how to drain Storm/APEX kit loop?

E

el rolio

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 8, 2004
Messages
2,495
hey all you swiftech using, storm kit using, cd drive bay reservoir using folks out there. simple question and i am asking for as full an explanation as possible:

how do you drain your loop? do you drain it by pourring the liquid outta the hole in the reservoir? is there some other way it is supposed to be done? help please.
 
Do you mind purchasing new tubing? (49 cents a foot from www.mcmastercarr.com) If not then DangerDen has a nice little video on one simple method for draining the loop. It basically entails getting a bucket, and snipping the tubing apart over the bucket so that it all drains into the bucket....not exactly the way I would do it but it works.

linkage
 
well when i bought the kit it was used without tubing, so i bought like 25ft of it one time. so yea got more tubing.
 
An easier way to do it would be to take the tube off of the outlet of the pump, then run the pump for a bit and let it pump all the remaining water through the loop and into the bucket.
 
Or the easiest way to do it is to remove the waterblocks from the motherboard and GPU and then pull the loop out of the computer then feel free to spill water anywhere and not worry about getting your computer components all fux0red.
 
Same as Erasmus.

Teh, thats just wayyyy too much work. Especially considering the fact taht my radiator is bolted to the top of my case on the inside...
 
find your longest run of hose, be it to your pump rad, cpu block... whatever, and remove the one device and drain it from there into a sink or bucket, i personaly use the part of the loop that runs to my pump, as it goes vid card> pump> res, by removeing the pump, i have about 16" of line play, i unhook the pump and blow the water back out of the system backwards throught the system
edit/

Picture018.jpg


the t-line is really only for topping it off
thore
 
thanks guys. so no one with reservoirs actually pours the water out from the res itself? everyone cuts tubing?

the one thing about the video i didnt like is that he had to keep cutting, i want as much as if not ALL teh liquid to come out from that one cut i would make, on the longest run yu kno what i mean.
 
i have drained an apex kit by pouring the water out of the res. try turning the pc in different directions to get all of the water out, and the disconnect tubes one by one to get the water out of the blocks.

its not too hard.
 
I replaced the plastic clamps that came with my kit with metal worm clamps. When I need to drain, I just unscrew the clamp on the pump get a 5 gallon bucket and turn it back on to drain the existing water. I then clamp it back down. After that I use the res to fill back up. Seems to work for me.
 
IMG_5944.jpg


thats how my system is setup. pump - rad - storm - maze - res - pump

wondering whats best or which to cut if i do cutting.im prolly gonna shorten one or more of the runs anyways when i redo the loop and add the second maze
 
I have a res and I dont cut my tubing...

as for you... my suggestion is to take out your HD's (should be easy enough right?) then disconnect the hose going to the inlet of your pump. That way you only have to snip the zip-tie you used as a hose clamp.

Reason for removing the hd's is to keep any stray water off of them while you take off the hose and point it at a bucket.
 
el roli, that is why I put a t-line in the lowest point in the loop (usually just before the pump) for draining purposes. That way, I can just tip the line over into a bucket :). I doesn't get all of the fluid out, but around 80% or so, which is good enough for most scenarios.

I still say that quick disconnects rule for filling and draining, though :cool: .
 
Punx_Clever said:
I have a res and I dont cut my tubing...

as for you... my suggestion is to take out your HD's (should be easy enough right?) then disconnect the hose going to the inlet of your pump. That way you only have to snip the zip-tie you used as a hose clamp.

Reason for removing the hd's is to keep any stray water off of them while you take off the hose and point it at a bucket.
Click to expand...

hmm ok so i remove the clamp on the tubing going into the inlet of the pump there under the hdds then simply pull it off? that wont be super messy or anything? i am scared of mess.
:eek: . cuz yea then for sure lots of the fluid will drain right down thru gravity out of the res and then some....

or do i CUT part of the line down there. note well i relaly cant move the pump from where its at. its pretty firmly stickied down + i got the screws in heh.

