# Cleaning and refilling an AiO ?



## RejZoR (Aug 23, 2018)

I was transplanting components from old case to a new one and noticed my Nepton 120XL had quite a bit of moving liquid noise as I was rotating it around, like some of it is missing (evaporated), it was also operating for around 2 years if not more already and was thinking of cleaning it and refilling with new fluid. AiO has a refilling port so it should be doable.

Should I drain it and flush it with distilled water and then fill it with EK Cryofuel which is already premixed solution for the water cooling systems?
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/accessories/cooling-liquids-coolants/cryofuel-premixes

What would be the best approach? Flushing it with distilled water wouldn't really clean the block if some gunk collected on it. Would probably be better to disassemble the pump and clean the actual block and then somehow refill it through the refill port? Or through the block itself using a syringe and slowly pour liquid in it to prevent formation of air bubble. Never really done it... Any suggestions?


----------



## natr0n (Aug 23, 2018)

The fill port is on the radiator next to the 2 tubes with a sticker over it.

use distilled water run it a few times with that then drain. then use fancy coolant.


----------



## Durvelle27 (Aug 23, 2018)

I usually cleaned mine with vinegar and than filled with Distilled water. Never cared for premixed coolants


----------



## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Aug 23, 2018)

Ive never heard of anyone draining an AIO before let alone needing to. Personally, id just buy a new one.


----------



## Durvelle27 (Aug 23, 2018)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Ive never heard of anyone draining an AIO before let alone needing to. Personally, id just buy a new one.


It’s very common actually. No one expects the coolant to last forever


----------



## bonehead123 (Aug 23, 2018)

Like Nike says:

"just do it"  

As long as everything is still working as it is supposed to, buying some coolant, or distilled water, will be way less $$ than the $100+ for a new unit, yes ?


----------



## CrAsHnBuRnXp (Aug 23, 2018)

Id pay extra for the convenience quite honestly, but that's just me.


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 23, 2018)

Frankly, I was thinking of getting a 280mm AiO, but majority of them are worse than my existing Nepton 120XL. Which is just bizarre. And which is why I'm thinking of just refreshing it and calling it a day. 10€ refill with purpose made liquid vs 120€ for a new cooler that might not even be better...


----------



## John Naylor (Aug 24, 2018)

CrAsHnBuRnXp said:


> Ive never heard of anyone draining an AIO before let alone needing to. Personally, id just buy a new one.



Corrosion inhibitors have a useful life of 18 to 24 months, and in CLC type AIOs you are correct.  You shouldn't even try to open them as you normally will void ya warranty and with an aluminum rad / copper block inside, you going to find something on its way to this.

https://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/copperaluminumcorrosion.jpeg

So yes, by all means dump the thing.   But if you chose more wise;y and purchased an OLC type AIO, than what you have is a set of custom loop components, that some guy / gal at the factory pre-assembled for you.  In this case...

1.  You got a 1.0+ gpm pump regular used by custom loop builders instead of a 0.11 gpm pump as commonly found in CLCs.

2.  You have a more efficient copper radiator, eliminating the need for extreme speed fans.

3.  You don't have mixed metals creating a galvanic corrosion cell.

4.  You have a unit designed to easily bleed and drain / replace coolants.

5.  You have a system whereby you can replace any of the components individually, no need to toss the whole "kit and kaboodle"

If someone wants water cooling, we will happily build any custom loop itha  reasonable component list .... or if they want an AIO, the only ones we will install are the Swiftech and EK Units

http://www.swiftech.com/h240x2.aspx
http://www.swiftech.com/H240-X.aspx

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TivNOgQqW-M&t=1048s
See (17:30) it crush the H100i and 240L in noise (Corsair / CM are 5.7 times louder) while matching of handily beating the competition in performance
See (23:00) it crush the H100i, Kraken and Big Water 3.0  and 240L by 5 - 9C while in noise, they are anywhere from 2 to 4.6 times as loud

Unfortunately I haven't seen it carried much in Europe.... and the EK stuff is way too expensive there.  Frankly I have yet to see a CLC type AIO that can match any of the better air coolers on a performance / noise basis.

