Dr. Drop Leak Tester Kit - Hmm...

[Tanquen]

For the first time I'm trying to test the components before mounting. At first I though the Dr. Drop was defective as everything leaked air. Some as I was pumping and others after 5-10 minutes.

I've seen many say to only hand tighten the fittings but I'm using barbed fittings and I've always tightened them with a tool. The only way to stop the air for leaking is to tighten the fittings even more that I normally would. This is a little scary on the GPU block with an Acrylic header.

I'm guessing they would be fine even if air is escaping at 0.5BAR.

Just testing a block is a pain to know what fitting to check let alone the whole loop with like 15 fittings.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

For the first time I'm trying to test the components before mounting. At first I though the Dr. Drop was defective as everything leaked air. Some as I was pumping and others after 5-10 minutes.

I've seen many say to only hand tighten the fittings but I'm using barbed fittings and I've always tightened them with a tool. The only way to stop the air for leaking is to tighten the fittings even more that I normally would. This is a little scary on the GPU block with an Acrylic header.

I'm guessing they would be fine even if air is escaping at 0.5BAR.

Just testing a block is a pain to know what fitting to check let alone the whole loop with like 15 fittings.

I've always hand tightened both the fittings and the compression rings onto the tubing.

You have to be careful when tool tightening, especially if you are going into plexi block tops (most of them these days, unlike the good old days when most tops were metal) as it is pretty easy to crack them by overtightening.

Between the crack risk, and the fact that it is better to save tools for removal so you don't make them too difficult to remove, (simlar to the old concept of, use 4WD to get yourself out of trouble, not to get yourself into it, because if you get stuck with 4wd you're not getting out on your own) these are the main reasons for hand tightening over tool tightening.

As far as air leaks go, I wouldn't be too concerned. Gas molecules are generally much smaller than liquid molecules, and also lack nay surface tension, so there is a pretty wide region of cavities that will leak many gases, but not most liquids. Making your loop air tight is probably won't hurt (again, unless you overtighten and crack something in the process) but it is probably extreme overkill for a PC water loop.

I work with the development of medical devices that need to be leak proof with fluids (mostly blood) and there is almost always a gas pressure drop, it just depends on how sensitive your gauge is for measuring it. Even in devices that pass microbial ingress testing.

Something like the Dr. Drop kit is not a bad idea for testing purposes, but your acceptance criteria should not be "zero pressure drop". Rather there needs to be an acceptable level of pressure drop. As for what that number is, it depends very much on pressure, volume, type of test gas, type of fluid to be used, etc. etc.

Does the manual for the kit give you any guidance on this?

 

[Tanquen]

They do say not to go above 0.5Bar and to wait at least 15minutes one part and an hour for a system.

 

[Tanquen]

The pump screws on and step 4 is not easy to do without going above 0.5Bar.

I guess I need to do the soapy spray bottle test like when they install and new gas stove.