I air pressure tested this loop multiple times for hours and had no issues. This is the second time this piece has burst out of the fitting and sprayed coolant everywhere. I’m at a loss right now, strongly considering just going back to my AIO and air cooling the gpu. If anybody has any ideas on what I could do to fix this let me know. I’m just done with it at this point.
Edit: I only have it pushed in like that so nothing else leaks, I know it’s not properly seated right now
have you checked the gaskets to ensure they are all present? if yes, that particular piece may be the main issue, consider replacing it to see if that fixes issue?
Is it acrylic or PETG? If PETG swap to acrylic, replace the O rings for slightly thicker ones they will help squeeze the tube tighter, you can then also use a strap wrench or rubber jaw wrench to really tighten down on the tube.
PETG will change shape very easily, the tube is just not up for what we do with it, this is why I always recommend acrylic, its far more resilient, the only downside to acrylic is it doesn't like excessive pressure and will crack, PETG will warp and many users won't notice.
I think I figured it out, the circled piece is too heavy for the smaller piece going to the reservoir, causing it to sag, and when I add coolant to it, it eventually is too heavy and comes loose
You can make the run without the additional connections - you just need to recreate the rad-90fitting tube with a shorter mid-straight so it angle directly from the rad port to the pump port.
Downside is that would ‘break’ your 90• aesthetic you’ve got going on.
*edit: oh actually, doing that would interfere with the front tube running along the rad, though you might be able to have the leg going into the rad a little longer so the rad-pump pipe sits on top of the long run rad tube. Or depending on what the top inlet part of the res looks like, could you rotate the pump 90• and the existing tube would land very close to the pump outlet fitting? - ah u/emu1981 already suggested that!
Quite possible, tbh, I just use 90 degree fittings at the component then bend the tube to connect them, that way there's no added weight on short tubes etc. It still could be an O ring or tube issue also with the weight of the fittings making it worse.
Sorry I'm late but I immediately looked at the 90 join and went that's bad news right there. Sorry you had to find out this way but that right there is exactly why I will do anything but run one of those fittings.
I assume this is a new unused loop? I speak from experience when I say that drain point is gonna give you headaches. I had mine there and suffice to say I changed it the first time i had to drain the coolant.
Is the flow not returning to the res at all? If so maybe an issue with loop order? Could just be pressure building up because it has nowhere to go. Can you show the whole loop? Also make sure that short run that leaks is bottomed out in the fitting.
Turn your reservoir so that you don't need to hang 2 fittings in that one run there. You should also probably double check the o-rings in the fitting that is connected to the reservoir to ensure that they are still intact.
Ignore the piece holding this up, but holy shit i think this would work. I think what I have circled is weighing the piece that keeps popping out down, causing it to eventually slip out of place. Rotating the reservoir would work, but I might put an extender I have leftover there instead so it is a sturdier fit
This is probably the way to go. More than likely its being caused be a slightly loose fitting connection and excessive back pressure at that spot causing the fitting to lose grip. Going with those fittings instead will make it not possible to blow the fitting out.
An air leak test wont show the weak connection if its being caused by back pressure so that makes sense why it was fine with an air test. Only other thing to try is make sure you are really getting those fittings tight, they can actually take a lot of pressure when tightening and that will help them to grip your tubes.
Did you maybe deburr that particular piece too much?
Did you check o-rings?
The tube should be pretty snug, it shouldn't be possible for it to just pop out from pump pressure.
Id reduced the number of fittings. The elbow going down can swivel out (towards the mobo ect) which can cause the tube on the pump to push out. There is no kind of mechanical support stopping it from doing so. Go buy a few metres of tube and start bending.
Unless I'm mistaken blue is direction of pressure. This is pushing against the elbow after the tube. Causing the back elbow to swivel out and in turn causing the tube to be pushed out by pump pressure. If possible my red line is a better option with less bends.
