HVAC technician here. What you created was the harshest water slug machine I've ever seen. When we pull a perfect vacuum (down to 500 microns maximum) we have to let in the liquid refrigerant VERY slowly or else it will destroy the compressor, especially newer ones that have been re-regulated by the EPA to be more efficient in the states. Waterslugging has the potential to ruin joints, internal mechanisms, and likely your radiator fins. However, you can totally prevent this by pulling a vacuum (with the fittings, because with proper fittings, you should get near a perfect vacuum if your joints don't leak), closing the valve on the tube, removing the other end off of the vacuum, filling that tube with water, plugging the end with your thumb while you push that end of the tube into a bucket of water so that it is completely filled with water, and then CRACK the valve open SLIGHTLY to slowly bleed the water in, letting it flow without much speed so that it gently flushes across your joints and fins. Edit: actually, it may not be *that* bad considering your loading it into the accumulator instead of directly into delicate points of your water loop, but it's still a good idea to slowly bleed the water into your system.
@kevinlsims7330 A valve at the end of the hose will still have a few grams of air as you connect the hose to the service valve. ofc my background is an HVAC technician, and so my idea of a perfect job is ensuring there are no contaminants whatsoever.
You ned a 3 way Y splitter with 2 valves one for vacuum and one for fill. The one for the fill will go back to a small gallon bucket with a hole and another fitting with a valve. just before the valve at the Y fitting there will be another fitting with a bleeding port on it so you can pre fill the length of feed hose. Close all valves on the feed side. Open all the valves on the vacuum side and pull a vacuum. Close the vacuum side. Open top valve at the bucket and them open the valve at the Y. Yes some air will get in there, but dam it will work near perfectly. I just got all my fittings in to finish my loop I just may try it. I just concerned I may damage something pulling to m uch of a vacuum. Sory was just thinking out loud when I read your reply. I was a dealership tech for over 20yrs. Everytime I filled a cooling system I pondered this idea and was always surprised none of the big companies had a kit to do this.
@@theluggage7131 That was my first idea to suggest, however there may be air pockets in the system doing it that way and the water will flow right past those air pockets.
I find it so interesting the difference in terminology between industries. I work in materials science and laser testing and for us a "light vacuum" is about 1 micron (I assume we're taking mercury). I actually stifled a gasp when I saw Jay just slam open the vacuum valve like that, I thought for sure he was going to crack something, especially just behind the fill valve.
Aquacomputer actually has a vacuumpump for a PC waterloop, its called Leakshield. It also prevents small leaks over time by keeping a small vaccum in your PC.
Yeah, like several people have been saying, a secondary feature of the Aqua Computer Leakshield is to fill the computer by pulling a vacuum. I picked it up for the leak protection but found this secondary feature to be very useful as well.
A pressure test is fairly easy. Pressurize it to the approximate amount you will use later. If you can, let it sit to see if it will leak over time. Once you know it can handle it, you are good to go.
Not a problem at all. The cooling pump itself operates on vacuum, it sucks (and pushes) the depending on what side of the vanes. It will only be the negative pressure needed to draw up the fluid. It's not a pressure system like a car radiator they changed pressure when temperatures rise. It's more like a brake bleeder. Jay got negative readings because he plugged the inlet, but if you are sucking liquid, it will be like sucking a straw. Benefits of this method vs pressure is it works better at filling the air voids by sucking the air out. Air can compress, so it tends to leave pockets in the high spots, just like when filling a car cooling system. Interesting for sure, and one I may try if I ever get a user serviceable radiator.
This is how I fill mine using leakshield, essentially. The leakshield prevents leaks by creating a vacuum, it has a fill mode that uses a vacuum to pull fluid into the system. EDIT: JAY, AQUACOMPUTER BUILT IT INTO LEAKSHIELD. THEY DID IT FIRST.
the vacuum pump should be at the top of the system, and the fill tube be at the lowest. also, you need to run the vacuum pump through a jar, to protect the vacuum pump from sucking fluids. You could use that same jar, to pull clean fluid through the system to flush out the old gunk. < Automotive Radiator servicing>
there is some mist around the pump in the video , @8:45 maybe it is blowing/spraying water out the outlet nipple... not so great for air vac pump for sure, i have same pump and it does not put oil vapors out like stated, makes me think it is water mist...
@@TomislavReskovic This is oil/water vapour that you are seeing coming out of the vacuum pump. This is normal and part of the process of vacuuming as it the water or moisture being pulled out of the loop is being boiled off in the vacuuming process.
🤣 that type of vacuum pump definitely doesn't need "protection from fluids" it's designed to pump either flashed refrigerants or liquid refrigerant (depending on what refrigerant is being used)
Also that "mist" as Jay mentioned in the video correctly isn't the liquid. If anyone was paying attention to the entire process he vacuumed prior to adding the new liquid. ALL of those types of vacuum pumps expell a mist of heated oil out the vent port.
Hey Jay, I've been filling my PC with a fluid vacuum hand pump for ages. I used one that is meant to be used to bleed automotive brakes. I don't pull vacuum on the whole system though, I use the vacuum to pull fluid through the loop at the highest point to ensure a complete fill. This way also tends to pull all the air pockets out as well.
So there was this product that Linus tested something like 3 or 4 years ago now that was called "leak shield" and basically what it did was it drew a negative pressure on the water loop which helped to fill it this way too. It uses a piezo pump which is crazy in my opinion but that's largely what I want next time I build a PC, whenever that is.
It's being sold since a while now, about 2 years IIRC. 'Aqua Computer Leakshield' (german company). It's main use is drawing negativ pressure while the loop runs which prevents fluid from spilling if there are small punctures for some reason. Hence the name leakshield. Filling the loop by pulling a vacuum is more of an additional use of the system. Sadly, outside of Germany (and somewhat EU) Aqua Computer, Watercool and TechN are barely known as it seems. Those 3 are german brands with awesome custom loop stuff.
Im currently building a system with a leakshield, that video is what got me into watercooling, or at least gave me the confidence to try it out for the first time.
Got one. LOVE the damn thing. saved my 7900xtx computer shut down while gaming with all my leds flashing red. Checked and one of the L connector above my videocard was leaking :P
If possible, add a catch pot between the computer and the pump. You want a place for liquid to stop before it runs through the pump. An old reservoir would be good enough. You can also pull the vacuum from the fill port while filling from the drain port. You won't need to pull "max vacuum" to get a good fill ratio.
I built a liquid reservoir for doing carbon fiber vacuuming. It's literally just a length of pvc, two caps, and a few holes/fittings. Then you could pull liquid while you pull the vacuum. I wonder if you could get a fitting like what they use to siphon wine where it doesn't open until you touch the bottom of the liquid container. Then you could pull a vacuum in your fill tube and hold the vacuum until it's in the liquid.
@@richiebricker that's not what they're saying is happening, aside from any residual water that didn't get blown out during the draining step. A large enough reservoir between the drain valve and the vacuum pump would allow him to drain the system into the reservoir by using the vacuum to pull the liquid (by pulling a vacuum on the reservoir, essentially), and then he could refill the system by reversing the order, placing the cooling system between the pump and the reservoir of new coolant, in one step instead of two
@@avroarchitect1793 Yeah, you don't need barely any vacuum if you connect the pump to the fill port (highest in the system) and the fill tube to the drain (lowest in the system). Then you only need enough to lift the water from the container to the top of the res, 1-2 inHg is enough (1inHg = 345 mm H2O). Add a catch container between the system and the pump (you could use a spare res using two ports at the top or use a jar and some barbs) to protect the pump and you have a nice system.
@@MikrySoft I have used a large mason jar with a couple of npt-hose barb connections to make a water separator, using a coupling cut in half as nuts for the pipe thread to attach them to the thin jar lid. Works quite well, we use these kind of pumps all the time to pull vacuum on double wall, vacuum monitored fuel tanks. They always have water in them if the seal leaks, or fuel if the tank has failed internally. Neither of which need to go through the vac. pump.
Hey Jay, I am a VW tech and we use a tool that can remove the air from the fill hose to eliminate introducing air into the system when filling. It works GREAT!
If your rigid tube system has a leak in a joint during initial testing, you could use the vacuum to pull in sealant. I've seen woodworkers pull glue into a fine crack with just a shop-vac on the opposite side. Brilliant video!
I used to do automotive A/C repair. The vapor you saw coming out of your pump vent was mostly water vapor, from the water that was still in the system, boiling when the vacuum ( lack of pressure) drops enough. Water will boil at room temperature in a vacuum. Remember, your vacuum pump is filled with (usually) mineral oil. Water vapor will turn the oil milky over time. Make sure to change it when it does and keep it filled to the proper level. I've seen people ruin vacuum pumps this way. To remove the fluid under vacuum, put an accumulator more than large enough to hold all the fluid in the system in line with the vacuum pump. Pull the accumulator under vacuum first and then open the valve while continuing to run the vacuum pump. I would suggest using a fairly long hose between the accumulator and the pump and keep the pump higher than the accumulator. It works pretty well.
