Anybody have a liquid coolant leak in their PC and did it go well after regarding the cleanup?

[Doodski]

I have a liquid cooled PC that is running well and I'm curious if any peeps have had a coolant leak or water spill in the PC. Did it clean up well? What did you use to clean everything? How long did you let it sit to dry?

 

[RayDunzl]

What coolant is used?

 

[Doodski]

What coolant is used?

I imagine it's a glycol water mixture. Water being the best liquid thermal conductor when wetted with glycol. It's a sealed system. A Corsair H115i.
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...Performance-Liquid-CPU-Cooler/p/CW-9060027-WW

 

[Doodski]

If it ever gets low on fluid or leaks I'll cut the hoses and add a reservoir tank with a vent cap for refilling.

 

[Doodski]

Great article and it's right along the lines of what I was thinking. Valence ring electrons, ions and impurities leeched into the liquid coolant over time from the dissimilar metals used in the cooling system.

 

[RayDunzl]

Next time you're ready to throw away a working motherboard, wet it down and see what happens...

 

[Doodski]

Next time you're ready to throw away a working motherboard, wet it down and see what happens...

That's a great idea. I would rinse it with warm water then isopropyl alcohol and then methyl hydrate to absorb any water that is remaining. Methyl hydrate turns milky white when mixed with water so one can see if there is anything rinsed off from under ICs and inside stuff.

 

[dfuller]

Those coolers are very unlikely to leak; the most common failure mode is pump failure.

 

[abdo123]

Honestly watercooling is the snake oil of the PC world.

or rather the vinyls of the PC world. Its performance is mediocre, requires maintenance and system failure chances are off the roof.

the only thing you get with them is aesthetics, a custom water loop will perform better than air cooling. But an AIO is just not good enough, it’s just aesthetics.

 

[Doodski]

Honestly watercooling is the snake oil of the PC world.

or rather the vinyls of the PC world. Its performance is mediocre, requires maintenance and system failure chances are off the roof.

the only thing you get with them is aesthetics, a custom water loop will perform better than air cooling. But an AIO is just not good enough, it’s just aesthetics.

Hmmz. All the reviews with CPU overclocking that I checked out had the Corsair H115i water cooling placed ~4C to ~6C less than a performance Noctua air cooler. I paid CDN $152.00 including taxes and the Noctua was CDN ~$130 including taxes and so I bought the Corsair H115i water cooler. It fit like a glove and is very quiet on regular speed without boosting the fan speed and I got a 5GHz overclock by barely bumping up the core voltage. I also clamshell mounted the radiator between 2- 200mm case fans that where supplied with the Thermaltake case and the 2 Corsair 140mm fans. I've read reviews of clamshell mounting and they all had about another 3-4C cooler temps. So all in all I figured I was getting superior cooling at about the same price with a 5 year warranty. I hope it doesn't fail and I'm very happy with the overclock.

 

[win]

Honestly watercooling is the snake oil of the PC world.

or rather the vinyls of the PC world. Its performance is mediocre, requires maintenance and system failure chances are off the roof.

the only thing you get with them is aesthetics, a custom water loop will perform better than air cooling. But an AIO is just not good enough, it’s just aesthetics.

not trying to be rude but this is really, really bad advice

watercooling AIO's are amazing, and amazingly reliable. They virtually never leak, and most brands offer system guarantees if one leaks due to faulty design or materials, which, again, virtually never happens. Some air coolers get close, but never approach AIO performance. And if they are close, they will have a massive heatsink that will require a big case for. And, of course, will be way louder.

Their performance is pretty much identical to a custom loop, especially if only talking about the CPU.

To the OP: don't worry about leaking. It won't happen. If you win the lottery and it does happen (it won't), Corsair or whomever will help you out. I've had countless AIOs over the years, and they are so cheap now that after 5 years you just buy a new one if you're worried.

also, most of these AIOs have a copper waterblock and an aluminum radiator. That means they definitely have some glycol coolant and other anti-corrosives.

 

[abdo123]

not trying to be rude but this is really, really bad advice

watercooling AIO's are amazing, and amazingly reliable. They virtually never leak, and most brands offer system guarantees if one leaks due to faulty design or materials, which, again, virtually never happens. Some air coolers get close, but never approach AIO performance. And if they are close, they will have a massive heatsink that will require a big case for. And, of course, will be way louder.

