tell us your leak story

[DarthBeavis]

I wonder how many people have had them and what damage if any occurred. I know a douche elsewhere had one (Marne_Aeok) who may have lost HDDS and such. If you had a leak what was the cause?

[Jokester_wild]

I slightly punctured a PA120.3, when i tested it i found it. used some silicon to fix it... I thought.

Put it in and installed everything. Was finishing it quickly for a LAN party so showed up. got everything running played a few games, maybe four/five hours ? Then the waterfall was created! it leaked out on to the top of my gtx280 block and then down *waterfall* onto the middle of the case. It was pretty spectacular. believe it or not, nothing was damaged I turned the computer cheetah style fast off.

[sirheck]

My latest was using my SS phase to cool my loop, when the cold coolant hit the GPU block it leaked at the seal for the MCW60.
Shot coolant towards the mobo/PCIe slot.

I never replaced the seal or even re-tightened the gpu block, just ran the system then activated the phase
instead of activating the phase first.

Other leaks: My own fault.
Running with no clamps and muckin around inside both with the sys running/not running and usually end up pulling the NB hose off
or partially off only to see/hear coolant splashing on the mobo.

[Mabyboi]

I took the cpu cooler off of my i7, didnt realise there was still water in it... spilt on my bloodrage....

everything is fine :D just my own stupidity...

[bot@xs]

i had a failing seal in a NB cooler which dripped all over the vid and mobo. not pretty but not to serious either. all was good once dry.

on another occasion i had a 45 degree compression fitting springing a leak after i applied a little to much pressure to it

[dejanh]

Cheap Swiftech fittings on stack rads cut into the hose instead of gripping it causing leaks at the edge of the barb. No damage and nothing through fault of my own. Replaced with Bitspower stubby fittings since then and working fabulously.

[DarthBeavis]

so far I have yet to hear anyone say they had damage.

[Caoder]

leaked from a mcw 60 when it came a bit loose because of how the loop was setup.. nothing damaged but it was kinda nasty :/

Wait for the TT system stories xD?

[sirheck]

I have never killed anything from coolant damage.
I always dry with toilet paper or compressed air then fire it
back up 5 minutes later.

Use to soak the whole mobo with alcohol but im to
impatient for that anymore.

[Elusid]

Well I boiled my tubing a bit too much before I stretched it to fit over the top of my HK LS and when I was running my loop my screen went black... looked into my case and saw a *drip* *drip* *drip* from my HK directly onto the back of my GTX 285. I unplugged my comp, mopped it up, waited a bit, put a ziptie around it and haven't had any problems =)

[tool_462]

First time I put a loop together I leak tested without the block hooked up to the CPU socket so there was no twist in the tubing, hence no issue. After a few days, the twist in the tubing slowly straightened itself out and turned the barb enough to start a leak dribbling down the mobo onto my 7800GT. I heard it and shut it down quickly, dried everything off and it worked fine. As I'm refilling the loop, everything is going just fine (fixed the slight twist in the tubing) so I put the plug in the fillport, and as I'm putting the side panel back on (my custom oak case) I knock a paper clip through the top exhaust fan, it bounces around and settles on the back of my 7800GT, sparks fly, and the card goes poof.

[Equinediver]

Had various leaks and even floods when leak testing, but always dried up with no damage.

Also had pumps and fan controllers fail, although high temps no lasting damage.

[Asylum1]

I had a seal at the bottom of my res going bad and it started running down the tubing and dripping on my GTX285's.
Luckily i saw it shortly after and there was no damage.

[DarthBeavis]

leaked from a mcw 60 when it came a bit loose because of how the loop was setup.. nothing damaged but it was kinda nasty :/

Wait for the TT system stories xD?

I was going thru boxes in teh garage and found one of the broken TT tops, a TT resevoir flow indicator, and a koolance HDD pack

[Sly Fox]

No leaks as of yet.

I'm pretty OCD about it though, so I make sure that :banana::banana::banana::banana: is TIGHT! :rofl:

[DeanB]

I forgot a cap on a vid block once.. .does that count? :P

[Vapor]

Dean;4016550']I forgot a cap on a vid block once.. .does that count? :POnly if mine counts....I used fittings I knew didn't fit :p:

It was leaking before I even started leaktesting :lol:

[Zehnsucht]

No clamp on barb -> leak over motherboard. It was mounted horisontally and happened while I was at work. My motherboard fried but all the rest did survive.

[alacheesu]

Two leaks, both the result of tubing slowly twisting a barb open. Both were pretty severe, and one happened while I was sleeping. I woke up to the sound of a MCP355 running dry (not fun). The first leak mostly soaked my graphics card, and the second soaked my PSU. Neither resulted in any permanent damage. I run deionised water + biocide from a local pet store.