Alternatively, just connect the drain (with a ball valve) to a hose going to water, and connect the vacuum source to the fill port. Then turn on the pump and allow it to pull in the fluid until it's full. This would allow you to not have to deal with putting the system under an intense vacuum
I've been meaning to get a vacuum pump to create a vacuum pot chamber for removing air from epoxy projects. Then today, I found out you can pickle foods under vacuuming instantly, rather than waiting weeks/months/years. And now I see this. It's really time.
Hey Jay, nice idea, but a litten bit late. Check Aquacomputers Leakshield. It uses a slight vacuum (negativ 300-400mbar) You can use this to Check for leaks in a newly build System, to Fill the system throgh a Port and to degas the system. (As well as a leak protection)
Leakshield is a very nice looking piece of kit, especially with the QoL features it offers! Shame it doesn't fit on my Corsair XD5 or I'd grab one in a heartbeat for the peace of mind alone.
For what it's worth, Aquacomputer already developed a vacuum system for PCs. Their LeakShield system uses a tiny vacuum pump to both prevent leaks and can also suction fluid into the reservoir. Its just not as fast or as cool as using an automotive vacuum pump. Alphacool also has an external unit call the ES Orbiter that does similar but requires using QDCs; you fill it with fluid, and it pumps it into your system while pulling out the air, and then you quick-disconnect the Orbiter and connect the two QDCs within the PC to themselves and done; air-free loop.
I was expecting this method to be fast, but DAMN that is SO fast! But I think pulling a bit less intense vacuum might be better for the parts in the loop in the long run :D
I just bought this same case for a new build, I also just installed a huge mini split on my shop. I was literally thinking about doing this with this build. I open up youtube, and here you are in my subs, posted today! CRAZY!!!
As long as the vacuum isn't too strong it works. Too much vacuum and it ends up sucking air through fittings defeating the purpose. I have that exact same Amazon vacuum but I use it to vacuum out auto AC systems to recharge them for far cheaper than a shop charges.
Hay Jay, you can improve it: if the vacuum pump was hooked in a place of the topoff screw plug instead, with additional overfill bottle in that line (hose from the topoff hole goes to the bottom of the bottle, vacuum pump sucks the air from the entire system through the lid of overfill bottle), and the drain pipe was dipped in the new fluid, filled already, sucking in air from the drain pipe like at 5:47 would't happen. Before vacuuming the loop, a bit of fluid could be sucked in up the drain pipe through the drain valve, than after closing it off, we create the vacuum in the loop through the topoff hole. When vacuum is achived, the drain valve will be opened until the fuid will reach the overfill bottle. An overfill valve, placed instead of the topoff screw plug, would stop the overflow, than drain valve would close off the fully filled cooling loop. For the finish, you just unscrew the hoses from valves, and the overfilled fluid goes from the bottle back into the storage container.
I can't believe I missed this video. Most water loop components can handle up to 1 Bar of pressure (14.5 PSI). Inversely, the components can handle up to -1 Bar of vacuum (-14.5 PSI). Wouldn't it be better to not allow the vacuum to go past -14 PSI? Perhaps that was the reason you could hear the radiator pipes and fins collapsing, like the bulkheads in a submarine. Next time try to only reach a vacuum of -14 PSI and see how well that works for you. I am currently working on a similar project, and that is how I found this video. Great job as always, guys!
I have a tool for vehicle coolant systems that does the same thing using Venturi effect instead of vacuum pump it's a bit safer for the rads, just need to start the filling process slowly so you don't damage the delicate microfins of the water blocks by having them get suddenly get hit by a rushing wall of water
as a refrigeration engineer in the uk, you have sparked my geeky interest 😀use a set of 4 port refrigeration (HVAC) gauge set, you could have a small tire inflator on one port, vac on another, drain on another and system oulet on another 🥰
I'd like to know more about what is causing the noise coming from the radiators while under vacuum. My concern is the fins detaching from the fluid channels and losing cooling efficiency because of less surface contact.
My concern is they collapse under vacuum then don't reinflate (or lack of a better way to describe it) when reg pressure is reapplied, so they don't have the same surface area/volume to radiate heat in future
@@PrepareToDie0 also some of the pipes might be sintered so causing those to flex too much might break off small pieces of metal that will float around.
Jay, with your relationship with Corsair, you should WORK WITH THEM TO DESIGN THIS KIT LIKE YOU DID THE WATERBLOCK! Like this is actually super amazing and with what you've learned it'll benefit the whole water cooling community!
This has been around for a long time in the automotive world. Check out Air Lift Vacuum Bleeders. It uses a shop air compressor to blow air through a venturi that pulls a vacuum on an empty cooling system, then you close one valve and open the other which goes into a coolant bottle and the system fills itself. No running a car gradually adding more while squeezing hoses and burping the system. It works fantastically well.
To evac a system all you need is a container in between the vac source and the cooling system. The vacuum pulls the vac at the top of the container (so that fluid does not get pulled in) and a hose extends to the bottom of the container where the fluid is accumulated. It's just like a one-man vacuum side brake bleed, like a Mityvac which I use.
Breaking the rule and commenting before fully watching, but if this works... I have a vacuum pump for recharging car AC systems that may find its way indoors on the next loop maintenance day.
Great vid! Just have to note.. Used to work in HVAC, and we didn't use vacuum to fill refrigerant - but to ensure there was no moisture in the system. Certain compressor oils would become acidic and you could ruin the compressor pistons if there was moisture in there. The capacity of the moisture filter of the system is just meant to handle the last residues after vacuum boils any water away inside the system. This is also what might break internal components if you have a leak on the return side, as moisture would be pulled in and react with the compressor oils and make acid.
What you should do is put a fitting on the bottom of a bucket of some kind so you can full the bucket with coolant and plug the hose going to the bucket fitting. If the bucket is on a stand above the fitting in the system all the air in the hose will rise into the bucket. This would also be a good setup if you need to fill a bunch of systems really quickly. After the system is full you can just move the hose to the top of the system to top off.
And if he has a closeable valve on the bottom of the hose, then the hose will also stay full of liquid if any is left and not have air in it either that could be pushed into the system.
I make silicone molds to make resin parts for random projects and I use a vacuum pump to degas (remove air and other gases) from the liquid silicone and resin. I also am planning a new computer build and I want to try water cooling...this just made that a bunch easier!! Thank Jay
The beautiful thing about this is that by using a vacuum, you've already pre-tested the system for leaks before even filling it, without having to do a separate pressure test (although it probably wouldn't hurt to do that when building it anyway. A second test also doesn't hurt, sometimes things might ... move between build and first fill, esp. if you have multiple hands on it.) Very efficient
There already is that cute little manual pump for testing a loop, with a gauge too. It should be child's play to reverse it on the cheap... and yes, Aquacomputer's leakshield.
Pulling inspiration from the auto field is brilliant! I recommend putting a vacuum trap between the drain and the vacuum pump to protect your pump from stray drops or schmoo in the system. To go EVEN FASTER, you could hook up a tube, valve, and jug to the fill port too. Apply vacuum, close one valve, open another, FWOOSH!
We used the following pump for our RF systems. JB Industries DV-200N Platinum 7 CFM Vacuum Pump. It can take an hour or two to pull the vacuums on the systems that were built and on some occasions all night.
@JaysTwoCents you should take one of your radiators sitting around to see if the vacuum is actually doing any damage to the rad, otherwise this is actually a good idea Also, they make automotive reservoirs that are made for vacuum evacuation that separate the air flow from the fluid.
This was part of my concern as well. PC components (for water cooling)* are not designed to operate under much pressure, much less a vacuum. At -29 psi, though it may not seem like much, is actually enough to implode containers you might not expect to do so. I'm sure there are plenty of videos to demonstrate this. A steel drum for instance will withstand multiple atmospheres under pressure, but will collapse under less than one.
Bro, I've been filling and emptying my loops with vacuum since 2016. You don't need a sophisticated vacuum drain system, just attach your hose to an airtight container of your choice from the top, and pull another hose from next to it to the pump. Crack the highest point of the system open (fill port etc) and pump. Once you start pulling vacuum into the container (milk jug etc.) your fluids will drain there, and as long as the hose from pump inside the container is above the fluid level you will only draw air into the pump. Its best to have a couple of inches between the hose to prevent spillage to vacuum pump hose. This method in reverse is also a quick way to fill the system, just reverse the ports to pull vacuum from top highest point using the catch can method (above) and put a hose with valve to the bottom and the other end into water jug.
