MaximumPC 2007 09

how (^2) ImprovIng your pc experIence, one step at a tIme
There’s nothing more annoying than
spending hours getting the perfect
water-cooling system installed in your
machine only to see the fateful drip,
drip of a leaky connection after you’ve
started adding coolant. Sure, you can
make some last-minute adjustments
to a water-cooling rig once it’s in
your case, but it’s cumbersome. And
depending on the severity of your leak,
it could be a race against the clock.
You can avoid drippy disasters
entirely by assembling your water-
cooling rig outside of your case to begin
with. Admittedly, this will do nothing to
prevent user error in the installation pro-
cess, but it will help you quickly diagnose
problems with connections, tubing, and
anything else that could possibly go
wrong with your setup.
Spread out a couple paper towels
and set your entire water-cooling rig on
your makeshift leak-testing station. Jump
a power supply by jamming one end of a
paper clip in the 20- or 24-pin green con-
nector and the other end in a black con-
nector, but make sure the power supply
is unplugged. Before you plug the power
supply into the wall, rig up your pump and
If you just want to spot-clean your rig,
first get a container of hot water. You’ll
be turning it into a reservoir of sorts by
dipping the tubes into the container so
that the hot water is sucked through
your rig and then spit back into the
same container. If you want to get
really fancy, use a separate container
for the gunky output portion of the
cleaning; using this method, you’ll still
want to run the hot water through your
system for a good amount of time—30
minutes to an hour.
For truly filthy rigs, or truly dedi-
cated water-cooling aficionados, a
complete kit disassembly is in order.
Once you’ve got your parts laid out,
you can start scrubbing. Depending
on the condition of your tubing (and
potential coolant-staining issues), you
might just want to start over with brand-
new plastic pipes (street price: $4). But
if you insist on keeping your current
gear, head down to your local gun shop
and pick up a rifle-cleaning rod. A little
warm, soapy water or vinegar and some
brisk scrubbing will clean your pipes but
good. Rinse and then run some distilled
water through your tubes.
For the deepest clean possible, take
apart your water blocks. Be advised
that doing this will likely void their
warranty, but it’s a small price to pay
for shiny, residue-free cooling acces-
sories. Grab a toothbrush and some
vinegar and apply a thorough helping
of elbow grease. Don’t forget to give
the parts a good rinse in hot water
when you’re done. Next, rinse them
with distilled water or you’ll com-
pletely invalidate the wonderful clean-
ing job you just did. Reassemble your
blocks, and you will have success-
fully completed your cleaning duties
for the day; provided your blocks
don’t leak, that is....
Don’t forget to rinse everything with dis-
tilled water as the last step in your clean-
ing process!
Cleaning Your Kit
2
Towel Testing
3
If you spring a leak, it might be in your
best interest to unplug the power supply
before you get to tinkering.