First of all, you need to be completely honest and be aware of what you have on hand. A liquid cooling system, whether AIO or customized, is a “living” unit, active by definition and subject to wear. It is sensitive to temperatures, their variations, dirt, micro evaporation, capillarity and of course failures of various components, so everything is complicated.
Why are there leaks in liquid cooling?
A very interesting subject to deal with and which in all cases are produced by the same causes, but not the same agents and forms. Here, we must logically differentiate between AIO and custom, because the components and the assembly, as well as the fluids used are not even at all similar.
In an AIO system, the manufacturer has designed each part to be accompanied by another in particular and therefore it is a much more reliable system from a technical point of view, but in practice it is not. Leaks in AIO systems continue to occur and the factors are still the same:
- Defective component.
- Capillarity and entry of micro dust.
- Bad assembly.
Whether we get a faulty nylon braided tube, a bad or pinched o-ring, the inner lining of the blocks and tubes is not adequate, or they have an error on the assembly line is in the plausible and is generally the most common failures. Obviously there are others that are problematic, like the 4 pole polarized pumps which end up not working and build up the internal pressure and literally burst a component, or for example tubes which get pinched due to bad positions and which generate the same effect described.
In custom liquid cooling, the factors are much higher, because logically we are talking about spare parts and custom assembly, which leads to a large number of possible problems:
- Poor fit of fittings.
- Oversized pump for the system.
- Excessive pressure on components with Plexi or acrylic.
- Off-center pump shafts.
- Pinched O-rings.
- Bad assembly or little force when tightening fittings, elbows or various extensions.
- Poorly designed and poorly executed system.
There we exclude supposedly poorly thought out component designs (there are many examples in the industry and unfortunately very recent), which in themselves make the leak irreparable and have to deal with the RMA.
How to avoid leaks in liquid cooling?
First of all, we are going to give some keys that we must be clear before we get to work. In an AIO there is nothing we can do because the system is precisely that All In One, that is, it comes pre-assembled as standard ready to run. The only thing we can do prospectively is to test the AIO out of the box and before mounting it with a threaded source and an external controller like Aquaero or similar, a re-bus with PWM and 3 pins would also be optimal.
What you will have to do is make it operate in its entire RPM range and if possible heat the cold plate of the block gradually up to a temperature of 50 degrees (a heating laser gun or a thermal probe is necessary for it. thermal control). So we will simulate the operation of the GPU or the CPU and we will allow time for the water to heat up and thus gain pressure in the system to see if there is a leak.
As it is an AIO if it had it then it would be necessary to speak about it with the store or the manufacturer in question. What about custom liquid cooling? Well, things get pretty complicated here, so we’ll try to go through the steps, but first we need to buy another component – the leak tester for liquid cooling. It will be vital for everything we have to do and it will be the only useful tool that will determine the viability of the whole system.
Check 1
The first step and verification is to do it component by component except in the tubes, whether they are flexible or rigid for obvious reasons. It is terribly complicated for a tube to be pinched, cracked or simply with micro cracks, a visual inspection with a good eye will suffice, but if you are wary then you will have to use a connector at each end where you will place the tester in one of them and in the other a socket.
The method for everything is the same and it’s really slow, very slow if you want to get it right. By saving the tubes as we say, what will have to be done is to carry out a control between 1 hour and 8 hours for each component of the system, whether it is blocks, radiators, tanks or tanks with pumps, as well as rotary extension fittings, duplicators, T’s or valves.
The pressure must be between 0.5 bar and 0.75 bar, where each of them must maintain the pressure without moving one iota of the mark where the introduction of air is stopped. As they say, time is of the essence and we recommend 0.75 bar of pressure because when cold we can be at around 0.4.
Check 2
Once we know that all the components are 100% waterproof, the first step arrives, which is none other than the assembly of the system in sections. For each section of pipe completed, the system must be closed at one end and pressure and leaks checked at the other. This is expandable as the circuit grows and it is crucial to catch bad mounts or errors in them without having a nice liquid party for the PC.
Check 3
It is the one that is done with the system mounted and logically without liquid. We assume that we have left a drain valve in the system, so this is where we will introduce the leak detector and after reaching 0.75 bar of pressure, the system should be left on standby for 24 hours.
If after this time the needle is still in place, perfect, then this is when it can be refilled without fear. After that and with the rags, towels or liquid collection system that we prefer, the PC still has to spend 24 hours circulating for its proper purge and of course, you have to be aware of every connection. You don’t need to be stress tested, at least the first 8 hours and as long as everything is going well.
After this time we can ask him to see how much heat the system is able to evacuate and how it behaves under pressure and thus we will avoid a leak in our liquid cooling.
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