All-In-One Liquid Cooler: Drain, Clean and Refill Service / Long Interval Maintenance

[@Blackinterceptor999]

I find that threading the screw backwards till it slips into it’s own threads works great to avoid cross thread damage

[@Blackinterceptor999]

So when I cleaned my own and tested it the other day it was vibrating pretty badly and was quite noisy, I was using straight distilled water for the test...I'm not sure if it was actually pumping the water...Which hose on the pump is inlet and which is outlet?

[@1222dss]

yep. This is what i always do to keep threads as healthy as possible.

[@MetalMan1245]

You're exactly correct.

[@Blueshirt38]

My dad was an electrical engineer, and that was one of the first things he taught me about working on components. "Drop it into the threads."

[@DAN.eight6]

Top tip

[@ChozoSR388]

I'm getting ready to do my first tour with liquid cooling, and finding this video was most pleasantly surprising. Nice to know that they _can_ be serviced and re-filled. Also nice to know that it's not as complicated or involved as one might assume.

[@Mirddes]

this is amazing none of the big channels have videos covering this and google search results say not to do this.

[@ESHW]

I've done this...probably more than 100 times...as long as you use proper coolant and not just tap water (hello galvanic corrosion and/or algae) it's fine.

[@Panlover_]

King... You dropped this: 👑 I know nothing about building computers but this video taught me everything I wanted to know about servicing my 8 y/o cooler and more. Thank you for the very informative video!

[@IsaardP]

Great video, I was just taking coffee break from refurbishing my old h80 7 years in service lol I'm using vinegar to clean the copper plate. There was some gunk but essentially no corrosion, very impressed with Corsair right now!

[@ESHW]

I'm glad you found it helpful! I found that it depends on the revision with Corsair as some are (much) better than others , but they do use an impressively good working fluid. Salt and vinegar is absolutely the right thing to use if it's copper, it leaves it looking new kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaCtYoWlpJenoqc

[@fritznuarin3750]

thank you for this video, i now have an idea to refill and clean my almost 10 year old H100i 🥰

[@linuxforpunks]

This worked for me today (so far). I'll say some things I found: (1) after replacing the copper radiator some coolant may leak out from the edges and screw holes. But you won't be able to tell if the rubber gasket has failed or if it's just tiny amounts that got into areas of the plastic housing that are outside the gasket. I left mine overnight until it stopped. (2) the outlets leading from the plastic housing to the rubber hoses are small and hard-to-see: they effectively have to be filled separately. (3) I didn't measure the quantity of fluid but it was about 100-150ml. (4) in the video at around 4:30 where the hoses are twisted about this is an important step to push out air bubbles, they won't come out on their own. (5) I add this for my own benefit: I wasn't able to get a pre-mixed coolant in the UK on a reasonable timescale and the PC shops don't sell it so I made my own from 110 parts deionized water, 10 parts central heating corrosion inhibitor, 1 part Friar's Balsam. Friar's Balsam is an over-the-counter biocide made from tree bark - it is iodine+ethanol+a cocktail of oils from the tree bark: need to separate/skim/filter off the tar and solid particles before use but this is easy enough. The iodine turns the mixture pale yellow.

[@ESHW]

Impressive! Honestly your concoction is probably just as good if not better compared to some of the commercial premixes. Once I'm done with a service I usually spray down the pump head with a (very) liberal amount of isopropyl and blast it with a hairdryer (got lazy ones and used my soldering hot air gun that was on my desk - bad idea), I find this dries it out very quickly and any overnight drips are most likely real leaks. If that happens I use a dab of non-corrosive gasket maker (i.e. if it smells like vinegar it's the wrong type for this) on the existing gasket and 9 times out of 10 it worked perfectly fine.

[@M20AFKS]

top notch i run my h60 for over 8 years still run fine !

[@umuts5]

you mean without changing the liquid?

[@MetalMan1245]

Very helpful, getting ready to do my first build with an AIO and I could have figured this stuff out myself, but I'm very glad to now know for sure what to do.

[@rb9951]

That's actually crazy with opening from the cooling plate directly instead of the hosing replacement. But, it does keep things much simplier for lazy builds. And technically, hosing itself is mostly fine.

