw thread that is BSP 1/4" - this is referred to in PC Watercooling circles as G1/4" or just G1/4 for reasons I do not properly understand. As a side note - standard plumbing equipment that is 1/4" BSP does screw into standard PC watercooling equipment. I don't recommend buying standard plumbing supplies however - often they won't have an o-ring or a lip where you need one.

The screw thread is how the fittings or barbs go into the waterblocks, reservoirs, pump, etc. The other part of the fittings or barbs are the bit that connects to the tubing.

To planely answer your question - no - the radiator (as long as it's a normal PC watercooling radiator and not a house radiator or car radiator/heatercore or half of an AIO or some crazy aluminium monstrocity produced by Thermaltake) does not have to be a specific size, they (normally) all take the same diameter screwthread.



Makes no odds - the fashion now-a-days is to get a combo. I've always had them seperate because I'm cheap.



Yes, for the most part. A distro(bution) plate is a kind of reservoir - but not all reservoirs are distro plates.

The distro plate is typically used with hard tubing and allows for a 'cleaner' build. It has several ports that are designed to align with your GPU and CPU block to keep everything running in straight lines. A reservoir is there to protect your pump from running dry and to remove air bubbles.


//edit:
Q11 to Qn - please see this video from Jay:- Jay explains it all

Just kidding; ask away

//edit 2:
and this video from Jay:- Jay explains fittings

//edit 3:
and this video from Jay:- Jay explains it again, but new

//edit 4:
and this video from Linus:- Linus explains it, but really quickly

ok thanks i did watch a lot of jay's watter cooling vid's dident see them one's tho i will check them out thanks,

Q11 i was just wondering if you got a massive case like the (Lian Li DK-05F) and wanted to use all rads and place's for the one pc would you need more than one pump to get the watter around?

 

[chris blackford]

All fittings and barbs used for PC Watercooling have a screw thread that is BSP 1/4" - this is referred to in PC Watercooling circles as G1/4" or just G1/4 for reasons I do not properly understand. As a side note - standard plumbing equipment that is 1/4" BSP does screw into standard PC watercooling equipment. I don't recommend buying standard plumbing supplies however - often they won't have an o-ring or a lip where you need one.

The screw thread is how the fittings or barbs go into the waterblocks, reservoirs, pump, etc. The other part of the fittings or barbs are the bit that connects to the tubing.

To planely answer your question - no - the radiator (as long as it's a normal PC watercooling radiator and not a house radiator or car radiator/heatercore or half of an AIO or some crazy aluminium monstrocity produced by Thermaltake) does not have to be a specific size, they (normally) all take the same diameter screwthread.



Makes no odds - the fashion now-a-days is to get a combo. I've always had them seperate because I'm cheap.



Yes, for the most part. A distro(bution) plate is a kind of reservoir - but not all reservoirs are distro plates.

The distro plate is typically used with hard tubing and allows for a 'cleaner' build. It has several ports that are designed to align with your GPU and CPU block to keep everything running in straight lines. A reservoir is there to protect your pump from running dry and to remove air bubbles.


//edit:
Q11 to Qn - please see this video from Jay:- Jay explains it all

Just kidding; ask away

//edit 2:
and this video from Jay:- Jay explains fittings

//edit 3:
and this video from Jay:- Jay explains it again, but new

//edit 4:
and this video from Linus:- Linus explains it, but really quickly

//edit 5:
and this forum section:- https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/community/watercooling.133/ (check out the stickies at the top, some are old but mostly still very relevant)

thanks for video links thay were very helpful

Q12 where would you put a drain valve on the Lian Li DK-05F Electrical Height Adjustable Desk Case - Black to make life easier to drain system?

 

[chris blackford]

This is beyond my knowledge- in my normal case it's just a long length of tube near the bottom of the loop.

i was thinking of useing 2 pci pass through so the tube is out side the case and put a drain there so i can put bucket under the desk lol but not sure if i'm going to get that desk its a lot lot of money for a case and going to be more than a pain than my coolermaster c700m case i have at mo and that thing is so heavy i have to take side doors to move lol

with a high end part would it be a good idea to watter cool the VRM's and that and ram if it's DDR5? i have a 12900k its why need to move too watter lol

is there anything else you recommend to look up be for i start ordering parts?

 

[chris blackford]

I don't know a lot about DDR5, however memory historically has quite enjoyed being warm to perform well. Now that the controller is on the sticks I can see a possibility where watercooling them is advantageous, albeit I think you're well into diminishing returns here.

