Very warm water cooling loop during leak test.

[nije1x]

Hi there guys.

I've been running a leak test on my water cooling loop for 6 hours. There are no leaks so far but it is very warm. It's so warm that it would be incapable of cooling my AMD 9590 CPU. I'm using an 'Alphacool NexXxoS Cool Answer 120 D5/UT - Set' with a 'Magicool 1/4" Thread Inline Watercooling Filter'. The D5 pump is set to max speed (5/5).

The only thing receiving power is the pump itself and the PSU, of course, as it is a leak test. The loop is inside the case and is set up the way I would set it up when my PC is up an running.

The entire loop is very warm from the radiator to the reservoir. Are there any ideas of what could be causing this? Many thanks in advance.

 

[ahnilated]

What is the actual temp? Just saying it is very warm doesn't really help us.

 

[nije1x]

I'd say 45 - 50C. It's like someone is running hot tap water through it. My filter is the warmest part. You can't cool anything with that heat.

 

[makkem]

Hi
Could be low flow .
Is the filter clean and allowing unrestricted flow ?
is the pump running ? ,is the pump running fast enough ?,is the pump actually pumping ?.

 

[USAFRet]

I'd say 45 - 50C. It's like someone is running hot tap water through it. My filter is the warmest part. You can't cool anything with that heat.

"The only thing receiving power is the pump itself and the PSU"
Do you have fans blowing through the radiator?

That whole loop exists for one thing: to extract heat from the CPU. Left to its own devices, that CPU would quickly rise to 100C and beyond.
The rad fans blow air across the fins to remove heat before the liquid flows past the CPU face again.

 

[nije1x]

Hi
Could be low flow .
Is the filter clean and allowing unrestricted flow ?
is the pump running ? ,is the pump running fast enough ?,is the pump actually pumping ?.

Yes. Both the pump is pumping and the filter was cleaned before the leak test. The pump is set to max speed.

Is it possible for the filter to be on the wrong way round?

 

[nije1x]

I'd say 45 - 50C. It's like someone is running hot tap water through it. My filter is the warmest part. You can't cool anything with that heat.

"The only thing receiving power is the pump itself and the PSU"
Do you have fans blowing through the radiator?

That whole loop exists for one thing: to extract heat from the CPU. Left to its own devices, that CPU would quickly rise to 100C and beyond.
The rad fans blow air across the fins to remove heat before the liquid flows past the CPU face again.

The motherboard has no power so the CPU wouldn't. That's why I removed the GPU and RAM before the leak test. I'm just testing the loop with minimal risks.

 

[unksol]

Are you running a fan or not? A pump is going to generate heat. No fans and running for 6 hours the heats going to build up.

 

[ShadyHamster]

Are you running a fan or not? A pump is going to generate heat. No fans and running for 6 hours the heats going to build up.

This.

If nothing else is running then the pump is what's causing the heat build up, remember the pump is also being cooled by the loop.

 

[USAFRet]

I'd say 45 - 50C. It's like someone is running hot tap water through it. My filter is the warmest part. You can't cool anything with that heat.

"The only thing receiving power is the pump itself and the PSU"
Do you have fans blowing through the radiator?

That whole loop exists for one thing: to extract heat from the CPU. Left to its own devices, that CPU would quickly rise to 100C and beyond.
The rad fans blow air across the fins to remove heat before the liquid flows past the CPU face again.

The motherboard has no power so the CPU wouldn't. That's why I removed the GPU and RAM before the leak test. I'm just testing the loop with minimal risks.

So you are literally just running liquid around? That is ONLY a leak test.
Has nothing to do with temperature.

 

[nije1x]

Are you running a fan or not? A pump is going to generate heat. No fans and running for 6 hours the heats going to build up.

This.

If nothing else is running then the pump is what's causing the heat build up, remember the pump is also being cooled by the loop.

I hope that is the case. I've only noticed this problem after installing the filter in a closed loop. Would anything else generate heat in my case?

 

[nije1x]

I'd say 45 - 50C. It's like someone is running hot tap water through it. My filter is the warmest part. You can't cool anything with that heat.

"The only thing receiving power is the pump itself and the PSU"
Do you have fans blowing through the radiator?

That whole loop exists for one thing: to extract heat from the CPU. Left to its own devices, that CPU would quickly rise to 100C and beyond.
The rad fans blow air across the fins to remove heat before the liquid flows past the CPU face again.

The motherboard has no power so the CPU wouldn't. That's why I removed the GPU and RAM before the leak test. I'm just testing the loop with minimal risks.

So you are literally just running liquid around? That is ONLY a leak test.
Has nothing to do with temperature.

In theory that is true but if the loop gets so warm when nothing else is on then there would be a chance that it wouldn't cool the desired components. And I did say that this was a leak test in the title of this thread. I just wasn't expecting a warm loop during a leak test.

From the other responses, it could be the pump that's generating the heat as it was running for 6 hours with no fans on.

 

[USAFRet]

Pumping water through a loop, with no airflow over the radiator fins....may well bring the temperature up.

Additionally, what is the ambient temp in the room? The temp of the liquid (how are you measuring this?) WILL be higher than the ambient temp in the room.
Run it for 6 hours, and the pump action will raise that temp simply from friction.

What you are doing is only a leak test. Has nothing to do with actually cooling anything.


