How's my flow?

[D749]

I'm using a Koolance CTR-SPD24X2 Dual 24V Pump Controller to control two Koolance PMP-450S in serial.

With the CTR dials @ ~85% I'm hitting ~104 gal/h according to my AQ5 Pro and AC High Flow Sensor. I did not manually calibrate the sensor. From what I've read my flow rate appears "low." However, I do have a fairly restrictive loop (e.g., lots of QDCs and the RP-452X2 in serial).

Room ambient temp. is ~25C. CPU idle (in BIOS) temp. is ~27C. RAD IN/OUT temps. are ~28C.



How am I doing? Thoughts?

[Church]

My thoughts that you have QDCs two times too many . Per each piece of tubing one QDC on just one end of that tubing piece will give you ability to disconnect/remove/replace component, will let you spend less on fittings, less overall pressure drop (few qdcs are just like few angle fittings - acceptable flow resistancy, justifyable with convenience they bring. But ALL qdcs or ALL angle fittings is different story), more compact/simpler tubing routing (due normal fittings being more compact).

[Shteud]

churchy
+1
Too much quick disconnects. Imho they may have sense for ext. rads (such as mora ) or testers. But its no reason to use at the all loop.

[aerial]

wow they must be real flow killers then, because your pump setup is very powerful

[Church]

not as much flow killers, and taking redundant out won't improve temps in very noticeable way, but if it's sufficient to get by without redundant ones of them that aren't adding anything to usability/convenience, why not?

[thegoatman]

Last I heard (of course, this was 2007ish...) flow meters were a bad idea. Is this still the case?

[Waterlogged]

OK, so let me see if I got this right. You haven't calibrated the sensor and your using a preconceived idea of what your flow should be as your measuring stick...is this correct?

D749, do yourself a favor and actually calibrate the sensor and then check again, if it still appears low, check the microfins on the block.

[PiLsY]

Thats still around 1.5gpm - I dont see the issue?

[Acurax]

Thats still around 1.5gpm - I dont see the issue?

My thoughts exactly...

[D749]

So it sounds like 1.5 GPM isn't something to be concerned about then. I still consider myself new to this hobby.

[PiLsY]

You may as well dial it back tbh. The gains are minimal above 1gpm, its mainly just noise and lots of thrashing in the res .

Dial it back under full load until you see your temps jump and go with slightly above that. I'd just use the flow sensor to give you an indication of any loss of flow rather than a measurement of it. Watch the reading for any changes rather than concentrating on the reported value itself. Temps are what you should be looking at in terms of performance of your loop. Change the pump power up and down to get an indication of the temp curve you get from the different power settings.

Hope thats of some help .

[tiborrr]

1.5GPM or ~ 360L/h is a very decent flow, perhaps being even a bit on the overkill side But good to have some reserve left in the pumping power!

[PiLsY]

The conversion from 104gph actually brings it to about 475lph, my 1.5gpm was really rough to represent an uncalibrated meter. He could feasibly have up to 2gpm in there given some margin for calibration error .

[eth0s]

Well, 104 gal/hour = 1.733 gal/min. Which is just an estimate since the flow meter was never calibrated. But that is great flow. If the OP thinks his 1.733 gal/min is too low, then he can remove some of those QDC's. In fact I would remove 5 of those QDC's that I see in that picture. I would leave the one QDC going into the pumps/reservoir just for draining the system, and that's it. And replace all the other QDC's with hi-flow barbs with hose clamps. Flow will increase after that. How much? I dunno, but it will increase. Will it affect temps? Probably not. But it might. Is it worth doing? Of course. Any excuse to rebuild your loop should be celebrated.

[PiLsY]

Is it worth doing? Of course. Any excuse to rebuild your loop should be celebrated.

Loving that!

[D749]

Thank for the info and support. This is my second WC build. I went with QDC (as opposed to comp. fittings) because of the ease of swapping parts and overall loop maintenance.

Eventually I plan to add a second loop with similar parts (e.g., res, pumps, rad, etc.) to cool a pair of video cards.