I've been wondering why no one has done this yet, coming from a mechanic standpoint. This is how I've been doing car radiators for years so you can make sure there is no air behind the heater core. Great video Jay
Around 2018 or 2019 don't remember the exact time, I have suggested this idea to my contacts in EKWB for the reasons below; -Leak testing, if the air gets out during a leak. Air also can get in. -Filing the system fast and easy. -Can be used constant filling systems ( for EK Fluid gaming & EK Fluid works systems builds. ) Possible downsides are cracks on acrylic blocks and distro plates, pin saperation on radiators cave ins on fins, fittings might not be able to cope with negative pressure that being created by vacuum. They liked the idea at that time and they said they will test it, but didn't get any reply from them again and I didn't ask.
One of the coolest tricks I ever saw working at an auto shop was an old timer putting a vacuum on the oil fill port on top of the engine while I changed the drain plug without losing a drop... wonder if a similar gag could work for quick repairs or modifications on a system without having to drain it completely
You can use a T with two valves at the end, so you can put one tube to the vacuum pump and the other one to the bottle so that you don't have to take the tube out to the air. Also, a thinner tube would minimize the dead volume of air, but it might fill slightly slower. Going lower on pressure won't help much.
The reason you can't pull the vacuum past 24" is because of the water left in the system. Water boils under a vacuum which will cause the pressure to rise. On a new build you might hit 29" but it might require running the pump for 24 hours depending on the humidity in the area.
I'm pretty sure the fact that he's just plopping the tube over the flare fitting is his main reason to only hit 25", as that's sure to be a vacuum leakage
I mean, its not like he needs to get system more sealed. If anything its better to pull just enough vacuum to fill the system so that you don't break anything.
Correct. As soon as the gauge stops dropping, fill it up. I was just explaining as to why Jay couldn't get to 30" of vacuum. 30" would probably cause damage to some of the components, mainly o-rings not designed for a vacuum.@@BunzJackson
I cant say with 100% certainty that Jay was the first to vacuum fill a system, but he was the first publicly documented one at least, and first ive seen or heard, so thats pretty cool
I've done it, you were not the first! Aquacomputer has one and many of us have done it before. If you are not careful you can cause seals to become damaged, along with the radiators. Do not overdo it. You should attach the vac to the fill port at the top, then attach to a jar or something to create an air gap, then connect and use vacuum the draw in the fluid from your valve tube immersed in the coolant.
Jay, to expand on the use of automotive tools and making this a bit more reachable, how about a "mighty Vac" hand pump like you would use for bleeding brakes? Especially if you adapt a larger reservoir to hold the old coolant, it could be a one step solution. Also you could add a tee fitting and 2 more ball valves one to your vacume, one to the new fluid this would then allow you to not have the air introduced from the new fluid line.
As an HVAC service tech and use an 8 cfm vac pump on refrigeration systems, naturally, I had to watch this. haha! Also, I was thinking in my head before Jay opened that valve the first time, "dude, you gotta purge your hose!"
It seems jayz never heard of Aquacomputers Leakshield, what exactly does the same but is even much more advanced as it helps you protect against leaks and could even remove the water again.
Maybe you want to pull the vacuum at the highest point, i.e. the Phil-port, so you could prime the original drain port with fluid while under low vacuum, then increase the vacuum and phil the system all the way. You might want to include a small reservoir in front of the vacuum pump, so that it cannot suck liquid. But that is just my two cents. 😎
I did try doing this a year ago because I was doing a build in an ncase m1 with a t-line instead of a res. But since I am not a car person I must of messed something up. (I ended up just filling it up normally) You are the first to do it successfully though
Hi Jay. Being inspired by composite manufacturing, you should have two ports. One for vacuum on top of the reservoir with a liquid trap. That means you make vacuum on a container then you have a hose connected from that container to the top of the reservoir. You put a valve at the reservoir. Then you have another hose on the lower part of you reservoir, better yet on a low part of your loop. You put a valve there and connect the hose with the coolant. Then with both valves open you start sucking until the coolant passes the coolant valve. Then you close the coolant valve and continue sucking. Once you reach your maximum vacuum you slowly open the coolant valve and let it fill the loop until some coolant reaches the trap container. Then you close both valves and are done.
I'm glad that you realized that there was air in the fill hose. If you had a tub of water with a bigger opening, after closing the valve, you could fill the fill tube with water, put your thumb over it, and dunk it into the tub of water. Would reduce that air source.
as an automotive guy, and in the video it says he is too, i'm surprised this wasn't tested earlier. pulling a vacuum on a vehicles cooling system to fill it up has been fairly common practice on cars for years. not only is it a fast way to do things but you get to check for leaks at the same time.
Use a 3 way ball valve on your fill hose to syphon water into the fill hose prior to opening the fill valve and its perfect. I have a brake bleeder kit and i will be doing this for my next build. Great video and thank you for the tip.
This is the same way a mechanic changes fluid in your car. Brakes, power steering, transmission fluid sealed systems are awesome. If you add a tank to the draw side the vacuum pump won't suck fluid through it and won't get damaged. It will also capture any overfill so you can recontainer it.
This is what makes UA-cam stand out vs the crap that's on TikTok or Insta or whatever. Informative content which is actually useful. And entertaining at the same time. Thank you!
To make your setup perfect... All you need to do is attach a fitting to the "bottom" of your "fill from" tank. (obviously add a shutoff valve) Then all you need to do when ready to fill is connect to the fill reservoir, open the reservoir valve and lift the reservoir tank above the fill port so the tube bleeds out all the air into the tank, and bubbles to the top. Then you just set the tank back down (or just leave it on a stand above, and add a T with a shutoff for the pump), and open the fill valve on the loop. No more air getting in to the system. And you have an awesome mix and fill tank which perfectly attaches to the loop for a clean fill station. --- With enough forethought into the design, you could build a station that only needs to be connected to the fill port on the loop, and everything else is valved for easy use. Making it a much faster process. (And a potentially kickass looking fill station) I forsee a waste hose going down to a 3 gallon bucket under the bench, and the fill tank on a stand above the pump on a manifold with valves to open and close access to the specific functions (drain - vacuum - fill) *And a tertiary to blow air through and clean the lines... Or water flush them. Just in case they need cleaning.
Could run the black hose into the fill bottle lid, then have a straw run thru the lid separate to the bottom of the bottle. When you hold the bottle upsidedown above the fill point will clear the air pocket. Straw will stop the bottle from going under vacuum. Like shot gunning a beer
Add a liquid trap to your vacuum pump, just a glass jar with 2 hose bibs in the lid. It will save your pump if you happen to have liquid still in the system. there are plenty of DIY an professional designs online. Your idea is awesome.
Something to be aware of when using vacuum on a system designed for pressure. I was a Auto Tech at one point in life and they have warnings about trying to pull a "full vacuum" on a cooling system. There are a number of seals that will shift and there is a possibility of damaging radiators and heater cores. I think you might minimize how much vacuum you use in a method like this and use a small tank to prevent the coolant from getting sucked into the pump. Anything water based will TRASH that AC pump.
@Jayztwocents you are 1 tube and 1 waste containment vessel from vacuum draining already. Between the PC drain and the vacuum pump, you need a containment vessel that can hold your required level of vacuum. * Take a reinforced container that can handle 1 ATM of vacuum and hook south bound to your vacuum pump. hook it north bound the PC reservoir value. * with the valve closed, vacuum the collection reservoir to as hard it can handle and shut the valve to the vacuum pump. * Now open the valve to PC Loop. since the collection vessel is a larger volume then the PC Loop, it will suck it dry due to pressure differential.
Hi Jay. I work in the HVAC industry. i use vac pumps all the time. Ideally you'd need a manifold that you can vacuum down and charge (fill). Before you charge, you need to purge so you minimise air getting back into your system. In the automotive industry, you can fill your brakes this way too, much faster than the pump and bleed method. They use a bleed line into a fluid catch bottle (resevoir) which is then connected to the vacuum pump. That way to you empty your brake system of fluid and also fill it. E.g. Brake fluid bottle feeding brake fluid resevoir, bleed line to catch resevoir connected to vac pump. i siimilar inline system can work for PC watercooling. Alternatively, HVAC style would be: -Drain port connected to gauge manifold (so you can open and shut the line), vac/charge line from gauge manifold to catch resevoir then connected to vacuum pump. -When system is empty and holding a vacuum, shut off gauge manifold valve, disconnect vacuum pump and catch resevoir. -connect new fluid bottle. Seal it if possible (could be a bottle cap that you could modify with a hose that goes through it). -raise and invert new fluid bottle so it is above the lowest point of the gauge manifold and purge the line of air by cracking open the fill line/hose on the manifold end. this should leak out some fluid pushing air out. -place fluid bottle back on the table. -you should be ready to open the gauge manifold vavle to the system and charge (fill) without air bubbles. i hope that works. That is pretty much a simple way that we use in the HVAC industry. Recover, Vacuum, Purge, Recharge. Though we vacuum down to around 500 microns and check to see if it holds that for at least 15 minutes. Air in a HVAC system is really bad. Less air in a water cooled system can't hurt either, just like car radiator systems, less air, less problems with air locking, steam bubbles, pump airration etc.
