RP452X2 "How to bleed" Guide...

Greetings, I have made a quick guide on how to bleed your RP452x2 since I still see some people asking or complaining that this thing is a pain to bleed. I have not had this problem since day one, so this leads me to believe that you are doing it wrong, or you just have some bad luck with it, so here's a quick run through..

First off, Ignore the Koolance manual, it'll tell you to install the "u" pipe on the bottom, baffle in left reservoir, short plug for serial... This did not work for me.

Another is you can follow Martin's guide (excellent guide), which can be found LINK HERE...
In Martin's guide, it is suggested that you have your RP452 unit or the entire case upright for maximum bleeding effectiveness, now this works when I had all my stuff inside my HAF X, it was still heavy, but move-able at least. Now with a huge Caselabs + Pedestal, like many of us that has double wide cases or just cases that weighs like 70LBS, tipping or moving it becomes either a 2 person job or it's just not possible, now this is where my tactic comes in handy.

Finally, please note that this RP452x2 unit is a rev 1.2, Koolance has a rev 1, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3, and finally a 2.0 which is a complete over haul. This guide should work on all the revisions except 2.0, 2.0 should be easier to bleed regardless due to both inlet / outlet is places at the bottom, allowing air to move to the top rather easily, well at least in theory.. Another in theory is this guide should work on 1.0, 1.1 and 1.3 revision RP452 units as the ports are similar, exception of 1.3 which PUMP1 and PUMP2 actually coincides with the reservoir sides, v1.0 to 1.2 is swapped (P1 Inlet in back is P2 front, and vise versa).. Don't yell at me, Koolance made it this way.. Also, the bleed kit is a optional accessory for v1.0 and 1.1, Koolance was giving them out for free a while back, not sure if they are doing so now, 1.2 comes with the bleed pipe as standard. The "u" connector has always been a optional accessory as far as I know except for rev 2.0...

OK, I'm going to try to make this as simple as possible, with PICS and Crayola !!!


Simply put, there are 2 RP452 units in my system, one is red and the other is blue.

Red Loop is Res, CPU, Aquaero Block, Radiator, Res
Blue Loop is Red, GPU 1, GPU 2, GPU 3, Radiator 1, Radiator 2, Radiator 3, res

NO Baffle in RESERVOIR 1
BLEED PIPE and LONG PLUG is used in RESERVOIR 2
Both PUMPS installed and running in serial
U Connector on TOP, which should be labeled >> P1 OUT, P2 IN
P2 OUT goes to my first block, etc, etc, etc.. and routes back into my P1 IN

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq1.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq2.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq3.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq4.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq5.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq6.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq7.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq8.jpg

http://www.frankandersonblog.com/upl...rp452_faq9.jpg

If you have followed this guide exactly to the letter, then you should have no need to tilt or flip your case what so ever, also I have used this method of refilling my loop after ripping it apart for 4-5 times at least, and each time my loop takes no longer then 15 minutes per unit to get going (by going, I mean flow is travelling at a good rate to let the bleeding start). The complete bleed process (by complete, I mean at least 99% of the air and bubbles has been successfully purged from my loop) for my CPU loop is less then a day since it's much shorter, My GPU loop however due to having 3 radiators + 3 blocks, takes 4-5 days to bleed entirely so refill twice a day is required (I usually do it once in the morning and once at night)..

Some Notes that I feel worth mentioning..

1)The Front ports are useless, I don't use them, I just use the top ports and a 60ML syringe that I got from my local veterinarian. I also use my missus baster from time to time, they come in all shapes and sizes.
1A)The Front ports are useful if you are using Martin's guide, reservoir is upright when filling..

2)When the unit is filled and running, the unit will pressure jet the water out if you leave the cap off and turn off the pumps, especially if you have installed your reservoir at a low point in your case, becareful..

3)The bleed pipe will look like the nickel is wearing off over time, tho I have not replaced them yet, they seem to have no effect on the loop what so ever.

4)Words can't describe how easy it is to work on the unit when VL3N-MG quick disconnects are used, I can have my entire loop pulled apart and removed from case in 10 minutes without draining or spilling a drop of water. (care should still be given to ensure a drip free environment, use a towel)

5)LEDs makes it shine better, just a personal preference here.

6)oh right, almost forgot.. If your flow is insanely high, talking probably 2GPM or higher, when I was testing my reservoirs with only a radiator, the flow can actually pull the silver coil into the inlet, but once a block in installed, the flow gets lowered a bit and the problem goes away. As of speaking, the CPU loop flow rate is 1.6GPM and the silver coil is happily just sitting in the left reservoir.

Thanks to Martin for his review which helped saved me a lot of time, and Koolance for making such a sexy product...

Please feel free to ask me any questions on here, I'll check it occasionally.

i found the best way to bleed these in serial was to rotate my case 90 degrees, so that the entire reservoir was the upper most part of the loop.

I have version 2 and it's a piece of cake . . . once you get the pumps going. I have to tilt my case so that the res is at the bottom to get the pumps to start churning water

My rig is 76LBS and on wheels, fully loaded and liquid filled (about 3L of water I think last I checked to fill both loops).. it's not possible to rotate it by myself..

Thanks for doing this. I have the 1.3 version, and connected the u bend pipe like martin's guide, however your photos showed me that the reservoir layout in the front is mirrored horizontally in 1.3 vs 1.2. Very strange. I wonder if this means that I followed the instructions for the wrong version and now my setup is actually connected incorrectly. Anyway I still have initial problems with my pumps trying to push air out of the system when using this reservoir. Once going it was a lot better - the thing that helped for me was using quick disconnects to bleed the cpu on it's own and the radiator on it's own. The thing that helped with bleeding the most though was to attach a permanent fill tube to a fill port, and keep the water level above the reservoir. Still though, compared to a cylinder res dumping straight into a pump which bleeds in about 2 mins, it's not what I would consider easy. I stand by my statement of "only use if you have no room for a cylinder res". Anyway I'll be forced to move to a cylinder res soon so it'll no longer be a problem for me at least ;)