[ShaTTeR]

In my Starting days, I took all the water i could from the T point. And Then There was some water left in the radiator, I dint realize that and I pulled off the Bottom Pipe and We had a Great Water leak, Luckily I had my Res in The Custom Box i Created Only a Fan was Damaged :P

[AndrewZorn]

once i spilled the water all over everything, i was so mad. quickly cut the power and began cleaning it up. shortly after though i had finished bleeding the loop and began putting the computer together.

[PsYcHoNo0b727]

Had a small leak from the fitting of my XSPC Bay res. Was using Primochill ghost fittings and didn't tighten the clamps fully and when I looked at the computer through the window after letting it run for 2 hours or so, I saw on top of my optical drive was a puddle of blue liquid. Luckily I caught it quick enough that I shut it down, tightened the clamp and got everything cleaned up with no issues. Been OCD about clamps and tightening compression fittings ever since :D

[veedubfreak]

I put compressions on my GTZ and didnt crank them down hard enough and due to my own stupidity killed both my board and chip while leak testing (forgot to unplug the 8 pin). I was not pleased. I kept having a slow leak i couldnt find on my quick disconnects, turned out the o-ring was slightly chipped and water was making its way out. No harm done on that one.

[Spawn-Inc]

i've had 2 leaks in the almost a year and a half that i've been water cooling 1 was not my fault, and the other was basically my fault.

first time - my first setup on leak testing i thought i would leave it over night and check things in the morning. so i put the rad on top of my case and went to bed. the next day i check things and it looked a bit funny, low and behold there is water all over my desk, but not in the case :) turns out a swiftech barb snapped on the rad and the tube fell away from the case thank god. and the way i had my pump, there was water in there all the time.

here is a pic of the barb.
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8500/img0328az9.jpg

Second time - i just got in my gpu loop and was using DD fat boy barbs in a Swiftech MCW60. since it was plastic i didn't want to over tighten. so i filled it up and sure enough a small drip started coming from one of the threads. so i tightened it another turn. re fill and same thing. i tightened it once more and it was fine. but i was very nervous and watched it for a few weeks as my sound card is right under it.

[Koen]

i've had 2 leaks in the almost a year and a half that i've been water cooling 1 was not my fault, and the other was basically my fault.

first time - my first setup on leak testing i thought i would leave it over night and check things in the morning. so i put the rad on top of my case and went to bed. the next day i check things and it looked a bit funny, low and behold there is water all over my desk, but not in the case :) turns out a swiftech barb snapped on the rad and the tube fell away from the case thank god. and the way i had my pump, there was water in there all the time.

here is a pic of the barb.

Second time - i just got in my gpu loop and was using DD fat boy barbs in a Swiftech MCW60. since it was plastic i didn't want to over tighten. so i filled it up and sure enough a small drip started coming from one of the threads. so i tightened it another turn. re fill and same thing. i tightened it once more and it was fine. but i was very nervous and watched it for a few weeks as my sound card is right under it.

Wow I didn't know these highflow 10mm ID barbs are so close to the breaking point. We want G3/8" back :D

Back on topic: my res started leaking last night. Exactly after one year of trouble-free and maintenance-free work of my system. Liquid just leaked through the bottom oring... I filled it up again (without turning my computer off :am: ) and it doesn't leak anymore... It's good to design your cooling systems in a way that there are no potentially leaking parts (except waterblocks obviously) placed above hardware (like acrylic reservoirs above hard drives).

[Sadasius]

so far I have yet to hear anyone say they had damage.

Killed my 3870X2 card. Tilted the mobo with water still in CPU block and leaked all over the motherboard and video card. Motherboard was fine....3870X2 however died. Thought I got all the water out but apparently not. Used plain distilled. Waiting for a 5870X2 now!

[DarthBeavis]

Killed my 3870X2 card. Tilted the mobo with water still in CPU block and leaked all over the motherboard and video card. Motherboard was fine....3870X2 however died. Thought I got all the water out but apparently not. Used plain distilled. Waiting for a 5870X2 now!

can't wait to see the 5870 x2. release date?

[Sadasius]

The 5870X2 according to rumours is supposed to be released in November. Only a couple months. Already have the money just waiting for it to be available. Also will have to wait again for a waterblock. Doh!

[DarthBeavis]

Killed my 3870X2 card. Tilted the mobo with water still in CPU block and leaked all over the motherboard and video card. Motherboard was fine....3870X2 however died. Thought I got all the water out but apparently not. Used plain distilled. Waiting for a 5870X2 now!

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5458/414269895052773lk6.gif:ROTF:

[Sadasius]

Geez that had to hurt!:rofl:

[CedricFP]

Very first time I WC'ed my Swiftech MC-Res leaked out of the barb (in leak testing). I went out in the middle of the night, found an open hardware store to buy some silicon. Sealed up the hole and put the computer together.

Next thing I know my Apogee is leaking onto my 6800GT!!!! Turns out, I had made the same error on both components - not tightening the barbs an extra quater turn with a wrench. 6800GT survived until I took off the waterblock - after that, it died - not sure why, but the padded foam that came with a Maze 4 was stained with green coolant.