The Scythe Fuma is $45 and it outperforms most 2 x 120 and 2 x 140 AIOs.

https://tpucdn.com/reviews/Scythe/Fuma/images/temp_oc_aida64.png
https://tpucdn.com/reviews/Scythe/Fuma/images/fan_noise_100.png
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/dVwqqs/scythe-cpu-cooler-scfm1000
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/ffKhP6/scythe-fuma-revb-790-cfm-cpu-cooler-scfm-1100


----------



## phanbuey (Aug 24, 2018)

this is why i like that reeven naia... definitely my next aio


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 24, 2018)

I was wondering, if there is less liquid in the cooler, I'm guessing there is less contact betwen radiator with the liquid somewhere then, resulting in smaller internal contact area -> lower performance. I've never seen how radiators look inside exactly, but I'm guesing, if it's placed horizontally on top of the case (top exhaust), there will be segments of it that have air inside instead of fluid as everything levels down into the pump and hoses chamber and only flows as high as liquid level itself goes. Correct?


----------



## Durvelle27 (Aug 24, 2018)

RejZoR said:


> I was wondering, if there is less liquid in the cooler, I'm guessing there is less contact betwen radiator with the liquid somewhere then, resulting in smaller internal contact area -> lower performance. I've never seen how radiators look inside exactly, but I'm guesing, if it's placed horizontally on top of the case (top exhaust), there will be segments of it that have air inside instead of fluid as everything levels down into the pump and hoses chamber and only flows as high as liquid level itself goes. Correct?


This is how the copper core is made with fins on top to dissipate the heat






And yes air inside the system can decrease performance and can result in the water actually boiling


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 24, 2018)

Eh? I'm not following. What copper core? The block has fins groved into the copper contact plate and radiators are usually split design with thin flat tubes going through the radiator with wavy fins soldered between them to increase surface area. I'm not sure what you meant with that drawing...


----------



## thebluebumblebee (Aug 24, 2018)

Most AIO's use a copper block and an aluminium radiator, therefore they use some type of corrosion inhibitor. If you were to fill an AIO with just water, galvanic corrosion will occur and it's lifespan  will be shortened.


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 27, 2018)

Which is why I'd use an off the shelf solution with included inhibitors (EK's CryoFuel). There are exceptions tho, BeQuiet Silent Loop coolers for example all have copper block and copper radiator. It's still recommended to use corrosion inhibitors since copper still reacts to water over time.


----------



## Animalpak (Aug 27, 2018)

Buy this as your next AIO


----------



## Ferrum Master (Aug 27, 2018)

Where is the problem?? I do that all the time. When I get a bad AIO. I just replace the tubes and add a 6$ aliexpress tank, with two barb fittings. The 6mm tubes are from car world, pretty much everywhere. 

You can refill a closed one too, do it in some sort of bucket filled with distilled water, run out the bubbles and close the loop while submerged.


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 27, 2018)

I'm gonna do it more elegantly. Will flush it with distilled water and then make a contraption to fill the thing without submerging the radiator entirely as I'd need a lot of liquid to do that (CryoFuel is 900ml).


----------



## Ferrum Master (Aug 27, 2018)

RejZoR said:


> I'm gonna do it more elegantly. Will flush it with distilled water and then make a contraption to fill the thing without submerging the radiator entirely as I'd need a lot of liquid to do that (CryoFuel is 900ml).



Just submerge the edge of it. Not much point in flushing, as usually it is all clean except for one point, the head, that acts as a filter and gets stuffed. I don't bother using anything except distilled water. After few cleaning cycles usually nothing bad grows afterwards. Using a tank actually helps, to see what's inside in the liquid, and you can control it more easy. You have nothing to loose, it is an old AIO anyways.


----------



## FireFox (Aug 27, 2018)

RejZoR said:


> as I'd need a lot of liquid to do that



I would like to know what is a lot of liquid for you


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 27, 2018)

The port is placed in rather unfortunate place. I think it'll be cleaner and easier to just make an attachement and plug the bottle directly to it. Or fill it using large syringe to avoid overflow and having air stuck in tubes and radiator.


----------



## Ferrum Master (Aug 27, 2018)

RejZoR said:


> just make an attachement and plug the bottle directly to it..



It won't work like that, bubbles are a stubborn. I've tried at start the same as you did, but somehow the darn bubbles still were there and came from nowhere, got tired of filling in again, and doing it so often you damage the vent. Attach a tank and call it a day, it will look pretty too.


