Yes mate.
One year on and my tubing and/or fluid is going green.
- Thread starter Goose
- Start date
Yes mate.
why do you need anti-freeze? it is not outside in the cold, it is not running sub zero temps??? but i guess if car antifreeze is cheap then it may be suitable. although i dont know how that chemistry works with the cooling blocks. I dont think if any of the blocks got some exotic metals in it to make them conduct heat better. but if it is big standard copper then even the stuff you dose up your radiator would be fine (it is not a nice colour tho)
when i used to have custom loops only bothered with corrosion inhibitors. if the water is good, tubes have been properly cleaned and UVed, the blocks been properly cleaned with alcohol and the system is air tight, it shouldn't have pores in it for the damn thing to be growing in the first instance.
yes add whatever you think the necessary to distilled water rather than buying expensive mixtures. distilled water cost pennies (i think).
trawlign through OCUK website, the water is cheap - £2.99/L (you probably best keep a spare L of it in case you end up with a leak. also you need to flush first anyway...)
but the rest of the stuff seems a bit pricey 15ml of inhibitor - £9.99 15ml of biocide - £9.99
when i used to have custom loops only bothered with corrosion inhibitors. if the water is good, tubes have been properly cleaned and UVed, the blocks been properly cleaned with alcohol and the system is air tight, it shouldn't have pores in it for the damn thing to be growing in the first instance.
yes add whatever you think the necessary to distilled water rather than buying expensive mixtures. distilled water cost pennies (i think).
trawlign through OCUK website, the water is cheap - £2.99/L (you probably best keep a spare L of it in case you end up with a leak. also you need to flush first anyway...)
but the rest of the stuff seems a bit pricey 15ml of inhibitor - £9.99 15ml of biocide - £9.99
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Inhibitors and biocides last forever. Loop after loop after loop. Spread across the number of uses the cost is low.
My computer is in the conservatory. It's brick, well insulated and triple glazed, but in cold winters it can still easily reach sub-zero. Certainly not worth the risk.
Likewise if you lost heating in the house in winter? Or a power cut? Or you go away and something fails? To me freezing resistance is an absolute necessity in a custom loop. But then again I'm a belt and braces kind of guy.
I would definitely not be using anti-freeze in a loop either, there are many materials, plating, cosmetic and visible components; I've no idea how it would react. I certainly wouldn't want to find out to save a few quid.
XT1 nuke concentrate and distilled water costs very little when you consider how long the loops last, it has biocides and inhibitors, and you can dilute depending on the ratios you want, and how long you want it to last.
Besides, I've never understood people decrying the cost of liquid when components are so exorbitantly expensive.
What loops did you run? Why did you stop?
I used to run distilled and inhibitor. I didn’t even bother with biocide. I used custom a long time ago and constantly changing CPU blocks and GPU. The only thing that was constant in my setup back them was the reservoir and the pump.
I ditched those setup cos it used to leak a lot and setting up was a pain. You had either pushfit (really old style that will leak) or with jubilee clips on barb connectors with soft tubing. Which will leak overtime as the tubing gets harden. I eventually went the ways of air cooling and now been using AIO for a very long time. Bought the first generation of Corsair H100 and still using it. It is just easier for me. Never need to worry about leaks, top up, cleaning, flushing, bleeding and wrapping tissue all over the place to check leaks.
but the old bogging it know how has stayed with me. Haha.
That's fair enough, I started with pond pumps and barbs many a year ago too, it's certainly a much more pleasant experience these days
The thing about modern fluids is longevity, check some of the threads here and there's guys who haven't drained their loops in 6+ years. I'd never had dared that back then, let alone these days! They're still pristine too.
Pond pump was my first loop also. Getting a ac-dc converter sitting next to my pc humming away was a bit of an experience. And using dremel to cut holes in all sorts of places to make for mounting positions. I joined OcUK forum in 2005 but since 2001 I have been using water in computers. I remembered my first leak during a gaming session. The leak sprung around CPU block and it dripped onto the back of GPU and slowly it died. Great bit of learning but freaking expensive.That's fair enough, I started with pond pumps and barbs many a year ago too, it's certainly a much more pleasant experience these days
I had this exact issue when I last drained but my coolant was EK cryofuel. I assumed, like you that my coolant was a bad batch but I'm not so sure now. I replaced with Mayhems and had no issues since. However, I am about to change my motherboard and due to low stocks I have purchased some of the new Corsair fluid. One thing I do now though is have my res filled right up. Previously I left a third of my res empty (no reason for this), my assumption is that this air gap would be a breeding ground for algae~?
I always keep an air gap for compression of the air as it bleeds, small one though. I'm adding a membrane to my next build.
I haven't used many brands, I stick to Mayhems because it's worked flawlessly. XT1 Nuke for me, forever. Clear, as I'm funny about putting pap in my blocks
According to an email from Mayhems...
I'm considering breaking my loop down, selling it off and going back to air cooling. I was under the impression that anything under 50c for water temp is OK and for the 12 months i've been running this loop my water temp when gaming has been around 40c. Apparently thats no good and is the likely cause of my problems.
