Step by Step Water Cooling Tutorial(edited)

[oldmandingus]

ok,seeing as how alot of people dont understand water cooling(including me) here is a step by step tut.(slighty edited)


The basics of water cooling

Water cooling and air cooling has much more in common than what is generally thought, the big difference is of course that water cooling use water as cooling medium. It has many practical disadvantages, but the theoretical advantages weigh far heavier. In the air cooling article I went through two basic concepts, heat capacity and heat conductivity. We are going to compare these variables between air and water.

Water block, water pump

For air cooling you only need a heat sink and a fan, but when it comes to water cooling there are several parts required. First and foremost you something that transports the heat from the CPU to the water: a water block. The water block has the same function as the heat sink, and that is to be the connection between cooling medium and heat source.There are endless models of water blocks; the most important is how the inner construction is designed. As said before water is far better than air when it comes to conducting heat, but it is still a lousy conductor compared to aluminium or copper. This means that the water is only heated in the area closest to the water block, and therefore the water must circulate inside the block. There are several solutions on that problem, the most common being a labyrinth with some irregularities. There are more advanced solutions: Swiftec has a patented flowing chamber with a ribbed base for maximum water turbulence. Moreover the total area of contact between block and water should be as large as possible. There the classic labyrinth is a very good option, since the water has a long way to go through the water block.Usually there is only a water block on the CPU, but there is of course possibilities of extending the system to cool your graphics card and North Bridge as well as other sources of heat in you computer. Since the water is constantly in need of circulation there is the logical need of a pump. The pump is not a part you should spare your cash on. If it brakes there’s a risk that everything you cool might overheat. A high quality pump simply allows you to sleep better at night. When it comes to pumps there are many different kinds; the most important division is whether the pump is run saturated or dry. A satiable pump has only got one nipple (one exit). It sucks water from its surroundings, so it has to be placed in a water tank. The other type is the circulation pump that can be run dry. It has two nipples: one entry and one exit. Most often you can run your circulation pump saturated if you like, but it is usually better to run it dry. The pump has three factors that are important to look at: pump capacity (water flow), maximum lift and sound level. Of course one wants as high a pump capacity as possible, but the water flows in the pump specifications are at best exaggerated, and are specified when there is no flow resistance. As soon as you put a water block in the system or let the pump press water upwards then the flow will decrease radically. The measurement of maximum lift is a good way of checking the decrease in flow as flow resistance increase. Therefore a higher maximum lift is often better than a higher flow. Of course a higher flow gives better or in worst case equal cooling. The sensitivity of the system when looking at water flows depends a lot on which components you’ve got and how many heat sources you cool. The best way is most often to try and see. Not everyone has access to ranges of different pumps, but remember to try finding an even line. A bit too much flow is better than a bit too little, but with increased flow comes increased pressure and with increased pressure comes an increased risk of leakage. Moreover a more powerful pump generates more heat that heats the system, so it might be hard to decide which pump to actually choose.

The Radiator (Fitting them into your case could prove to be a problem.)