[Diverge]

so far I'm 2-0, no water leaks :D

I just rebuilt my loop, leak tested it for like 20 mins, before I got impatient and powered it up. so far no leaks :p:

[Armitage]

Not to hijack, but I have no personal WC experience yet. Whats a good amount to tighten compression fittings? To prevent some leakage of course :)

[sniperbob]

First time i ever got my hands wet in watercooling was when i got my first desktop. Traded two Kicker Comp 12" subs with an amp to a friend for an older Koolance Server tower with integrated Watercooling. This thing was AWFUL. 1/4 tubing all the way around, and a combo res/pump at the bottom of the case that was designed to fail. Something in the way they built the res's back then made them prone to cracking, as mine did as soon as i acquired this new-to-me case. So i was leaking not just any old destilled water, but nasty blue Koolance-brand coolant all over the bottom of my case. boy that stuff stains... and Smelled awful

One stop to the local hardware store, some sandpaper and a tube of JB-weld and I have not had a problem with it since. As a matter of fact, the entire system still technically works. I have the controller board, pump/res, shroud, and 3x80mm aluminum radiator in my basement haha

[HotGore]

I dump way too much water into the res multiple times every time I fill my loops. Water goes all over everything, I freak out, but everything works. I always tell myself to be careful, but every time it happens.

[pawmadsen]

i installed my EK classified full board block acrylic and powered up, with major leaks from 3 places, the acrylic simply craked. this was my first WC setup, it fried the board, a nice 759 edition, but i got it replaced with a 760 model for free, i was realy careful with cleaning it and putting the stock cooler on, and the store didnt notice. ::)

[Dreddy71]

first leak was from my cpu block barbs and no clamps, reused tubing just let go, slowly. dripped on my 8800GTX. noticed some funky artifacting and looked in the case. nice pool of blue feser 1. :banana::banana::banana::banana: was hard to clean off too. second setup had a leak near the pump somewhere, never found it it just stopped dripping once i gave up to the idea of topping off the res every day. after i tore it apart, i think one of the "crystal" elbows was cracked. or both.

funniest leak was on the current build. i got a T where i was going to either put in a light cap or a temp probe for the hell of it. never capped it as i was filling. thank god i decided to go distilled this time around. can let it just sit and evaporate for a day or 2. without it looking horrible and being a pita to clean

[voigts]

When I used to use 1/2"id tubing, i made the mistake on a CPU barb where I let the back of the clamp ride up on the base of the barb so that I thought it was tight but it wasn't properly sealing the tubing on the barb. It leaked maybe 10 drops onto my 8800GT while the system was powered up and promptly fried it. Since I switched to 7/16"ID tubing and using air pressure to leaktest, everything has stayed dry.

[Hglazm]

Wasnt me, but a friend of mine at nvision had to rush to refill his loop because he was sponsored for a case mod.
Sprung a leak and just about filled the entire bottom chamber of his p182 with water (the grills were all sealed for aesthetics)
Oddly nothing died. Even with tap water.

[DarthBeavis]

Wasnt me, but a friend of mine at nvision had to rush to refill his loop because he was sponsored for a case mod.
Sprung a leak and just about filled the entire bottom chamber of his p182 with water (the grills were all sealed for aesthetics)
Oddly nothing died. Even with tap water.

which case mod was that?

[gillbot]

Had a line pop off a DD fatboy while testing a setup, soaked the mobo, ram and vid card. Dried everything out and fired it right back up after I put the missing clamp on the barb.

[Sadasius]

Okay.....I am scared......I have a zombie Video Card. Remember that 3870X2 I said died.....Well ummm.....It's BACK! I don't know what the hell but I said to myself that I will check it and make sure before chucking it out and selling the waterblock. Sure enough it booted right up. Know there must have been water trapped under a circuit ot something and needed a month or so to dry. I tried it a week after it died and it was still dead. But now....it's ALIVE! :shocked:

As proof I just took this about a minute ago.... http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/718217.png (http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=718217)

[Spawn-Inc]

Okay.....I am scared......I have a zombie Video Card. Remember that 3870X2 I said died.....Well ummm.....It's BACK! I don't know what the hell but I said to myself that I will check it and make sure before chucking it out and selling the waterblock. Sure enough it booted right up. Know there must have been water trapped under a circuit ot something and needed a month or so to dry. I tried it a week after it died and it was still dead. But now....it's ALIVE! :shocked:

As proof I just took this about a minute ago.... http://valid.canardpc.com/cache/banner/718217.png (http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=718217)

i had that happen to me 9800GTX. i won some new ram and tried it out for about a week. it wouldn't overclock like i wanted it to so i went back to my original stuff. and my 9800GTX wouldn't display anymore. man i was pissed. started the rma process and put in an older card to replace it.

i thought what the hell i will see if it works still, put it in and sure enough it worked just fine. it's been working great since.