Advice on cooling - leaky PC
AndrewJJP
Posts: 720
My PC is a liquid cooled 3090 / i9 10900K and it has one 360mm radiator with three 120mm fans. Ever since I had it, it's had a slow leak, but because it's so slow, about 5mm / month, I only know that because I have taken photos over the year (it's very pretty!), and recently checked, and saw the level going down over time. The check was prompted by something that happened about a month ago. I spotted a puddle underneath the pump. There are no electronics there, and the shop said they were OK with me using it and monitoring the situation when I mentioned the slow leak, and the fact I couldn't see any residue anywhere else. Then, it started leaking from the CPU block onto the graphics card housing. That's not so good! But I guess the point is, it's failed in two places. At least two places.
When I render, it tends to be left on for maybe 10-15 hours and I know from task manager that the 3090 is nudging 80C. The shop thinks the cooling system is faling in multime places because the hard tubing is deforming when it's used at those temparatures for that period and they have recommended I spend... a lot of money adding another two radiators, three fans, and of course a new case to put it all in, as that won't fit in the case I have. They've also said I should use flexible tubing as that's less prone to leaks. On top of that, a gamer friend said the card might be throtting at that temparature, so although it's extremely fast, it could be faster.
Now I know very little about hardware, but this all seems fairly plausible to me, but it's a lot of money I hadn't really expeted to spend. So I wondered what people that know more about this are than me might think?
Thanks for any ideas!
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
If it's leaking, it needs to be replaced ASAP. If you get a sealed system, all it will cool is the CPU, but they are very reliable. A custom liquid cooling system has the advantage of flexibility, like adding more cooling blocks, or upgrades, but then you have to deal with plumbing, and maybe the possibility of more leaks. A sealed system is basically fit and forget. Corsair has plenty of both.
Thanks! The thing cost a small fortune so I think it'll have to be basically the same PC, which has a custom cooling loop.
It has sat idle on the desk, waiting for me to get paid basically! I could get it repaired under warranty for free, but I'm worried the same will just happen again...
I had recently bought a new computer from Digital Storm with liquid cooling. I didn't realize I had to put the coolant in myself, I thought it all came prepackaged. I was not excited about the idea of having no previous experience with this and just being told here's a pump, pour some liquid in your very expensive system. They were very little help and told me any local computer shop would be able to help me. I called four shops locally and every single one said they would never touch it, that all they see is people having problems with the systems and they didn't want responsiblity. Finally the last guy I talked to said he had three computers in his shop at that moment that all had leaky liquid cooling systems that had similar problems to yours and he recommended that I just put in a good fan system instead. He swapped out my liquid cooling unit for a nice fan system (there's like five or six fans in it now) for like a hundred and fifty bucks and I couldn't be happier as now I don't have to worry about flushing the system every year or whatever, leaks, ectetera and when I'm rendering the GPU is staying cool. For peace of mind for your hardware, maybe ask what they'd charge to hook you up with a new fan system that would be comparable to liquid cooling temps.
I had a new cooling system put in last year. The old one was showing it's age and not being efficient. I used the oppurtinity to add more DDR and a new GPU, been purring ever since.
I didn't realise they aged, and I'm certainly going to be pretty paranoind about it now, so I'll certianly be keeping an eye on how efficient it is!
Mine came fully filled, I really just had to turn it on. I was told three years between changed for the fluid I was using, and I always planned to send it back to the shop that sold it for that (a small independent).
I'll certainly ask what cost I'd be looking at. I do wonder if it's that simple as the graphics card looks like it might be one designed for cooling. It's not very big, and I think the air cooled ones are quite large.
I have an AIO for the CPU...but I can't imagine the fear of leaking with a full loop. Oof. I know it is possible for AIO's to leak, but the incidence is far less than with a full loop since once you install it, it's pretty much "set and forget" with no maintenance (other than cleaning the radiator/fans).
it will be the heat on the tubes and components expanding, the cheapest option is to just replace the tubes and o-rings checking the specs they can handle what you need then test. might be worth a try before spending loads of money.
Thanks, that's pretty much what the shop says. I would think replacing the tubes would be a warranty issue, but I am a little worried it runs at 80C. I wonder if that's really normal?