[@jrgroberts]

ty!

[@matejvrabel]

Although your accent is quite strong, the commentary is very pleasant to listen to. Great work, keep it up.

[@freyja_wildes]

Thank you. I need to service my H60 kit and this will help a lot

[@CMDR-V-UncleJ]

I know this is a 2yr old vud but this helps me out a lot. thinking about redoing my 10 year old H60 use it in my new amd 5600x build. Its currently keeping my amd fx 8320 cool.

[@tmagrit]

Very useful information. Thanks so much!

[@grego10r]

im running my corsair h100i for 10 years now works just like new till now np

[@shclub3891]

Thank you for the video! It helped very much

[@JBG84]

Interesting thoughts about coloured radiator coolants. Never would have considered that!

[@diepa3d]

Very helpfully, and i know teardown my cooler

[@5WIM]

Super helpful thank you for making this

[@ironknucklen64]

I like the bloons td music

[@fatihfh]

My 2 year old h115i cooler suddenly stopped working. I hope it will be fixed when I change the water. Thank you for your help.

[@ESHW]

Make sure to check if the pump is spinning freely

[@fatihfh]

Ok, I'll check it when I open it. But what I'm really afraid of is that the radiator liquid has leaked into the chip and the circuit has burned. I think this is the most likely possibility and I'm afraid of it. Sorry for my bad English, I'm writing with Google Translate.

[@Berserkism]

The porno music at 5:21 got me weird looks....thanks.

[@ESHW]

Got a good giggle out of that. And you are most welcome :)

[@joshcookno8]

Thank you this video is a godsend! You mention that its possible to replace the pumps if they are faulty? I'm looking for a replacement pump for a corsair H100i elite capellix xt but I've been unable to find any information, the rest of the video has been very informative, could you suggest where to look for the pump?

[@ESHW]

Best thing would be to buy a replacement pump head off eBay as it will be the absolute cheapest option. There used to be a few places to get new impellers but they don't seem to sell them anymore, these days I don't replace the pumps if they are broken,Im i just keep the aluminium radiator for later use. There are so many affordable AIOs it doesn't make sense to invest £20-40 to fix an old AIO when you can use the same money to buy a new Aygo or thermalright.

[@btwbrand]

The concept of liquid sinks and air rises in a container is not in this mans head.

[@ESHW]

I would agree with your comment without knowing better, but after servicing north of a hundred of these AIOs of various makes and sized.... 9 out of 10 will be an absolute pain to fill through the coldplate opening without jiggling the hell out of the rad as there will be airlocks - internal radiator channels are small and liquid goes in both tubes (not to mention the ones like the H45 with the pump at the inlet - these days I just chuck those in the bin due to the aggravation of filling them). Every 10th one will have a dedicated fill port and that will work just as you say.

[@auliarakhman5054]

Thank you. I follow this step and works. I though my watercooler has done forever. I event using coolant locomotive hahahaa

[@Negiku]

Nice video, I also have an h110i that probably needs a refill but I can't undo the screws, they are allen key screws and won't budge.

[@ESHW]

Initially I used L-shape Allen keys, but switched to an allen screwdriver as it was very difficult to put enough pressure onto the screws with either the long or short side and ended up stripping a few (drilling AIO screws out is not fun at all :/). If you have some Allen bits or a screwdriver maybe give it a try ;)

[@Negiku]

@@ESHW How do u drill them out? I mean the screws are screwed into plastic, wont drilling them damage the plastic threads? I am atleast 80% sure i am gonna have to drill them cause allen keys dont fit properly anymore, they are a little bit loose.

[@ShineHeavenNow]

I have this exact cooler and the performance is degrading, thank you for doing this. I understand you need some air for thermal expansion but how much? I wonder if you ran the pump facing up to have the air bubbles potentially trapped up top , then removed the cover again if you'd be able to fill it some more to potentially minimize trapped air?..also how did it perform afterward as there is no follow up? Thanks!

