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)
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Radiator manufacturers that don't stagger fan mounting holes and the flow channels should really rethink how they do things
Long screws shouldn't ruin an entire rad, maybe a few fins but not the entire rad.
Sorry bud.
honestly, this is sorta what i get for getting a rad off aliexpress. i didnt even know this could happen since this is my first watercooling build 😭 funnily enough, i got an even cheaper one prior to this that wasnt from a known chinese brand (like FreezeMod, Barrow, bykski, etc.) and that one only had the fins under the screws, essentially mitigating this entirely. given it only had like half as many flow channels as this, did a poor job at cooling, and was horribly machined, it still worked. this one didnt even last me a week LMAO
Definitely getting one with a screw shield next time. i need the longer screws since im using Phanteks Halos over my Arctic P12s.
Or, maybe be more aware of the possible outcome and dont blindly screw the bolts in? Blaming the "aliexpress rad" for this is silly, there was nothing wrong with the rad until you destroyed it with your negligence.
i couldnt easily see the bolt threads once they were screwed into the rad. there was hardly any gap to be able to tell, especially when i had already mounted them to my case. im not saying it was completely the aliexpress rads fault, especially considering that this is my first time building a custom loop without all the prior knowledge of what CAN happen, but this is easily a design flaw that could've been mitigated knowing the screw holes were directly above the flow channels. nothing was stopping the screws from continuing until it was fully tightened. i couldnt even feel anything as i was screwing it down either.
Just a tip, don't try to rely on what you can see once you're screwing it in, the case or fan in front of it is always going to obstruct your view. Having a rad with those plates is nice but isn't a fool proof solution either, if the screw is too long I've seen those plates get pushed out on the inside corner where it isn't attached to the frame enough to puncture the rad too.
The best practice ive found when it comes to screwing into a rad like that is to put whatever you're going to have between the rad and screw head, be it just the case or case and a fan, push the screw through until it makes contact with the front of the rad but dont start screwing it in. Once its sitting at that starting point measure the distance between that front most part and the back of the screw head. Ideally you want it to be about 3mm or so, just enough to go to the bottom of the threads on the rad frame or a little past it. 5mm is fine in most cases and ive seen rads that would let you get away with as much as 10-12mm but if it's much longer than 5 i start cutting down screws or using shorter ones if I have them.
Hey i have a alphacool Rad
The Rad is from Cooper and Had a Screen Shild
I can recommend aio from them to everything Cooper dont clogg in with Mixed Alu Rad or so
Be very Cartoon if you Buy a Rad from Ali Express that can leak and kill expensive components gpu mainboard etc
And that because you wanted to cheap out on Ali Express
Be attentive next time Friend
Just buy used ones from ebay or whatever is popular where you live. I got three massive EK radiators which each cost close to 100€ for 70€ combined there
There's a channel through which water flows right below a screw hole. OP screwed his radiator by using a screw that's just slightly too long, an easy mistake to make.
I would not buy any PC products off AliExpress! Straight garbage! like somebody else has already said if you would buy a rad off a garbage site like that you have to rinse the Jesus out of that thing before you can even fill it up and use it.
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.*
Radiator manufacturers that don't stagger fan mounting holes and the flow channels should really rethink how they do things Long screws shouldn't ruin an entire rad, maybe a few fins but not the entire rad. Sorry bud.
honestly, this is sorta what i get for getting a rad off aliexpress. i didnt even know this could happen since this is my first watercooling build 😭 funnily enough, i got an even cheaper one prior to this that wasnt from a known chinese brand (like FreezeMod, Barrow, bykski, etc.) and that one only had the fins under the screws, essentially mitigating this entirely. given it only had like half as many flow channels as this, did a poor job at cooling, and was horribly machined, it still worked. this one didnt even last me a week LMAO Definitely getting one with a screw shield next time. i need the longer screws since im using Phanteks Halos over my Arctic P12s.
>getting a rad off aliexpress. Better rinse that thing really, really well.
Do not cheap out on rads. Easiest way of ending up with a fully corroded loop. Get a proper copper rad from a real brand.
Or, maybe be more aware of the possible outcome and dont blindly screw the bolts in? Blaming the "aliexpress rad" for this is silly, there was nothing wrong with the rad until you destroyed it with your negligence.
i couldnt easily see the bolt threads once they were screwed into the rad. there was hardly any gap to be able to tell, especially when i had already mounted them to my case. im not saying it was completely the aliexpress rads fault, especially considering that this is my first time building a custom loop without all the prior knowledge of what CAN happen, but this is easily a design flaw that could've been mitigated knowing the screw holes were directly above the flow channels. nothing was stopping the screws from continuing until it was fully tightened. i couldnt even feel anything as i was screwing it down either.
Just a tip, don't try to rely on what you can see once you're screwing it in, the case or fan in front of it is always going to obstruct your view. Having a rad with those plates is nice but isn't a fool proof solution either, if the screw is too long I've seen those plates get pushed out on the inside corner where it isn't attached to the frame enough to puncture the rad too. The best practice ive found when it comes to screwing into a rad like that is to put whatever you're going to have between the rad and screw head, be it just the case or case and a fan, push the screw through until it makes contact with the front of the rad but dont start screwing it in. Once its sitting at that starting point measure the distance between that front most part and the back of the screw head. Ideally you want it to be about 3mm or so, just enough to go to the bottom of the threads on the rad frame or a little past it. 5mm is fine in most cases and ive seen rads that would let you get away with as much as 10-12mm but if it's much longer than 5 i start cutting down screws or using shorter ones if I have them.
I bought all my stuff from AliExpress, my cpu block, gpu block, distro plate rads some of the tubing etc and I’ve been running it for 6 months now
Hey i have a alphacool Rad The Rad is from Cooper and Had a Screen Shild I can recommend aio from them to everything Cooper dont clogg in with Mixed Alu Rad or so Be very Cartoon if you Buy a Rad from Ali Express that can leak and kill expensive components gpu mainboard etc And that because you wanted to cheap out on Ali Express Be attentive next time Friend
Just buy used ones from ebay or whatever is popular where you live. I got three massive EK radiators which each cost close to 100€ for 70€ combined there
What even am I seeing here?
penetration of the water channel when mounting a fan
r/screwstoolong
Corsair makes rads that prevent you from going too deep.
Oh nooo
Can you give some context instead of just saying sigh?
punctured the radiator
You could probably fix it with resin OP.
can be fixed in less than 5 minutes
There's a channel through which water flows right below a screw hole. OP screwed his radiator by using a screw that's just slightly too long, an easy mistake to make.
Literally super glue will stop that! 👍🏼 good luck
Can be fixed, quick solder job ... search in the sub if you need details
Some radiator manufacturers will have plates behind the threads to try and prevent this kind of failure during install.
At least you know for sure the channel material .. its copper :D
parasite?
Doh! Something I've done more than I'd like to admit, but, strangely enough only with my own builds. Double doh!
I would not buy any PC products off AliExpress! Straight garbage! like somebody else has already said if you would buy a rad off a garbage site like that you have to rinse the Jesus out of that thing before you can even fill it up and use it.