VRMs on the other hand like to be cool. For high end parts this is less of an issue as the VRMs tend to be over engineered and well cooled already. For cheaper boards with high end chips I'd argue this is useful, especially as aftermarket blocks for VRMs can be had very cheaply.

hi are thees parts ok do thay fit together

EK-Quantum Surface X480M - Black 2 of them

EK-Quantum Surface X240M - Black​

EK-Quantum Surface X360M - Black 2 of them​

EK-Quantum Velocity² D-RGB - 1700 Full Nickel

EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE 300 D5 PWM D-RGB - Acetal​

EK-CryoFuel Blood Red (Premix 1000mL)​

EK-Loop Hard Tube 12mm 0.5m - Acrylic (2pcs) 4 packs​

EK-Quantum Torque 6-Pack HDC 12 - Nickel 3 packs​

EK-Quantum Torque Color Ring 10-Pack HDC 12 - Nickel 3 packs​

EK-AF T-Splitter 3F G1/4 - Nickel​

EK-Quantum Torque Drain Valve - Nickel​

EK-AF Ball Valve (10mm) G1/4 - Nickel

EK-Quantum Torque Micro Rotary 90° - Nickel 10 of them​

i think thats everything is there any thing else i need and does it all fit together? did i get anything wrong? also is that pump ok laying down in case?

 

[chris blackford]

Are you really planning to have 2x480 + 1x240 + 2x360 radiators? What are you cooling , Chernobyl ?

Pump ok laying down? As long as the pump is fully coated in the liquid you will be ok, make sure the attached radiator is full and you should be ok. The pumps use the liquid as lubricent and as coolant so if it runs dry it will eventually fail.

One thing I wish I had put into my loop is a fluid temp sensor. I will add it in the new year when I rejig everything but you may want to think about it now.

lol, in the end i got a lian li DK-05F as found one supper cheap and wont to occupy all the places for rads lol

made a few changes as will need to lift out the pump to fill so swoping to soft tubing

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE 300 D5 PWM D-RGB Pump / Reservoir Combo - Acetal - £174.95
SKU: WC-9WT-EK

---

2 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Surface X480M Quad Fan Radiator - Black - £124.99
SKU: WC-ABL-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Surface X240M Dual Fan Radiator - Black - £83.99
SKU: WC-ABS-EK

---

2 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Surface X360M Triple Fan Radiator - Black - £104.99
SKU: WC-AAT-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Velocity² D-RGB CPU Water Block For Intel 1700 - Full Nickel - £149.98
SKU: WC-A7C-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Loop D-RGB 6 Way Splitter Cable - £8.00
SKU: WC-9VX-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Loop Molex to SATA Adapter - £3.49
SKU: WC-A6Z-EK

---

1 X BitFenix Alchemy Molex to SATA Adapter 45 cm - sleeved red/black - £5.99
SKU: CM-209-BX

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-HD Tube Reamer - £7.99
SKU: WC-9KB-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks Filling Bottle (1000mL) - £6.95
SKU: WC-9EJ-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-ATX Bridging Plug (24 pin) - £1.99
SKU: WC-995-EK

---

3 X EK Water Blocks EK-CryoFuel Blood Red 1L Premix Watercooling Fluid - 1 Litre - £7.99
SKU: WC-9PD-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Loop Soft Tube Cutter - £3.95
SKU: WC-9WW-EK

---

4 X EK Water Blocks EK-Duraclear Tubing 16/10 - Clear 3M - £15.95
SKU: WC-9DC-EK

---

10 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Torque STC 10/16mm Soft Tubing Compression Fitting - Nickel - £5.98
SKU: WC-9UM-EK

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-Quantum Torque Drain Valve Fitting - Nickel - £17.99
SKU: WC-A35-EK

---

5 X Lian-Li UNI SL120 INF Addressable RGB Black 120mm Fan Triple Pack with Controller - £89.99
SKU: FG-011-LL

---

1 X Lian-Li UNI SL120 INF Addressable RGB Black 120mm Fan - £29.99
SKU: FG-00Z-LL

---

10 X XSPC G1/4" 90° Rotary Fitting V2 (Chrome) - £5.99
SKU: WC-212-XS

---

1 X EK Water Blocks EK-AF T-Splitter 3F G14 - Nickel - £7.99
SKU: WC-944-EK

---

 

[chris blackford]

hi i'm useing the testing ek leak tester how much of a drop when testing is ok and safe or can it not drop at all left it for 1 hour there about's it droped 1 dash

 

[chris blackford]

Leave it overnight and if it has not dropped anymore you should be ok. You always get an initial drop , i think the leak tester itself is not perfect and is the main reason for pressure droop.

