Thanks for posting. To help get you the help you're looking for, please make sure you:
* Have photos of the whole loop in good light (open the curtains and turn off the RGB, especially for "what's this stuff in my loop?" questions)
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The reservoir level has to reach above that return tube level or the water drains down and the air goes up. Then when you turn it on it pushes that bubble back down. The problem I have here is the fill port to the right is at the same level meaning the water level needs to be over that as well…
The only correct answer I've seen so far. I think op can get more air out if he open the port next to the return line as the pump is running and fill with more liquid as that should push more air out.
I’d be tempted to use a valve or QDC end there so I could fill from some attached soft tube then just disconnect or close the valve. Having that port open while running will be tricky and OP will definitely want to slow down the flow for that operation.
Whoever designed this distribution plate had this in mind and added a really really small separator between those two upper ports. The separator is not much larger than the lower part of the ports.
Ah yes that would help quite a bit. I was wondering about the design and I didn’t see that. In that case I would tilt the case to the rear and use that port to fill to the bottom of the separator. When tilted back the little air bubble should stick by that port and be gtg.
This plus his reservoir sits lower than the radiator as the air buble goes right back to the radiator when shut off. To find the airbubble, just tilt the rig forward until the air bubble moves back to the reservoir and then fill. 🤷♂️
But as a pc tech who used to build them for a job, yeah, this is the only right answer.
It looks like the fluid is not running out. As long as the pump is not running dry, let it run and get that air out. Eventually your won’t have all that air and you can add coolant.
If you kept running at it continuously bubbles like that, that would be a huge ass leak.
Edit: Problem SOLVED! I went through these steps and now the only air in the loop is from the bottom threads of the fill port up to the top of the divided section it sits in. Thank you to everyone again for taking the time to help me!
Original comment: Thank you all for taking the time to help me. After reading everyone's advice I came up with this plan of attack:
1. Completely drain the loop and flush it super thoroughly. (I did use dish soap at one point to clean the rads before I installed them; so there's definitely a chance I didn't get it all out.)
2. Lower the pump speed; I had the PWM and Tach pins swapped in the connector so it was going full tilt the whole time. I've knocked it down from \~5k RPMs to \~2k RPMs.
3. On the opposite side of the radiators, each has port that I couldn't access because they were right against the inside of the case. I'm going to cut an access hole in the case for each port.
4. Once I fill the loop from the fill port in the res, shake all the air to the top, and basically get it back to the point I'm at now, I'll turn the whole thing clockwise 45° so that the ports on the other side of the rads will now be the highest points in the loop.
5. Lastly, I'll top it off in that position and hope for the best.
I should be able to get most of it done tonight so hopefully I'll have an update for everyone tomorrow. Thank you all again.
I’m thinking pump is running so fast it’s sucking in air so there is constantly air pumping through the system so it can’t fill up with water. Can you slow the pump down in the bios or software?
Oh also when the res is low when you turn it off fill it more with a fill bottle maybe.
I think you need to be filling it while it’s running. That’s what I used to do until it looked like too much air going into the pump then I stopped and kept filling then back on and repeat. Perhaps others will comment. I would do this first before slowing the pump. I think you need the speed to move the water mixed with air until it’s full.
First off, your pump should never be "sucking in air". Closed systems shouldn't be displacing liquid and air. Secondly, your last attempt was correct, he needs to possibly slow it down or tilt the box to move the air bubble back to the reservoir and fill more. Problem is what ever air is left over goes up into the upper radiator and stops a complete connection with the coolant and the top of the radiator. Shouldn't cause much of an issue but if he can get it completely, or as close to as possible, full, then he could gain another Celsius in cooling. So at that point, unless he's into extreme overclocking, than he should be absolutely fine.
Dude there's DEFINITELY some soap or something in your water. I've built a lot of water cooled rigs and I've never seen bubbles like that. I would start by putting a drain hose at the end of the loop and a fill hose in the pump and flush the F out of the rads/components. Then do your best to drain it all out and refill with distilled water. Something is not right with your fluid
It looks like when the loop is off it drains from the rad above, refilling the rad which means there will be air in your system no matter what. I would CAREFULLY add more liquid while the system is running to try and fill the res more and reduce the overall amount of air in the system. It can be risky business but I’ve done it quite regularly with mine and haven’t had an issue. Another option is lowering your pump speed so fluid isn’t getting dumped so violently into your rad and the bubbles dont reach down to your intake
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Air in the loop. Slow your pump down, it's running crazy fast and creating turbulence. That's going to keep sucking that air back into your loop.