Their performance is pretty much identical to a custom loop, especially if only talking about the CPU.

To the OP: don't worry about leaking. It won't happen. If you win the lottery and it does happen (it won't), Corsair or whomever will help you out. I've had countless AIOs over the years, and they are so cheap now that after 5 years you just buy a new one if you're worried.

also, most of these AIOs have a copper waterblock and an aluminum radiator. That means they definitely have some glycol coolant and other anti-corrosives.

If you watched the video you will realize they’re hotter, louder and more expensive.

Like i said it’s about aesthetics, they look better than a giant heatsink.

 

[q3cpma]

If you watched the video you will realize they’re hotter, louder and more expensive.

Like i said it’s about aesthetics, they look better than a giant heatsink.

That's bull, mate. What's true is that they're not as quiet and that the temperature gains aren't that big compared to very big air coolers (e.g. Thermalright (Grand) Macho/Silver Arrow, Scythe Ninja 5, Noctua NH-D15, Phanteks PH-TC14PE). See this lineup from https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/ek-aio-elite-360-d-rgb-review,1.html (most recent review):

or https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3596-ek-aio-drgb-360-240-review-liquid-coolers (better as this is on a CPU with soldered IHS):

tl;dr you gain a good 3-7° between the best air and water cooler. Not easy to compare exactly, as there's a difference between OC/non OC, soldered or Intel paste IHS and convex/flat/concave IHS/base mating.

 

[Chromatischism]

Water gives a much larger thermal reservoir which provides temperature consistency. The best water is better than the best air.

However, the best air coolers are good for 99% of systems, especially non-overclocked.

I own and like both for different reasons.

 

[bravomail]

If you need a lot of cooling capacity - Noctua DH-15 air cooler will deliver. Plus it is 100% safe - no leaks!
It has downsides - not compatible with all cases - it's very tall.
But then again - not many cases are compatible with watercooling radiators either.
Watercooler are little more expesive - though u can get Arctic Freezer for around $100, Noctua is ~ $90.
So decide - peace of mind and cheaper, or catastrophic system failure, loss of thousands, and more expensive?

 

[samsa]

The old "cheese grater" G4 Macintosh Pro was liquid-cooled. The coolant line was directly above the power supply. When it sprung a leak, the results were ... spectacular.

 

[Forman]

My HTPC had a massive leak after running tap water in a loop with copper and Al mixed for 3-4 years. When the circulation stopped the already way too soft tubes came loose from the cpu-block as the high temp made the silicon tubes even less compatible with the push lock fittings.

I knowingly did everything wrong, but still it ran fine for years before failing due to galvanic corrosion. After drying up the motherboard, HDDs etc was still working.
When I was a competitive overclocker back in the day I had several motherboards shut down lots of times because of water in slots and circuits. Condensation is a bitch when using single stage phase change cooling. But nothing ever died because of it. The volt mods however.....

 

[nerdstrike]

I have been water cooled since the release of the "reserator" back in... 2004-ish? My various setups have been great for noise control with ever growing wattages.

I've never had a big leak, but I did make some mess when unplumbing the setup. Some drips on the back of the gpu, a little onto the power supply... I soaked it up immediately, let things be for a day, the machine was fine. My wife's apple keyboard was immediately killed by a few drops of tea on the other hand.

 

[Berwhale]

have been water cooled since the release of the "reserator" back in... 2004-ish?

Yepp Here's one keeping my 2.4Ghz P4 (clocked at 4Ghz) and a Radeon 9800 Pro cool in 2004...

I run a Corsair Hydro H60 in my current PC. I can't be bothered with custom loops and OC'ing anymore. I still have a box full of Eheim pumps, blocks and tubes somewhere in the garage.

 

[Chromatischism]

My HTPC had a massive leak after running tap water in a loop with copper and Al mixed for 3-4 years. When the circulation stopped the already way too soft tubes came loose from the cpu-block as the high temp made the silicon tubes even less compatible with the push lock fittings.

I knowingly did everything wrong, but still it ran fine for years before failing due to galvanic corrosion. After drying up the motherboard, HDDs etc was still working.
When I was a competitive overclocker back in the day I had several motherboards shut down lots of times because of water in slots and circuits. Condensation is a bitch when using single stage phase change cooling. But nothing ever died because of it. The volt mods however.....

Were you on Xtremesystems?