Questions on water cooling maintenance

[chrisk]

I have been doing some research on what I should be doing to maintain my two water cooling loops. I tend to find conflicting information.

• My rigs both fold 24/7 in a warm, dusty environment.
• Temps are as good now on both loops since they were installed last December.
• Fluid levels also look good.
• I use clear coolant in one rig, and distilled water/Dazmode protector in the other. No dyes.
• Rig 1: 360 rad, 655 pump, cpu block, two gpu blocks, and a res.
• Rig 2: 360 rad, 655 pump, cpu block, and a res (maybe a Fermi card to be added later....)

I have a little free time coming up next week, and could devote some time to maintenance if it made sense. From what I have read, and due to the performance of my loop right now, I don't think there is any pressing work to be done. The next block of time I will have for this will be this July.

Here are my questions:

1. Do I need to do any work to my loop now, or can it wait until this July?
2. What should I do to the loop? ie. Just flush the rad, or take the entire loop apart, and take the blocks apart too? How necessary is taking the blocks off the cards, and taking the block apart?
3. What will I need, and materials?
4. General tips to preserve my sanity and equipment?

Thanks!

Chris

[MarkOne]

what I do is to flush the coolant, put new one, make the pump work for 20 minutes, flush again an refill. the trick is to make it ofen , I do mine every 4 months, so I do not need to open the block, if you open a block , you have to replace the o ring, never use a oring twice .

[lowfat]

If the water still looks clear and you haven't noticed any increase in temps. Then I really wouldn't worry about it.

[Jackquelegs]

Just as you brought it up, my loop is starting to make a weird noise

[chrisk]

Water looks clear and temps seem fine. But I just looked and one of my pumps has separated from the case (was stuck on and looks like the sticker was not strong enough to hold it long-term). The 1/2in thick tubing is 'holding' it in place so some work will need to be done anyways.

I think there is Feser fluid in there now...can I just flush once-twice with distilled, and then replace with distilled and Dazmode protector? Is it typically a bad idea to mix a little bit of fluids together?

[gingerbee]

never use an O-ring twice what the hell are you talking about most o-rings are rated for years of use. never change an o-ring unless needed check it out every couple of years after the first check yes but replace it no do your cleaning once a year if every thing was done right there should be no sign of any algae anywhere i have done this for many years on many rigs. blow out your rads of dust that's it every 3 to 4 months.
and mount your pumps or use zip ties to hold it in place

edit Dust in your rad will affect temps first

[MarkOne]

Gingerber you do what you want , I anwser personnaly about what I'm doing , but O ring are rated for many years yes, but they get compress when you install them, so when you re use them they do not have the same shape, you can do what you want but I will not risk a water leak for few cents. O ring is like gasket, new one with every assembly with me.,............. A bottle a fezer one is only 12 $ ..( cheaper if you buy only the additive ) so I prefer spent $ 36 a year and have no problem at all.

[Jackquelegs]

Note to self: maintain loop more often

[gingerbee]

@markone if you leave your o-ring out for a couple of hours you will see that they go back to there original shape the rubber there made out of is design to do this. and
you said every 4 months not once a year like i said? and yes to each there own but changing something that for one you may not replace with the right kind after wards
and changing cooliant well that's a given
all o-rings are not the same ah? check the material O-ring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
i use to use maybe 100000 o-ring's a year i now what you can and can not do with them ( body art )
as always jmo. just a thought do you change the seal on your oil pan every oil change no why cause it's over kill.

[lowfat]

Originally Posted by Jackquelegs

Note to self: maintain loop more often

What are you using in the loop? I've been watercooling for 5-6 years now and have never had a block look like this. Hell I've never even had any growth in my loops.