This is not rocket science.
You push the liquid past the CPU face. Heat is transferred from the CPU, to the cooler face, into the liquid.
From there, it is pumped through the tube, into the radiator.
Heat is transferred from the tubes in the radiator into the rad fins.
The fans blow air across the fins, transferring that heat out into the room.

This is a concept that has been used for 1,000 years.

 

[nije1x]

Pumping water through a loop, with no airflow over the radiator fins....may well bring the temperature up.

Additionally, what is the ambient temp in the room? The temp of the liquid (how are you measuring this?) WILL be higher than the ambient temp in the room.
Run it for 6 hours, and the pump action will raise that temp simply from friction.

What you are doing is only a leak test. Has nothing to do with actually cooling anything.


This is not rocket science.
You push the liquid past the CPU face. Heat is transferred from the CPU, to the cooler face, into the liquid.
From there, it is pumped through the tube, into the radiator.
Heat is transferred from the tubes in the radiator into the rad fins.
The fans blow air across the fins, transferring that heat out into the room.

This is a concept that has been used for 1,000 years.

Trolls need not apply. I was just concerned that I was getting heat during a leak test. I know how water cooling works.

 

[nije1x]

Thanks for your help so far guys. I might turn down the speed of the pump during the leak test to see if that improves things.

If you have any other tips please let me know. This is my first water cooling loop so there may be some oversights.

 

[targetdan]

When you are done leak testing hook the radiator fans up to the psu if you can, then you can (crudely) test temps before you let the loop loose on your components.

Like others have said, I think you'll be fine with fans on.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks for your help so far guys. I might turn down the speed of the pump during the leak test to see if that improves things.

If you have any other tips please let me know. This is my first water cooling loop so there may be some oversights.

There is nothing to 'improve', until you have fans blowing across the radiator.

 

[nije1x]

When you are done leak testing hook the radiator fans up to the psu if you can, then you can (crudely) test temps before you let the loop loose on your components.

Like others have said, I think you'll be fine with fans on.

I thought about that but I may not have the right connectors. Cheers though.

 

[naturesninja]

He wasn't trolling, but apparently you are by purposely ignoring the obvious. You can't be downvoting people on here whose answer is the correct one.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The only troll I see in this thread is the OP. Honestly, I don't understand how you don't understand, what USAFRet and others are telling you. If you do not have fans running to cool your radiator fins and exchange the heat being created by the running pump, then of course the system is going to get and stay warm. The exchange of heat due to radiant dispersion by the radiator is never going to be enough to keep up with what is generated by the pump.

Also, if you've run it without any leaks for six hours, I think you can safely assume it doesn't have leaks. Might also be a good idea to stop downvoting people who are giving you accurate information.

 

[synphul]

As others mentioned, the pump will cause heat. That's what helps keep the pump cool, the cooling loop that it's a part of. The coolant will be no less than ambient room temps and without radiator fans connected to remove the heat generated by the pump it's not abnormal for there to be heat building up. Using a filter of any kind is going to restrict flow which places some additional stress on the pump. That too would likely cause heat to build.

Running a pump 'dry' or with air trapped in the system causing a dry pocket around the pump internally will cause it to burn up from lack of proper cooling. Without radiator fans running to actively cool it, you essentially have a large tub of heated water. The only real cooling capacity of a loop is the radiator but when the fans are operating. The rate at which heat can escape the radiator just by natural convection is pretty low. If the fans are mounted but not running they're now acting as an air blockage for whatever minute amount of convection would otherwise occur rather than an air source.

 

[targetdan]

To give you piece of mind, grab a house fan, run your system as it is now (ie leaktest) with the case open, and aim the fan so it blows air over your rad.

This should give you the confidence in your loop that I think you are wanting.

 

[1LiquidPC]

I wanted to add my input. It's likely the filter restriction, pump speed or combination of both. I've done 6-12hr leak tests with each of my pumps(mcp35x) and both together w/ no fans on either, just pumps and PSU on. Water never got hot, at most a bit higher than room temp. Also just to ask, why do you need the filter? If the components are cleanup up before install, it shouldn't really be necessary.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, there's that too. The restriction of the added filter is likely to increase the effort required by the pump (Which in turn will create more heat) and restrict flow through the loop to the point where even as compared to another setup without fans there is a reduction in heat transfer from the radiator to the ambient air.

The main issue though is going to be the fans although you might be looking at a reduction in life expectancy with that pump having to overcome filter resistance.

If you think about an automotive radiator in a similar light you'll realize it's the same principal. Vehicles with electric fans can adequately cool the engine to a certain point when the fan is not running, but eventually the heat generated by the engine, much like the heat generated by the pump, will overcome the capabilities of the radiator alone and will require either the fan to be engaged, or the system will begin to overheat.

Another thing to consider is that if there IS anything in your loop that requires filtration, it's not going to take long before the accumulated particulates caught in the filter even further reduce flow and increase the demand on effort from the pump.

 

[nije1x]

I wanted to add my input. It's likely the filter restriction, pump speed or combination of both. I've done 6-12hr leak tests with each of my pumps(mcp35x) and both together w/ no fans on either, just pumps and PSU on. Water never got hot, at most a bit higher than room temp. Also just to ask, why do you need the filter? If the components are cleanup up before install, it shouldn't really be necessary.

I've flushed my radiator several times and still seem to get fine bits in the loop. I'm using the filter to be on the safe side. Thanks for your input.