Pump placement?

[jstanthr]

This may seem like a dumb question, but i have searched and i'm not finding exactly what i'm looking for. other than res>pump are there any other guidlines to go by? i was going to place the pump before my radiator like so, res>pump>rad>blocks>back to res. is that ok? or should it be different?

Thanks in advance,
JsT

[washu9]

There's no other guideline. Basic principle is that reservoir is there to keep the pump fed, thus it should always be before the pump.
Placement of the res itself can be anywhere (doesn't need to be on the top most of the case), just as long as it's on-level or higher than the pump elevation.

There is one tip though. I myself uses acrylic res, and I experienced a res failure (it cracked all over the place).
Mine is one of those pump-res combo, so it might not be just the heat. Could also be caused by the pump vibrations.

Anyway, nowadays, I always put the radiator before the res, so that heat is minimized on the reservoir.
... just in case :P

[rioja]

Last time I myself leaning to combo res-pump, which is placed in 2 5.25 bay. Saves alot of space and makes things much easier.

[Soulwind]

If you can manage to put the Res at the highest physical point in your case, it will make bleeding a bit easier as all of the air bubbles will naturally flow up into the top of the res. But it's not that hard to bleed in almost any other setup, so it's not a huge deal.

Having the Res lead directly into (and situated above) the Pump is really the only primary guideline. That's so that gravity will keep the pump always supplied with water, otherwise you risk having the pump running dry.

(If you're very carefull while filling the loop, even this isn't required, but it makes things a LOT easier).

Other than that, the only real "rule" for component order is to try and keep your tubing runs as short as possible with as few sharp bends as possible.

In other words, keep it nice and tidy and looking good, and you'll be fine.

[jstanthr]

im using a swiftech d5 pump, magicool elegant rad, and various blocks. using a plain tube res until i can get the pump top i want. (koolance top with the ring to add on a tube res. my main question is do i put my pump outlet to my blocks, or do i pump into the rad then to my blocks. i know the pump doesn't add much heat to the liquid but i figured going res>pump>rad>blocks> would be the most efficent. is that ok to do?

Thanks again,
JsT

[alacheesu]

i know the pump doesn't add much heat to the liquid but i figured going res>pump>rad>blocks> would be the most efficent.
It's more efficient in theory, but the difference is so small it's almost always completely irrelevant in practice. This is actually a good thing, because it means you can route your tubing to get the cleanest looking loop without sacrificing performance.

[Kurz]

i know the pump doesn't add much heat to the liquid but i figured going res>pump>rad>blocks> would be the most efficent. is that ok to do?

Thanks again,
JsT

Remember the conductivity (Referring to thermal) and the specific heat capacity of water (The ability to hold thermal energy) is so great in water.

It takes 3 mins for my 1200 watt microwave to boil a cup water. Other substances would take 30 seconds. Pumps only put out? what 15 watts?
Its a drop in the bucket.

So it comes down to whatever is the cleanest for you.
Less tubing means more efficiency.
Even then it only becomes a problem if you have so much tubing your flow goes below 1 GPM.

Most people say as long as your pump is not upside down and you have Res behind it you'll be golden.
I try to minimize tubing as much as possible, though that even is nitpicking.

[Blauhung]

yup at the flow rates of even mediocre setups you can pretty much assume that the water temp at any point in the loop is ~ the same. most of the time you will only get on the order of a tenth a degree C drop across the rad. Optimize you loop for least tubing and bends and what's aesthetically pleasing.