*When* is an AIO most likely to leak?

[Ad Hominem]

I know there's about a billion threads asking what the chances of a sealed AIO cooler springing a leak are, but this isn't exactly that.

I was wondering *when* is an AIO most likely to leak.

My intuition tells me that the most likely time of failure would be right after install, since the components had just been handled, and once an AIO is installed and running fine the chances of it failing are very slim. But maybe it's completely random and there is no time at which the AIO is more likely to leak. I just installed one for myself from Thermaltake and started wondering. If i keep an eye out for the next couple days and it holds steady, will it most likely be fine? Or do you always have to keep vigilant about checking now and again to see?

Does anyone have any input or insight on this?

[Omega]

It's most likely to leak right after you pierced the hoses with a sharp object.


If it doesn't leak out-of-the-box it's unlikely to leak after installation.

[Nabster]

When you least expect it, like when you are in the toilet minding your mind business

[Ad Hominem]

Originally posted by Omega:

It's most likely to leak right after you pierced the hoses with a sharp object.

Damn, that wasn't in the instruction. I need to write this down for next time.

I know it's probably one of those silly questions that you get from nubs to watercooling. So assuming you don't slash your own pipes, tried to be careful during install not to bend anything too far, and didn't overtighten the fan screws into the rad or something, and assuming it didn't leak out of the box, it's probably fine.

[Monk]

If you seriously manhandle it during instalation, as in, swing it around the room , there may be a small chance.

Beyond that it's simply very bad luck, I've had an old h80 120mm from corsair ticking away 24/7 pretty much for 6, nearly 7 years without any issues yet, only reason it's not in use now is I gave the system to my mum who lives abroad and i replaced it with a 212 evo just incase to save cost/ issues later.

Aios are pretty tough if you aren't an idiot with them, for every horror story there will be tens or hundreds of thousands working fine.

[Ad Hominem]

Originally posted by Monk:

Aios are pretty tough if you aren't an idiot with them, for every horror story there will be tens or hundreds of thousands working fine.

Thanks. This is my first time intentionally putting liquid in my computer, so I guess once I got it in
I started getting jittery about it. It's just a Thermaltake 3.0 Performer 120mm and I put an extra fan on the rad to have a push/pull. Nothing too fancy. I was mainly afraid of bending the tubing too much but it looks like where the tubes meet the block, it has some kind of swivel joint on it which made mounting pretty easy. I was also afraid that if I over-torqued the fan/rad screws I would compromise the radiator somehow so I just went to 2 finger tight. Enough that a bit of vibration shouldnt make it come loose.

Unrelated question, is it important to balance the RPM of the push and pull fans? The second fan I added is a Noiseblocker NB-eLoop B12-4. Kinda a hybrid fin design between static pressure and raw airflow.

[Arya]

AIOs follow the BathTub Curve, like all things made by humans. They're most likely to fail within the first day and beyond that, should be solid.

AIOs can fail. Anything machine can. And because they contain water they can leak. But the chance of a leak are extremely low with quality coolers, and should be covered by warranty. Fresh coolant is de-ionized and a leak shouldn't do any permanent damage.

As long as you buy a quality system, you shouldn't have any issues at all. I particularly recommend Corsair's Hydro series, it seems to be the best-overall from the current crop of Asetek systems. If you don't want Asetek, Alphacool's Eisbaer performs really well and is slightly cheaper in many places. It's also a lot quieter for about the same power, but has a weak pump.

If you want something really nice, try an EK Phoenix. EK have had their issues in recent years, I found that out the hard way when my kit leaked. But they've come back very well with the Phoenix, and even won over their most cynical critic - me.

[LvL3]

my sister got mad at me and litterally knocked my tall ass phantex case off its stand ... my corsair h110 gt still no problems 2 years later running strong even with a 3 1/2 ft fall

[LiMpY]

It took my Antec Kuhler 2 cpus and about 5 or 6 years to start leaking.

[Viper]

Obviously with different temps going through the hoses ithey will degrade slightly over time. But it would take several years for them to degrade to the point of leakage. The pump itself will wear out before then. That is more of a thing to worry about actually as AIOs are almost silent and the only warning your going to get most of the time of a pump failure is extremelly high temperatures.

[Arya]

Originally posted by Viper:

Obviously with different temps going through the hoses ithey will degrade slightly over time. But it would take several years for them to degrade to the point of leakage. The pump itself will wear out before then. That is more of a thing to worry about actually as AIOs are almost silent and the only warning your going to get most of the time of a pump failure is extremelly high temperatures.

There are a couple of warning solutions for that, from motherboard and case temp readouts to software solutions.

[Ad Hominem]

Originally posted by Wolfey:

Originally posted by Viper:

Obviously with different temps going through the hoses ithey will degrade slightly over time. But it would take several years for them to degrade to the point of leakage. The pump itself will wear out before then. That is more of a thing to worry about actually as AIOs are almost silent and the only warning your going to get most of the time of a pump failure is extremelly high temperatures.

There are a couple of warning solutions for that, from motherboard and case temp readouts to software solutions.

That's no problem, I have Afterburner set to alarm if my CPU temp rises above 70c. I had just installed my first AIO the other day and had the jitters about it afterward. It's been a couple days and no issues, so hopefully im past the first part of the bathtub curve.

It wasn't leaking out of the box, and I didn't caveman it during install. I actually treated the thing like it was made of glass, even going so far as to only taking the mounting screws on the radiator to 'two finger tight', or how tight you can go with just a thumb and index finger on a screwdriver.

[_I_]

aio orings and seals will slowly disolve over time

5-10 years is a good limit before replacing it

long screws can damage the rad, if near an endcap it can cause a crack to leak

[Ad Hominem]

Originally posted by _I_:

aio orings and seals will slowly disolve over time

5-10 years is a good limit before replacing it

long screws can damage the rad, if near an endcap it can cause a crack to leak

What is an endcap? I did use the rad screws that came with my phanteks rgb fan frame on the inside fan of my push/pull setup, but you should feel it bottom out before it got tight on the case first if it was too long, right?

[_I_]

the endcaps are the ends of the rad without fins
they are used to connect the fins the other side of the fins or hoses

pc rads are like 2 half rads looping back
[outlet encdap] fins /endcap\
[outlet endcap] fins \endcap/

putting a long screw thru the middle of the fin will just deform that fin
putting a long screw thru the end near a cap will not allow the fin to deform and cause a crack at its end cap joint