[SOLVED] Do I need to renew water cooling?

[yoji]

I bought overclocked water cooled PC 4 years ago - and never replaced "water" (it proper cooling fluid). So after 4 years.. do I need flush/replace?
My concern is that it does not have a nice draining solution - so I would have to take it apart.. and if I do - I dont know if that means tubes/seals need to be replaced, or if they should all be OK to reuse. Of course - once I break the seals.. I dont want to have to rush around if it does not reseal well etc.
Conversely - I dont want to just leave it - if it getting to point where it might spring a leak.
So what is the best option?
I think pump is a XSPC D5
Thanks in advance for sage wisdom/advice.
Cheers

 

[Newtonius]

The liquid used in AIO's is proplyene glycol or distilled water which have a shelf life of about 5 years, so I assume you're using a similar liquid base . Most likely your pump will fail before you'll ever need to replace the liquid inside. However depending on the liquid you could have gunking and clogging, you'll need to see other people's review on the liquid you're using to find out.

IF you've noticed your temps rising more than average lately, first try cleaning your radiator and system out from dust. If the temps are still higher than normal, try reapplying thermal paste to your CPU/GPU. Thermal paste change is recommended every 3 years or so.

If none of those brings temps down to normal (if you've noticed a temp rise) then you can work on changing your liquids. And IF THAT still doesn't work, then you have a dying pump and will have to either send it back if you have warranty or get a new pump entirely.

 

[yoji]

thanks,, I should have said.. temps are all absolutley fine.. I am seeing no rise..
And (just looking through window or reservoir and tubes) the liquid looks fine.. no discolouration and still seems very liquid.. and can see nothing to suggest it sludging in tubes etc. So superficially - it seems to be working fine.

 

[Newtonius]

thanks,, I should have said.. temps are all absolutley fine.. I am seeing no rise..
And (just looking through window or reservoir and tubes) the liquid looks fine.. no discolouration and still seems very liquid.. and can see nothing to suggest it sludging in tubes etc. So superficially - it seems to be working fine.

Then you have no need to replace the liquid. The only true worries over time with water cooling is clogging in the tubes and gunking in your CPU/GPU blocks. Oh and pump breaking. But as long as temps are normal for you I wouldn't worry about it until you see temps reaching unusual numbers, or after 5 years of use.