You should ABSOLUTELY pull the fluid through with the pump running, so you don't have to worry about things breaking. You can make a super simple fluid seperator by having a sealed container with a tube that goes to the bottom, and a short tube that barely goes through the top. You hook the pump up to the short tube, and the system to the long tube. When the system is full, the fluid will exit the long tube, sit at the bottom of the container, and air is pulled through the short tube. This gives you plenty of time to turn off the pump before you get any liquid in it
You could leak test AND then vacuum fill with the same set-up. So I am DIY building myself a setup for this. I realised that the cheap vacuum pump I was looking at had two port that a tube could be atrached, one air-in and the other is air-out. Vacuum gauge and pressure gauge are the same thing, just with a different start point for the needle. So now if I put a valve on either side of a t-junction that has a dual function (pressure and vacuum) gauge, then by swapping between air-in and air-out on the pump. The reason for valves on boths sides is so when I go to fill the system I don't need to worry about any liquid getting into the gauge (probably not an issue, but a simple step for peace of mind)
I used a similar technique working for Moog to fill sealed electrical cables for undersea use. If you add the coolant slowly thru a needle valve you will put less stress on the mechanical components.
Heyo, I'm updating some parts later today and I'll also replace my coolant. Seeing you use the blower to get the rest of the fluid out already made me go "Hah! Great, thanks!" but then seeing how the loop just filled itself there made me laugh out loud this early in the morning. That was such an amazing thing to see because I feel like everyone struggles handling those huge heavy computer cases to get the air out. Thanks for showing us this, you guys. I wish I had seen this video sooner. lol
I use a vacuum pump since years to fill and remove bubbles from the loop. My vacuum pump was provided by hugyfot in order to set up my underwater camera housing (9V battery powered, not really powerful), but the fitting with an O'ring 😅was perfect for a water cooling loop. I use two ports on the reservoir. Both at the top of the reservoir. One plunge in the bottle of coolant, the other is fitted to the pump. Activate the vacuum pump to fill the reservoir with the coolant, it will gently suck it from the bottle (and avoid stress on the radiators like in this video), then power up the PC for the water pump and keep sucking air with the vacuum pump while the water pump is circulating the coolant through the loop. At the end you close the coolant port and a slightly negative pressure helps to reduce the size of the bubbles trapped in the loop and the same time will remove dissolved gases in the coolant, so the bubbles can reach the reservoir easily and go out of the loop through the vacuum pump port.
Nice..I have filled systems using pressure with an external tank with enough fluid to fill in the system in it. Loosening a fitting at the top of the reservoir enough to allow air to escape. while pushing the fluid into the lowest point. (Usually the drain port.) I used a small weed sprayer. ( one Gallon sprayer) That has a hand pump to pressurize the tank. I converted the sprayer hose to a flexible tube that connects to the drain valve. Once the system is full, I close the drain valve. slowly open the top to the sprayer, keeping it below the system, relieving the pressure, the remaining fluid in the tubing goes back into the tank. disconnect. Top off after starting the system Total cost for the sprayer and the fittings and tubing were around 35 bucks.
Here is a suggestion for a 100% fill that does not have that issue of the air in the tube between drain and bottle of new coolant. You have a tank that holds the new coolant. The tank has a hard tube that extends to the bottom and is connected to drain on your target fill system. You draw the vacum from the top of the fill tank. (Air in the system will be drawn through the tank, bubble through the new coolant) This means when you have drawn down your vacumn, the entire system will be at low preassure, and your new coolant will ALREADY be between it and the outside normal air preassure. Thus when you disconnect the vacumn pump, the entire system will be filled. You just need to be sure that you tank and new coolant volumn is greater than the volumn of your system.
Don't know if someone else tought of this, but is is also a great seal test. If there are leaks in the system, the vacum pump will not reach max pressure - or vacum. This way you avoid the risk of the fluid leaking after pluging the system in.
You may want to look into the following: A three way valve on the fill side of your rig. It will allow you to switch from the vacuum pump to the fill bottle and have the fill hose as full as possible to limit the amount of air. If worried about pulling water into the vacuum side of the system, install a fluid separator to keep the liquid from the vacuum pump.
that noise that you're hearing when you turn on the vacuum is coming from the vacuum itself. still a cool video! and that loop filled up hilariously fast
This is a great idea. FYI, this is how your vehicle's radiator, brake, and AC systems are filled at the factory. With the radiator, the fill head is clamped and sealed onto the radiator cap. The machine then pulls a vacuum on the system and checks if the system will hold the vacuum to check for leaks. If there are no leaks in the system, the radiator and the rest of the system are filled with fluid while the system is still under vacuum. The vacuum causes the system to fill faster than it would under normal circumstances, which reduces cycle time on the production line. The entire process takes about 40 seconds with about 35 seconds of that time being taken up by the vacuum check. It's stuff like this that allows factories to produce 60 to 70 vehicles an hour.
Like a vaccum brake bleeder. My MightyVac hand bleeder has a bottle that will pull all the fluid through without sucking fluid into the pump. Nice seeing it done on a computer. Also I believe the vapor you see is water boiling out of the system at low pressure.
I too have a vacuum pump. A vacuum fluid pump is just a vacuum pump hooked up to a rigid container with the fluid drain tube hooked up to the container in a different location.
Coming from the HVAC world, I would T off the gauge with a 2nd shut off between the pump and reservoir. It means you can pull the vacuum, turn the pump off and if the gauge drops, you have a leak.
We fill high voltage transformers under vacuum all the time. Pulling vacuum also helps to remove moisture from the system. But we're pulling down past 100 mTorr. And using 7-10k gallons of mineral oil. If you can maintain vacuum WHILE youre filling, you can top it up completely, then just break the vacuum when youre done.
I've always used a tiny aquarium pump. Line in from the lowest point (typically your drain), line out at the highest and that line is ran back into the bucket/fluid source so that the pump can cycle the fluid through the system however long you want it to before closing the loop up. Also works for rad flushing.
Jay as a physicist I have to warn you about what Ive been seeing. You seem to be going down the "mad scientist" route. Have fun. Let the party begin.
youtubers of the "crackhead engineering" type. Getr styropyro for a collab jayz!
This is the beginning of UA-cam fame! ♥
It's the best way for Jay, well, for anyone.
@@0Blueaura screw it fly I did a thing over too lol
@@PinkTuskedMammothnah idat would make a gpu gun, tad too expensive
HVAC technician here. What you created was the harshest water slug machine I've ever seen. When we pull a perfect vacuum (down to 500 microns maximum) we have to let in the liquid refrigerant VERY slowly or else it will destroy the compressor, especially newer ones that have been re-regulated by the EPA to be more efficient in the states.
Waterslugging has the potential to ruin joints, internal mechanisms, and likely your radiator fins. However, you can totally prevent this by pulling a vacuum (with the fittings, because with proper fittings, you should get near a perfect vacuum if your joints don't leak), closing the valve on the tube, removing the other end off of the vacuum, filling that tube with water, plugging the end with your thumb while you push that end of the tube into a bucket of water so that it is completely filled with water, and then CRACK the valve open SLIGHTLY to slowly bleed the water in, letting it flow without much speed so that it gently flushes across your joints and fins.
Edit: actually, it may not be *that* bad considering your loading it into the accumulator instead of directly into delicate points of your water loop, but it's still a good idea to slowly bleed the water into your system.
@kevinlsims7330 A valve at the end of the hose will still have a few grams of air as you connect the hose to the service valve. ofc my background is an HVAC technician, and so my idea of a perfect job is ensuring there are no contaminants whatsoever.
You ned a 3 way Y splitter with 2 valves one for vacuum and one for fill. The one for the fill will go back to a small gallon bucket with a hole and another fitting with a valve. just before the valve at the Y fitting there will be another fitting with a bleeding port on it so you can pre fill the length of feed hose. Close all valves on the feed side. Open all the valves on the vacuum side and pull a vacuum. Close the vacuum side. Open top valve at the bucket and them open the valve at the Y. Yes some air will get in there, but dam it will work near perfectly. I just got all my fittings in to finish my loop I just may try it. I just concerned I may damage something pulling to m uch of a vacuum. Sory was just thinking out loud when I read your reply. I was a dealership tech for over 20yrs. Everytime I filled a cooling system I pondered this idea and was always surprised none of the big companies had a kit to do this.
Why not do like a wet-vac and pull liquid continuously? - just need two jugs. waterjug-system-vacumjug-pump
@@theluggage7131 That was my first idea to suggest, however there may be air pockets in the system doing it that way and the water will flow right past those air pockets.