Time has come to take a look at the radiator, without it no watercooling system will work very well. The radiator cools the heated water. The goal is to keep the water as close to room temperature (air temperature) as possible. If you use a processor that produces a lot of heat or if you are using peltier it takes a fairely potent radiator to handle the job. There are, however, alternatives to the radiator. If you only use the computer for short periods at the time a large water reservoir will suffice. But then again, time becomes a limiting factor. The water constantly heats up and eventually you might reach unwanted temperatures. But with shorter sessions it's probably going to be enough. This time varies with the amount of water in the reservoir of course. Using say, a 500 litre reservoir, you could manage for long stretches of time but you probably don't want half a ton of water next to your computer. Another alternative to radiator is using a so called 'bongo cooler', we will bring this up in a comming article so stay tuned for that one. Just as it did when it comes to choosing pump there are a lot of different radiators to choose from. This poses the question, what should one think of when choosing radiator? This is a time to think things through. What's an acceptable sound level? Does it have to be inside the case or can it reside outside it? The need for airflow decreases with the size and efficiency of the radiator and less airflow means less noise from fans. If one should use a radiator that was really big and efficient you wouldn't need fans at all. To manage totally without fans could be hard if you have a system that develops a lot of heat (say approx. 150W+). Those who have these kinds of systems are probably hardened overclockers that use a substantially overclocked cpu and high voltages or maybe a peltier. Peltiers result in a lot of access heat to manage, another issue covered in a forthcoming article. These people probably didn't have low sound levels set as their top priority.Radiator, pipes with lamellae This type of radiator is the least effective of the two kinds we examine here (this is not said to indicate that the radiator seen here is in any way bad, it's to illustrate that the construction isn't the most effective). The later type (car radiator type) is more efficient that an ordinary radiator with pipes. They are also more expensive and not very easy to come by in Sweden if you want to buy from a computer/cooling store. But if you want an efficiant and adequately sized radiator for mounting inside the case it's worth both the money and the hassle. If you could consider some modifications and possibly have it outside the case finding one at your local car demolisher's shouldn't be a problem (with some luck you could find one not to big like an oilcooler). Alternatively you could buy a brand new car radiator but then the price gets much higher of course. For those who don't have maximum performance in mind a radiator with pipes will do just nicely. There are many at hand in different sizes and not to expensive. Make sure to check if the pipes have good contact with the lamellae before you buy one though.

Other components

Something vital is missing, namely the hose. Without hosing, moving the water amongst the components will be very difficult. The choice of hose is more important than you might think. A cheaper hose isn't as bendable as the more expensive alternatives but since the other parts aren't exactly free, spending lots of money on hose is something that you probably don't want to do. Hose made from PVC plastic is the cheapest alternative that you can use with a watercooled system, you can get that for approx. 15 to 30 kr/m (SEK). Next step is hose made from silicone, thats about 100 to 150 kr/m (SEK). Good silicone hose is avaliable at Overclockers. An alternative to silicone is tygon hosing. Tygon hose is not as bendable but it's more dense than a silicone hose. This means that the water will not evaporate through the hose, this is not a problem really no matter what type of hose you choose. Tygon hose is about as expensive as the silicone kind but it's much harder to come by.For the hose you need clamps. These are used to create extra pressure between the hose and the nibble, this reduces the risk of leakage. There are several kinds of clamps, plastic ones are often avaliable through computer stores. The plastic kind is gentler to the hose than one made from metal but they are a lot harder to open. The metal clamps are adjusted with a screw while the plastic ones are snapped together.There are a lot of other components you can ad to a watercooling system but none are vital to the essential function of the system. One good example is the tank. A tank makes it a lot easier to fill or empty the system of water and it's also a good spot for evening out pressure. If you get bacterial growth it could cause an overpressure and that's never good. Simply opening the tank would release redundant pressure. A tank slightly lowers the temperature if the system too since the water gets more contact with the air. Another thing you could do is to dye the water with uv-sensitive dye that when litt by a UV-CCFL produce a cool effect in the dark. And we have flow sensors that warn if waterflow stops and so on...


