Tubeorientation on ThermoChill PA 120.3

[Durkadurka]

Putting up my loop for leaktesting, and I was wondering if it makes any difference what barb you use on the ThermoChill PA rads for in/out ?
It wasnt mentioned in the instructions ( http://www.thermochill.com/faq.html ), so I'm guessing it doesnt make any difference..

[Xilikon]

It doesn't make a difference indeed. Just try to setup so the outlet is higher than inlet (either up or flat for bleeding).

[Durkadurka]

I was thinking of using the Swiftech MicroRes for bleeding purposes.
Is it important then that this is the highest point of the loop, or can you still bleed it if the rad is sitting higher?
I dont want to put the case down, because then if there are leaks it will run down into the MB, instead of onto paper that I would place in the case if it stands up right.

[Xilikon]

Ok, if you don't want to put the case aside, then it doesn't matter at all if both barbs is at the same level.

[jonny_ftm]

I was thinking of using the Swiftech MicroRes for bleeding purposes.
Is it important then that this is the highest point of the loop, or can you still bleed it if the rad is sitting higher?

If the rad is higher, water, following gravity, would fill your microres which will be useless for bleeding. All air will trap in the PA120.3. Unless you put it with the bleeding screw upside, bleeding with mcres downside the loop will be a hassle

[CyberDruid]

I mount mine barbs down and use the bleeding screw: that's why it's there ;)

[coolmiester]

If the rad is higher, water, following gravity, would fill your microres which will be useless for bleeding. All air will trap in the PA120.3. Unless you put it with the bleeding screw upside, bleeding with mcres downside the loop will be a hassle


Does this mean a reservoir is useless to anyone with a top mounted radiator or just specifically with the Thermochill rad and Micro Res??

[Xilikon]

Not for me. Just put the case on the side and it will bleed fine because the microres is higher in that position. This is also why I made sure the outlet barb is higher when the case is on the side.

[jonny_ftm]

Does this mean a reservoir is useless to anyone with a top mounted radiator or just specifically with the Thermochill rad and Micro Res??

I don't have a huge expierience, but in practice, if the reservoir is low part, I can't see how you would bleed in the reservoir. Air will trap in the uper parts of the circuit.

many people will put the reservoir in the bottom once the bleeding done with the reservoir in top of circuit. But, even in those cases, if the reservoir is put too low after the bleeding, the air trapped in reservoir will move out of the barbs to the component above. That's why, a reservoir in the top is the best configuration. In your case, the PA120.3 is built for bleeding. So you can use it upside/down and you no longer need the reservoir to bleed.

[Waterlogged]

I don't have a huge expierience, but in practice, if the reservoir is low part, I can't see how you would bleed in the reservoir. Air will trap in the uper parts of the circuit.

many people will put the reservoir in the bottom once the bleeding done with the reservoir in top of circuit. But, even in those cases, if the reservoir is put too low after the bleeding, the air trapped in reservoir will move out of the barbs to the component above. That's why, a reservoir in the top is the best configuration. In your case, the PA120.3 is built for bleeding. So you can use it upside/down and you no longer need the reservoir to bleed.

Funny, I never had a problem bleeding/keeping air out of this loop. :shrug:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2641/img0016bh1.jpg

Maybe that's because air will rise in the res and not get sucked back into the loop.

[coolmiester]

In most cases the flow velocity in most systems is enough to dislodge any air trapped in a radiator or block for that matter (granted, sometimes with the help of a bit of a shake) as they are not designed to catch air, whereas a reservoir is by its design - lower outlet / higher inlet so the air is able to rise to the top and not pass back through the loop hence the name air trap and which is why Waterlogged's and some of my systems along with many others work just fine with the res below the rad.

[jonny_ftm]

I see. But if you open the reservoir top to fill it while it is on the bottom, you'll see the radiator feeding the res because of air pressure dropping and you'll have a hard time to fill it without all the water going on the mb and the res being over-filled

[eXa]

what do u mean? its a closed loop so all the water located above the res wont come rushing out as soon as u open the fillport on ur res.

[Xilikon]

Look at my worklog in sig and you will see that My reservoir is well below the radiators (both is on the top). Just put the case on the side to fill it easily and even if it's upright, it won't gush out of the reservoir due to air pressure and suction effect. To do this, you need to open the bleeding screw on the radiator to have a certain effect.

[Marci]

You need 2x points open in the loop before the system will floodback with a reservoir below the rad. IE: If reservoir is below rad, and cap is off reservoir, and you then open bleed screw on rad, water will gush out of the res. If you only open the res, and leave the bleed screw closed, water level will remain unchanged. Loop will run as normal.

[jonny_ftm]

You need 2x points open in the loop before the system will floodback with a reservoir below the rad. IE: If reservoir is below rad, and cap is off reservoir, and you then open bleed screw on rad, water will gush out of the res. If you only open the res, and leave the bleed screw closed, water level will remain unchanged. Loop will run as normal.

Are you sure?
On my MCR-220 + PA120.3 loop on a mcres, I forgot to close the cap. When I rised my PA120.3 (closed), I emptied my res on the motherboard, hard disks and optical drives. It was a real mess

[Xilikon]

Are you sure?
On my MCR-220 + PA120.3 loop on a mcres, I forgot to close the cap. When I rised my PA120.3 (closed), I emptied my res on the motherboard, hard disks and optical drives. It was a real mess

If this happened, it mean that you probably have a gap somewhere else in the loop (bleed screw not tightened, barb not tighened or tubing too loose in barb or even a leak from a component).

Think of the straw experiment : Put a straw in a glass filled with water then plug the top end and pull the straw off water. Water will not flow back and stay in the straw till you unplug the top. This is exactly what is happening with the loop.

[jonny_ftm]

I see, interesting, it'll permit me easier setup on my next loop modification if I'm not obliged to have the res in highest part.