[@ESHW]

Hi - you should remove as much trapped air as possible, don't worry about thermal expansion as the temperatures don't get anywhere near hot enough for that to be a concern. As long as the pump is not the highest point in your system, you should be fine . Best way I've found to remove trapped air is to have patience (lots and lots of it) and then shake and pour. Using a scale like a showed is an easy way to make sure you haven't underfilled. Afterwards I tested that cooler on a Ryzen 7 2700x and after 10 minutes of Cinebench R23 on stock the CPU was sitting around 74C while rejecting a lot of heat - for long term use i would still go with a 240mm for CPUs over 65W if space allows. I finally used it on a 3200g and it didn't go above 62C even in prime 95 so it was performing pretty much like it did brand new.

[@shupesmerga4694]

I plan to do this but I want to replace the liquid with the same liquid. Do you know the ingredients and ratio of the coolant? I know it has propane glycol, anti-rust, anti-bacterial and do i even need an anti-freeze? I don't know the name of the exact chemical needed.

[@ESHW]

I would recommend you buy a proper premix. Don't use EK cryofuel because that one has known compatibility issues with some AIOs. What i can for sure is you can use mayhem's eco (clear). I've been using it for years and never had any issues at all with it. That way it takes the guesswork out...

[@petrihakamaa9385]

I just open the pump and wiggle the card little and now temps are like 29c idle as before it was 70-74c. No need to clean the whole system;)

[@ESHW]

Still a good idea to flush it as it will have residue inside the radiator....but it will still go for a long time regardless ;)

[@psychemasksofficial5472]

Amazing job. Since you seem to have quite a bit of experience with aio coolers refurbishment, do you happen to know whats the average size of the pump plate screws? Not sure my terminology is correct. Basically the 8 screws on the copper plate. Many thanks :)

[@ESHW]

For the older ones that have threaded inserts in the plastic it's more often than not a fine pitch M2. For the newer ones that thread directly into plastic the screws are various flavours of self-tappers.

[@FromTheGroundUP627]

Got a better idea that actually works with 100% fill rate which also expells every last bit of air in the process. To refill the system all you need to do is place the cold plate side into a container with your chosen fluid,obviously taking the cold plate of first so the pump is visible,as theres electrics in the head just submerge enough so the pump is in the fluid. Now turn on the pump and let that pump circulate the full system until no more noise is heard. Once ur happy,insert everything bk together while still submerged keeping pressure on the cold plate as you now turn it upright ready to insert the screws. Once all screws are tightened down.double check the electric side on the aio head where the board lives and check for any water in there, there should be none. This is how i did mine and its better than when i bought it. Let the pump do the job for u,thats what there designed for in the first place. I see too many people dribbling water in the holes and wiggling the radiotor around which can be tedious and time consuming. Next time give it a whirl and let me know how you got on. If your paranoid about water getting into the electrics while doing this,just use some electrical tape to water proof the joints. Good luck.

[@ESHW]

Thank you for the detailed comment! I did service a couple of AIOs like that (mainly the horrible Corsair H45 which is a true pain), but I still find it easier to pour in the liquid. The issue with pouring it all out in a container is you can't pour it back into the bottle as it will be contaminated (or at least I don't as I do some high end stuff as well where contaminants + dye is a good clump recipe); but I get how this can be a very niche issue.

[@FromTheGroundUP627]

@@ESHW I did make sure to thoroughly flush the full system in the sink prior to doing this method,taking apart everything and hand cleaning before hand. To be thorough I even used que tips to clean inside each pipe whike soaking. Que tips were orange then once I was happy In the cleaning process. I then used distilled water and flushed the system out again once it was all back together again by dunking the cpu cooler head under water in a bowl, I flushed for 2 minutes and water was clean After I was happy this is when I used some XSPC PURE PREMIX DISTILLED. following the process again. There's was zero contaminants in the liquid. Hope this helps. Ps. I have the H45 CORSAIR.....its what I'm using after I just serviced it and its very very quiet now.