Water, Problems

Apart from all this you need water. Ordinary ionised water (drinking water) can be directly harmful to the system. If the water is hard calcium oxide can be formed in the radiator and the block, which diminishes the contact area and the performance. This can be set right by adding a little vinegar to the water (the key word is 'a little', a tablespoon per litre is enough). In addition, all different ions conducts electricity, and ionised water means that there is ions in it. If a leak would come up somewhere in the system it could short circuit the components, thus making a big damage to it. By using distilled water you bypass most of the problems, but even distilled water conducts a little electricity. This is due to the waters hydrolysis, H20 + H20 <=> H30+ + OH-. I've never experienced any leakage during all my crazy watercooling experiments, but the risk is always there so be sure to use distilled water. Distilled water, also known as battery water, can be found at your nearest gas station. The last thing you have to think about is that the components need to be compatible with eachother. You might think that all you have to do is buy everything needed, connect the stuff and then everything will be fine, but unfortunately that's not the truth. First of all there are different diameters of the tubes, 3/8" and 1/2" are the most common ones. It makes it easier if all components in the system have the same size of the fittings so you don't have to convert different thick tubes. Furthermore it's important that all blocks and the radiator are made of the same metal, a mixture is never good. This is due to different metals has different electric potentials, which means that a galvanic cell forms if you mix different metalls. If you have, as an example, an aluminium block and a copper radiator, the copper will dissolve gradually and the copper ions will travel to the aluminium block. There, copperions will become metallic copper and simultaneously dissolve some aluminium. In time this continues, more and more of the block will dissolve, and more and more copper will become an obstacle which prevents the water flow. There are anti-corrosion substances which can be solved in the water, but the best thing is always to use the same metal of the parts in the system.


Conclusion

Altought that water cooling is in no way as easy to handle as air cooling, it isn't as complicated as many expect it to be. Of course it does require a little more work to bring the case wherever you want, but the performance is a lot better. Water cooling is a good stage for the pretty experienced user who knows pretty much about hardware. Of course novices can use water cooling too, but there is a risk that the extra performance won't be used. Also to make a water cooling system is a fun project, and if nothing else, a good reason to spend a lot of money. A home made system has huge expansion possibilities, and is also a long term investment. If you buy a new graphic card you can almost always use the same water block as you did with the old card, so even if the price is high when you buy it, the system works for a long time without any performance loss, which makes it a really good investment.





Introduction to water cooling
Date: 2003-06-29
Category: Cooling
Manufacturer: -
Contact: -
Author: Martin Nordén
Translator: Linus Laurin


^smart man



ok,lengthly but it helps ALOT.sry nate if this post was...well bad,heh.If it is feel free to edit it out.

[Google]

[smith.p.sean]

Heh, nice post, where was that taken from? If you wrote it congrats, cause there is not a single error in it which is a big improvement from ur 2 in one sentence the other day But very very nice, i suggest this being a sticky!

[oldmandingus]

WILL YOU GET OFF MY BACK ABOUT MY SPELLING.TWEAK NEWS ISNT ENGLISH CLASS.



heh jk,thx,sticky it should.

[[KoG]^weaZel]

well it is about a year old and the basics are the same but there have been alot of improvements made to block technology as well as dedicated watercooling radiators. There are also companies that are going against the traditional thinking of "more flow=better cooling". They are using 1/4" ID tubing where as the old school uses 1/2" ID tubing. The basis of this is you have to have some "soak time" for the water to be able to absorb the heat and then take it away.

And there are a couple spelling errors in there

[JayDubya]

I don't think it should be a problem as long as he sited the author. It would be a problem if he made it appear that the info came from him. (I think anyway)

Nice info there. A must read for those new to watercooling.
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JayDubya aka JW Jay JD ^> ﺵ

[Silicon Skum]

Good read, but again yet another "how-to" mentioning de-ionised water.
De-ionised water is NOT going to make a difference, in fact it is actually one of the BEST *solvents* known. It will (and I'm not going into long explanations) attack ANY metal imediatly as it attempts to correct it's state to a stable one. It will pick up just as many ions from the system as you would find in tap water, OK it may not have as big a selection, but it *will* become ionised.

Save time and effort (and money), use tap water (leave in a bucket for 48 - 72Hrs to remove chlorine or bubble air through for 24Hrs) and add some corrosion inhibiter. If you are worried by leaks, don't be tempted to use deionised water as it will *be inonised* by the time a leak develops. Your computer will survive a fairly BAD leak, though you may have to clean the contacts of any connections or slots that become soaked, to remove any corrosion. If this is too scary then stay away from water cooling. Ther are OTHER options to water as a working fluid however, though these can become VERY expensive, depending on the level of electrical conductivity and corrosion levels you feel are needed.