I find it so interesting the difference in terminology between industries. I work in materials science and laser testing and for us a "light vacuum" is about 1 micron (I assume we're taking mercury). I actually stifled a gasp when I saw Jay just slam open the vacuum valve like that, I thought for sure he was going to crack something, especially just behind the fill valve.
Aquacomputer actually has a vacuumpump for a PC waterloop, its called Leakshield. It also prevents small leaks over time by keeping a small vaccum in your PC.
Yup. Filling loops with it is basically all I use it for, too. Such a useful feature.
Watch it Jay is going to be triggered!
I think i remember Linus making a video on that or something like it.
Simpsons did it
A lot of industrial oil lubrication systems use this method to prevent leaks..
Yeah, like several people have been saying, a secondary feature of the Aqua Computer Leakshield is to fill the computer by pulling a vacuum. I picked it up for the leak protection but found this secondary feature to be very useful as well.
yuuuuup i got 2 of them for my mora3 setup ^^
the only thing that scares me about this way , is cheap rads or other parts that collapse under the vacuum
A pressure test is fairly easy. Pressurize it to the approximate amount you will use later. If you can, let it sit to see if it will leak over time. Once you know it can handle it, you are good to go.
That was my first thought.
Yes. You should never vacuum your system. Using a vacuum pump to suck in fluid is other thing.
I wouldn’t do this - negative pressure (ie vacuum) and positive pressure cause completely different stresses.
Not a problem at all. The cooling pump itself operates on vacuum, it sucks (and pushes) the depending on what side of the vanes. It will only be the negative pressure needed to draw up the fluid. It's not a pressure system like a car radiator they changed pressure when temperatures rise. It's more like a brake bleeder.
Jay got negative readings because he plugged the inlet, but if you are sucking liquid, it will be like sucking a straw. Benefits of this method vs pressure is it works better at filling the air voids by sucking the air out. Air can compress, so it tends to leave pockets in the high spots, just like when filling a car cooling system.
Interesting for sure, and one I may try if I ever get a user serviceable radiator.
This is how I fill mine using leakshield, essentially. The leakshield prevents leaks by creating a vacuum, it has a fill mode that uses a vacuum to pull fluid into the system.
EDIT: JAY, AQUACOMPUTER BUILT IT INTO LEAKSHIELD. THEY DID IT FIRST.
🥰
$130 vs $60 tho.
@lyianx Active leak protection and warning tho.
@@lyianx You get what you pay for.
@@Plutonium239MXR i bought one lol
the vacuum pump should be at the top of the system, and the fill tube be at the lowest. also, you need to run the vacuum pump through a jar, to protect the vacuum pump from sucking fluids. You could use that same jar, to pull clean fluid through the system to flush out the old gunk. < Automotive Radiator servicing>
there is some mist around the pump in the video , @8:45 maybe it is blowing/spraying water out the outlet nipple... not so great for air vac pump for sure, i have same pump and it does not put oil vapors out like stated, makes me think it is water mist...
@@TomislavReskovic This is oil/water vapour that you are seeing coming out of the vacuum pump. This is normal and part of the process of vacuuming as it the water or moisture being pulled out of the loop is being boiled off in the vacuuming process.
🤣 that type of vacuum pump definitely doesn't need "protection from fluids" it's designed to pump either flashed refrigerants or liquid refrigerant (depending on what refrigerant is being used)
Also that "mist" as Jay mentioned in the video correctly isn't the liquid. If anyone was paying attention to the entire process he vacuumed prior to adding the new liquid. ALL of those types of vacuum pumps expell a mist of heated oil out the vent port.
You can just hook that pump up to a bottle for draining, just make sure it sits at the top of your recovery container and that is big enough
Hey Jay,
I've been filling my PC with a fluid vacuum hand pump for ages. I used one that is meant to be used to bleed automotive brakes.
I don't pull vacuum on the whole system though, I use the vacuum to pull fluid through the loop at the highest point to ensure a complete fill. This way also tends to pull all the air pockets out as well.
So there was this product that Linus tested something like 3 or 4 years ago now that was called "leak shield" and basically what it did was it drew a negative pressure on the water loop which helped to fill it this way too. It uses a piezo pump which is crazy in my opinion but that's largely what I want next time I build a PC, whenever that is.
It's being sold since a while now, about 2 years IIRC.
'Aqua Computer Leakshield' (german company). It's main use is drawing negativ pressure while the loop runs which prevents fluid from spilling if there are small punctures for some reason. Hence the name leakshield. Filling the loop by pulling a vacuum is more of an additional use of the system.
Sadly, outside of Germany (and somewhat EU) Aqua Computer, Watercool and TechN are barely known as it seems. Those 3 are german brands with awesome custom loop stuff.
Im currently building a system with a leakshield, that video is what got me into watercooling, or at least gave me the confidence to try it out for the first time.
I have a Leakshield in my system.
My first watercooled system.
It's still absolutely insane how effing sensitive that thing is, you literally lose a drop and it detects it.
Got one. LOVE the damn thing. saved my 7900xtx computer shut down while gaming with all my leds flashing red.
Checked and one of the L connector above my videocard was leaking :P
If possible, add a catch pot between the computer and the pump. You want a place for liquid to stop before it runs through the pump. An old reservoir would be good enough.
You can also pull the vacuum from the fill port while filling from the drain port. You won't need to pull "max vacuum" to get a good fill ratio.
I built a liquid reservoir for doing carbon fiber vacuuming. It's literally just a length of pvc, two caps, and a few holes/fittings. Then you could pull liquid while you pull the vacuum.
I wonder if you could get a fitting like what they use to siphon wine where it doesn't open until you touch the bottom of the liquid container. Then you could pull a vacuum in your fill tube and hold the vacuum until it's in the liquid.
I dont think hes pulling water thru the pump just creating a vacuum in the pc tank then letting the watter get sucked back in by the created vacuum
I dont think hes pulling water thru the pump just creating a vacuum in the pc tank then letting the watter get sucked back in by the created vacuum
@@richiebricker that's not what they're saying is happening, aside from any residual water that didn't get blown out during the draining step. A large enough reservoir between the drain valve and the vacuum pump would allow him to drain the system into the reservoir by using the vacuum to pull the liquid (by pulling a vacuum on the reservoir, essentially), and then he could refill the system by reversing the order, placing the cooling system between the pump and the reservoir of new coolant, in one step instead of two
Jay, test some radiators. The thinner walled heat exchange tubes might collapse under vacuum. If not, very cool solution.
Then the solution is to only pull a slight vacuum. Like -.25 atmospheres.
@@avroarchitect1793 Yeah, you don't need barely any vacuum if you connect the pump to the fill port (highest in the system) and the fill tube to the drain (lowest in the system). Then you only need enough to lift the water from the container to the top of the res, 1-2 inHg is enough (1inHg = 345 mm H2O).
Add a catch container between the system and the pump (you could use a spare res using two ports at the top or use a jar and some barbs) to protect the pump and you have a nice system.
@@MikrySoft I have used a large mason jar with a couple of npt-hose barb connections to make a water separator, using a coupling cut in half as nuts for the pipe thread to attach them to the thin jar lid. Works quite well, we use these kind of pumps all the time to pull vacuum on double wall, vacuum monitored fuel tanks. They always have water in them if the seal leaks, or fuel if the tank has failed internally. Neither of which need to go through the vac. pump.
Hey Jay, I am a VW tech and we use a tool that can remove the air from the fill hose to eliminate introducing air into the system when filling. It works GREAT!
If your rigid tube system has a leak in a joint during initial testing, you could use the vacuum to pull in sealant. I've seen woodworkers pull glue into a fine crack with just a shop-vac on the opposite side. Brilliant video!
I used to do automotive A/C repair. The vapor you saw coming out of your pump vent was mostly water vapor, from the water that was still in the system, boiling when the vacuum ( lack of pressure) drops enough. Water will boil at room temperature in a vacuum. Remember, your vacuum pump is filled with (usually) mineral oil. Water vapor will turn the oil milky over time. Make sure to change it when it does and keep it filled to the proper level. I've seen people ruin vacuum pumps this way.
To remove the fluid under vacuum, put an accumulator more than large enough to hold all the fluid in the system in line with the vacuum pump. Pull the accumulator under vacuum first and then open the valve while continuing to run the vacuum pump. I would suggest using a fairly long hose between the accumulator and the pump and keep the pump higher than the accumulator. It works pretty well.
Alternatively, just connect the drain (with a ball valve) to a hose going to water, and connect the vacuum source to the fill port. Then turn on the pump and allow it to pull in the fluid until it's full.
This would allow you to not have to deal with putting the system under an intense vacuum
Was going to say this too. This also guarantees no air in the system
I've been meaning to get a vacuum pump to create a vacuum pot chamber for removing air from epoxy projects. Then today, I found out you can pickle foods under vacuuming instantly, rather than waiting weeks/months/years. And now I see this. It's really time.