To keep the water temp to around 36c i need to have my fans running at about 1000rpm which is actually quite noisy sitting around one metre from the PC. Noise wise it isn't really much better than that of a GPU with a good air cooler.
This loop has turned in to massive, expensive disappointment and i dont think I really have the enthusiasm any more to try and find out how to improve it. I certainly dont have the funds for it anymore.
I'm considering breaking my loop down, selling it off and going back to air cooling. I was under the impression that anything under 50c for water temp is OK and for the 12 months i've been running this loop my water temp when gaming has been around 40c. Apparently thats no good and is the likely cause of my problems.
To keep the water temp to around 36c i need to have my fans running at about 1000rpm which is actually quite noisy sitting around one metre from the PC. Noise wise it isn't really much better than that of a GPU with a good air cooler.
This loop has turned in to massive, expensive disappointment and i dont think I really have the enthusiasm any more to try and find out how to improve it. I certainly dont have the funds for it anymore.
FWIW I don't consider 40C high. Especially during the summer.
I also disagree completely the water cooling components are only rated for 38C, I don't believe that at all.
The thing about water cooling is it isn't easy or simple, otherwise all machines would have custom loops. It's not for the faint of heart!
My honest opinion is a clean down and rebuild with Mayhem's XT1 nuke would fix your issue.
Cost is the reason I buy almost everything second hand.
The thing is though, most of it lasts forever. Don't lose hope mate!
I also disagree completely the water cooling components are only rated for 38C, I don't believe that at all.
The thing about water cooling is it isn't easy or simple, otherwise all machines would have custom loops. It's not for the faint of heart!
My honest opinion is a clean down and rebuild with Mayhem's XT1 nuke would fix your issue.
Cost is the reason I buy almost everything second hand.
The thing is though, most of it lasts forever. Don't lose hope mate!
Soldato
All down to the radiators and amibient temps.... don't forget mate, if the room the PC is in is say for example 30C which is hot, then the loop on full chat is gonna be around 35-37C, it's just natural physics... however with more radiators, this temp can be brought down to closer to ambient. Now, if your loop was hitting 40C in a 20C room, then I'd be worried as for me, the cooling and radiators aren't expelling enough heat... so, mine for example if folding right now, 24/7 on a 5700XT which run HOT! The ambient in the room is 24.4C and the loop water temp is 30.2C... however tonight I'm puttinfg an additional 360mm radiator on the rear and seeing if I can bring that down another 3C which is the target, hopefully it'll help.According to an email from Mayhems...
I'm considering breaking my loop down, selling it off and going back to air cooling. I was under the impression that anything under 50c for water temp is OK and for the 12 months i've been running this loop my water temp when gaming has been around 40c. Apparently thats no good and is the likely cause of my problems.
To keep the water temp to around 36c i need to have my fans running at about 1000rpm which is actually quite noisy sitting around one metre from the PC. Noise wise it isn't really much better than that of a GPU with a good air cooler.
This loop has turned in to massive, expensive disappointment and i dont think I really have the enthusiasm any more to try and find out how to improve it. I certainly dont have the funds for it anymore.
There's so many variables, but it's a shame if you do break it up, this is my first water cooling loop and the temps compared to air are amazing... so much lower especially on the gear i'm running which is one of the hittest GPU's going at 80C/100C plus on hot spots normall, they're all down 20C and th Xeon is a belter as it's old tech running 64% overclock from 3.0ghz to 4.6ghz on all cores... there's a lot to cool there and with the warm weather lately... you can tell in the temps, but it's all related to ambient temps... and I'm running 7x120mm fans silently, can barely hear anything.
This is very true. I have a 360mm and 240mm GTS. My runs are short, my res is small. I don't have much liquid mass, so it's capacity to absorb heat and maintain a low temperature is compromised. I'm upgrading to a large setup, bigger res, extra full fat 360 radiator, and I expect water and component temps to drop.
Another big impact is how well your system transfers heat to your blocks. A well seated cpu and gpu cooler, with a good thermal paste and delidded CPU will transfer heat much more effectively, combined this with a low mass of water and hotter envireonment, and 40C is not that high. I don't agree that components are rater for 38c, I've never seen that anywhere.
The other thing to remember is that's really not a lot of algae / green stuff. It's tube walls and o-rings by the looks of things.
Please don't lose hope, just do the following:
- Clean components with soap and water, thoroughly wash with distilled water
- Full Blitz Clean
- Thorough flush with water, then distilled water
- Rebuild with new tubes
- Use XT1 Nuke CKEAR with a higher concentration, with distilled water. (I use as much as 30-40%)
Remember, you haven't got a big problem, you've got a bit of green. Almost EVERYONE has a loop issue of some sort, and yours is by no means disasterous. With a custom loop, you will NEVER have a quieter system with such excellent component temps.
Mayhems make great products with good customer service, but I've seen them tell white lies to hide the misgivings in their own products before.
