Flow Indicator Not Spinning - Low Flow??

[hellboss]

I just installed the darkside flow meter to see if i'm getting enough flow. Its not moving at all. I think there is an air bubble. I tried everything, shaking the case, putting the case upside down. I'm not sure what I can do anymore.

I'm using a swiftech D5 Pump, Darkside Resservoir, Darkside triple radiator, Swiftech CPU block and a Darkside flow sensor.

I'm at loss as to what is wrong with my loop. Did I install the res upside down? Is the D5 housing installed correctly? Appreciate all the help.

I'm thinking of just tearing this apart and getting a crappy H110

My specs are below:

Asrock x99 Taichi
I7 5930K OC @ 4.5 Ghz @ 1.226 V
Idle temps ~ 37C
Temps keep climbing during load, eventually stopping at 70C. 215Watts during load according to Hwinfo

[Necrodead]

Welcome to the forum! Nice build.

now there could be 2 problems with your flow meter, one is the location. The 90 fitting will cause turbulance, its btter to have the flow meter after a straight section. Also the orientation, usually flow meters work best horizontally instead of vertically.

Don't get discouraged, I was quite experienced with water cooling when I used my first flow meter, and it didn't spin either. But putting it in a straight section of tube fixed my problem.

[Hooded]

Is your pump variable speed or fixed speed?
Can you feel and or hear the pump running?
Have you tried turning your pump on and off several times quickly?
I can't see any problem with your loop it's very simple and with that cross flow rad there is little chance there is an air pocket in there.
Can't see if you are using a diverter fitting in the bottom of your res, if so I would removed that.
The flow indicator is also mounted at the point of the loop that has the least flow pressure.
I would try re-seating the pump to pump-top as well.

[hellboss]

Welcome to the forum! Nice build.

now there could be 2 problems with your flow meter, one is the location. The 90 fitting will cause turbulance, its btter to have the flow meter after a straight section. Also the orientation, usually flow meters work best horizontally instead of vertically.

Don't get discouraged, I was quite experienced with water cooling when I used my first flow meter, and it didn't spin either. But putting it in a straight section of tube fixed my problem.

Thanks, I'm honestly lost as to why this happening. The reason I put the flow meter at the top of the loop is due to the air bubble that was there. I wanted to monitor the flow at the "weakest" point. My temps were sky rocketing and I knew something was wrong.

Is your pump variable speed or fixed speed?
Can you feel and or hear the pump running?
Have you tried turning your pump on and off several times quickly?
I can't see any problem with your loop it's very simple and with that cross flow rad there is little chance there is an air pocket in there.
Can't see if you are using a diverter fitting in the bottom of your res, if so I would removed that.
The flow indicator is also mounted at the point of the loop that has the least flow pressure.
I would try re-seating the pump to pump-top as well.

Yeah, it the D5 vario. I adjusted the speeds as what others suggested online. I put it on one for a while and now its at 5. The air bubble is still there.
I tried cycling the pump as well (on/off). Didn'tn solve the problem.
I'm using standard barbs at the radiator, no specialized fittings.

[Hooded]

Best way to get air bubble is to vary the pump speed while it's running.

[DazMode]

Cannot think of worst place for putting flow meter. Move between pump and radiator.

[hellboss]

Cannot think of worst place for putting flow meter. Move between pump and radiator.

The reason I put it there was to monitor the flow, as before I purchased the flow meter, there was always an air bubble in that spot and my temps were climbing high during load (70+ with 100% fan speed). Do you think the D5 pump is not enough to make the flow meter spin? or is there something wrong with my loop?

[nass]

You have a pretty simple loop, no need for a flow meter imho, time will move the air bubble out. Maybe clean up the return line and move your flow meter to a better spot. Your d5 is more than enough to spin a flow meter. Maybe consider moving your res a little lower towards the pump if you can, shorten the spacer idea.
The load your talking about is synthetic @ 70c, if so that is not bad. Idle temps are a bit high are you sure on the block install, maybe reseat your block and check the last install, ie: looking at the spread of the paste.

[Necrodead]

What liquid are you using? I find that just plain water has such high surface tension that air bubbles are very hard to get out. When using a specialized liquid for pc cooling bubbles go away much faster. (but i've still had them stay, don't worry it does not affect cooling.)
Also your temps seem fine for that setup. Intel cpu's will always go to ~70+ even with insane amount of rads, the heat transfer is limited by the paste that intel uses under the heatspreader.