[@Ninjaboy101GMD]

The fact that he has 360 subscribers is crazy

[@ESHW]

As in too many or too few? I'm confused 🤔

[@Ninjaboy101GMD]

@@ESHW exactly 360 subs

[@ESHW]

@@Ninjaboy101GMD what can i say... i like going round in circles... :D

[@janvingst]

my aio sounded like a lawnmower at times - the temp was up at almost 90°C, the fan´s sounded like an airplane.. so i switched back to air-cooling and disected the aio - the copper plate, tubes and pump was full of gunk. after i broke it into pieces to get it open i found the screws right on top - lol it even had a filling port. now i am wondering if it is possible to flush the aio-system with a cleaner and desolve the gunk, then flushing the aio and refilling it for reuse. i am currently trying vinegar to dissolve the residue on the inside of the copper plate - it bubbles so the vinegar is reacting to something.. will a regular aio cleaning solution work for this ? i suppose that the radiator is even more gunked up and just flushing water doesnt clean it sufficiently. well r.i.p. first aio of my life 😂

[@ESHW]

I mean...if it did its job then it was a life well spent (for the AIO obvs.). Vinnegar will usually do a good enough job, there are loop cleaning kits that come with different chemicals, but I would not use those on AIOs - they are meant for things like custom loops that can justify their price tag

[@DoctorKindMind]

what the size of tube inner diameter , trying to modify it , but worried to cut the tube

[@ESHW]

As it happens I have one to hand and a calliper. The inside diameter is 8mm and the outside diameter is 14. The original barb that comes with is is 10mm in diameter and I would aim for the same to keep a tight seal.

[@DonaldWyman]

Thanks for this video I have this same cooler that I have been using since 2014 so I need to do this. I am wondering though what liquid do you recommend to go in there?

[@ESHW]

As long as it is a clear liquid from a reputable manufacturer you can chose whichever you like - either Mayhems, EK, Corsair, Thermaltake - go for the one on sale and it will work so long as it does not have any colour pigments and it has both biocide additives and anit-corrosion properties (as i think the radiator is aluminium so you really do need it). You can also go for distilled water + EK cryo or similar concentrate, but it usually works out around the same price as premixed fluids. Do not use tap water or just distilled water as it won't last more than 2-3 months before it gunks up.

[@DonaldWyman]

@@ESHW thank you for the help.

[@simonm8586]

I wonder if you can use automotive coolant?

[@ESHW]

If it's not too thick I would use it.

[@williamthornton2759]

There are L1 and L2 wires on the circuit board that broke. Not sure how to fix it. Any ideas?

[@ESHW]

:( That is a bit of a bummer - and the reason I usually avoid taking the pumps apart if it can be helped. You will need god tier soldering skills to fix that one as you will need to add a cable overlength to reach around - its doable as I have done it in the past, but with so much aggro that I can't really recommend it. I am afraid to say you will probably be better served by getting a new cooler...

[@makedaevilmage]

How do you take all the old liquid out? Just holding it upsidedown? Why is the weight so important? What liqiud did you use?

[@ESHW]

Hold it upside down and shake it a bit until all the liquid comes out. The weight is important because you want to make sure you put at least as much liquid in as you took out, more if possible. Too little fluid in there can hurt performance and be dangerous for the pump (not to mention you hear an annoying flowing water sound). I use Mayhems X1 clear premix fluid for all the AIOs - it has both corrosion inhibitors and biocide additives, but you can use any liquid you like as long as it is rated for mixed metals (i.e. most AIOs have a copper coldplate and aluminium reservoir and most fail not because of pump fatigue but because corrosion builds up and clogs the system). If you prefer, you can buy concentrate and mix it yourself with some distilled an purified water, but unless you are doing loads of AIOs its just extra hassle.

[@JaimeWulf]

So you use a cleaning fluid to cool the CPU? That part threw me off... Maybe I'm not seeing the full label on the container...

[@ESHW]

The fluid I am using is Mayhem's X1 Eco (no pigment) - it's a premix for CPU coolers that has a very wide comparability. They do have cleaning fluid, but I've never used it. (I believe it's called Mayhem's Blitz, but that is only supposed to stay in there for a day maximum; worth it for a custom loop, but if you AIO gets that bad that is requires gunk removal I would say it's time to bin it)

[@user-np8go4so1n]

Can you fill it with drink water

[@ESHW]

Unfortunately not. The trouble is that the cold plate is copper and the radiator is aluminium. Without corrosion inhibitors it would degrade very quickly as the colplate would become saturated with corrosion residue.

