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Best way to remove air from AiO pump?

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Oct 2, 2004
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Anyone got any tips how to get air out of the AiO pump/block unit the fastest? I was adjusting my cooling yesterday and during that process, I've flipped the radiator and it apparently sucked some air from it into the pump which is now making rather annoying ratling noise. It seems to eliminate it when I place the case with motherboard horizontally, but as soon as I place it upright, it's starts making bubbly ratling noise again. It's not horrible, it's just there enough to annoy my sensitive ears.

What's the best way to get air out of the pump? Any technique of rotating the radiator/pump/entire case to do this quickly?
 
Just take it back off and move it around again. It's still sealed right?
 
It is. I found something where people say flipping the case on its head helps. Running it now upside down and it's absolutely quiet. I hope it'll remain this way when I turn it over. I guess I should shut it down, wait a bit, flip it over and run the system again. It seems like air gets there only if you move it around if system is turned on. Hm, lets see...
 
When you say you flipped your radiator, do you mean you permanently mounted it flipped over with the tubes coming out of the top?
 
Shake the radiator while the pump is on.
 
I've had to remove the AiO system and hook it up to an external power source (12V DC adapter) and testing it when it stopped "bubbling". It turns out rotating ports in way for air to go up didn't quite work as I thought it would.

I now have pump mounted with ports pointing upwards and radiator has ports at the bottom. The pump became the most silent this way so I'll leave it this way. I just hope it won't be rattling after system is turned off for long hours. One problem that I had in the past.
 
1000+ videos in youtube, where to attach pump, and how avoid air bubbles in loop
 
Normal loops. Those are easier to bleed and vent since you have openings. AiO's are enclosed and al you can do is rotate them and hope for the best. Not quite the same...
 
AIOs have to be mounted with the tubes coming out the bottom of the RAD. The air collects at the top of the RAD, so if the tubes are at the top, the pump will suck in air.
 
But what about the pump? Logo/text on it suggests pipes at the bottom, but common sense would say top side for the same reason. Air goes up.
 
I don't think it particularly matters which direction the pump/block is mounted. The pump is going to push any air bubbles out and into the rad. The flow through the pump/block is a lot faster than through the radiator, it is fast enough to push trapped air out. It might not do it instantly, but in my experience after a few minutes of running the air works its way out of the pump.
 
AIOs have to be mounted with the tubes coming out the bottom of the RAD. The air collects at the top of the RAD, so if the tubes are at the top, the pump will suck in air.


Not necessarily. Ive mounted then both ways with no issues. As long as the pump is lower
 
Normal loops. Those are easier to bleed and vent since you have openings. AiO's are enclosed and al you can do is rotate them and hope for the best. Not quite the same...
Normal custom loops are closed loops just as AIO's are.
 
so .. i have a question ... how the f*aq are the AIO in filled and then closed o_O
 
Not necessarily. Ive mounted then both ways with no issues. As long as the pump is lower

No, once enough air is in the system, the pump will start sucking in air out of the RAD if the hoses are at the top. You may not have had an issue because there wasn't enough air in the system yet.

so .. i have a question ... how the f*aq are the AIO in filled and then closed o_O

There could be a few ways. The whole thing could be submerged with it open and then the final hose connection is made under the fluid once all the air is out of the system.

Or they could just fill the system with an external pump and very quickly take the hose off the pump and connect it to the rad.
 
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There is some air left in the AiO systems, they aren't 100% filled. They fill them through a process called "bleeding" (some call it venting). It's the same as central heating radiators or normal water cooling systems. Air always goes up so you have to circulate the liquid in such a way that you push the air out of the system. I've never seen AiO assembly in factory, but I think they fill the radiator, bleed the hoses and the pump and then assemble them together and seal them permanently. I've seen some systems with separate visible filling port (not on my Antec H2O 920 though).

The reason why I asked about it here is because the know how from normal water cooling systems didn't seem to work in my case...
 