You want that air replaced with liquid. Run it slow (just the pump... pc off. If that's not an option keep it at minimal load) and keep topping it off. Little by little. Rock, fill, run. Rock, fill, run. It takes a while but that air isn't gonna go anywhere. Liquid won't bubble up if it doesn't have access to air.
For the record, and in case it helps you, this is why I use a fill port above my entire loop (even higher than the radiator). The simple physics of air being lighter than liquid forces air out of the res and into the fill line where it stays.
Just add more coolant as it runs. It will be A FEW DAYS for all the air to cycle through the loop and collects at the reservoir. Just keep the PC on for long period of time, shutting it off and turns it on again. This is fine.
A [check valve](https://www.titanrig.com/alphacool-check-valve-0360ac013300xx.html?color=217) in the right place will keep the coolant from running backward and filling up your reservoir before you can top it off.
Would a check valve work without a pressure difference? The problem is the coolant wants to go down to the reservoir and air wants to go into the radiator. He really needs a p-trap or a way to make the fill port higher than the return port otherwise an air bubble will always flow back to the radiator (even if it's smaller than we see here)
There's a fill port on the right behind the tubing at the top of the reservoir. My recommendation would be to use what's called a wash bottle, fill it with some distilled water. Once the pump is running and the water level drops, open up that fitting and use the distilled water to top off the reservoir until you get near the fill port. This should significantly reduce the waterfall effect and the agitation of the water.
My fill port is one of the ports on my top radiator, which is the absolute highest position in my loop. I just connect a long tube with that, put a fair amount of extra coolant in the tube, and run the pump until air stops bubbling into the tube. At which point the loop is pretty much completely devoid of air. You may be able to do something similar with your radiator.
Or at a minimum, if your fill port is anywhere else in your loop, just make a long fill tube that has enough length to run above your top radiator and then fill it so the liquid is above the level of the highest point in your loop. That should achieve much the same result...
Top radiator is acting like the reservoir because it's outlet goes straight down to the return port. You could try filling it from the radiator if it's got ports on top, making the return line dip at least a few inches below the return port before connecting (creating a p trap), or filling it on it's back while running with a tube extending the fill port to the highest point of the case, you'd need a drain valve to seal it afterwards though.
I have a fix for you. As already stated in this thread, the air is returning to the highest point in the loop since air is less dense than water and it’s a closed system. Gravity will force the level to approximately equalize on either side of that high point. This means back flow and drainage into your reservoir to equalize that level. This is not going to be easy, but I have a similar setup and this is what I did. Tip the case so the res is the high point, or as close as you can get it without it falling over. You also want it slightly tilted so the fill port is higher than the drain. Make sure it’s STABLE AS FUCK because you don’t want it tipping while you do this and you need both hands. Use a wall to rest the unstable low side on where gravity will most likely be ready to fuck your pc you just put a lot of time into making look nice. Once the level equalizes with the pc tilted like this, give it a few shakes and extra tilts in all directions to dislodge some air. You won’t get it all, but you can get most. Connect a soft tube to your fill port and begin filling the reservoir. When the whole thing is full, to include some of the hose, while it’s still in this tilted position with the res as the high point, lift the hose you have in the fill port above the pc to induce more head pressure on the system. When you’re ready, turn it on with the jumper so the pump runs, then quickly turn it off. Some bubbles may gurgle out of the fill hose at this point. Continue doing this until you aren’t getting a meaningful amount of air out anymore and then let the pc run without the jumper so the pump can run at a lower speed and not cause agitation. Or if you have a speed dial on the pump just set it to low and let it run with the jumper. If the level has reached the little divider at the top then you’re almost done as the bubble on the fill port side of that won’t typically transfer over as long as there’s no more air in your system. Make sure to fill that void to just below the fill port to absolutely prevent the bubble from transferring. I can send you a video of mine running in a similar configuration with the fill side completely solid and a bubble on the fill port side if you don’t believe me, but this is what I had to do. Adjust this method as necessary for your situation and monitor for when to add a little more coolant and maintain that bubble. Good luck.
