Question Any advice on how to drain my custom loop?

[Victel]

I'm upgrading my PC with a new motherboard, graphics card, ram and CPU. I'm keeping the reservoir, pump, radiators and fans as well as the case. I need advice on how to drain the loop with no drain valve. My PC is too large to lift, it's the 1000D corsair case. Which part of the loop should I open to drain? The reservoir has a tube long enough to put it on top of the case. Thanks. https://1drv.ms/i/c/11d41f98038ffb6c/ERoLx3nrd-pBqRh9I2H0yU0BTJ2O2tQA0r2DpYJJ_gDHHg?e=BA3lgk

 

[Eximo]

Can't seem to load up your picture. Try imgur.com for posting pictures.

Generally, lowest point away from any sensitive components, you will need a way to let the air in, so the reservoir should be cracked. I have used a normally mounted water cooled GPU before as the drain and that works relatively well, just surround the area with absorbent towels to make sure nothing can get to the PSU/Motherboard. If your reservoir sits below the GPU, as is proper, crack one of the tubes going to the reservoir to drain.

I can't imagine any desktop too heavy to lift. Mine is pretty dense, but still manageable. 1000D is large, but I don't imagine you have filled it up fully with hardware. If you have a whole bunch of hard drives, I would remove those as a precaution before draining and refilling anyway. Really only the components that are part of the loop should be in there when you put it back together and bleed the system and check for leaks.

 

[faalin]

Its all soft tube, just unscrew the CPU block from the motherboard and swing it out of the way.

You can also disconnect the fitting that is hanging by the PSU, which should drain out the cpu/top rad.

 

[Victel]

Can't seem to load up your picture. Try imgur.com for posting pictures.

Generally, lowest point away from any sensitive components, you will need a way to let the air in, so the reservoir should be cracked. I have used a normally mounted water cooled GPU before as the drain and that works relatively well, just surround the area with absorbent towels to make sure nothing can get to the PSU/Motherboard. If your reservoir sits below the GPU, as is proper, crack one of the tubes going to the reservoir to drain.

I can't imagine any desktop too heavy to lift. Mine is pretty dense, but still manageable. 1000D is large, but I don't imagine you have filled it up fully with hardware. If you have a whole bunch of hard drives, I would remove those as a precaution before draining and refilling anyway. Really only the components that are part of the loop should be in there when you put it back together and bleed the system and check for leaks.

https://imgur.com/a/BRylgW0

View: https://imgur.com/a/BRylgW0


I've done this before and I couldn't get it to drain all the liquid, it continued to make a mess for hours and I was never able to get it all out. As you'll see my case is completely full. Which part from my picture do you think I should open to drain it?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Which part from my picture do you think I should open to drain it?

You drain it at lowest point in the loop.
Front radiator will need to be flipped upside down(hoses connected at bottom).

 

[SkyNetRising]

BTW - what cpu requires two radiators to be cooled down?
I could understand - one radiator for cpu, other radiator for gpu. But this?

That cooling setup looks ridiculous.

 

[Victel]

Its all soft tube, just unscrew the CPU block from the motherboard and swing it out of the way.

You can also disconnect the fitting that is hanging by the PSU, which should drain out the cpu/top rad.

I can try but my motherboard has a massive waterblock on it.

You drain it at lowest point in the loop.
Front radiator will need to be flipped upside down(hoses connected at bottom).

Why flip the radiator? Where do I let air out, top radiator? Also do I use a vac to push the coolant out or a leak tester

 

[Victel]

BTW - what cpu requires two radiators to be cooled down?
I could understand - one radiator for cpu, other radiator for gpu. But this?

That cooling setup looks ridiculous.

I originally planned on cooling the 4090 as well but never did. What do you recommend?

 

[Eximo]

SkyNet has it right, but you need to also crack open other fittings to let the air in. That front radiator will basically remain full though, and is likely your source of problems for getting everything else to drain.

Start with that lower hanging hose, once it stops letting water out, disconnect that front radiator.

Certainly a good time to tidy this whole thing up.

