Does the reservior has to be at the top?

I've heard this somewhere, actually many places. I'm just wondering if I have to put it at the top (or just higher that the majority of the loop) The reason being is I plan to put it in the front bays but if I were to put it the top most bays, if there was a leak, my HDDs and ODDs below would have a nice shower. So because of that I'd like to put it near the middle if not the bottom of the case (top mounted rad for reference).

Well the consensus is to put the res at the highest point. This being that it will be easier to bleed/feed. It's also advised to leaktest the parts before installing.

As long as the res is higher than the pump, you're fine

Nebulous said:

This being that it will be easier to bleed/feed.

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I understand the bleeding, but what about the feeding? I don't understand why it would be harder.

When you fill the loop ya use the res. It will flow down to the pump inlet, thats pretty much it, just gravity.

Gravity will work better as the pump won't run dry when feeding. Running the pump dry when feeding/starting will damage the impeller.

and another bit of advice, don't leak test over night, i did that and woke up to water all over my desk and the pump still running, though since its the lowest point in my loop there was water in it still.

It does need to be at the top of the loop or have a fillport going to the top of the loop when filling or else when you open it up, water goes down with gravity and it will of course come right out of your now open res.

Otherwise, a res can be put anywhere as long as it feeds the pump inlet. If it is lower in the loop, most people run a line from the fill hole in the res to a fillport at the top of the case.

For reference my build is the most similar to this one, the only major difference is the res will beeven lower than that. Can the res be that low for use without causing issues? I have an idea that to fill I could just put the case MOBO facing up, unscrew the res, pull it out and up, then it will be the highest point in the loop. The possible issue with this is it's not the highest for use.

Micmal said:

For reference my build is the most similar to this one, the only major difference is the res will beeven lower than that. Can the res be that low for use without causing issues? I have an idea that to fill I could just put the case MOBO facing up, unscrew the res, pull it out and up, then it will be the highest point in the loop. The possible issue with this is it's not the highest for use.

Click to expand...

It will still work as long as you can have it at the highest part of the loop when bleeding/filling. Just realize that one of the conveniences of a res is usually ease of filling, and that whenever you want to top off your loop, it will be a bit inconvenient. I would recommend finding a way to run a line to a fillport at the top of the case as it would make things a whole lot easier.

Does the fillport/t-line loop order matter? With this build, the ideal location for me is between the rad and pump or the rad and CPU block. Then again, I could put it anywhere, but those would be ideal.

You really want the res feeding the pump inlet to give it a ready supply of water so that it doesn't run dry when filling, and to prevent negative pressure at the pump inlet.

voigts said:

It does need to be at the top of the loop or have a fillport going to the top of the loop when filling or else when you open it up, water goes down with gravity and it will of course come right out of your now open res.

Otherwise, a res can be put anywhere as long as it feeds the pump inlet. If it is lower in the loop, most people run a line from the fill hole in the res to a fillport at the top of the case.

Click to expand...

That didn't happen to my first watercooling system. It was an all Asetek a long time ago with the little Asetek cylindrical reservoir. Anyway, it was at the bottom just in front of the pump. Both were at the bottom of the loop. When the lines were completely full and leak-free, I could open the top lid of the reservoir without the water at the top of the loop draining out.

A little off topic but why is the impeller damaged when ran dry?

Spawn-Inc said:

and another bit of advice, don't leak test over night, i did that and woke up to water all over my desk and the pump still running, though since its the lowest point in my loop there was water in it still.

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lol . What about running say 9am and checking every hour subsequently and after 10pm, go to bed when there are no leaks?

maxspam said:

A little off topic but why is the impeller damaged when ran dry?

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The fluid acts as lubrication for the impeller between it and the shaft. Running it dry can damage the impeller rather quickly.

A large bath tower or a beach towel wrapped around the base of your PC should help with any leaks if you're going to sleep.

If I may.

Voigts: After our discussing on my thread I did some testing, and I have to contradict you. The res does -not- need to be atop the loop at any times. However this has a few contingencies.

One. It must be higher than the pump.
Two. The pump -must- be running.

I found that as long as the pump is running and pumping faster than you are pouring, you can fill the loop effectively. More tests will proceed to see if I can get it completely bubble free ect with a low res, but as for just filling? It seems to work just fine.

It's pretty simple as to why, I can have a more detailed explination if anyone wants.

Yes please, expand upon this. I don't care about filling difficulties, but topping off is wut really matter to me. I know that filling a top rad will already be difficult, so holding a res in the air while doing it will be even more fun

Does the pump have to be on for topping off?
Anything regarding topping off?

With the pump on, I'll explain how it works, I can only do the rest of the tests when my rad actually comes in the mail.

Here's how it works though. The pump is running. When you pour water into the res,it will progress to the lowest possible point, and will then be forced to the other side of the pump, making, for quite some time, the pump the lowest possible point, the water level rising on the -other- side of the pump. However, eventually the water level will reach the top of the loop and actually start to circulate. However again, the tubing will only be "full" of water on the upward side of the loop from the pump, there still being a bit of room on the downward side of the loop for water to be added, therefore, as you keep pouring, it keeps filling this extra area, and the pump is able to move more and more water over the top of the loop, and more and more of the downward side of the loop is now being filled with moving liquid. The res doesn't overflow, because water preferrs to move down, and even if the top of the res is in the middle of the loop, as long as there is a uniform amount of water, and it is being uniformly circulated, it will still always attempt to move down. Wow, that was a terrible explination, when my rad comes I'm taking pictures once and for all -.-

However I do have doubts for what will happen when the pump turns off. If your res/line is capped, I think you'll be safe (assuming the cap is airtight) but if you just have a loose line, I do think your loop would overflow. The key to what I'm saying is that the pump needs to be on. (Or you need to have an airtight seal.)

No I understand it. Basically the pump keeps the water flowing, so the extra overhead water pressure doesn't influence the res.