Fill & Bleed or Reservoir?

[pavlov]

I'm into my second week now of trying to figure out(cutting through the hype) which components to get for my first WC endeavour. I'm almost ready to take the plunge except there's just one last thing that I can't seem to make my mind up on - FILL & BLEED OR RESERVOIR??? From what I gather the F&B requires little/no maintenance as it's a closed system - therefore no algae or other unpleasent substances which might accumulate over time. Is this true? What are the pros & cons of such a system? Does the cooling performance suffer compared to reservoir? Is it as easy/easier to set up/bleed? Simply put - WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
If it's a reservoir - which kind?

[RedViper]

Good question. It's too bad that there's no definitive answer. Both configurations have their pros and cons. I've heard that having a bay-res is bad because the seals break down over time. I've also heard that F&B kits are very hard to clear of bubbles. And there's much more anecdotal stuff beyond this. I choose a bay res because I wanted an easy way to maintain my coolant and thought it would look cool, which it does. BTW, whether your coolant becomes biologically active over time depends on the additives you use. Being free of spora isn't inherent to F&B set-ups. Also bubbles, will creap into your loop no matter what in that coolant evaporates through your tubing over time.

You might also consider a T-line. Lots of people swear by them. As for what YOU should use, well, the best thing to do is research all available options and decide on that which best suits you needs. Try to reject the idea that ONE way is the best way. Lots of people will try to peddle what they use as the only way in order to justify to themselves the choices they've made. Hell, you might come up with something that no one has considered yet.

As for me, I'm going to try to mix the functionality of both a res and a F&B kit by adding a check valve set on the pump return. Good luck in whatever you decide!

[firtol88]

Every res I made leaked at some point so I started using Ts, keep in mind they can be quite a PITA but they don't leak.

[RedViper]

Originally Posted by firtol88

Every res I made leaked at some point so I started using Ts, keep in mind they can be quite a PITA but they don't leak.

After how long did they leak? How long ago did you buy your last res?

[firtol88]

I Don't think I ever bought one. I made a few some better designs than others, they all leaked at some point. Later I switched to Ts, they worked fairly well so I stuck with them.

About 2 years ago I went back to air, too busy for all the tinkering.

I'm ready for a little tinkering again and it appears that things may have come far enough that it's not really needed. Just trying to decide where to start again.

[RedViper]

Originally Posted by firtol88

I Don't think I ever bought one. I made a few some better designs than others, they all leaked at some point. Later I switched to Ts, they worked fairly well so I stuck with them.

About 2 years ago I went back to air, too busy for all the tinkering.

I'm ready for a little tinkering again and it appears that things may have come far enough that it's not really needed. Just trying to decide where to start again.

Ah okay. I hope Tundra got it right with the sealant on this thing. I'll be watching real close. Yeah, I noticed before I jumped in that LOTS of people love T's. Maybe I'll try one on my Linux rig. The things I liked about res's are that they bleed bubbles easily, my loop was clear in less than a minute, and I couldn't see the downside to having over a 1/2 gallon of coolant circulating. Does this make sense or am I missing something?

I got tired of air when I went to clean my MCX-462 and it had so much dust in it that I had to blow it AND wash it like a dirty baby.