3M make a clear liquid (VERY VERY expensive) that is completly *inert* it will not react and has an incredable thermal conductivity. I belive the liquid (sorry can't remember trade name off hand) is a form of Perfluorinated Polyether. If I remember right, it cost about $300 per Fluid Kilo.
Though for this price you get a liquid so safe you can submerge your T.V in a tank full and GET IN WITH IT!! I've SEEN this done, most impressive.

There are a number of other similar non hazardous inert liquids that have similar properties and thermal conduction almost as good as pure metal.

In the film "The Abyss" the rat is submerged in a liquid and could breath, same fluid used for the diving suit later in the film. this is an REAL chemical, a form of perfluorocarbon. There are many varients on this chemical, and some have very good thermal and electrical properties suitable for use in a cooling system.

However these are *Greenhouse gasses* and may be controlled in some states or countries (see Kyoto protocol). For a source of this chemical and a nice pic of a guy holding an electric light in a glass of liquid see : http://www.fluoros.co.uk/data/electric_electronic_apps.php

All in all, you could spend BIG money on chemicals, but as long as you are carefull and check things over once in a while, then common *FREE* tap water is your best bet.

SS <Yeah, I know a bit of chemistry! >

[[KoG]^weaZel]

the reason that it is good to use distilled water is that in some areas we have extremely hard water. The mineral build up that can occur when using tap water can impare the ability of the system to cool. Using tap water can also contribute to algae growth if you dont use the proper additives.

I have used both tap (just for a short period) and distilled water mixed with normal antifreeze. The distilled water keeps the tubing clear were as the tap water caused clouding in the tubing and waterblocks.
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"Barney is like the Michael Jackson of PBS." - James Tybeerious

[Silicon Skum]

[quote="[KoG]^weaZel"]the reason that it is good to use distilled water is that in some areas we have extremely hard water. The mineral build up that can occur when using tap water can impare the ability of the system to cool. Using tap water can also contribute to algae growth if you dont use the proper additives.

I have used both tap (just for a short period) and distilled water mixed with normal antifreeze. The distilled water keeps the tubing clear were as the tap water caused clouding in the tubing and waterblocks.[/quote

<sigh>
Ok, the mineral content is a fair comment, though you will probably find cheap bottled water (not mineral water or any of that fancey crap) just as effective and much cheaper than deionised water. As for the alge bloom or bacteria growth dont think that deionised water is inert or is sterile, when I was in the lab we used to take bets on which equiptment wash bottle would go green or cloudy first, and these were filled with deionised water made on site using both condensing and ion exchange resin which was then activated charchoal filtered (VERY pure). Once the water comes into contact with air it will become contaminated. you will still have to add something to kill off the microbes. A weak soloution of household bleach is effective enough. Besides you shouldn't have enough light to allow alge to grow, in most setups at least.

Infact you can even find a number of micro-organisms that will grow quite happily in pure concentrated bleach!

All in all, deionised water is not some magical liquid, it's just water. As for the cloudy tubing, it depends on what type of tubing you were using. Some materials are permiable to water, most cheap PVC tube falls into this catagory, the water will absorb into the PVC and cause it to become opaqe or discoloured.

Did you use antifreeze in both the tap water as well as in the deionised setup? Also did you use *exactly* the same concentrations?
This can effect the growth of micobes in the liquid.

Ok, if the microbe thing is the problem, then :
A) use a UV steriliser tube (used for ponds and the like) this will kill most things growing in the water.

B) use ion exchange resin (cheap) and this will keep the water deionised (well at least at a lower level than it would normally be). However you will have to remove the resin every few days to a week and soak it for a few hours in a salt sollution to "recharge" it. use dishwasher salt (they use exactly the same resin).

As I said before deionised water will NOT stay deionised as it is unbalanced and will activley attack ANY possible metal ions available. Even Stainless steel will be slowly disolved in this liquid. High purity water will also rapidly pick up other contaminates such as CO2 (carbon dioxide) which will affect the PH! (turning it acidic!) I can give a LONG explanation about Ionic interaction and why deionised water is considered corrosive / solvent, but I won't take up any more space than needed. Google it.

