Noob question about water cooling

[moocow]

After doing some research about the Barrow pump + radiator, it seems to be not a good idea as it seems impossible to service with it in the tower. Also, I seem to missed the boat on the Rajintek cooler since Newegg is sold out and may not restock (it's for 1080TI so they may not make it anymore). So I found Formulamod website and the price seem cheap enough but before I commit, I got some questions.

• Are the screw hole spacing on DDC pumps standardized? I want to mount the res on the bottom of my case where there is a 120 / 140 fan intake
• 
• 
• Do I have to buy plugs separately?
• Any recommended online shop?
• How exactly do I control the speed of the pump automatically? I'm just cooling the GPU and I know the header can control the fans but not sure how to hook up the pump so the GPU controls it
• Any difference in hose ID size and impact on performance? My gut say smaller ID means higher pressure?

I would like someone to review my parts list as well:

• Copper rad to match the EK water block (it's copper)
• Soft hose
• G 1/4 plugs and barbs
• 3 way T-splitter + ball valve for easy draining or just the ball valve if there is multiple outlets
• Res with pump + bracket
• Pressure tester and filling bottle
• Flushing agent + cleaning agent
• Distilled water + dye (so I can see the thing flushed not for looks)
• Spray bottle for leak test (water + dish soap)

 

[moocow]

Bump...post edited.

 

[gingerbee]

DDC pumps have standard-size bolts to my understanding, not sure what you mean by "buy plugs" Do you mean extra G1/4 plugs for the res, if so that would depend on the res if it comes with any, some of them do but I have never used barrow or byski before so can't tell ya.

for shopping it looks like you're using mostly Chinese stuff so its Amazon or for cheap with no real return option on Aliexpress/Banggood/Dhgate websites, I try to buy most of my water cooling gear here or Dazmode but some don't like Dazmode so up[ to you.

If your pump is PWM it can be controlled by the pump/AIO fan header on your motherboard which most come with nowadays, if its DC there is pretty much only on and off, some PWM pumps come with a dial to increase or decrease pump flow rate. this is just what I have seen which is all laing pump/DDC/D5 only pumps I have ever used.

Hose size makes such a little difference if pretty much impossible to measure, I like the thicker hose for the look but anything from 1/4-3/8-1/2 inch all work just fine.

The only thing I will point out is I have never used pressure testing/flushing agent/cleaning agent there pretty pointless IMHO and you know if there is a leak the easy way to find it is to build the loop outside of the case and cause you're using soft tube you can do this, I like to build it in place then use a jumper to get the 12V power to run the pump without power on the system hene finding a leak is easy the water comes out lol.

but for a first timer, it might be easy to install your rad then put the pump kinda where it will be then plumb everything up and pull it all out with it all connected and fill it well running it, I would suggest running the pump for at least 24 hrs to test for leaks it's what I do.

once you are sure its good to go put it all back in, but again you could also do this in the case with the pc off using a jumper, good luck you'll love water cooling and quickly discover why it's fun and yet a big pain in the ass lol.

All I have every used to flush/wash/fill my loops is distilled water, the dye can dye everything in your loop just a heads up

 

[moocow]

Hmm it sounds like I can get away with just flushing with distilled water and then use a mix of car coolant and distilled water instead. I'm reading the dye itself seem to be a problem with gunking up the loop as well.

As for the plugs, yes, I'm not sure if the res come with extra plugs but I could just email Formula Mod. Now another problem is that the holes seem to be all M4 while the fan screw holes are 7/32 inch. May need to see if there are any holes I can reuse on the side of the drive cage so I can use a L bracket instead.

Also, what's the feeling about Dazmode these days. IIRC, there were some issues with shipping or order fulfillment?

 

[gingerbee]

ya, I have heard others have had problems not sure what those problems were but I have ordered over the years and never had any problems with him, ya car coolant is something I did many years ago and it worked fine also you are right the dye's a lot of the time gunk up things depends on the dye brand and the color.

Also, I have only seen M4-7/32 screws used in most water cooling hardware, you are correct you can just use distilled water for most cleaning and filling

 

[Jokester]

I use Daz for many parts and have never had an issue. Always been good to me. Watercooling has always been a bit pricey and only gotten worse recently.

There is a discord for watercooling that is a great resource for bouncing questions off.

Discord - A New Way to Chat with Friends & Communities

Discord is the easiest way to communicate over voice, video, and text. Chat, hang out, and stay close with your friends and communities.

discord.gg

 

[gingerbee]

also if I didn't say asking around here can be a good source for loop parts at great prices, like right here good rads.

Want to Sell - Ducky x ONEofZERO, Watercooling radiators

Cleaning out some of my extra parts and will add more later. Ducky x ONEofZERO-Tealios Edition New in box $220 + shipping HWL Nemesis GTR 360mm satin white $80 + shipping acool ST30 cross flow 360mm $80 + shipping

hardwarecanucks.com

 

[ZZLEE]

Linus used water and prestone in his whole room water cooling back a few years ago it was a disaster. His loop grew algae. Prestone does not have a bio-side in it.

 

[Jokester]

I would recommend a proper coolant like Koolance or DP Ultra. Spending money on a custom loop and then cheaping out on coolant never made sense to me.

 

[moocow]

That's what I'm concern about as well. I'm getting conflicting info online regarding car anti-freeze. Thanks for pointing to Jokester's thread but I'm interested in a 240mm rad. Also trying to lower my price as much as possible and either Borrow or Bykski fit the bill. I'm not overclocking here, just need to cool a semi-free 1080TI with an EK block since no one got a FE / OEM cooler to sell me and seem like a waste to toss the EK block. Might follow up with another member here that said he has a Rajintek cooler but need to do some digging.