DR57 - im thinkin of puttin a very shot t-line valve thing at that spot right before the pump after the res for future uses actually. wehre do i get one? ffor 1/2" that doesnt fuck up the flow or whatev.
 
in your case the way i would do it would be to take the res out (but still hooked up) flip the case upside down then pop off a line it will all drain out easly with a littel left in the blocks and some in the rad , it should be easy enought to move the res out of the case and should have enought slack in the tube to have it set on the countertop beside the case while the case is upside down...

thore
 
I've got some fancy quick connects that I got at a local pet store. They're supposed to be used for a fluval 303 aquarium filter but they're 1/2" ID so I figured I'd try 'em. Never go back to anything else, I just put them in between my pump and my res and drain the system like that. I've also poured it out of my res in the past when my res was hanging out the back of my case, no water in the case that way.
 
you look like you got a lot of slack going to your res, pull the res out of the case and give the pump a flick of power after letting all the water come out of the res, all the water the pump can push out of the tubing would be gone in about 1/2 a sec(if its anything like my loop)
pulling out the cdrom would give you even more slack
 
My thing about cutting the tubing is that it's a bastard to get 7/16" back on the barbs of the D5 pump (at least without heating, and much grunt-work).

I've thought of cutting my line, getting a T junction, and splicing in a DD Fillport (well, drainport in this case), and integrating that into the bottom of my case. All you'd have to do is take the case to the tub, unscrew the cover, and you're empty.

OR: If you could find a 1/2" 2-way valve (dunno what the hell they are ACTUALLY called). Have it so it's usually just set to push water through the system. When you want to bleed, turn the toggle, and it'll be set to exhaust water through some convenient port (Like above drainport).

Just my $0.02
-Ghent
 
Yeah, when I re-do my tubing setup over thanksgiving I'll be putting in a dedicated drain line. perhaps even getting one of the "drainports".

I just dont like turning my watercooling system upside down with parts in there... call me crazy but it seems like a bad idea.
 
wow. thanks guys, thats all the info i think i needed. like 3 or so of you have hit it on the head. i will take out the cd drive (cuz im moving it to the bottom of the cage anyway) then the soundcard and will then slide the res out of the cage and do like you said, turning the case on its side on a table then opening the res and draining into a bucket that way.

also, if anyone has links to say home depot, or pics of, or websites that carry what i would eventually wanna put under the HDDS (so between the res and the pump) that will have a valve so it can be set to let the loop flow as normal, then when i wanna drain i can just twist a knob and then it all drains out from the res into a bucket (thru attached short tube run of course) for hte next times i wanna drain!

THANKS EVERYONE! this has been a great help!
 
I'm wondering the same thing about properly draining it. I have a Aquatube in my Apex kit. I was planning on putting a tube on the aquatube jet and have the tube running out to a bucket. I will then run the pumb until it pumps all the liquid through the aquatube. I was wondering is it safe to run the pump dry.
 
revlimit said:
I'm wondering the same thing about properly draining it. I have a Aquatube in my Apex kit. I was planning on putting a tube on the aquatube jet and have the tube running out to a bucket. I will then run the pumb until it pumps all the liquid through the aquatube. I was wondering is it safe to run the pump dry.
Click to expand...
it is not safe to run a pump dry, you need to make sure that its not running when it runs out of water or your gonna wear it down real fast
 
Thanks, I glad that haven't attempted it yet. How about blowing compressing air in the tube to force the water out?
 
revlimit said:
Thanks, I glad that haven't attempted it yet. How about blowing compressing air in the tube to force the water out?
Click to expand...

thats what revenant suggests, after you let gravity do its job, you can jjust get an open end of tube and blow and it should get the rest out very quickly
 
el rolio said:
thats what revenant suggests, after you let gravity do its job, you can jjust get an open end of tube and blow and it should get the rest out very quickly
Click to expand...


Oops, I may have missed it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top