Interesting. The temperatures weren't ok. I was hitting 80°C way too easily at smaller clocks and voltages with pump ports up and radiator ports down. So I've rotated the radiator so that both ports are now upside. Temperatures dropped significantly. Dunno what happened exactly, but temperatures are a lot lower, Antec 920 controlled fans spin way slower. Either thermals simply prefer such placement or the AiO is already degraded a bit and this gives it the best cooling conditions as far as the coolant flow goes.

Also a tip when working with AiO's. Don't rotate them around when they are operating. It'll trap air in the pump. Shut down the system, place AiO in whatever way you prefer and power it up when all is done. This way it started making funny noises as well, but it auto fixed itself after 30 seconds of running and is now absolutely silent without any bubbly noises.
 
AIOs have to be mounted with the tubes coming out the bottom of the RAD. The air collects at the top of the RAD, so if the tubes are at the top, the pump will suck in air.
Really... I've been running my h70 with the hoses at the top ever since I've had it (years). Maybe I should flip it.
 
Really... I've been running my h70 with the hoses at the top ever since I've had it (years). Maybe I should flip it.
mine is runnng with tubes on top no problems so far.. been runing for 9 months
 
I've had tubes on the side and it worked great even with 4,2GHz i7 920. But when I changed the case foir my current Corsair, I flipped it so that radiator ports were at bottom and cooling was considerably worse. So I flipped it yesterday to have ports at the top and it's far better now. I never thought pump/radiator rotation matters so much.
 
The best way to eliminate air from your AIO is to .... remove one pipe from your radiator. They are not sealed, nor you will break anything... Attach a funnel on the end of the pipe. Hold the radiator on top of the funnel. Connect pump to source thus powering it up. The water from the Radiator should flow into the funnel. Buy some anti-freeze from gas stations (for car radiators.. it costed me 1 euro for 1L.. its basicly distill water with ethylene glycol . Then start pooring into the funnel. Keep in mind that you should have your radiator upside down, and moving it 90 degrees to the left and right, while the AIO is still running. When all the air is out put one finger on top of the radiators fitting blocking the flow. At the same moment you should ask someone to unplug the pump. remove all excess liquid from the funnel, remove the funnel and rapidly connect pipe to radiator. I recommend adding a reservoir for your ease if you don't know wtf you are doing (they can be really cheap starting from like 7-8 usd on aliexpress). All AIO's lose liquid due to vaporation.(yes i know ... its crazy). So they need some refill after years.
I know this post is old but i just came up to it from google, and i think it needed a proper answer. Lots of people run AIO's theese days.
 
You should take it out of the case and run it with the end of the rad without the houses is held high ,,, best to use a small $15 12v brick type power converter and leave system off. Disconnecting a hose voids the warranty and resealing can often be difficult. best option is to avoid CLC type AIOs

CLC Type AIOs (i.e. H100i) are closed and not designed to be bled and usually a 2 x 1200 will be between $120 and 4165. They usually have extreme speed fans to offset the inefficiency of aluminum radiators. Also can not replace or augment corrosion inhibitors / algaecides when they reach end of useful life after 18 -24 months. You can eliminate the air at the pump by getting it into the rad but this decreases cooling efficiency and can even decrease flow rate.

OLC type AIOs (Swiftech H240 X3) are open in that they are designed for you to disconnect and reconnect tubes so that you can add additional components. They are essentially a bunch of custom loop all copper wetted componets pre-assembled at the factory. The Swiftechs are $135 for a 2 x 120 and $165 for a 3 x 120mm. They come with bleed ports but the rad must be taken out of PC to do so unless you add an extension. .. you can also add dyes, corrosion inhibitors whatever as needed or desired. When we install the Swiftech AIOs, we normally will install an extension for valved fill, drain and bleed ports.
 
Expansion vessel in the loop?, Ok I may have got a bit strafe ways with this one.
 
K why are we entertaining a 4 year old thread necro’d by a one post wonder? Even the OP hasn’t been active here in over 6 months...
 
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