This sort-of already exist but not as loop filling tool but as a leak detector and it's called Leakshield from Aquacomputer.
Leakshield does filling as well. The pump operates both ways
Jay!! Put vacuum pump at top of your system (fill port) and suck in fluid through the bottom (drain)! Love that you are finally doing this!
Hey Jay, nice idea, but a litten bit late. Check Aquacomputers Leakshield. It uses a slight vacuum (negativ 300-400mbar) You can use this to Check for leaks in a newly build System, to Fill the system throgh a Port and to degas the system. (As well as a leak protection)
This is a pretty cool peice of kit. Please review Jay
Leakshield is a very nice looking piece of kit, especially with the QoL features it offers!
Shame it doesn't fit on my Corsair XD5 or I'd grab one in a heartbeat for the peace of mind alone.
How does it achieve leak protection? The entire loop can't be of a lower pressure than atmospheric while running, can it?
@@bricaaron3978That is exactly what it does
@@bricaaron3978 Yes, the system runs at low pressure. Mine is currently -316.5mbar ;-)
For what it's worth, Aquacomputer already developed a vacuum system for PCs. Their LeakShield system uses a tiny vacuum pump to both prevent leaks and can also suction fluid into the reservoir. Its just not as fast or as cool as using an automotive vacuum pump. Alphacool also has an external unit call the ES Orbiter that does similar but requires using QDCs; you fill it with fluid, and it pumps it into your system while pulling out the air, and then you quick-disconnect the Orbiter and connect the two QDCs within the PC to themselves and done; air-free loop.
I was expecting this method to be fast, but DAMN that is SO fast!
But I think pulling a bit less intense vacuum might be better for the parts in the loop in the long run :D
I just bought this same case for a new build, I also just installed a huge mini split on my shop. I was literally thinking about doing this with this build. I open up youtube, and here you are in my subs, posted today! CRAZY!!!
As long as the vacuum isn't too strong it works. Too much vacuum and it ends up sucking air through fittings defeating the purpose. I have that exact same Amazon vacuum but I use it to vacuum out auto AC systems to recharge them for far cheaper than a shop charges.
Hay Jay, you can improve it: if the vacuum pump was hooked in a place of the topoff screw plug instead, with additional overfill bottle in that line (hose from the topoff hole goes to the bottom of the bottle, vacuum pump sucks the air from the entire system through the lid of overfill bottle), and the drain pipe was dipped in the new fluid, filled already, sucking in air from the drain pipe like at 5:47 would't happen. Before vacuuming the loop, a bit of fluid could be sucked in up the drain pipe through the drain valve, than after closing it off, we create the vacuum in the loop through the topoff hole. When vacuum is achived, the drain valve will be opened until the fuid will reach the overfill bottle. An overfill valve, placed instead of the topoff screw plug, would stop the overflow, than drain valve would close off the fully filled cooling loop. For the finish, you just unscrew the hoses from valves, and the overfilled fluid goes from the bottle back into the storage container.
You could set up a station for both draining and filling with differnt pumps.
Use the same pump but with a set of valves to selectively open to a vacuum reservoir to empty, then to a liquid reservoir to re-fill!
I can't believe I missed this video. Most water loop components can handle up to 1 Bar of pressure (14.5 PSI). Inversely, the components can handle up to -1 Bar of vacuum (-14.5 PSI). Wouldn't it be better to not allow the vacuum to go past -14 PSI? Perhaps that was the reason you could hear the radiator pipes and fins collapsing, like the bulkheads in a submarine. Next time try to only reach a vacuum of -14 PSI and see how well that works for you. I am currently working on a similar project, and that is how I found this video. Great job as always, guys!
I have a tool for vehicle coolant systems that does the same thing using Venturi effect instead of vacuum pump it's a bit safer for the rads, just need to start the filling process slowly so you don't damage the delicate microfins of the water blocks by having them get suddenly get hit by a rushing wall of water
as a refrigeration engineer in the uk, you have sparked my geeky interest 😀use a set of 4 port refrigeration (HVAC) gauge set, you could have a small tire inflator on one port, vac on another, drain on another and system oulet on another 🥰
I'd like to know more about what is causing the noise coming from the radiators while under vacuum. My concern is the fins detaching from the fluid channels and losing cooling efficiency because of less surface contact.
I was thinking the same as Jay mentioned this noise.
Thin metal flexing
My concern is they collapse under vacuum then don't reinflate (or lack of a better way to describe it) when reg pressure is reapplied, so they don't have the same surface area/volume to radiate heat in future
Fins are on the air side of radiators, not in the liquid side.
@@PrepareToDie0 also some of the pipes might be sintered so causing those to flex too much might break off small pieces of metal that will float around.
Jay, with your relationship with Corsair, you should WORK WITH THEM TO DESIGN THIS KIT LIKE YOU DID THE WATERBLOCK!
Like this is actually super amazing and with what you've learned it'll benefit the whole water cooling community!
Very cool, would love to see you do it again on a hard line system or whatever you can with max visibility of the fluid filling the whole thing.
This has been around for a long time in the automotive world. Check out Air Lift Vacuum Bleeders. It uses a shop air compressor to blow air through a venturi that pulls a vacuum on an empty cooling system, then you close one valve and open the other which goes into a coolant bottle and the system fills itself. No running a car gradually adding more while squeezing hoses and burping the system. It works fantastically well.
Aquacomputer’s LEAKSHIELD makes refilling easy.
To evac a system all you need is a container in between the vac source and the cooling system. The vacuum pulls the vac at the top of the container (so that fluid does not get pulled in) and a hose extends to the bottom of the container where the fluid is accumulated. It's just like a one-man vacuum side brake bleed, like a Mityvac which I use.
Breaking the rule and commenting before fully watching, but if this works... I have a vacuum pump for recharging car AC systems that may find its way indoors on the next loop maintenance day.
Great vid!
Just have to note.. Used to work in HVAC, and we didn't use vacuum to fill refrigerant - but to ensure there was no moisture in the system. Certain compressor oils would become acidic and you could ruin the compressor pistons if there was moisture in there. The capacity of the moisture filter of the system is just meant to handle the last residues after vacuum boils any water away inside the system.
This is also what might break internal components if you have a leak on the return side, as moisture would be pulled in and react with the compressor oils and make acid.
What you should do is put a fitting on the bottom of a bucket of some kind so you can full the bucket with coolant and plug the hose going to the bucket fitting. If the bucket is on a stand above the fitting in the system all the air in the hose will rise into the bucket. This would also be a good setup if you need to fill a bunch of systems really quickly. After the system is full you can just move the hose to the top of the system to top off.
Oh so essentially custom rigging a fill station reservoir, that's pretty dang smart.
And if he has a closeable valve on the bottom of the hose, then the hose will also stay full of liquid if any is left and not have air in it either that could be pushed into the system.
haha ! I just suggested the same thing !
topping off the res seems a lot easier.
I make silicone molds to make resin parts for random projects and I use a vacuum pump to degas (remove air and other gases) from the liquid silicone and resin. I also am planning a new computer build and I want to try water cooling...this just made that a bunch easier!! Thank Jay
Almost all of Jay's best videos stem from the phrase: "I wonder what would happen if....?"
The beautiful thing about this is that by using a vacuum, you've already pre-tested the system for leaks before even filling it, without having to do a separate pressure test (although it probably wouldn't hurt to do that when building it anyway. A second test also doesn't hurt, sometimes things might ... move between build and first fill, esp. if you have multiple hands on it.) Very efficient
There already is that cute little manual pump for testing a loop, with a gauge too. It should be child's play to reverse it on the cheap... and yes, Aquacomputer's leakshield.
a great way to check for leaks as well, we do the same thing in the automotive industry before filling cooling systems or refrigeration systems.
Pulling inspiration from the auto field is brilliant! I recommend putting a vacuum trap between the drain and the vacuum pump to protect your pump from stray drops or schmoo in the system. To go EVEN FASTER, you could hook up a tube, valve, and jug to the fill port too. Apply vacuum, close one valve, open another, FWOOSH!
Fwoosh are all the entrained microbubbles of air just put into your system!
We used the following pump for our RF systems. JB Industries DV-200N Platinum 7 CFM Vacuum Pump. It can take an hour or two to pull the vacuums on the systems that were built and on some occasions all night.
Jay saying "I'm not sure what I'm doing" means it is going to be science lmao
Yea, science™!
Any DIYer says the same thing when starting a project.
Dang, Jay... You just revolutionized PC enthusiast building. Well done JayzTwoCents team!
@JaysTwoCents you should take one of your radiators sitting around to see if the vacuum is actually doing any damage to the rad, otherwise this is actually a good idea
Also, they make automotive reservoirs that are made for vacuum evacuation that separate the air flow from the fluid.
