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Clamps
You must clamp every single joint firmly. Do not use plastic hose clips, these
are inadequate, and guaranteed to leak sooner or later. Use metal Jubilee Clips,
and eliminate risk altogether. You can buy them at any DIY shop.
Water
You may think that the water would be the easiest part of a Water Cooling system,
but there are still a few things to bear in mind.
Limescale build up is the last thing you want, so unless you live in an area
with very soft water, you must use distilled water instead. You can buy this
very cheaply from a car spares shop.
If your system uses more than one kind of metal in its construction, (and it
almost certainly will) then they will form a crude battery. This can cause the
more reactive of the two metals to corrode. You can avoid this by adding antifreeze
to the water.
Antifreeze will actually increase your systems performance, because the alcohol
it contains is even better than water at heat transfer. 75% water and 25% antifreeze
will prevent corrosion, increase performance slightly, and make the water go
a nice colour.
Special water additives for Water Cooling are a waste of money. Even the best
only perform as well as antifreeze, and most of them are nothing but repackaged
antifreeze.
For my own systems, I use 75% genuine Yorkshire tap water, and 25% Halfords
own brand antifreeze. This is cheap and effective, and a lovely bright blue
colour. Antifreeze comes in red, green, and blue, so you can find some that
suits your computers colour scheme.
Connectors
Once you have decided on your hose size, make sure both your radiator and waterblock
have the appropriate size connectors or hose barbs. Self-clamping hose connectors
may look convenient, but they restrict the water flow, so are best avoided.
Ideally, a system should have no elbows or unnecessary connectors. The only
special connector you need is a single T piece for the filling and bleeding
hose. You can buy plastic ones made for the job, but a better option is to use
a copper plumbing one, made for ½" pipe. This will allow more water
to flow through, and will allow air bubbles to escape easier.
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