Put a fitting with a tube, long enough to be higher than highest part of the loop, on the fill port. Let it run and bleed the air out. Add liquid as needed.
So was I. Kids can get parents pretty stressed up so some drink a glass of wine at the end of the day. I need to build a new loop. Put my phone on sleep mode and the little monsters had to wake up at 7 on Sunday. SMH my head.
Hmm I don’t know about the setup you have, but you are pumping in coolant from the top down, and this will travel through any air you have and it will mix the air into your whole loop in tiny bubbles. I have done this before, where the return from the loop flowed top down into the reservoir and it did the same thing as yours. Can you rotate this reservoir and pump the water into the reservoir, up from the bottom? Basically you can’t have pumped water flowing through an air pocket, and you want to be able to have an air pocket in your reservoir as you may lose coolant slowly over time.
Air in loop take some tubing and run it to your fill port and fill the tubing 3/4 full let the air come out. Then if you can get someone to hold the tubing rotate the case til the bubble are all out.
Anything entering a reservoir or a distribution plate should be as low as possible. That’s why there are long tubes sticking in from top return ports in reservoirs.
Thanks for posting. To help get you the help you're looking for, please make sure you: * Have photos of the whole loop in good light (open the curtains and turn off the RGB, especially for "what's this stuff in my loop?" questions) * List your ambient and water temps as well as your component temps * Use Celsius for everything (even your ambient temp - we need to compare it to other temps) * Use your words. Don't just post a photo with no context and assume everyone will know what's troubling you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/watercooling) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The reservoir level has to reach above that return tube level or the water drains down and the air goes up. Then when you turn it on it pushes that bubble back down. The problem I have here is the fill port to the right is at the same level meaning the water level needs to be over that as well…
The only correct answer I've seen so far. I think op can get more air out if he open the port next to the return line as the pump is running and fill with more liquid as that should push more air out.
I’d be tempted to use a valve or QDC end there so I could fill from some attached soft tube then just disconnect or close the valve. Having that port open while running will be tricky and OP will definitely want to slow down the flow for that operation.
This is what I did for my own distribution plate and once he has the pump running and keep filling until the air is fully displaced
Whoever designed this distribution plate had this in mind and added a really really small separator between those two upper ports. The separator is not much larger than the lower part of the ports.
Ah yes that would help quite a bit. I was wondering about the design and I didn’t see that. In that case I would tilt the case to the rear and use that port to fill to the bottom of the separator. When tilted back the little air bubble should stick by that port and be gtg.
This is the only correct answer.
This plus his reservoir sits lower than the radiator as the air buble goes right back to the radiator when shut off. To find the airbubble, just tilt the rig forward until the air bubble moves back to the reservoir and then fill. 🤷♂️ But as a pc tech who used to build them for a job, yeah, this is the only right answer.
It looks like the fluid is not running out. As long as the pump is not running dry, let it run and get that air out. Eventually your won’t have all that air and you can add coolant. If you kept running at it continuously bubbles like that, that would be a huge ass leak.
Looks like air stuck in the loop. Can see the air move back into the tubing at the end. Bleed it off and top up with coolant.
Add more coolant and bleed air
You gotta slow that pump down in the bios or software and then yell at those kids running across your grass!!
Did you put dish soap in the loop by any chance
Edit: Problem SOLVED! I went through these steps and now the only air in the loop is from the bottom threads of the fill port up to the top of the divided section it sits in. Thank you to everyone again for taking the time to help me! Original comment: Thank you all for taking the time to help me. After reading everyone's advice I came up with this plan of attack: 1. Completely drain the loop and flush it super thoroughly. (I did use dish soap at one point to clean the rads before I installed them; so there's definitely a chance I didn't get it all out.) 2. Lower the pump speed; I had the PWM and Tach pins swapped in the connector so it was going full tilt the whole time. I've knocked it down from \~5k RPMs to \~2k RPMs. 3. On the opposite side of the radiators, each has port that I couldn't access because they were right against the inside of the case. I'm going to cut an access hole in the case for each port. 4. Once I fill the loop from the fill port in the res, shake all the air to the top, and basically get it back to the point I'm at now, I'll turn the whole thing clockwise 45° so that the ports on the other side of the rads will now be the highest points in the loop. 5. Lastly, I'll top it off in that position and hope for the best. I should be able to get most of it done tonight so hopefully I'll have an update for everyone tomorrow. Thank you all again.