----------



## FireFox (Aug 27, 2018)

Ferrum Master said:


> Attach a tank and call it a day, it will look pretty too.



Agree on that.


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 27, 2018)

I don't want that, if I would, I'd have a regular water cooling already. I like AiO coz it's just that, water block and radiator, no separate pump and tank.
Depending on screws on the block, I might fill it through there instead through the port. And I'll measure the liquid poured out so I'll have a rough estimate of how much I have to fill in. Besides, I want to make sure block is clean without clogged up block micro channels.

Already ordered the fluid, so I'm doing this  If I had a larger vacuum chamber I'd do it that way. Submerge the thing into liquid and vacuum it whole. Same trick used to lubricate sealed bearings. But I'll improvise somehow...


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 28, 2018)

Ok, CoolerMaster kinda screwed me over with ridiculous amount of safety screws used on the block. I only checked online images which only had triangular safety screws. Mine actually had triangular and also single side screwing screws on each corner (the ones that you can only screw in, but if you want to unscrew them, the screwdriver is just slipping out of the slot). Meaning I'd have to really go a long way getting them out.

So, I just drained the original coolant (which was greenish/yellowish, but perfectly clean, just not enough of it), flushed it with distilled water, drained it and filled it with EK CryoFuel. What surprised me is how much CryoFuel I put into it. When I emptied I got out 1 and a half of small plastic cups. I poured in at least 2 and a half if not 3. I can barely hear any liquid moving now. And temperatures are massively different now and I'm only using MasterGel Maker again instead of Conductonaut.

*REFILLING METHOD*

I've used the syringe approach. Placed radiator on highest position with refill port being the highest point with pump hanging down and just kept on shoving CryoFuel into it with a syringe. After around 1 and a half cup, I hooked up pump to 12V DC adapter with spliced 3-pin connector so I could circulate the liquid while shoving more of it into the thing. I stopped when the thing kept squirting out when I pushed it in with syringe. I still repeated that few times just to be sure. Screwed back the refill port and shoved in the rubber cap. Done. A lot of improvisation, but I refilled the AiO for 10€ for the CryoFuel and 70cents for distilled water. If nothing miraculously blows up, it was a cheap "repair". Totally worth it


----------



## Deleted member 67555 (Aug 28, 2018)

They sell this stuff called "Boiler Liquid" and it is by far the best anti corrosion protection on the market...
You can mix Copper, iron, aluminum and even Zinc... Doesn't matter... It will protect it...
For an AIO system you probably only need about 5-6ml but the smallest it comes in is a quart for about $11


----------



## DeathtoGnomes (Aug 28, 2018)

I have seen jayztwocents videos where he would clean some nasty loops. It seems clean distilled water is best.


----------



## RejZoR (Aug 28, 2018)

jmcslob said:


> They sell this stuff called "Boiler Liquid" and it is by far the best anti corrosion protection on the market...
> You can mix Copper, iron, aluminum and even Zinc... Doesn't matter... It will protect it...
> For an AIO system you probably only need about 5-6ml but the smallest it comes in is a quart for about $11



Liquid for solar heating has similar properties. Probably even the same thing. Still, I'm not gonna cry over 10€ that I paid for 900ml of CryoFuel.


----------



## DR4G00N (Aug 28, 2018)

When I swapped my H75's pump onto my dead H110's rad I drilled a hole in the opposite tank of the radiator in order to fill it. After it was filled I simply attached a thin piece of clear plastic with silicone gasket maker over the hole. Still working great after a few months with RO water and some Ethylene glycol mix.


----------



## PhoenixGR (Apr 18, 2022)

I'm reviving the thread because it was presented to me a very similar problem. I have a Fractal Design Kelvin S36 which is basically an Alphacool AiO with DC-LT pump, and all copper parts from Alphacool's products . After an accident with the AiO (the pc fell down) the pump died and ordered a new one but when I was lifting and turning the AiO upside down , I noticed that the loop had air in it and it was a lot. I want to change the fluid. Should I go with something of the self like EK kryofuel, should I go with distilled water and some inhibitors or some glycol /water mix (idk if it's possible to acquire something like this I just know that most of AiO use it).I'm on the dark because it's not a custom loop but neither a crappy Asetek AiO with aluminum parts and idk how to tackle it.


