Ek open loop cooling

[Adriangrz]

Hi,
Looking at upgrading from aio to a ek open loop water cooling.
Just wondering if anyone has had much experience with these?
Assuming they are installed correctly how prone they are to leaks? And how much maintenance required for the system. Will be going for a simple 240mm radiator with just cpu cooling.
Any advice would be appreciated thanks

 

[lumineZ]

So you want to go for a custom water cooling loop

If you install them correct using the correct fittings and tighten them correct the chances for leaks are very very low.
But there are other factors that come into play like if you go for soft tubing or hard tubing.

If you go for hard tubing ( acrylic, PETG or glass ) and you dont want to hand bend the "bends" and want to use fittings, every fitting has a possibility to leak. ( again very very low )
Just try and make sure you use parts that is well known and has good remarks about them.

About maintenance its all down to how well you cleaned your radiators before you install them into your system. And yes they do come dirty from the shop most of the cases. Some brands are worse than others. So always clean the radiators before installing them. Period.
It also comes down to how you mix your metals. Copper, nickel plated copper and brass is good. Putting aluminium into that is very bad.

As you are a first timer I would advice you to buy premixed fluid from EK, mayhems, Aquacomputer, etc etc. And use that until you want to even mix your own fluid.
If you use plain clear premix there is less maintenance than using lets say a premix with the color red in it since that will stain your blocks, radiator, fittings and tubes. (exept from glass or even if it did stain its easy to clean off)
I swap fluid once a year and I always just use clear fluid without color and have no problems and never had for 8 years or so now.

But if you want to do yourself a favor do read up on custom water cooling. Its not dangerous even if many say it is.... But there is alot you should know.
And if you now first go for a small loop you more than likely will want to go bigger and there you should already know about flow, head pressure, pressure drop, etc etc.