This was part of my concern as well. PC components (for water cooling)* are not designed to operate under much pressure, much less a vacuum. At -29 psi, though it may not seem like much, is actually enough to implode containers you might not expect to do so. I'm sure there are plenty of videos to demonstrate this. A steel drum for instance will withstand multiple atmospheres under pressure, but will collapse under less than one.
Bro, I've been filling and emptying my loops with vacuum since 2016. You don't need a sophisticated vacuum drain system, just attach your hose to an airtight container of your choice from the top, and pull another hose from next to it to the pump. Crack the highest point of the system open (fill port etc) and pump. Once you start pulling vacuum into the container (milk jug etc.) your fluids will drain there, and as long as the hose from pump inside the container is above the fluid level you will only draw air into the pump. Its best to have a couple of inches between the hose to prevent spillage to vacuum pump hose. This method in reverse is also a quick way to fill the system, just reverse the ports to pull vacuum from top highest point using the catch can method (above) and put a hose with valve to the bottom and the other end into water jug.
I've been wondering why no one has done this yet, coming from a mechanic standpoint. This is how I've been doing car radiators for years so you can make sure there is no air behind the heater core. Great video Jay
Around 2018 or 2019 don't remember the exact time, I have suggested this idea to my contacts in EKWB for the reasons below;
-Leak testing, if the air gets out during a leak. Air also can get in.
-Filing the system fast and easy.
-Can be used constant filling systems ( for EK Fluid gaming & EK Fluid works systems builds. )
Possible downsides are cracks on acrylic blocks and distro plates, pin saperation on radiators cave ins on fins, fittings might not be able to cope with negative pressure that being created by vacuum.
They liked the idea at that time and they said they will test it, but didn't get any reply from them again and I didn't ask.
Did you ever tried an Aquacomputer Leakshield? This could also be used to fill the system using a vacuum.
One of the coolest tricks I ever saw working at an auto shop was an old timer putting a vacuum on the oil fill port on top of the engine while I changed the drain plug without losing a drop... wonder if a similar gag could work for quick repairs or modifications on a system without having to drain it completely
You can use a T with two valves at the end, so you can put one tube to the vacuum pump and the other one to the bottle so that you don't have to take the tube out to the air. Also, a thinner tube would minimize the dead volume of air, but it might fill slightly slower. Going lower on pressure won't help much.
Best would be to hook the pump to fill port and the hose to drain port
The reason you can't pull the vacuum past 24" is because of the water left in the system. Water boils under a vacuum which will cause the pressure to rise. On a new build you might hit 29" but it might require running the pump for 24 hours depending on the humidity in the area.
I'm pretty sure the fact that he's just plopping the tube over the flare fitting is his main reason to only hit 25", as that's sure to be a vacuum leakage
This makes sense, you can see some vapors coming from the pump too
I mean, its not like he needs to get system more sealed. If anything its better to pull just enough vacuum to fill the system so that you don't break anything.
Correct. As soon as the gauge stops dropping, fill it up. I was just explaining as to why Jay couldn't get to 30" of vacuum.
30" would probably cause damage to some of the components, mainly o-rings not designed for a vacuum.@@BunzJackson
Tell me your HVAC without telling me your HVAC.
I wanted to do this years ago. Never did it. Beat me to it Jay. You win this round.
I cant say with 100% certainty that Jay was the first to vacuum fill a system, but he was the first publicly documented one at least, and first ive seen or heard, so thats pretty cool
I've done it, you were not the first! Aquacomputer has one and many of us have done it before. If you are not careful you can cause seals to become damaged, along with the radiators. Do not overdo it. You should attach the vac to the fill port at the top, then attach to a jar or something to create an air gap, then connect and use vacuum the draw in the fluid from your valve tube immersed in the coolant.
Jay, to expand on the use of automotive tools and making this a bit more reachable, how about a "mighty Vac" hand pump like you would use for bleeding brakes? Especially if you adapt a larger reservoir to hold the old coolant, it could be a one step solution. Also you could add a tee fitting and 2 more ball valves one to your vacume, one to the new fluid this would then allow you to not have the air introduced from the new fluid line.
That's what I use. It works very very well. A big system is rarely more than 2 liters and a hand-vac is more than plenty to purge it in a minute.
As a automotive mechanic I use vacuum fill method on cooling systems on vehicles all the time. It saves a lot of time and effort
Actually this is kinda what Aqua Computer's Leakshield does. You fill the loop under vacuum. But it's an expensive gimmick IMO
As an HVAC service tech and use an 8 cfm vac pump on refrigeration systems, naturally, I had to watch this. haha! Also, I was thinking in my head before Jay opened that valve the first time, "dude, you gotta purge your hose!"
10:51 "no one is selling a vacuum kit!"
Aquacomputer: Hiiiiii :D
I'm glad you said something cause dayum is that thing sexy...
It seems jayz never heard of Aquacomputers Leakshield, what exactly does the same but is even much more advanced as it helps you protect against leaks and could even remove the water again.
Maybe you want to pull the vacuum at the highest point, i.e. the Phil-port, so you could prime the original drain port with fluid while under low vacuum, then increase the vacuum and phil the system all the way. You might want to include a small reservoir in front of the vacuum pump, so that it cannot suck liquid. But that is just my two cents. 😎
I did try doing this a year ago because I was doing a build in an ncase m1 with a t-line instead of a res. But since I am not a car person I must of messed something up. (I ended up just filling it up normally)
You are the first to do it successfully though
jay never heard about leakshield from aquacomputer
Hi Jay. Being inspired by composite manufacturing, you should have two ports. One for vacuum on top of the reservoir with a liquid trap. That means you make vacuum on a container then you have a hose connected from that container to the top of the reservoir. You put a valve at the reservoir. Then you have another hose on the lower part of you reservoir, better yet on a low part of your loop. You put a valve there and connect the hose with the coolant. Then with both valves open you start sucking until the coolant passes the coolant valve. Then you close the coolant valve and continue sucking. Once you reach your maximum vacuum you slowly open the coolant valve and let it fill the loop until some coolant reaches the trap container. Then you close both valves and are done.
Look for VARTM (Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding) and get inspired;)
10:50 - You might wanna retract that statement... Google Aqua Computer LEAKSHIELD
This was properly amazing. And I don't even care that it is obvious. Everything is obvious once someone does it.
Congrats, proud
Hey Corsair and EK, I think you just found a new feature for your water cooling solutions.
Only Aquacomputer has it first
linke?@@tomkeating65
I'm glad that you realized that there was air in the fill hose. If you had a tub of water with a bigger opening, after closing the valve, you could fill the fill tube with water, put your thumb over it, and dunk it into the tub of water. Would reduce that air source.
as an automotive guy, and in the video it says he is too, i'm surprised this wasn't tested earlier. pulling a vacuum on a vehicles cooling system to fill it up has been fairly common practice on cars for years. not only is it a fast way to do things but you get to check for leaks at the same time.
Use a 3 way ball valve on your fill hose to syphon water into the fill hose prior to opening the fill valve and its perfect. I have a brake bleeder kit and i will be doing this for my next build. Great video and thank you for the tip.
This is the same way a mechanic changes fluid in your car. Brakes, power steering, transmission fluid sealed systems are awesome. If you add a tank to the draw side the vacuum pump won't suck fluid through it and won't get damaged. It will also capture any overfill so you can recontainer it.
This is what makes UA-cam stand out vs the crap that's on TikTok or Insta or whatever.
Informative content which is actually useful. And entertaining at the same time.
Thank you!
To make your setup perfect...
All you need to do is attach a fitting to the "bottom" of your "fill from" tank. (obviously add a shutoff valve)
Then all you need to do when ready to fill is connect to the fill reservoir, open the reservoir valve and lift the reservoir tank above the fill port so the tube bleeds out all the air into the tank, and bubbles to the top.
Then you just set the tank back down (or just leave it on a stand above, and add a T with a shutoff for the pump), and open the fill valve on the loop.
No more air getting in to the system.
And you have an awesome mix and fill tank which perfectly attaches to the loop for a clean fill station.
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With enough forethought into the design, you could build a station that only needs to be connected to the fill port on the loop, and everything else is valved for easy use. Making it a much faster process. (And a potentially kickass looking fill station)
I forsee a waste hose going down to a 3 gallon bucket under the bench, and the fill tank on a stand above the pump on a manifold with valves to open and close access to the specific functions (drain - vacuum - fill) *And a tertiary to blow air through and clean the lines... Or water flush them. Just in case they need cleaning.
Could run the black hose into the fill bottle lid, then have a straw run thru the lid separate to the bottom of the bottle. When you hold the bottle upsidedown above the fill point will clear the air pocket. Straw will stop the bottle from going under vacuum. Like shot gunning a beer
Add a liquid trap to your vacuum pump, just a glass jar with 2 hose bibs in the lid. It will save your pump if you happen to have liquid still in the system. there are plenty of DIY an professional designs online.
Your idea is awesome.
