Pro/Forums - View Single Post - First watercooling setup - Lots of Qs

Zogthetroll · 01-21-2004, 07:58 AM

ok, lots of questions here, lets see if we can clear a few things up.

1. pretty basic stuff here, ID is Inside Diameter, OD is Outside Diameter, unless you use push fittings instead of barbs, you only really need to worry about the ID of tubing, that's how most people refer to it. FPT and MPT stand for Female and Male Pipe Thread, respectively. that's the common threading used for plumbing (basically most adaptors, fittings, barbs, etc. that you'll get at your local hardware store or similar). Then, in order to tap a hole for your standard barb you'll probably need a 1/4" NPT (National Pipe Thread) tap, that's the most common anyway.

2. can't offer advice on quick disconnects, anybody that uses them?

3 & 4. The answer to 3 would probably be either a good fill & bleed kit, or a resivoir, i'd opt for the res, but that's personal bias there. basically if you're gonna be filling and draining it you're gonna want an air trap or simmilar way to get air bubbles out quickly. other basic stuff, don't mount the radiator with the barbs at the bottom so it traps air, you can get it out, it'll take longer though. yes, i would put in a res, they double as air traps, and you also know you got some extra coolant in reserve if you forget to check it and some evaporates. Supposedly tygon will do this in a dry environment, but i wouldn't know. also, you can get a nice fill point with some of the res's out there. plus, if the res is visible (and clear) you got a nice flow indicator.

5. you didn't mention if the 5/8" was threaded or not. i've got 1/2" threads soldered onto my heater core so i can change barbs if i need to (probably overkill, but why not). some guys have mentioned being able to slide tubing over that if it was smooth and the tubing was heated up.

6. with hose routing, play with different combinations to see what works best, but a lot of people seem to go with the pump->CPU->GPU->radiator->res combination. that way you don't have a massive pressure drop from the rad before the cpu.

7. adding head to a system like that for the pump to overcome isn't going to help your flow rate, put it that way. it might work, but you'll lose some performance doing that.

8. do lots of research, double check everything, and have fun!

01-21-2004, 07:58 AM	#2
Zogthetroll Cooling Savant Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ohio, U.S.A. Posts: 177	ok, lots of questions here, lets see if we can clear a few things up. 1. pretty basic stuff here, ID is Inside Diameter, OD is Outside Diameter, unless you use push fittings instead of barbs, you only really need to worry about the ID of tubing, that's how most people refer to it. FPT and MPT stand for Female and Male Pipe Thread, respectively. that's the common threading used for plumbing (basically most adaptors, fittings, barbs, etc. that you'll get at your local hardware store or similar). Then, in order to tap a hole for your standard barb you'll probably need a 1/4" NPT (National Pipe Thread) tap, that's the most common anyway. 2. can't offer advice on quick disconnects, anybody that uses them? 3 & 4. The answer to 3 would probably be either a good fill & bleed kit, or a resivoir, i'd opt for the res, but that's personal bias there. basically if you're gonna be filling and draining it you're gonna want an air trap or simmilar way to get air bubbles out quickly. other basic stuff, don't mount the radiator with the barbs at the bottom so it traps air, you can get it out, it'll take longer though. yes, i would put in a res, they double as air traps, and you also know you got some extra coolant in reserve if you forget to check it and some evaporates. Supposedly tygon will do this in a dry environment, but i wouldn't know. also, you can get a nice fill point with some of the res's out there. plus, if the res is visible (and clear) you got a nice flow indicator. 5. you didn't mention if the 5/8" was threaded or not. i've got 1/2" threads soldered onto my heater core so i can change barbs if i need to (probably overkill, but why not). some guys have mentioned being able to slide tubing over that if it was smooth and the tubing was heated up. 6. with hose routing, play with different combinations to see what works best, but a lot of people seem to go with the pump->CPU->GPU->radiator->res combination. that way you don't have a massive pressure drop from the rad before the cpu. 7. adding head to a system like that for the pump to overcome isn't going to help your flow rate, put it that way. it might work, but you'll lose some performance doing that. 8. do lots of research, double check everything, and have fun!