What I'm saying is you don't need deionised water. Yes it has a lower conductivity, but that will not last as the water will take up new ions increasing it's conductivity.
Water readily absorbs gases from the air and is a potent solvent (ultrapure water will dissolve glass, quartz, sapphire, all stainless steels, titanium, aluminum, etc.).

It's not some perfect liquid, it is NOT worth the cost, and if you think it is, then I have some rare earth element magnets to sell you as they will increase the fuel milage on your car

SS

[[TN] Nathan]

Is this written by the thread starter?

Or was it copied?
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[Silicon Skum]

I think he 'borrowed' it from this guy(s):
Quote:
Introduction to water cooling
Date: 2003-06-29
Category: Cooling
Manufacturer: -
Contact: -
Author: Martin Nordén
Translator: Linus Laurin


^smart man
end quote:

it's good, I just wish it was'nt another that belives in the wonders of the snake oil called "deionised water"

SS

[[KoG]^weaZel]

there is deionized and then there is distilled. I never said I used deionized. The distilled water I get is only 99 cents per gallon so the cost is not an issue.

And yes I used the same antifreeze in both types of water. I cant say that had the exact same content in the solution as I did not use precision measuring equipment. The tubing that I use is Tygon so there shouldnt be a problem there.

Whether you are watercooling your computer or adding water to your cars radiator or even battery (for those of you who still that type) you want to use a pure water. Mineral build up in any of these applications can defeat the purpose of it.
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I tweaked and it tweaked back! So I Tweaked some more!

"Barney is like the Michael Jackson of PBS." - James Tybeerious

[2old2care]

Not the hydro-cooling "guru's" you guys are. But I agree with weaz's distilled water thing cause at least in the US, you can but it at the grocery pretty cheap. And...I agree with SS on the ionizing of the water...yes it will "re-ionize" itself...but isn't the most important thing about the medium is that it is non-reactive. (ie. PH balanced, etc.) Distilled not only seems like a cheap solution, but it has "nothing" in it to potentially react with your additives or whatever.
_________________
.
Liquid-Cooled Q9450 and an EeePC
.

[Silicon Skum]

Distilled or deionised, the processes are diferent but the properties of the water are very much similar.

Yeah, I agree with using distilled water for the simple fact of it is "cleaner" i.e not as many salts or other additives (chlorine, fluride etc). I'm just warning people not to belive that it (distilled or deionised) is some kind of miracle water that will protect their comp in a water leak due to having a high(er) electrical resistance.

Yeah Weaze, I missed the Distilled part, I read deionised (dunno why) my bad!

I dunno what you have in your local water supply but you should'nt have got dramatically different results. only thing I could guess at (assuming it was the water that was cloudy and not the tubing) is that it was dissolved gasses in the tap water, had somthing like that myself. I left the water to stand for 48hrs and it de-gassed. Possibly some additive in the water reacted with somthing in the anitfreeze, either that or your drinking water may not be as sterile as it should. Anyhow as long as you got a working system, thats the main thing!

As for Batteries, yeah purified water is the way to go, you will ruin a battery with anything less.

And 2old, about the PH balance, this is where you gota watch pureified water, it is much harder to control PH as it will soak up gasses such as CO2 which will make the water slightly acidic. Also other chemicals present in tubing or plastics and metals will be more readly taken up by a purer water (especially where heat is present) as it is'nt allready carrying too much load (think of adding salt to a glass of water, only so much will dissolve in the water until it reaches it's saturation point, after that it just piles up on the bottom).

Although water has a very good (about the best of most common liquids) specific heat capacity, it is however not the best liquid in the world due to it's solvent nature. Still it's used all over as coolant, why? because we can put up with the faily minor problems or stick an additive in to dope the water. :)

I was'nt saying purified water is bad, only not to belive in all the hype about it's electrical properties. And also to warn those new to water cooling, of the risks of using a pure water where metal is present (I have an aluminium water block that was badly corroded in distilled water, hence I have first hand knowlege of both types of water cooling).

