Question Draining & flushing a small form factor waterloop

[insorior]

Hi guys !


I'm starting a new challenge : building my 1st custom waterloop from scratch using hard tubing in a "small form factor" case : Phanteks P350X. Did I tell you that I like challenge ?

As long as I have not much space, I went on a Phanteks glacier R160 Reservoir which is screwed directly to your fans, has a back radiator (mabe not that useful) and main advantage to me : you can mount a DDC pump directly to its back so that it's unseen and won't take much space.

OK so I did a sketch of how i think i'll do it. For more convenience, I labeled each end with a letter (See attached pictures https://postimg.cc/gallery/1t3sql37e/ )


My beginner problem is I totally forgot to put a flush point to my loop... and as it is a hard tubing loop i can't just unplug it take the tube out and voilà !

So. My question is : Where and how (what kind of parts) should I use for flushing & draining purpose ?

There are some elements to take into consideration :

• I may HAVE to position my rad ports downside like on the drawing for space matters but I also MIGHT not have to do it as long as I didn't try yet. So I decided to turn it down on my first sketch as you can see.
• The reservoir has a drain port, but as you can see it should not be the lowest point on my loop so as far as I've read it won't suit. Any thoughts ? Should I lower the res and use this slot as a draining point (it would still be above rad fittings)? http://www.phanteks.com/assets/manuals/PH-R160-R220-manual.pdf
• I initially thought I would just put a T between points A and C as it may be the lowest point but 1) Got not much space 2) it's not linked directly to the pump 3) it's at the same height as the rad fittings so water may remain.

And parts I'll use :

• Res is a Phanteks R160
• Rad is a EK 280 SE rad
• 13-16mm hard tubing

Again, I'm an absolute beginner to custom waterloops, I've read a lot about all this but couldn't find solutions that match my case. Any help will be welcome ! I'm also open to redesigning the loop a little bit.
Thank you very much !

i saw the second picture at thermaltake website. Would it work if added a tube from drain output (reservoir, point G) running to the lowest point with a drain valve ? I’m not sure that it would be enough to drain the lowest tubes ?

 

[Karadjgne]

Most gpu blocks I've seen have entry ports down-up, so that might change the way the bottom lines are run and give you a low tube to add a drain.

 

[superninja12]

Hey man its good for you you like a challenge.... but try to use a "kit" for your first custom loop.
You can modify enough later on....

its quite a challenger to install that in your case: https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/

 

[insorior]

Most gpu blocks I've seen have entry ports down-up, so that might change the way the bottom lines are run and give you a low tube to add a drain.

That’s definitely a great idea if I can manage to put the radiator in/out puts on the upper-side ! I didn’t even think about it thanks !

I uploaded an alternative sketch : https://postimg.cc/9wC6B3s5

I may go with a 4-way adaptor in the bottom left corner with a draining valve. I may have to tilt the case a few degrees in order to drain it totally. Any thoughts ?


I remain open to other ideas

 

[insorior]

Hey man its good for you you like a challenge.... but try to use a "kit" for your first custom loop.
You can modify enough later on....

its quite a challenger to install that in your case: https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/

Thanks for the advice. I have seen some of them but I'm feeling very confident in building a custom one (I've followed engineering studies which included this kind of work plus a friend of mine who already built some loops will be helping with assembly)

Apart from this I find this loop configurator very easy to use especially to see the different rads & blocks options for my rig

 

[THEGEEKWORLD]

Thanks for the advice. I have seen some of them but I'm feeling very confident in building a custom one (I've followed engineering studies which included this kind of work plus a friend of mine who already built some loops will be helping with assembly)

Apart from this I find this loop configurator very easy to use especially to see the different rads & blocks options for my rig

 

[rubix_1011]

You can have a reservoir drain port be at the lowest point, you just don't necessarily want the reservoir to be able to draw in air. If you can manage that, you can place the reservoir anywhere you choose.

 

[insorior]

You can have a reservoir drain port be at the lowest point, you just don't necessarily want the reservoir to be able to draw in air. If you can manage that, you can place the reservoir anywhere you choose.