When you fill with liquid use the power bridge so you can just run the pump without powering any other components and run it over night when full.

just got back from work and its drop from around 0.5 to 0.1 think there a small leak sum where there 2 fittings i can't get a grib off what tool can i use to titen them?


also bit confuesed about this?

PRODUCT CHARGING PRESSURE (BAR) Loop 0.45 +/- 0.15 Waterblock 0.6 +/- 0.05 Reservoir 0.6 +/- 0.05 Radiator 0.6 +/- 0.05 Distribution plate / Manifold 0.45 +/- 0.15 EK-Classic DP Front PC-O11D – Distribution plate 0.3 +/- 0.05

what is the - bit? and do i need to add any of the bits togever for the presser if i have a lot in loop or just go by the Loop 0.45 +?


also q about the

EK-Loop Connect - Temperature Plug Sensor the connector looks same as on my MB but don't fit do i need sum thin g extra to make work?​

 

[chris blackford]

As a general rule, don't use tools to tighten fittings - they should only need to be hand tight. That goes double for anything you are tightening into acrylic (like a block or res) - if you overtighten you'll crack the acrylic.

The EK STC fittings are designed such that you can use a hex key inserted up inside the barb but if you use that to tighten the fitting be very careful not to over-tighten - it would be very easy to do so with an allen key. The locking collar doesn't need to compress the tube much to press it onto the barb and make it tight.

When you say "0.5 to 0.1" do you mean a full 0.5 bar or do you mean half way between two dashes (which on mine would be about 0.0125 bar). If it's just dropped half way between two dashes after serveral hours, then I'd be fine with that on my loop.



I think the table in the leak tester manual is for "re-certifying" if you've disassembled something. So the listed product should be able to hold the quoted pressure for at least 15 minutes after re-assembly. For testing a whole loop you're not checking that it holds a specific pressure, only that your loop is basically airtight. So, I'd say don't worry too much about the actual charging pressure.

I aim for just into the green section (maybe about 0.55-0.575 bar?); leave it for about half an hour or so and check it's not moved. Then you can do a wet leak test - like @Haz123 says, make sure you only power the pump after filling and ideally run it over night (so 8-10 hours minimum). I put kitchen towel in to hopefully make any leak more obvious.




If I remember correctly, the EK temperature sensor has a 3-position connector, with the wires in the two outer ones? And I'm guessing the header on your motherboard just has two pins next to each other? I ended up swaping the cables into a 2 position connector because I had some around, but if there is space next to the header on your motherboard to take the EK connector you should be able just move one wire to the centre position to make it work. If you push a tiny screwdriver or needle into the exposed metal half way up the connector, you can free the clip and then carefully pull one wire with the crimped on terminal out (don't tug too much, incase you pull the wire out of the crimp). Then just push it back into the centre position until it clicks back in.

it was the 90 angal fittings that could not get my hands on too titan i'm useing soft tubing

it doped like over a full thing

it looks like a 2 pin on cable and MB but i think the one on MB is abit smaller as it wont fit in socket

 

[chris blackford]

As a general rule, don't use tools to tighten fittings - they should only need to be hand tight. That goes double for anything you are tightening into acrylic (like a block or res) - if you overtighten you'll crack the acrylic.

The EK STC fittings are designed such that you can use a hex key inserted up inside the barb but if you use that to tighten the fitting be very careful not to over-tighten - it would be very easy to do so with an allen key. The locking collar doesn't need to compress the tube much to press it onto the barb and make it tight.

When you say "0.5 to 0.1" do you mean a full 0.5 bar or do you mean half way between two dashes (which on mine would be about 0.0125 bar). If it's just dropped half way between two dashes after serveral hours, then I'd be fine with that on my loop.



I think the table in the leak tester manual is for "re-certifying" if you've disassembled something. So the listed product should be able to hold the quoted pressure for at least 15 minutes after re-assembly. For testing a whole loop you're not checking that it holds a specific pressure, only that your loop is basically airtight. So, I'd say don't worry too much about the actual charging pressure.