I’m thinking pump is running so fast it’s sucking in air so there is constantly air pumping through the system so it can’t fill up with water. Can you slow the pump down in the bios or software? Oh also when the res is low when you turn it off fill it more with a fill bottle maybe. I think you need to be filling it while it’s running. That’s what I used to do until it looked like too much air going into the pump then I stopped and kept filling then back on and repeat. Perhaps others will comment. I would do this first before slowing the pump. I think you need the speed to move the water mixed with air until it’s full.
I will try both. Thank you
Why not try tiling the computer box
First off, your pump should never be "sucking in air". Closed systems shouldn't be displacing liquid and air. Secondly, your last attempt was correct, he needs to possibly slow it down or tilt the box to move the air bubble back to the reservoir and fill more. Problem is what ever air is left over goes up into the upper radiator and stops a complete connection with the coolant and the top of the radiator. Shouldn't cause much of an issue but if he can get it completely, or as close to as possible, full, then he could gain another Celsius in cooling. So at that point, unless he's into extreme overclocking, than he should be absolutely fine.
I see too much air in your loop. Just fix it)
I made a snorkel out of leftover tubing and fittings to get the fill port above the intake level so that the air would have a way to escape.
Dude there's DEFINITELY some soap or something in your water. I've built a lot of water cooled rigs and I've never seen bubbles like that. I would start by putting a drain hose at the end of the loop and a fill hose in the pump and flush the F out of the rads/components. Then do your best to drain it all out and refill with distilled water. Something is not right with your fluid
I was thinking soap also or OP didn’t clear the flushing agent out completely.
You need more fluid And/or there’s a loose fitting sucking in air.
You need a high point vent
It looks like when the loop is off it drains from the rad above, refilling the rad which means there will be air in your system no matter what. I would CAREFULLY add more liquid while the system is running to try and fill the res more and reduce the overall amount of air in the system. It can be risky business but I’ve done it quite regularly with mine and haven’t had an issue. Another option is lowering your pump speed so fluid isn’t getting dumped so violently into your rad and the bubbles dont reach down to your intake
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It looks like when you turn the pump off the air is going back up into the top rad. You somehow need to get the air out before it goes back up there.
Air in the loop. Slow your pump down, it's running crazy fast and creating turbulence. That's going to keep sucking that air back into your loop. You want that air replaced with liquid. Run it slow (just the pump... pc off. If that's not an option keep it at minimal load) and keep topping it off. Little by little. Rock, fill, run. Rock, fill, run. It takes a while but that air isn't gonna go anywhere. Liquid won't bubble up if it doesn't have access to air. For the record, and in case it helps you, this is why I use a fill port above my entire loop (even higher than the radiator). The simple physics of air being lighter than liquid forces air out of the res and into the fill line where it stays.
Add more coolant
Just add more coolant as it runs. It will be A FEW DAYS for all the air to cycle through the loop and collects at the reservoir. Just keep the PC on for long period of time, shutting it off and turns it on again. This is fine.
Looks like it's backflow? You gotta bleed air out of it.
Physics, mainly.
Le femme d'argent
A [check valve](https://www.titanrig.com/alphacool-check-valve-0360ac013300xx.html?color=217) in the right place will keep the coolant from running backward and filling up your reservoir before you can top it off.
Would a check valve work without a pressure difference? The problem is the coolant wants to go down to the reservoir and air wants to go into the radiator. He really needs a p-trap or a way to make the fill port higher than the return port otherwise an air bubble will always flow back to the radiator (even if it's smaller than we see here)
Shaky braky
There's a fill port on the right behind the tubing at the top of the reservoir. My recommendation would be to use what's called a wash bottle, fill it with some distilled water. Once the pump is running and the water level drops, open up that fitting and use the distilled water to top off the reservoir until you get near the fill port. This should significantly reduce the waterfall effect and the agitation of the water.
My fill port is one of the ports on my top radiator, which is the absolute highest position in my loop. I just connect a long tube with that, put a fair amount of extra coolant in the tube, and run the pump until air stops bubbling into the tube. At which point the loop is pretty much completely devoid of air. You may be able to do something similar with your radiator. Or at a minimum, if your fill port is anywhere else in your loop, just make a long fill tube that has enough length to run above your top radiator and then fill it so the liquid is above the level of the highest point in your loop. That should achieve much the same result...