Thanks that quite interesting.

My only concern is that my GPU being quite large (2080ti triple fan) I think that i will have to keep my reservoir above it (it won’t fit below)

But that’s definitely something that I’ll keep in mind, thanks !

 

[rubix_1011]

I have a 2080 and they are rather lengthy, but I have a waterblock on mine so it isn't 3x width like it would be with the factory air cooling.

But yes, as long as you aren't drawing air into your loop, you can have your cooling components in any order you wish, provided you don't have any issues with restriction or poor flow.

 

[Karadjgne]

Keep bends to a minimum and when bending, a longer 90° is less restrictive to flow than a sharp 90°. (also easier to make, sharp 90's have a bad habit of kinking).
When buying hard-tube, buy extra. You will mess up. It's a guarantee. I've never met anyone who can bend pipe the first time, exact, every time. The pipe itself will bubble, crack, burn, kink at some point, no matter how good you are or how long you've been doing it. It's in the nature of the pipe to do so. So be prepared for plenty of failures, especially with multiple bends on 1 section.

Pay particular attention to cuts. Leading cause of leaks is the tiniest burr on the pipe edge not allowing a good seal.

Don't use force. If you have to, you did something wrong, somewhere, either a bend is too much, not enough, pipes too short..

I prefer hard pipe, I believe it just looks so much neater and cleaner but it takes a craftsman touch. Patience, understanding, tolerance. Any monkey can do soft tubing.

 

[rubix_1011]

My build is done using flexible tubing.

That makes me a monkey.

It also makes it easier to assemble/disassemble because you have a little more to work with in terms of tubing slack and fitment.

 

[Karadjgne]

Are you seriously gonna make me have to go to the store and get some banana's now?

Yes, there are definitely benefits from soft tube over hard tube. Or air and aio, or aio and fcl. Just one of those things you gotta weigh the pros/cons vrs results.

 

[Karadjgne]

Umm...
Not exactly sure about that.

 

[insorior]

I have a 2080 and they are rather lengthy, but I have a waterblock on mine so it isn't 3x width like it would be with the factory air cooling.

But yes, as long as you aren't drawing air into your loop, you can have your cooling components in any order you wish, provided you don't have any issues with restriction or poor flow.

I was rather meaning that it's long. It will leave me only 8cm between my fans and my GPU. Would have been ok with some high thin reservoir but I don't have enough NOR mountings which is why I picked the phanteks R160 which is small & screwed directly to the fans, but I'll have to put it above the GPU.

Keep bends to a minimum and when bending, a longer 90° is less restrictive to flow than a sharp 90°. (also easier to make, sharp 90's have a bad habit of kinking).
When buying hard-tube, buy extra. You will mess up. It's a guarantee. I've never met anyone who can bend pipe the first time, exact, every time. The pipe itself will bubble, crack, burn, kink at some point, no matter how good you are or how long you've been doing it. It's in the nature of the pipe to do so. So be prepared for plenty of failures, especially with multiple bends on 1 section.

Pay particular attention to cuts. Leading cause of leaks is the tiniest burr on the pipe edge not allowing a good seal.

Don't use force. If you have to, you did something wrong, somewhere, either a bend is too much, not enough, pipes too short..

I prefer hard pipe, I believe it just looks so much neater and cleaner but it takes a craftsman touch. Patience, understanding, tolerance. Any monkey can do soft tubing.

That's my opinion about hard tubing as well. I saw a lot of people complaining about having made common mistakes. That's an extra cost but I saw that some manufacturers sell tools that are designed to help you bending without damaging, at the right angles, softening the edges and cutting properly so I think I'll go with it.

My build is done using flexible tubing.

That makes me a monkey.

It also makes it easier to assemble/disassemble because you have a little more to work with in terms of tubing slack and fitment.

You're totally right ! I definitely think that it's easier to build, manage and maintain, often cheaper but I really feel like taking the challenge plus I really like how hard tubing looks. I owned an easy to ben hard tubing from alphacool. Hope this is going to help aswell