Something to be aware of when using vacuum on a system designed for pressure. I was a Auto Tech at one point in life and they have warnings about trying to pull a "full vacuum" on a cooling system. There are a number of seals that will shift and there is a possibility of damaging radiators and heater cores. I think you might minimize how much vacuum you use in a method like this and use a small tank to prevent the coolant from getting sucked into the pump. Anything water based will TRASH that AC pump.
@Jayztwocents you are 1 tube and 1 waste containment vessel from vacuum draining already. Between the PC drain and the vacuum pump, you need a containment vessel that can hold your required level of vacuum.
* Take a reinforced container that can handle 1 ATM of vacuum and hook south bound to your vacuum pump. hook it north bound the PC reservoir value.
* with the valve closed, vacuum the collection reservoir to as hard it can handle and shut the valve to the vacuum pump.
* Now open the valve to PC Loop. since the collection vessel is a larger volume then the PC Loop, it will suck it dry due to pressure differential.
Hi Jay.
I work in the HVAC industry. i use vac pumps all the time. Ideally you'd need a manifold that you can vacuum down and charge (fill). Before you charge, you need to purge so you minimise air getting back into your system. In the automotive industry, you can fill your brakes this way too, much faster than the pump and bleed method. They use a bleed line into a fluid catch bottle (resevoir) which is then connected to the vacuum pump. That way to you empty your brake system of fluid and also fill it.
E.g. Brake fluid bottle feeding brake fluid resevoir, bleed line to catch resevoir connected to vac pump.
i siimilar inline system can work for PC watercooling.
Alternatively, HVAC style would be:
-Drain port connected to gauge manifold (so you can open and shut the line), vac/charge line from gauge manifold to catch resevoir then connected to vacuum pump.
-When system is empty and holding a vacuum, shut off gauge manifold valve, disconnect vacuum pump and catch resevoir.
-connect new fluid bottle. Seal it if possible (could be a bottle cap that you could modify with a hose that goes through it).
-raise and invert new fluid bottle so it is above the lowest point of the gauge manifold and purge the line of air by cracking open the fill line/hose on the manifold end. this should leak out some fluid pushing air out.
-place fluid bottle back on the table.
-you should be ready to open the gauge manifold vavle to the system and charge (fill) without air bubbles.
i hope that works.
That is pretty much a simple way that we use in the HVAC industry.
Recover, Vacuum, Purge, Recharge.
Though we vacuum down to around 500 microns and check to see if it holds that for at least 15 minutes. Air in a HVAC system is really bad. Less air in a water cooled system can't hurt either, just like car radiator systems, less air, less problems with air locking, steam bubbles, pump airration etc.
You should ABSOLUTELY pull the fluid through with the pump running, so you don't have to worry about things breaking. You can make a super simple fluid seperator by having a sealed container with a tube that goes to the bottom, and a short tube that barely goes through the top. You hook the pump up to the short tube, and the system to the long tube. When the system is full, the fluid will exit the long tube, sit at the bottom of the container, and air is pulled through the short tube. This gives you plenty of time to turn off the pump before you get any liquid in it
You could leak test AND then vacuum fill with the same set-up.
So I am DIY building myself a setup for this.
I realised that the cheap vacuum pump I was looking at had two port that a tube could be atrached, one air-in and the other is air-out.
Vacuum gauge and pressure gauge are the same thing, just with a different start point for the needle.
So now if I put a valve on either side of a t-junction that has a dual function (pressure and vacuum) gauge, then by swapping between air-in and air-out on the pump.
The reason for valves on boths sides is so when I go to fill the system I don't need to worry about any liquid getting into the gauge (probably not an issue, but a simple step for peace of mind)
I used a similar technique working for Moog to fill sealed electrical cables for undersea use. If you add the coolant slowly thru a needle valve you will put less stress on the mechanical components.
Thank you! I have been waiting for Someone in the tech tuber space to tey this! Live it.
Heyo, I'm updating some parts later today and I'll also replace my coolant. Seeing you use the blower to get the rest of the fluid out already made me go "Hah! Great, thanks!" but then seeing how the loop just filled itself there made me laugh out loud this early in the morning. That was such an amazing thing to see because I feel like everyone struggles handling those huge heavy computer cases to get the air out.
Thanks for showing us this, you guys. I wish I had seen this video sooner. lol
I use a vacuum pump since years to fill and remove bubbles from the loop. My vacuum pump was provided by hugyfot in order to set up my underwater camera housing (9V battery powered, not really powerful), but the fitting with an O'ring 😅was perfect for a water cooling loop. I use two ports on the reservoir. Both at the top of the reservoir. One plunge in the bottle of coolant, the other is fitted to the pump. Activate the vacuum pump to fill the reservoir with the coolant, it will gently suck it from the bottle (and avoid stress on the radiators like in this video), then power up the PC for the water pump and keep sucking air with the vacuum pump while the water pump is circulating the coolant through the loop. At the end you close the coolant port and a slightly negative pressure helps to reduce the size of the bubbles trapped in the loop and the same time will remove dissolved gases in the coolant, so the bubbles can reach the reservoir easily and go out of the loop through the vacuum pump port.
Nice..I have filled systems using pressure with an external tank with enough fluid to fill in the system in it. Loosening a fitting at the top of the reservoir enough to allow air to escape. while pushing the fluid into the lowest point. (Usually the drain port.) I used a small weed sprayer. ( one Gallon sprayer) That has a hand pump to pressurize the tank. I converted the sprayer hose to a flexible tube that connects to the drain valve. Once the system is full, I close the drain valve. slowly open the top to the sprayer, keeping it below the system, relieving the pressure, the remaining fluid in the tubing goes back into the tank. disconnect. Top off after starting the system Total cost for the sprayer and the fittings and tubing were around 35 bucks.
Here is a suggestion for a 100% fill that does not have that issue of the air in the tube between drain and bottle of new coolant.
You have a tank that holds the new coolant. The tank has a hard tube that extends to the bottom and is connected to drain on your target fill system.
You draw the vacum from the top of the fill tank. (Air in the system will be drawn through the tank, bubble through the new coolant)
This means when you have drawn down your vacumn, the entire system will be at low preassure, and your new coolant will ALREADY be between it and the outside normal air preassure.
Thus when you disconnect the vacumn pump, the entire system will be filled. You just need to be sure that you tank and new coolant volumn is greater than the volumn of your system.
Don't know if someone else tought of this, but is is also a great seal test. If there are leaks in the system, the vacum pump will not reach max pressure - or vacum.
This way you avoid the risk of the fluid leaking after pluging the system in.
You may want to look into the following:
A three way valve on the fill side of your rig. It will allow you to switch from the vacuum pump to the fill bottle and have the fill hose as full as possible to limit the amount of air.
If worried about pulling water into the vacuum side of the system, install a fluid separator to keep the liquid from the vacuum pump.
that noise that you're hearing when you turn on the vacuum is coming from the vacuum itself. still a cool video! and that loop filled up hilariously fast
Nick: "Do it again" lol. This is awesome. I am about to try my hand at my first custom loop. I'm also doing a hardline instead of soft tubing.
This is a great idea. FYI, this is how your vehicle's radiator, brake, and AC systems are filled at the factory. With the radiator, the fill head is clamped and sealed onto the radiator cap. The machine then pulls a vacuum on the system and checks if the system will hold the vacuum to check for leaks. If there are no leaks in the system, the radiator and the rest of the system are filled with fluid while the system is still under vacuum. The vacuum causes the system to fill faster than it would under normal circumstances, which reduces cycle time on the production line. The entire process takes about 40 seconds with about 35 seconds of that time being taken up by the vacuum check. It's stuff like this that allows factories to produce 60 to 70 vehicles an hour.
Like a vaccum brake bleeder. My MightyVac hand bleeder has a bottle that will pull all the fluid through without sucking fluid into the pump. Nice seeing it done on a computer. Also I believe the vapor you see is water boiling out of the system at low pressure.
I too have a vacuum pump. A vacuum fluid pump is just a vacuum pump hooked up to a rigid container with the fluid drain tube hooked up to the container in a different location.
I'm stunned how good it worked. I was just looking at the screen with my jaw on the floor.
Coming from the HVAC world, I would T off the gauge with a 2nd shut off between the pump and reservoir. It means you can pull the vacuum, turn the pump off and if the gauge drops, you have a leak.
We fill high voltage transformers under vacuum all the time. Pulling vacuum also helps to remove moisture from the system. But we're pulling down past 100 mTorr. And using 7-10k gallons of mineral oil. If you can maintain vacuum WHILE youre filling, you can top it up completely, then just break the vacuum when youre done.
I've always used a tiny aquarium pump. Line in from the lowest point (typically your drain), line out at the highest and that line is ran back into the bucket/fluid source so that the pump can cycle the fluid through the system however long you want it to before closing the loop up. Also works for rad flushing.
same but have been doing water changes on my reef tank.