SS

[[KoG]^weaZel]

ok after many words we are on the same page!

Yes the electrical properties I agree with completely. The water itself may not conduct readily but the additives would. So it makes the waters properties a moot point.

The metals will react with each other, aluminum and copper. But would silver and copper have problems in the same system? As of right now I have two copper blocks and then the video card WB is anodized aluminum. I have been thinking about getting a silver DangerDen TDX cpu block.

The clouding is on the tubing as it didnt go away when I tried to clean a section of tubing. So I just replaced it all.
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I tweaked and it tweaked back! So I Tweaked some more!

"Barney is like the Michael Jackson of PBS." - James Tybeerious

[Silicon Skum]

Any two dissimilar metals in an electrolic substance will react (it's a battery!)

so yeah, you would get just as much reaction as you do now, silver also oxidises quite quickly, it should only turn black though, the oxide is usually only a thin layer. been looking into the pure silver water block myself. Should be able to get a block of jewellers silver quite cheap. I was thinking about getting a block made up to my specs, lots of internal fins and a cover plate that can be removed for inspection screwed to the top.

Had an idea a while back, about a silver block, a solid block bored out with a center section of stacked fins, side fed so water swirls around the center fins. should also help remove any air that may get traped in the block. it would look like a round bore with a center "tower" of stacked thin flat disk shaped fins with spacers. The block would have a very large suface area, and water could flow freely around it as the fins would be in the same plane as the flow. best bit is that it would be easy to make as the silver is easy to work with and can be soldered using a silver solder. It would be Very efficient.

I would think that a jeweller should be able to make this up, so no large cost for a machine shop to make it. Should be easy to make as a DIY project, just get the block bored out for you (unless you got the tools or a VERY wide drill bit).

I would get the thing with the Hall marks stamped on (200 years later and the antiques experts are trying to work out what the hell it is ) plus that would have some bragging rights too.

SS

[JayDubya]

I am having fun watching this .

You both bring up some very valid points. Distilled water will result in better looking clear tubing whereas the tap water (i.e.- 'mineral filled' water) will conduct better thermally.

I must ask one thing . . . if the tap water begins to leave deposits, will this disrupt water flow and thermal transfer capabilities? I would personally use distilled water and engine coolant mixed 50/50. Maybe some isopropyl alcohol too to make sure bacteria and virii don't take over.
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JayDubya aka JW Jay JD ^> ﺵ

[Silicon Skum]

[[KoG]^weaZel]

Yes using too much antifreeze will inhibit the cooling ability of your system. In fact you get the best cooling just using water and water wetter. But the wetting agent doesnt have an anti-corrosive or anti-algae properties. That is the reason that I use the anti-freeze is for those purposes. It also lubricates the pump and keeps it quieter. I try to keep the concentration to about 10-15%. I think I am going to stop and get some wetting agent tonight on my way home and give that a go.

Just to give you guys a little preview of a project that is still on the drawing board. I am about to build a custom case with some excessive water cooling (and power) capabilities. To give a little taste of what it will have.
2-triple 120mm radiators
12- 120mm SilenX fans (for the radiators)
2- SilenX PSU's (1-600 watt and 1- 300watt)
all wooden case
custom built large reservoir
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I tweaked and it tweaked back! So I Tweaked some more!

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[JayDubya]

Thanks for the advice SS and Weaz

Can't wait to see that new setup bro
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JayDubya aka JW Jay JD ^> ﺵ

[[KoG]^weaZel]

ok I got some updated info on some water wetter. In fact the name of the stuff is WaterWetter by Red Line. It does have anti-corrosive properties.

here is a sheet with alot of info on antifreeze and the effects of it on waters ability to absorb heat.
http://www.redlineoil.com/whitePaper/17.pdf
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I tweaked and it tweaked back! So I Tweaked some more!

"Barney is like the Michael Jackson of PBS." - James Tybeerious