----------



## Deleted member 24505 (Apr 18, 2022)

PhoenixGR said:


> I'm reviving the thread because it was presented to me a very similar problem. I have a Fractal Design Kelvin S36 which is basically an Alphacool AiO with DC-LT pump, and all copper parts from Alphacool's products . After an accident with the AiO (the pc fell down) the pump died and ordered a new one but when I was lifting and turning the AiO upside down , I noticed that the loop had air in it and it was a lot. I want to change the fluid. Should I go with something of the self like EK kryofuel, should I go with distilled water and some inhibitors or some glycol /water mix (idk if it's possible to acquire something like this I just know that most of AiO use it).I'm on the dark because it's not a custom loop but neither a crappy Asetek AiO with aluminum parts and idk how to tackle it.



Cryofuel would be fine.


----------



## Jetster (Apr 18, 2022)

With AIO I just sell them and buy new when they start to not work as well. Let someone else mess with it. Odds are if it's starting to corrode some passages will remain obstructed. Really I just don't have time to mess with it


----------



## PhoenixGR (Apr 18, 2022)

Jetster said:


> With AIO I just sell them and buy new when they start to not work as well. Let someone else mess with it. Odds are if it's starting to corrode some passages will remain obstructed. Really I just don't have time to mess with it


I agree with you non refillable crappy asetek AiOs doesn't worth the hustle.. But mine is not "technically another AiO". The loop is designed to get disassembled and expanded if you want. For example in my case I ordered a reservoir and some clear soft tube and I will turn it in a custom loop.


----------



## kapone32 (Apr 18, 2022)

RejZoR said:


> Frankly, I was thinking of getting a 280mm AiO, but majority of them are worse than my existing Nepton 120XL. Which is just bizarre. And which is why I'm thinking of just refreshing it and calling it a day. 10€ refill with purpose made liquid vs 120€ for a new cooler that might not even be better...


The Nepton is one of the only AIOs that have a drain/fill port on the rad.


----------



## ThrashZone (Apr 18, 2022)

Hi,
Any premix these days is fine personally I prefer mayhems x1 clear.


----------



## Jetster (Apr 18, 2022)

PhoenixGR said:


> I agree with you non refillable crappy asetek AiOs doesn't worth the hustle.. But mine is not "technically another AiO". The loop is designed to get disassembled and expanded if you want. For example in my case I ordered a reservoir and some clear soft tube and I will turn it in a custom loop.


I went back a read your post again, totally agree


----------



## PhoenixGR (Apr 19, 2022)

kapone32 said:


> The Nepton is one of the only AIOs that have a drain/fill port on the rad.


That's because Nepton line of Aio was not an Asetek design and that's why Coolermaster got sued for creating it. But I think I'm going off topic


----------



## Icon Charlie (Apr 19, 2022)

RejZoR said:


> Ok, CoolerMaster kinda screwed me over with ridiculous amount of safety screws used on the block. I only checked online images which only had triangular safety screws. Mine actually had triangular and also single side screwing screws on each corner (the ones that you can only screw in, but if you want to unscrew them, the screwdriver is just slipping out of the slot). Meaning I'd have to really go a long way getting them out.
> 
> So, I just drained the original coolant (which was greenish/yellowish, but perfectly clean, just not enough of it), flushed it with distilled water, drained it and filled it with EK CryoFuel. What surprised me is how much CryoFuel I put into it. When I emptied I got out 1 and a half of small plastic cups. I poured in at least 2 and a half if not 3. I can barely hear any liquid moving now. And temperatures are massively different now and I'm only using MasterGel Maker again instead of Conductonaut.
> 
> ...


I'm actually going to increase my increase my Frost tek GPU water cooler from 1-120mm to 2-120mm fans in different positions on my case.  I SO DO NOT LIKE planned obsolescence, as well as ridged designs on concepts that could easily been dealt with.  But HEY that is how they make their money.


----------



## kapone32 (Apr 20, 2022)

PhoenixGR said:


> That's because Nepton line of Aio was not an Asetek design and that's why Coolermaster got sued for creating it. But I think I'm going off topic


And killed innovation at the same time. I am so glad that I decided never to have Asetek after that episode and it led me to Alphacool.


----------

