i dont worry about any of those things you mentioned. i worry about them as much as i'd worry about my CPU fan dying. and if the CPU fan is loud enough to make its presence known constantly its a POS and a thorn in the side.
Same goes for maintenance. changing the water needs to be done less often than cleaning the dust out of heatsinks. I've had my rig running for 18 months without maintenance. If i was using fans i'd probably have cleaned the dust out long ago. and for that i usually take the heatsink off and put it under the tap.
(dont have compressed air available) *cough cough*
also, in future i'll be using opaque tubing with one or two little transparent sections for inspecing the water, which i'll cover up during normal use.
I've heard of PCs running for 4 years easily without water changes.
another thing which may influence things, is i know most water coolers love those brass hose barbs, and think its the end of the world if their heater core doesnt have them. i'm not in this for bling. all my connections are just copper pipe, i slap on some silicone RTV gasket sealant, and a jubilee clip, i've never had a single leak and dont worry in the least.
i reckon J clips and RTV sealant is way more reliable than hose barbs.
another thing
if i DID have some block with hose barbs, i'd probably use the gasket sealer and a J clip aswell if the hose didnt fit very tightly.
(i've also used just J clips and clear flex, but without the silicone gasket stuff the plastic gets compressed into the crevices on the copper pipe and its a bit of a b*tch to remove.
gnight yall, god bless