Keep going mate, we're here to help. WC is a hobby, it has it's challenges, but great communities make it so much better.
@pugheaven @WantoN
Thanks for the comments guys, i really appreciate it.
The problem is that my room actually remains quite cool, i dont have anything to actually measure the ambient temp but right now i'd be chilly if i was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Meanwhile my water temp is 28c with the system at idle and fans at 500rpm.
When i start gaming water temp will be around 35-37c with fans at 1000rpm which has to be at least 10c above ambient but more likely 15c or so.. My component temps are OK i guess but not great, my 5820k maxed out at 52c and my Vega 64 at 44c.
I've wondered if my fans are up to the job but they're Corsair ML120's which most people speak highly of. I dont know if its a flow issue because i dont have a flow sensor.
I just dont really know how troubleshoot a water loop.
Thanks for the comments guys, i really appreciate it.
The problem is that my room actually remains quite cool, i dont have anything to actually measure the ambient temp but right now i'd be chilly if i was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Meanwhile my water temp is 28c with the system at idle and fans at 500rpm.
When i start gaming water temp will be around 35-37c with fans at 1000rpm which has to be at least 10c above ambient but more likely 15c or so.. My component temps are OK i guess but not great, my 5820k maxed out at 52c and my Vega 64 at 44c.
I've wondered if my fans are up to the job but they're Corsair ML120's which most people speak highly of. I dont know if its a flow issue because i dont have a flow sensor.
I just dont really know how troubleshoot a water loop.
Man of Honour
I agree with the others and would go so far as to say that stating that most water cooling components are only rated to a water temps of 38 degrees C is pure BS. The majority of tubing is rated to 50-60 degrees C and that's probably the weakest link in a loop although I wouldn't recommend hitting 50-60 degrees C with your water. I have no idea what is causing your problem though. I use a mix of hardline and Mayhems tubing with Mayhems X1 red premix and I reckon the coolant is a year old now and everything looks as clear as it did the day I put it in. Flow doesn't seem to have a big effect on temps from my testing with my D5's so I wouldn't go worrying about not having a flow sensor. I would recommend you get a cheap room thermometer to give you a idea of ambient. It needen't be expensive, something like this will do fine and you can go even cheaper if you want. I have one I picked up in Lidl for less than a fiver that tells me the temp of the room plus it has a sensor for outside temp as well which is important to me as I use outside air through my rads. It even has a clock!!
How much radiator space? For low speed fans your temps are fine imo. ML120s are grand, I use some.
I recommend EKWB ZMT tubing; it's bulletproof.
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that's nonsense that components and tubing fail at 40c. whoever told you that need to have their senses check.
custom water cooling should provide you with the best cooling result compared to Air and AIO. for the same temperature on CPU and GPU it definitely gives lower noise due to low speed fans running on the rads. and with moderate fan speed you can get much much better cooling on an overclocked system.
from what you said the green stuff looks like algea. it is very simply to clear it. it just takes time not really much money. once you done it properly as others said, it is very stable and you can leave it for a very very long time. my corsair AIO has been in action for over 6 years. I think i might have bought it in 2012/2013...and it is still working flawlessly. your custom loop should be the same and can be the same.
as you said, you have invested a great deal in the loop, so it has been working for your but it needs a clean now and then you do it right then it is just a matter of leave and forget.
trust me when i say, if the thing isn't leaking and is stopping your computer from cooking itself then you are in a very good position as far as custom loop is concerned. lastly your temperatures are really good. 50c on loaded CPU is LOW and 44c on loaded GPU is pretty much as good as it gets. you got to remember the CPU and GPU combined is almost like a little kettle in terms of the wattage of heat they are giving out.
@pastymuncher @WantoN @pc-guy
Thanks again for the comments. As I mentioned earlier i cant really do anything about this at the moment as I dont really have the time and cant be without my main system what with lockdown and all.
Once things have returned to normal and I have some time i'll flush and clean the system and let you know how i get on. To answer your question, Wanton, my radiators are both 360mm with one being 60mm thick and the other 30mm.
Thanks again for the comments. As I mentioned earlier i cant really do anything about this at the moment as I dont really have the time and cant be without my main system what with lockdown and all.
Once things have returned to normal and I have some time i'll flush and clean the system and let you know how i get on. To answer your question, Wanton, my radiators are both 360mm with one being 60mm thick and the other 30mm.
That's quite a lot of capacity. Is the thick rad push/0ull, whats your flow rate like?
Soldato
Weird you mention flow rate as mine on minimum right now under load and putting it uup higher or on max really makes no difference in my particular rig, obviously everyone will be different on that but for me, I just slap on minimum now, less strain on the pumpso last longer is my theory hahaha
hwever yeah he has some cracking rads there, just checked my temps folding on my 5700XT right now, ambient in room is 20.4C and the water is 23.1C and the temps on the 5700Xt are 62C chip and 71C on hot spot...
I dont have a flow sensor but the pump RPM increases along with fan RPM. All 6 fans are pulling air in.