Filling the liquid system

Filling the liquid cooling loops




ps The filling operation is done for the East and West sides separately. The locations are marked with the red X. Note that to fill the West system, the East Carriage needs to be retracted. It is a good idea to leave the fill bottle etc. by the East chiller fill location so you can use it when the EC is not retracted.

In each of these locations, you can see the exhaust line coming from the front panel and going up. There is a T in this line, and a valve. We will not use this valve. Air bubbles from the system get trapped in the de-gassing can behind the panel, move up the exhaust line and are vented out the open top of the exhaust line.

Near the top of the exhaust line the exhaust overflow line is connected, and comes down again. This is an open, clear plastic hose.

An overflow line comes down from the top of the MVD, and it has a valve attached.



ps
How to top off the system:
  1. Connect the fill bottle to the fill valve, located at the end of the MVD overflow line. The fill bottle is the 2-l soda bottle with the hose attached and the valve in the cap. It should have some water in it. You also need the bicycle pump to pressurize it.
  2. Hang the exhaust overflow line (clear) in the 2-l soda bottle to catch water coming down. (there is a water alarm sensor on the floor by the West chiller fill location - try to avoid spills.)
  3. Pump air into the bottle to pressurize it.
  4. Open the fill valve. Water will flow up into the system, and if there is air in the lines, it will circulate out and go up the exhaust line.
  5. When the water level has almost reached the top of the exhaust line, it will start coming down the exhaust overflow line. When you see water coming down that line:
  6. Close the fill valve so no more water will go up into the system.
  7. Let the pressure off the fill bottle by slightly unscrewing the top, and disconnect the bottle from the fill valve.
  8. Start and stop the pump (if this has not been done recently) to get the air out of the pump and the rest of the system. You can watch for bubbles coming by in the flow meters.


The same equipment can be used to drain the system without spilling water:
  1. Connect the empty fill bottle, with the cap screwed on.
  2. Open the fill valve, and the bleeder valves.
  3. Let air bleed out of the fill bottle by depressing the valve pin; Water will drain down from the system into the bottle.
  4. When the bottle is full, close the fill valve, empty the bottle and repeat.


Also see the cooling system schematic, and the location of the pumps.

Last update 2 April 2003 - HvH
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