I aim for just into the green section (maybe about 0.55-0.575 bar?); leave it for about half an hour or so and check it's not moved. Then you can do a wet leak test - like @Haz123 says, make sure you only power the pump after filling and ideally run it over night (so 8-10 hours minimum). I put kitchen towel in to hopefully make any leak more obvious.




If I remember correctly, the EK temperature sensor has a 3-position connector, with the wires in the two outer ones? And I'm guessing the header on your motherboard just has two pins next to each other? I ended up swaping the cables into a 2 position connector because I had some around, but if there is space next to the header on your motherboard to take the EK connector you should be able just move one wire to the centre position to make it work. If you push a tiny screwdriver or needle into the exposed metal half way up the connector, you can free the clip and then carefully pull one wire with the crimped on terminal out (don't tug too much, incase you pull the wire out of the crimp). Then just push it back into the centre position until it clicks back in.

i'm starting to think it's the tester as i just tested my pump and it's leaking and a rad and it's leaking as well

 

[chris blackford]

should i just reconnect everything and fill loop with useing fill it with kitchen roll lol ? do i lov e the cpu 4 pin unconected? and jump the 24 pin will nun of the mb be powered and cpu? and gpu?

 

[chris blackford]

If the tester is dropping when you've got it connected to just one thing, then yes it's probably the tester. Lots of people don't use them and only do a wet leak test, so you can go straight to filling the loop if you think the tester isn't working.

And yes, when you're ready to fill, make sure all power is disconnected from eveything except the pump - CPU, GPU, even drives. It's a lot easier if you have a spare PSU - you can just plug the pump into that and jump that instead. You will most likely need to turn the pump on and off (I find using the switch on back of the PSU is easiest) to help with filling as initially the water level in your res will drop (probably quite quickly) depending on where you fill from and where the air gets trapped in your loop. Once the level isn't going down, you can leave the pump running for your test.

Yes you can leave the 4 pin disconnected - the pump will just run at maximum speed without a signal.

ok thanks can i reconnect the tub i used be for as had to take sum off for testing? as thay have mark on the tub from fittings?

 

[chris blackford]

Simply put, when leaking testing the only thing you want connected to the PSU is your pump

i ment is it ok to use same tubing or just i use new stuff

 

[chris blackford]

Yes, you can reuse the tubing.

ok thanks was not sure if it would be weeken is there any where else sep fittings i sure keep eye on for leak and how long should i run for wet leak test?

 

[chris blackford]

the ek fillport fitting whats the point of the ring that go's round it that unscrews?

 

[chris blackford]

Tubing should maintain its strength a good long while. You can disconnect and reconnect it a few times without any problems. So long as it's still snug on the barb and the locking ring is on tight it'll be fine.

A leak could potentially come from anywhere two things are being fastened together. So, fittings is the main place, blocks have been also known to leak if there'd been a manufacturing problem (or if you'd stripped it down and reassembled it to clean it). Keep an eye on your pump and res - any unused ports you've put plugs into and where the res screws onto the pump.

Run it at least overnight - so 8-10 hours. The longer you leave it running, the greater the confidence you can have that it is watertight.

thanks

 

[chris blackford]

Tubing should maintain its strength a good long while. You can disconnect and reconnect it a few times without any problems. So long as it's still snug on the barb and the locking ring is on tight it'll be fine.

A leak could potentially come from anywhere two things are being fastened together. So, fittings is the main place, blocks have been also known to leak if there'd been a manufacturing problem (or if you'd stripped it down and reassembled it to clean it). Keep an eye on your pump and res - any unused ports you've put plugs into and where the res screws onto the pump.

Run it at least overnight - so 8-10 hours. The longer you leave it running, the greater the confidence you can have that it is watertight.

anyone got any tips how to get air out ya loop?

 

[chris blackford]

Close off your fill point and then tilt the PC around is the best way.

will that get rid of air in res? as well?

 

[chris blackford]

No, the res will be where any air left in the loop will naturally end up after a while anyway.

Are you struggling to get the res to fill while you are filling your loop, or do you just want to fill the res to the top?

The loop will work fine so long as there's enough fluid in the res to make sure the pump is covered. Also, if you are using one of the top ports for an inlet, then you'll want the level above the bottom of the internal tube. But otherwise some air in the top of the res isn't a problem in terms of the operation of the loop.

yer i'm trying to fill the res completely but there a big bit of air i'm useing the fillport fitting on the side to fill i got the mult port top from ek so got 2 extra ports on side