discussion First WCing

[ChuckleBrother]

So I finally got the guts to start on my way into the dark world of liquid cooling, mostly because my friend forced my hand by starting the removal of the heatsink on my Ultra for me(what a guy!), so I got a bit done tonight, but am still unsure of some things.

Please pardon the mess, my room is kind of exploding atm with all these boxes of THINGS arriving.

The contents of my mystery box all lovingly laid out on my bed, next to some other pricey items, yay for spending!

I finished off the removal of the heatsink on my MSI 8800 Ultra, and I am not at all impressed with all this thermal crap:

More overkill:

And here she is, nekkid!

I applied some thermal paste(not much, should be good) and screwed on the block. I am really really hoping the block is tight enough without being too tight. I looked for warping and loosened any screws that seemed to cause it to distort. Heres hoping I did it right.

A note about this, when I move to an SLI configuration, which I hope to do soon, can I have one barb entering the back of the block and the other exiting the front? That way I can make a straight run from one block to the other....is that okay with this block?

Still not sure either about how tight these barbs should be, I tightened them by hand alone, and I'm no body builder, so I just did it until they didn't wanna give easily anymore(if I did it wrong, please for the love of god, let me know!).


And finally my res, ready to have the fans attached, still sitting in my case atm, laziness makes fools of us all.

More tomorrow morning when theres light again and my courage is bolstered enough for me to consider taking the next step and actually putting a liquid in the system.

P.S. How well do zipties work for helping to seal my tubing? I've hit up most of the hardware stores in the city and I can't find self-tightening clamps, theres a lighting and plumbing place on my way to work that I've not tried yet, but I'd not mind having a backup plan.

 

[biff]

A note about this, when I move to an SLI configuration, which I hope to do soon, can I have one barb entering the back of the block and the other exiting the front? That way I can make a straight run from one block to the other....is that okay with this block?

Yes. That's why they make them with the plugs opposite where you have the barbs now.

Still not sure either about how tight these barbs should be, I tightened them by hand alone, and I'm no body builder, so I just did it until they didn't wanna give easily anymore(if I did it wrong, please for the love of god, let me know!).

I'd use a wrench, but not too much. I don't think hand tight it tight enough to prevent leaks. You want the o-rings to be well compressed but not crushed.

More tomorrow morning when theres light again and my courage is bolstered enough for me to consider taking the next step and actually putting a liquid in the system.

A few pints at 2:00AM usually does wonders for my courage but hey what ever works for you.

P.S. How well do zipties work for helping to seal my tubing?

I used zipties throughout my system here and they work just fine. Just use a pair of pliers to pull on the tail while holding the ratchety thingy still to make sure they're good 'n' tight.

 

[ChuckleBrother]

Heh, I hate this "tight but not TOO tight", I end up pussyfooting around. Would it perhaps be a good idea to use that tape, teflon tape or whatever it is to help the seal be watertight?

Alright, so zitpies it is, thats good since I have a giant pack of them that I will likely never use(this case is a nightmare for cable management imo, or maybe I just suck at it).

Anyways, thanks for the info, and that is a damn nice rig you put together there, I considered the cosmos for this build, but I wasn't able to get one in as fast as the TJ09 could come in, I got quoted a 2+ week ETA for the Cosmos, too much for me to handle.

 

[biff]

LOL I know what you mean, very ambiguous advice. You get a lot more torque with a wrench than just doing it by hand so finger tip force is all you need. Pay attention to how the wrench "feels" at you're tightening and if you feel or hear anything that isn't smooth increase in resistance then stop immediately. Just snug is all you need.

No teflon tape if you have an o-ring.

Thanks for the compliment. I'm looking forward to seeing more pics of your build.

 

[3.0charlie]

Tye-wraps are fine, secure them the way biff said so.

Torquing... once you've done a few, you'll know how much torque to put on those barbs. But to help you with your first setup, do this: hand-tight (turn until your fingers slip), then use a wrench and add a half-turn to the barb. Do not torque to the point that the oring is crushed - that will be a definite leak.

But consider the following advice: add the liquid in the loop and do the 24 hours leak test outside the case, making sure that if a leak happens on the waterblock, it won't leak on the card.

 

[ChuckleBrother]

Thanks, thats actually what I'm doing as of now, since I dont have a wrench though, I am improvising with some needlenose pliers I have, lending stuff to friends isn't good if they are too lazy to give it back.


Anywho, I'm figuring on leaving them as I have now, hand tightened plus a bit like you said, then I will leak test it, I figure worst comes to worst, my towels get a bit wet and I tighten the barbs some more.

Now, I'm not sure how to run my loop, I know I need the res before the pump, but is it fine to run straight from the pump to my gpu-block? Or will that hurt the performance?



EDIT: I'm putting on my tubing now, and its not really all that easy to get them in. Is there anything I can do to make it easier?

 

[3.0charlie]

Typical loop: reservoir - pump - radiator - block - back to reservoir.

If it is difficult to install tubing, boil some water. Once done, remove from oven and simply drop the tubing end in the hot water for a few seconds, and wipe off the excess water. This will soften the tubing material, thus making it easier to slide onto the barb.

But be careful when doing so, since some water drops can be inside the tubing and drop on some component.

 

[ChuckleBrother]

The pump so far is the hardest thing to plug the tubing to, I'm almost tempted to worry that I may have needed to get some adapters. Pump is the Swiftech MCP655.

 

[3.0charlie]

Those barbs on that pump are the most difficult to install, since they are 7/16", not 1/2". Warm the end, and apply even, steady pressure straight down. No jerking on the barb. The tubing will go in.

 

[ChuckleBrother]

Work is troublesome, getting in the way of me finishing it up, never the less, I managed to get most of the loop down on saturday, then finished it up tonight. Its messy, very very messy, but I dont see any way I can make it even remotely neater(one of my barbs cant come out on the topside because my Elite blocks its way, tube kinking isn't cool). If you DO see a way, lemme know, I am aiming to be replacing the tubing sometime in the next month or so with tygon stuff, my buddy wanted to do some WCing, bought the tubing and decided hes a big pansy, score some cheap tubing for me!


Any constructive comments welcome, I wish I knew how I can improve the loop, also, I think I am going to replace my bay res with a microres, I am finding that filling will be a chore with this res.

TEH LOOP! Very messy

Edit: Decided to make a slight change to the methodology for this loop, due to the ridiculous amount of trouble I am having with the res(getting the goddamn thing highest in the loop is hard as hell, and the cap for it is not even close to watertight) I am gonna use a t-line, well not an actual tline, when I ordered they were flush out of them, so I'm using a y splitter that I have laying around, would that work as a suitable replacement?

Edit Again: if not, I got my loop filled and fixed a minor slow leak on the gpu block(it was forming a drop maybe every 4-6 seconds, tighened it and its fine now). The loops running with distilled water atm, it aside from a spill I made when filling the res, it seems to be fine, gonna let it run for the next...4.5 hours with me watching it, and if it still seems fine, overnight whilst I sleep. If thats still fine, it will run while I go to work(11-8 isn't fun to do, but it gives me monies). If I DO need to replace the resevoir, IS a y-line good enough? And if not, is there anything I should look for that won't impede my flow too much?