Discussion Suggestions for Water loop and Draining it.

[Tonyblu331]

Hello,

So I am building my first SFF build soon. Most likely will be with a Ncase M1 and I am still deciding if to go with a CPU/GPU custom loop or an AIO for both. Anyways, If I end up going with a custom loop I will probably use the Alphacool Eisbaer Solo LT Block/Pump combo and won't use a reservoir at all. Radiator wise will probably go with EK, Alphacool, or Hardware Labs coupled with some Noctua fans. For the GPU block, I will probably just buy an RTX 2080S Hydro Cooper from EVGA. Because I won't be using a reservoir at all, and I guess many of you also run this way. How do you guys manage to drain your loops in a fast and efficient way? As I guess TSA/CATSA agents or similar won't let me go inside the airplane with a filled loop ?.

 

[August]

I think the most valuable thing you can do to make your loop easily fillable and maintainable is to invest in at least two pairs of quick-disconnect fittings. They (usually) come in a male-female pair, and will allow you to "break" the loop in a convenient spot, and attach leads to fill and burp it. One pair is permanently installed in the loop, and one is split and used for the fill and drain lines.

I wrote a bit on this a while ago in response to this thread on Reddit, which includes a pretty good illustration at the top from the OP showing how the disconnects can be used. I tried to elaborate on the filling process here, as well.

Those bits of advice are the result of my experience doing a custom loop in the DA2, which is documented here. The realization about the utility of quick-disconnect fittings was aided by this build from @ncook06.

Have fun with your build!

 

[Tonyblu331]

Thanks a lot for your detailed response and all the links