Well I am afraid of it now! But I think my graphics card is specifically designed to be liquid cooled. A 3090 is generally pretty large but mine isn't, so I think I am going to have to keep it that way. Being without a PC, I am currently using my iPad, and that doesn't seem to allow me to upload pics to the forum. If it did, I'd sent something to show why I think I might need to keep it as a full loop.
wow this puts me off of adding cooling, think getting an aircon (I plan to one day mine have all died) and putting the PC by the outlet might be the safer option
in Adelaide with 40C+ days in summer an aircon would be nice anyway
https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/graphics-cards/30-series/rtx-3090-3090ti/ says max temp 93C, what that means for you system i don't know.
I use Firefox to upload images to the forums... (for some reason after around four or five years, Safari still can't upload images to the forums)
Thanks to WendyLuvsCats and a couple of other folks for that tip... but apparently it's just a Safari/DAZ3D problem.
I've seen videos of people using cheap air conditioners (you can get small ones in the US for like $125 on sale) with ducts from the window to the PC to cool their rigs... I personally feel like that might be too cool (possibly cause stress cracks on the circuit boards if the cooling cycle is too abrupt), but perhaps a mediocre used A/C might work too and not be too cold.
Honestly, for what some people spend on cooling solutions, using a small A/C to create a small cool room enclosure doesn't seem that bad an idea.
(Now I'm going to look into the pros and cons of this, now that I mentioned it... I've been meaning to look into that but always forget)
I just wanted to chime in real quick here, the computer I mentioned above that I had the liquid cooling swapped out for a new fan system has a 3090 and I have another computer with a 3090 that also does not have liquid cooling. That computer has been rendering animation sequences for a year and a half now with no issues nearly 24/7. So unless you have a special model that requires liquid cooling, which maybe they make those, I've never heard of it but I could be mistaken, you should be fine without the liquid cooling if you have a good fan system in place. But definitely check up on if your particular card requires it.
Check with the PC (if you bought a complete system) or Cooling System (if you built or upgraded your system) manufacturer and see if the problem is covered under warranty. If the warranty is expired, replace the entire coolong system with a new one. It should not be difficult to install. I replace one of my radiator fans recently. It was a fairly simple operation.
On the subject of using an ordinary air-conditioner unit to cool your PC... oddly, one of the computer-related youtube channels I follow literally did this as a crazy-science experiment.
Not a consideration here generally, although in the summer, it kicked out too much hear while rendering for me to want to stay in the same room!
Thanks @McGyver, it's just never worked on my iPad at all (which does happen to be Safari so maybe another browser would work). I always tended to get ontomy PC when I wanted to post a picture, but I can borrow a laptop to do it! Here is a picture of the PC I took a while back before it started to leak...
@benniewoodell, the card is just a PCB in a cooling block (I think - correct me if I'm wrong!)
It's still under warranty, it's a 5 year warranty, but I'm worried it will just leak again if I don't upgrade it, and I would need to pay for a lot of that cost.
Looks like an elaborate, expensive cooling system, AndrewJJP. I would pursue the warranty (after all you paid for it) and get a new cooling system and hope that the cooling leak issues have been addressed. It could be something simple like a defective gasket.
Not sure how much it was, most of it went of the graphics card! There is a leak on the gasked at the bottom of the pump on the bottom-right of the pic, and another on the left-hand CPU block gasket, which is the one that worries me most.
The only tubing I'm seeing in that picture is clear... I'm assuming that’s the hard tubing you mentioned.
Do you know if the hard tubing is acrylic or polycarbonate?
I’m guessing/hoping it’s polycarbonate… I’ve seen some people say they use acrylic for hard tubing… that not a great choice as it’s more brittle.
I'm not even sure why people are more commonly using plastic tubing as opposed to metal... plastic is an insulator in this application and won't bleed off excess heat efficiently... plus it's more prone to failure over time.
(If the reason for plastic is fear of shorting something out should it come in contact with the metal surface, that kinda goes out the window if you get a leak in the wrong place... but that's irrelevant.)
If the tubing is polycarbonate, it should be good for temperatures well in excess of 80°C… I think it starts to get softish at around 120°C… you can vacuum form it at around 145° - 150°C… but it’s probably not great for it to be warm too often… with polycarbonate it can actually get brittle if it stays too warm for too long, but that usually occurs at sustained temps of 120°-135° C… like in an autoclave.