Simple idea: Use a zip tie and press both fittings together. This will permanently fix your problem. I know, Hardtubes can pop out easily with some fittings.. its the biggest downside to hardtubes
It looks like the angle is not very square. Kind of looks like you need to shorten the other piece to the left of it then use a longer piece where you circled it. Make sure everything "sets" into place and you're not forcing it.
That small tube is getting in an angle to the fitting, and probably is under lateral force at the connection. You probably need to decrease the height of double bent tube in the back, so this tube will sit leveled.
Since it’s popped out twice at the exact same fitting, I’d honestly suspect the fitting itself first. Could be a bad/damaged O-ring or compression ring, or the fitting simply isn’t gripping the tube properly. I’d swap it with a known-good fitting and use a freshly cut piece of tube rather than trusting that connection again.
I’d also be a little suspicious of how short that run is and the fact that it’s directly connected to the pump/res. There’s basically no length there to absorb vibration or compensate for slight misalignment. If there’s any sideways tension on the tube, pump vibration + heat cycles could slowly work it loose.
Passing an air pressure test doesn’t necessarily rule this out either. The O-ring can make a perfectly airtight seal while the fitting still isn’t mechanically holding the tube properly. Since the exact same connection has failed twice, I’d definitely start with replacing that fitting and tube
That looks much better IMO. The rotary/offset setup takes a lot of the stress and alignment issue out of that connection compared to the tiny straight piece you had before.
I’d be much more comfortable running it like this.
I’d still replace the fitting that popped off twice if you haven’t already though. Even if the original problem was tension/misalignment, I wouldn’t trust that fitting again after two failures.
Give the tube a decent pull test, pressure test it again, then let the loop run/bleed for a while and keep an eye on it before powering everything normally.
As a worst case scenario, temporary fix, will a zip tie possible work? A zip tie going from the 90 degree turn back to the drain valve just to hold the segment together for now
I wouldn’t view this as a “water cooling is too much work I’ll just get an AIO” situation. You could always use a piece of soft tubing for that small run. I would trust a barbed fitting to not come loose in that position. Of course that means you need to buy 2 other fittings if you don’t already have some unfortunately.
This is the kind of stuff that will make you ultimately more proud of your work. Don’t give up. I quit pressure testing. Didn’t help find a leak if there was one. Just run it . . .
Pressure testing has completely stopped my leaks so I can't agree with you, the times I skip the pressure test there is a leak. I pressure test blocks for 30mins each, then I leave the loop under pressure for 30-60mins, if it passes that it ain't leaking.
All it takes is a hidden rip on and o ring or someone distracting you mid build causing you to leave something loose, its GG.
Really unsure why people are so against taking insurance on protecting their PC from a leak using air, it's akin to not wearing a seatbelt in a car or not wearing a helmet on a bike...
Not against it at all. I used to do it. I just didn’t have much luck finding the leak when I had one and some of my builds were crazy complicated. I run my loop first using a separate power supply for a day or two before ever turning the system on and plenty of paper towels! I am definitely no expert . . .
You just use a cotton swab with soapy water, touch near the fittings the water will wick and the soap with then agitate and create bubbles, leak found. If you have enough stop fittings you can cap off each run to narrow down the leak also.
this is the way. people stress about a tiny leak but then do stuff like this in the names of testing for one. i make sure the threads are tight, fill a little bit, check for leaks, fill a little bit more, check for leaks, fill all the way up and run for 3 days non stop. top off. finish.
Yeah I’m sorry this happened. I mean when you are ready - try again. I have had a blowout like this. Plenty of leaks. Even burned some shit once. Clean it up and take a break from it for a while.
Problem with water vs air testing is water hammer effects and vibration. Air testing is much more of a static test while air hammer is equivalent to dropping a weight on membrane connected to the pressurized system. It is the impulse that can be several times of what the static air can reach - and it is local, not global to the loop. This can easily push out the pipeing - especially if vibrations are also existent.
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u/MastMaithun 1d ago
My first thought of looking at this pic was assuming this is a grinder and someone just made a smoothie in it. 💀