Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme Liquid CPU Cooler 280 - Black Edition - Orientation Help (mounting direction)

[Synergy]

Hello everyone,

I am also a proud owner of a Alphacool Eisbaer Extreme AiO now but I have a question about the ways it can be mounted to the case. I am used to have my PC Case laying on the side, so would it make a significant different if I mounted the Radiator+Case on the top or the front? There are only 2 ways of Case orientation shown in the manual, one horizontally on the top with the hoses towards the inside of the case and one vertically in the front with the hoses at the bottom as well as the pump. I can't mount it vertically in the front with the pump/reservoir on the bottom because the hoses end up being too short and it's strongly advised to put it inside "upside down" with the pump and reservoir on top to prevent pump damage.

From my understanding (completely new to AiO's and Water Coolers in general) the only necessity is, that the pump is always under water, to prevent it from suffering damage. If I lay the AiO case on the side and look inside the small window for the reservoir, there is enough room left between the air bubble which is on top, the hose in- and outtake as well as the pump so I would assume, it's safe to mount it that way but I don't want to end up damaging anything after just a few days of use, hence why my question here.

Best regards,
Synergy

Small Update to show what I meant:

I put the case with the AE mounted on top and layed it on the side, then took the case screws out to take a picture of where the pump is relative to the water and the air bubble on top. Can anyone confirm that this is safe to use like that? And in case you wonder what you're seeing, basically the pump submerged (where the highlight of the LED's are and the Air Bubble right on top, which is rather tiny, I feel, so that's good)

 

[Hagal77]

Hello, so there must always be a little air in the system, water expands when it heats up, as everyone knows.

Normally it disappears after about 2 weeks and then hangs around in the radiator, which is correct.

Do I understand correctly that you want to operate your enclosure lying on its side? If so, you must ensure that the pump in the system is always at the lowest point so that the air does not collect in the pump unit.

greetz

 

[Synergy]

That is what my goal is, yes. It does not quite work with the pump being the lowest point in the system. Actually, if mounted on top of the case as shown in the manual, the Pump would actually be the highest point in the system but I think that, if you look at the reservoir through the little window, the pump is still submerged.

So, as long as the pump is fully submerged, regardless of the orientation, it's safe to mount it however you want, if I understand that correctly? And since the pump is located in the middle of the AiO case, there is basically no chance for it to collect air, unless the air bubble that can be seen in the picture I attached gets bigger, but then I'd end up refilling it anyway.

I am only asking because I currently have the AiO case mounted outside on the top of my PC but I am not happy with how sharply the hoses are bent. So I wanted to mount it in the front to have a somewhat more straight line of the hoses towards the CPU.

Thanks for your answer though, that helped me already quite a bit. Now I only have to wait for the new MX-6 Themal Paste to arrive so I can repaste and mount the AiO case to the front.