The problem with clear plastic parts, is they look cool, but you have to rely on metal to plastic fittings to attach them and if anything gets a stress crack from over tightening, you get a leak… or if you have a bad gasket or o-ring… or the fitting isn’t tight enough…
I’d pursue the warranty… if it’s for 5 years, it should last that long... you paid for it.
Also, I’m guessing the shop you mentioned is not the place that built the setup… correct?
When you say “upgrade” do you mean the whole cooling system or replacing the tubing with flexible tube?
Some pros and cons of flexible tubing.
Pros:
Cons:
There doesn't seem to be a happy middle ground out there between plastic and metal... like nobody seems to use copper tube which is pretty easy to solder and bend... at least to me... I'd much rather make a line out of copper than to fuddle around trying to form polycarb or acrylic tube properly... it seem like it's stainless steel which is super expensive or nothing. I remember read something where someone was talking about brass and actually called copper "exotic"... brass is way more expensive and exotic than copper.
Thank you very much! I went and checked the order, and the tubing is PETG.
The shop is actually the place that built it. They told me it's gaming spec, and the cooloing system is good for for 65C for a few hours, and that I would have been better off with one of their graphics workstation spec machines. They offen an upgrade service and if the cooling system is upgraded, I would use that. They suggested another radiator or another two would be a good idea, and that would need the new case, but they are happy just to replace like with like or to replace the PETG with soft tubing.
I don't think they offer metal as an option, and if someone else did it, I would lose the warranty on the rest of the system. I've never been very confident with hardware, but I can see how that would appeal from a thermal perspective, I will ask them. I'm planning to send it off next week after the bank holiday weekend...
Thanks you very much again!
I didn't even know it was an option! When it comes back, I'll look into that. I don't mind sacrificing some speed if it makes leaks less likely, although it's always been pretty quiet. Thanks!
It won't in all honesty.. hardline is just prone to having the o-rings leak as it sounds like you're having. If it happens again, once its fixed, then yea I would suggest replacing with soft-tubing - I've never had a leak from a connector in any of the wc'd systems I have here.
I had have a block leak, but, regular checks will catch these things. The benefits far outweigh the risks though IMHO.
Looking at this as a piece of plumbing, I wonder if a jointing compound was used originally, (it's not just for copper, it works with rubber washers and rings too).
It would certainly stop leaks after the fact.
Ok, it’s PETG… that material starts to soften at around 85°C.
So I can see why you’re having problems.
PETG is basically the same stuff soda bottles are made of… I’ve used it for water lines in artsy colored glass water fountains I’ve made because it doesn’t discolor significantly when exposed to UV light, which is great when you have a line running through an area where it’s visible (it becomes practically invisible when underwater)… plus it’s super easy to form bends.
I guess depending on the wall thickness it might make a decent tubing material, but if it’s too thin, an operating temperature in the vicinity you mentioned makes it a risky choice.
Yeah, based on that, I’d definitely have the shop replace that with flexible tubing as it’s probably going to handle your operating temperatures better.
One of the things I didn’t like about PETG was that it tended to slip out of mechanical connections too easily… so you really had to be careful about bumping into a tube when doing maintenance or you risked it working loose at some point soon after.
It doesn’t seem as “grippy” as other materials… I’m not sure which flexible material your shop would use, but I’d imagine some form of clear PVC…
I’ve used clear PVC tubing for lots of applications… because the wall sections are soft, you can really cinch down tight a compression fitting without worrying about it breaking or tearing… It even takes fairly hot water well… I’ve used PVC to direct near boiling steam condensation bleed off in a contraption I made, and it lasted years before it needed to be replaced… it didn’t look real spiffy (a translucent golden brown), but it did hold up.
Hopefully, you PC never approaches steam generating temperatures.
It would most likely contaminate the system and cause damage to the pump... even Teflon based compounds are not good for most types of small pumps... it's not a problem for sump pumps and similar heavy duty mechanical pumps like that though.
I'm not sure what you're getting at - underclocking has nothing to do with hard-line liquid cooling (?). I didn't suggest that they don't replace the failed part - underclocking is an alternative if they find the temps are still too high or the fans are bonkers (with tweaked fan profiles).
*edit grammar