Many users choose to install an “all-in-one” type liquid cooler in the belief that they are better than tower-type heatsinks. The reality is that liquid cooling has many problems and one of them is in the installation. When installed on the front of the PC tower , it is usually installed upside down.
The assembly of the all-in-one liquid cooling (RL IAO) is very important, since it can cause problems in the future. An incorrect installation can lead to the breakage of the liquid cooling pump. If this does not work, the water does not flow through the circuit and, therefore, the processor will not cool.
Micro evaporation, something that nobody tells you
Without going into deep physics, after the rain or after scrubbing, the floor dries up little by little. It is not necessary to reach temperatures of 100 °C for the water to start evaporating. Over time, the water evaporates until the soil is completely dry. A process that can occur both at 10º C and at 30 °C, although at different speeds.
Within a liquid refrigeration we have distilled water, from which most of the impurities have been removed. This is mainly done to prevent the water from deteriorating and bacteria or even moss from growing.
This distilled water is normally subjected to temperatures above 50 °C, so it is not always in a liquid state . Within the circuit there may be a small proportion of it that is in gaseous state.
The rubber of the liquid cooling hoses have extremely small holes , practically invisible. The water does not escape through them because it has a larger volume, so to speak (it is somewhat more complex). But actually the water escapes very slowly.
Little by little the water evaporates without us realizing it . This in a custom liquid cooling is not a problem, since we can see the level of water in the circuit and fill it if necessary. The problem is in the all-in-one models, where we cannot see its water level. The tubes, the radiator and the pump are opaque, in addition, there is no reservoir.
How should I install my liquid cooling to avoid damage?
There is no reservoir or window on an RL AIO that allows us to see the amount of fluid in the system. As if that were not enough, the vast majority of these kits do not have a filler cap. A set of conditions that, added to an incorrect installation, can lead to disaster.
The correct installation of an all-in-one liquid cooler on the front of a PC tower is with the tubes on the bottom . The reason is that in this way the pump will suffer less as the amount of liquid in the circuit decreases.
Here we can see how you never have to mount an all-in-one refrigeration
If we install it with the tubes close to the top of the PC chassis, we will have a problem. The pump will need to exert more force so that the circuit continues to function normally. In addition, the amount of liquid that circulates will fall, being able to generate bubbles. This assumes that there will be times when the distilled water does not “absorb” the heat generated by the processor.
Installing liquid cooling with the tubes on the bottom does not guarantee that it will last longer . With this we make the pump work more comfortably, but in the long run it will die due to micro-evaporation and not being able to fill it.
If you want our advice, either go for a custom liquid cooler or get out of trouble with an air cooler. The best solution, without a doubt, is an air cooler. The maximum that can happen is that the fan breaks, being able to change it in a moment, since these fans are of standard size (they are usually 92 mm or 120 mm).
Correct mounting of an all-in-one liquid cooler
Bad practices of manufacturers and assemblers
It is possible that when you go to install one of these RL AIOs you will find that you cannot install it correctly . The usual thing is that the tubes are short and we cannot install them downwards, we have to install it wrong. It is not something exactly rare, moreover, few brands have RL AIOs with long tubes that allow optimal installation.
Currently, the vast majority of computer gaming chassis already support radiators in the upper part of up to 240 mm, or even more. We can install it at the top and thus solve the problem of short tubes.
Our advice is that if you install it at the top, do it with a slight incline. You can go to a hardware store and buy slightly longer bolts and some washers to create that slight slant. This will allow the water to always go to the tubes, even with the micro evaporation of the liquid.
There are also computer stores, which for convenience, wrongly mount them. Especially large surfaces, where they presume not to be fools, mount them upside down. It is possible that it is due to ignorance or to guarantee work for the future. If you find an incorrectly mounted RL AIO, better find another computer store where to buy the computer.