[@kevindelacruz6685]

Can i use coolant used in cars?

[@ESHW]

You can, but it's really not recommended.

[@manideeprajoji1724]

Can I use distilled water instead of what you are using.

[@ESHW]

Simple answer for most people is NO. The long answer is it is possible to use distilled water if your AIO does not have any mixed metals - I.E. copper coldplate and aluminium radiator AND you make absolutely sure to not introduce any contaminates that might produce algae and such - that is very difficult to do. If you have distilled water I would put some additives like EK Cryofuel or whatever is available to you that contains both corrosion inhibitors and biocides as it will guarantee you won't clog up the system with either corrosion or algae.

[@JohnWick-vv5vf]

Can you use regular purified water?

[@ESHW]

Yes, but you will have to be seriously tidy as to not introduce contaminants and it still might not last that long until it requires change. I would suggest putting some biocide in it as that will increase the shelf life considerably (also eliminate the algae risk).

[@iwanvanmirlo]

is there a way to get decent flex transparant tubing on this model H100i ?

[@ESHW]

That is a great question: You might be able to do that...it depends on the exact model/revision. I've never replaced tubes in the H100i as I never had too, but I did do on the H45 where they had simple barbed fittings on both the rad/pump and coldplate ends so not that difficult to remove and replace without any fear of subsequent leakage. It kinda depends on the H100i model revision as some have metal clamps (I believe the platinum RGB) instead of the shrink wrap (that is for aesthetics only) over the ends. If you do have metal clamps you won't be able to re-fasten without a press, so if that is your case I would say it's not worth it, but if you have shrink wrap it's most likely an easy swap.

[@iwanvanmirlo]

@@ESHW i'll go with the new Noctua Noctua NH-U12S REDUX :-) save some money and when new PC time comes i'll have more for a decent great water loop instead of a AIO where indeed u need to top it off or it rattles , mine started rattleing sadly , so choises must be made hehe ...

[@gabrielimung1902]

Is it okay to use pre-mixed automotive coolant?

[@ESHW]

You could, but you would need to dial down the concentration and you would still have the issue that it is toxic (most over the counter premix fluids go to great pains to show they are non toxic). As it's meant to be used at much higher temperatures the thermal transfer might not be great when the temp delta is so much lower.

[@gabrielimung1902]

@@ESHW Okay, thank you.

[@hughanthonyiii6653]

What's the liquid stuff called?

[@ESHW]

I use some Mayhems X1 ECO 1L Clear Premixed Fluid, but you can also use distilled water and additives. EK-CryoFuel is a good additive I've used in the past and it played nice with both aluminium and copper.

[@mattrobar4717]

whats the size of the screw?

[@ESHW]

Hi Matt - are you asking about the coldplate screws or the ones on top of the housing? It just so happens that I have another one that I need to service so I can measure them for you and figure out which kind of screw it is once I do it (probably this coming weekend)

[@ESHW]

For the coldplate try using M3*4

[@xanelgames]

How many ml?

[@ESHW]

Honestly I never thought to measure, I just pour until no more can go in as you really can't "overfill" a loop. a 250ml bottle of coolant should be more than enough for a small AIO like this and have plenty left over for "accidents" in case you spill some.

[@xanelgames]

@@ESHW I put between 90 ml and 100 ml, but I've seen people saying it's 125 ml, but the most I can put is 100 ml, I'll check the weight as you did, thanks and sorry for the english!

[@nathanadhitya]

Hello, some of the screw heads are stripped on mine. What screws are generally used to tighten the copper plate to the pump?

[@ESHW]

Unfortunately I don't believe there is a set standard (and even models from the same manufacturer vary with their respective revisions), but I've had success in the past replacing stripped hex screws with M3*4 or *5 as they were the same or close enough. Not a guarantee it will work on your particular unit though 🥺. Last resort is to find a screw that is ever so slightly larger like a 6-32*4 or *5 and "thread-cut" the plastic again. You will need to keep it on a bench for a day or two and if no leaks develop it's most likely safe to use, but never unfasten it again as it's probably a one shot deal.