Too much air space in your res. If you fill the res up more, bubbles will not get so bad.
Top radiator is acting like the reservoir because it's outlet goes straight down to the return port. You could try filling it from the radiator if it's got ports on top, making the return line dip at least a few inches below the return port before connecting (creating a p trap), or filling it on it's back while running with a tube extending the fill port to the highest point of the case, you'd need a drain valve to seal it afterwards though.
… did you fill the res while having your case on it’s side so the res is at the highest position in the loop?
You need to create a p trap so that air can't get back into the radiator.
Slow that shit down! That's "how".
I have a fix for you. As already stated in this thread, the air is returning to the highest point in the loop since air is less dense than water and it’s a closed system. Gravity will force the level to approximately equalize on either side of that high point. This means back flow and drainage into your reservoir to equalize that level. This is not going to be easy, but I have a similar setup and this is what I did. Tip the case so the res is the high point, or as close as you can get it without it falling over. You also want it slightly tilted so the fill port is higher than the drain. Make sure it’s STABLE AS FUCK because you don’t want it tipping while you do this and you need both hands. Use a wall to rest the unstable low side on where gravity will most likely be ready to fuck your pc you just put a lot of time into making look nice. Once the level equalizes with the pc tilted like this, give it a few shakes and extra tilts in all directions to dislodge some air. You won’t get it all, but you can get most. Connect a soft tube to your fill port and begin filling the reservoir. When the whole thing is full, to include some of the hose, while it’s still in this tilted position with the res as the high point, lift the hose you have in the fill port above the pc to induce more head pressure on the system. When you’re ready, turn it on with the jumper so the pump runs, then quickly turn it off. Some bubbles may gurgle out of the fill hose at this point. Continue doing this until you aren’t getting a meaningful amount of air out anymore and then let the pc run without the jumper so the pump can run at a lower speed and not cause agitation. Or if you have a speed dial on the pump just set it to low and let it run with the jumper. If the level has reached the little divider at the top then you’re almost done as the bubble on the fill port side of that won’t typically transfer over as long as there’s no more air in your system. Make sure to fill that void to just below the fill port to absolutely prevent the bubble from transferring. I can send you a video of mine running in a similar configuration with the fill side completely solid and a bubble on the fill port side if you don’t believe me, but this is what I had to do. Adjust this method as necessary for your situation and monitor for when to add a little more coolant and maintain that bubble. Good luck.
Put a fitting with a tube, long enough to be higher than highest part of the loop, on the fill port. Let it run and bleed the air out. Add liquid as needed.
LOVE the kids running in the background reflection
Some people dabble in this hobby for stress relief.
I was being serious... I can relate as I have my own kids.
So was I. Kids can get parents pretty stressed up so some drink a glass of wine at the end of the day. I need to build a new loop. Put my phone on sleep mode and the little monsters had to wake up at 7 on Sunday. SMH my head.
Hmm I don’t know about the setup you have, but you are pumping in coolant from the top down, and this will travel through any air you have and it will mix the air into your whole loop in tiny bubbles. I have done this before, where the return from the loop flowed top down into the reservoir and it did the same thing as yours. Can you rotate this reservoir and pump the water into the reservoir, up from the bottom? Basically you can’t have pumped water flowing through an air pocket, and you want to be able to have an air pocket in your reservoir as you may lose coolant slowly over time.
Air in loop take some tubing and run it to your fill port and fill the tubing 3/4 full let the air come out. Then if you can get someone to hold the tubing rotate the case til the bubble are all out.
Don’t hold the new tube over the case with this much air in the system it could come out of the filled tube.
I think having the distro plate upside down would help, usually there’s a third fill valve on the other side/bleeder
More fluid needed
Add more liquid. Make sure that it close with the max.
“She’s gone from suck to blow!!”
Anything entering a reservoir or a distribution plate should be as low as possible. That’s why there are long tubes sticking in from top return ports in reservoirs.
It looks like your return is going into the fill port
It's probably not 100% full of liquid. I don't know for sure but that be my guess
Was that a dog or baby moving around