Personally I would invest in new fittings and get a uniform soft tube throughout, add your drain.

 

[Victel]

SkyNet has it right, but you need to also crack open other fittings to let the air in. That front radiator will basically remain full though, and is likely your source of problems for getting everything else to drain.

Start with that lower hanging hose, once it stops letting water out, disconnect that front radiator.

Certainly a good time to tidy this whole thing up.

Personally I would invest in new fittings and get a uniform soft tube throughout, add your drain.

So should I flip the front radiator? Why new fittings and what do you mean uniform soft tubing? Where do you recommend I install the drain valve?

 

[Eximo]

That is proper with the tanks at the top for air to have a place to get to.

I have done the opposite though just so that I do have a drain at the bottom, I put a t-fitting and a ball valve on the radiator at the bottom. But that is also because I generally use top mounted reservoirs. My current config is also drainless, but I used one of Alphacool's res/pump/rad combos, and the layout just didn't allow for one cleanly.

Your pump is fairly close to the bottom, so a drain there would get most of it out. The front radiator would still have some fluid in it though.

Eisstation DC-LT Reservoir & DC-LT 2 Pump
The Eisstation reservoir is extremely compact and flexible in use due to a variety of mounting options. Three G1/4" connections allow uncomplicated integration into the water loop. The additional G3/8" connection facilitates the filling of the reservoir. The DC-LT 2 pump is installed in the bottom of the Eisstation and is not visible from the outside. Due to its design, the pump is extremely quiet without having to sacrifice performance.

Should have one extra connection to the pump body to use as a drain. You make sure the tubes don't drop below that point and it should relatively easy to drain.

Opinion:

To me it is just a messy loop. Extra long hoses, quick disconnects, and multiple hose types. If I am not mistaken the closer fitting on the top radiator is different from the others? Or perhaps stripped clean of paint? Three different Noctua fan types in there. Vertical mount GPU is generally to show case the interior, RGB memory has a tube going right over it. (That might not be avoidable with the extra thick radiator up top)

As others mentioned, you have a lot of radiator for just a mono-block. You could get away with removing the front radiator entirely if you wanted.

A functional set up, but you are putting some extra burden on the pump with the extra tubing.

 

[Victel]

That is proper with the tanks at the top for air to have a place to get to.

I have done the opposite though just so that I do have a drain at the bottom, I put a t-fitting and a ball valve on the radiator at the bottom. But that is also because I generally use top mounted reservoirs. My current config is also drainless, but I used one of Alphacool's res/pump/rad combos, and the layout just didn't allow for one cleanly.

Your pump is fairly close to the bottom, so a drain there would get most of it out. The front radiator would still have some fluid in it though.

Eisstation DC-LT Reservoir & DC-LT 2 Pump
The Eisstation reservoir is extremely compact and flexible in use due to a variety of mounting options. Three G1/4" connections allow uncomplicated integration into the water loop. The additional G3/8" connection facilitates the filling of the reservoir. The DC-LT 2 pump is installed in the bottom of the Eisstation and is not visible from the outside. Due to its design, the pump is extremely quiet without having to sacrifice performance.

Should have one extra connection to the pump body to use as a drain. You make sure the tubes don't drop below that point and it should relatively easy to drain.

Opinion:

To me it is just a messy loop. Extra long hoses, quick disconnects, and multiple hose types. If I am not mistaken the closer fitting on the top radiator is different from the others? Or perhaps stripped clean of paint? Three different Noctua fan types in there. Vertical mount GPU is generally to show case the interior, RGB memory has a tube going right over it. (That might not be avoidable with the extra thick radiator up top)

As others mentioned, you have a lot of radiator for just a mono-block. You could get away with removing the front radiator entirely if you wanted.

A functional set up, but you are putting some extra burden on the pump with the extra tubing.

I think that's a good idea to remove the second radiator, it's just not needed. The extra tubing was the result of the front radiator not allowing me to remove the tubes. The long tubes connected to the reservoir were so I can put the reservoir on the roof of my pc to fill it