Evercool WC-201 Water Cooling Kit (cont.)

Problem:

Before I go any further, the problem with watercooling is the ability for it to leak, as I found out. I have actually tested two of the Evercool WC-201 systems because the first one had multiple problems. One of the problems was a leak from the seals on the second radiator, shown below.

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Even with some gasket sealer, the seals of the radiator had a tendency to leak. This is a problem that can happen to anyone from the novice with an awesome pre-built watercooling kit to the expert with the self-built system. One thing that helped keep my system from being damaged beyond repair, was that I assembled the system outside that case and ran it a couple of days. By doing this I was able to detect the leak coming from the second radiator.

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Even with this testing, I wasn't able to see any leak coming from reservoir till it happened, about a week into testing. Based on that fact one will never be able to know the complete failure point of their system until it actually happens.

Evercool was great in responding to the leak problem. Instead of the run around, asking if I had installed it right or trying to pin it on me for any reason they could think of, they immediately asked if my hardware was okay and if anything needed to be replaced. Immediately I felt safe knowing that if anything had happened, Evercool would have had no problems making it right. Another thing was how fast they sent out a replacement for the cooling system. I got it 3 days after I had reported the leaks to them. Therefore, if you are someone worried about leaks, I would recommend them to you based on their customer service alone.

Added 8-27-2005:

Unfortunately, based on comments from my readers, I have heard that Evercool's support is not very responsive towards the end consumer. Problem with a review site is that a review site always has the marketing department's ear. Sometimes we are given special treatment because of this.

After receiving the second unit, I noticed the water level dropped rapidly but there were no leaks. I was having to refill the unit once a day. That's when I noticed a crack on the water level Plexiglas on the front of the unit. The crack was small, but being winter and having dry air, it allowed the water an opportunity to evaporate quite rapidly.

Installation:

To fill the WC-201 a 12V power source is required for the pump. You can power the bay from a Molex adapter in your current system or a spare power source. Just make sure to unplug everything else if you use your system's PSU.

There is an antifreeze bottle included with the Evercool WC-201 that when added will give the water a cool, reddish look. After this is added, you need to add with water until the water level reaches the high mark. Then start the pump. Make sure that all the air is removed.

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As I installed the second system, I noticed a bad thing about the functionality of the bay reservoir. The water fill point lines up perfectly with the indention in my case door; therefore, no matter how far I put it back in the bay, it would always impede the door from closing. This is a bothersome thing, as the Chenming style line of cases and the variants of it are quite prevalent amongst not only computer enthusiasts but novices.

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The display is kind of blurry on the WC-201. You can't glance over and check it. You have to look it dead on, otherwise the value it's reading is very hard to spot.

According to Evercool's handbook, the best way to set the components is connect the 5.25" bay to the GPU block. Then connect the GPU block to the CPU block. Next, connect that to the second radiator. Finally, take the second radiator back to the 5.25 bay.

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That's the same way I hooked up the first WC-201 system that leaked. I installed the second one a different way. I took 5.25" bay to GPU block. Then I took the GPU block to the second radiator. Then followed that radiator to CPU block. Finally, back to 5.25" bay.

I didn't take any temps from the previous system to confirm if it helped but just feeling the temp of the tubing coming from the GPU to the second radiator and out of the second radiator there was definitely a big difference.

If you have any questions on the WC-201 installation, check out Evercool's web site for great instructions. This link also includes a great guide for shortening the length of the tubes.