Koolance Saga Ends Well...

[Technonut]

For those of you that were keeping up with the ongoing Koolance saga that Dug, myself, and a few others were having, mine has ended well.

After first blowing a liquid cooled power supply model, and then the replacement upgraded non-liquid cooled power supply model developing a leak, I was still convinced that the 3 pass radiator design mounted in a unit hidden in the case bottom worked well. I like the concept of watercooling, but did not want the hassle or looks of tupperware containers, radiators with 92/120mm fans, etc.. I wanted something hidden, quiet, and with good waterblock mounts, hence my interest in the Koolance.

It turned out that the liquid mix used in some of the Koolance units was contaminated with something that caused a reaction which resulted in a very high internal pressure build up. I sent an e-mail off to a person that modded his Koolance, and was given the mixture he used to cool his. ( 120 ounces of distilled water, 6 ounces of anti-freeze, and 2 ounces of Redline Water Wetter. )

The first thing that I did was to replace the 3 cheap rear exhaust fans with 3 50mm Deltas. They are very quiet, but push more CFM than the stock ones. The fans only operate at 40% speed at the first thermal kick on level, (which I have not exceeded yet after 4 complete days of testing) and 100% speed after that. I also replaced some of the hose clamps with easy to remove ones. After flushing the unit with distilled water a couple of times, I used the above cooling mixture to fill the Koolance.

For this test, I am using an ABIT KT7R which had the voltage mod done, and a 750 Duron. I cranked it up to 2.0V, and set the Duron at 1 GHz. My DigitalDoc 5 is installed in another system, and I have had some painful dental work done, so I am just going by the Koolance waterblock probe LED temp display for now. I will attach an external probe against the core for more accurate readings when I move on to re-testing a 1200 T-Bird in a few days. The important thing is that after 4 days of testing, there have been no lockups, overheating problems, or leaks.

Each day of testing consisted of complete 24 hour days. Day 1 was the Prime95 Torture test, Day 2 looping the 3DMark2001 benchmark, Day 3 looping the 3DMark2000 benchmark, and Day 4 looping the Q3A demo2 in Q3Bench, at 4 resolutions.

The Koolance waterblock probe never exceeded 37 degrees Cel. throughout testing, and averages 34 Cel. the fans are not running at 40% speed all of the time, and have been kicking on/off when needed. The inner case bottom and hoses are just barely warm to the touch. I am very satisfied with the performance of the Koolance, and had similar good results overclocking a T-Bird to 1400MHz before the leak occured during my other test awhile back.

I had an Acrylic case made with custom holes cut in the bottom to install the Koolance cooling unit. My next project will be to install my primary components in it, and see if I still am able to run at my below specs. Even if I have to underclock to the 1400MHz that I know the Koolance will do, it will be well worth the noise reduction. The Koolance is so quiet, all I hear is my hard drives, and the Quiet fan in the power supply.

Sorry for the long post, I just knew that there were quite a few people interested in the last Koolance threads.

 

[WarCon]

Thanks for keeping us informed, I was curious about whatever happened. I believe Koolance has a really good idea. But I was thinking and I probably shouldn't post it because I think its a really good idea, but I probably wouldn't ever do anything with it. First off I think the pump/reservoir and radiator should be above the cpu for reason's of pump failure. If your pump fails then, you get convection if the cooler stuff is above. Well anyway here is my idea. What about if standard case manufacturer made a nice case with options. First I think replacable sides should be a must (pre order cases with side with fan holes punched for a few dollars more etc.) But as far as water cooling goes, how about a replacable top piece. One for minor watercooling that has the pump reservoir and radiator mounted in the one piece, so its just a matter of replacing the top and hooking up to a waterblock. Gives you option of having a fill spout in the top and built in temp gauge for extra. Without having to stick with only one style and color like the koolance. The top could fit on the server case or the micro. Well hope someone does something with this idea, because I think its the direction watercooling should go. Besides just think how many people would try watercooling if it required no case mods.

 

[dorkface]

Technonut,

Did you do a comparative test of the cooling results between the original Koolance mixture and you new mixture?

Also, how much louder are those Delta fans compared to the stock fans....slightly, significantly etc.?

 

[Technonut]

dorkface, I was able to test with the original, contaminated liquid for a couple of days before the excessive pressue problem caused the leak. There really was not much temp improvement over the mix I made myself. I spoke with Koolance tech support, and was told that the liqiud used now is a similar mix.

As for the 3 Delta 50mms I installed, besides moving more CFM than the stock fans, I really do not notice them being louder than the stock fans. I never have heard them at 100% speed yet though. I am using the Koolance for a backup system, and have been planning to swap my primary components into it, but the extreme overclocker in me has been preventing it. My trusty full tower multi-fan "screamer" is still here sounding like it is ready to lift off of the floor.

I do have further plans on modding the Koolance. One of them involves removing the LED waterblock temp probe, and replacing it with another flat tip temp probe, and have the tip of the probe touching the core. Koolance tech support said that most aftermarket probes would work. It would allow more accurate, "truer" temp readings on the LED, and really allow the 3 bottom cooling fans to kick in at 100% speed if needed.

The other involves installing 1/4" to 3/8" adapters that I have found, and replacing the water restrictive 1/4" Koolance tubing with 3/8". I could then install most of the more effective waterblocks in place of the stock Koolance WB. I think there would be much improved temps, and it would still remain quiet. If it were not for the well designed radiator/cooling tank/ pump built into a hidden bottom unit, I probably would have returned the Koolance after my 2nd problem with them.

 

[dorkface]

Thanks for that info. I think I am first going to hold out for the performance version of the Koolance case. If for whatever reason that will not tickle my fancy, I may do a few of the mods you mentioned to my current Koolance case. I already replaced the PSU by a better cooled (pretty quiet) Enermax. I may get tempted to replace the tubing as well, along with a more powerful pump and some T's. We'll see....