If you have a liquid cooler in your PC, you might wonder whether its coolant can evaporate over time.
You might think that because liquid coolers are closed systems, it is impossible for the coolant to evaporate.
To see if this is the case, in this article, we discuss whether coolant on both AIO coolers and custom loops can evaporate over time.
Table of Contents
Does PC Liquid Coolant Evaporate Over Time?
Your liquid cooler’s coolant can evaporate by permeation through the tubing. But this evaporation happens at a slow rate.
Soft tubing has a higher rate of evaporation than hardline tubing. Usually, with hardline tubing, coolant evaporation is negligible.
Can The Coolant Of An All-In-One CPU Cooler Evaporate?
The coolant inside AIO CPU coolers can also evaporate through the tubing. However, this evaporation only happens at a very slow rate, and it will take at least 3 to 5 years to cause poor cooling due to a lower coolant level.
When the coolant level drops too much in an AIO cooler, it will cause poor cooling, and you will notice higher CPU temperatures. However, you can’t usually refill AIO CPU coolers and therefore have to replace them.
How Quickly Does PC Liquid Coolant Evaporate?
How fast the coolant will evaporate depends on the type of cooler and the coolant. However, the average rate of evaporation is too slow to be noticed.
Soft tubing can cause slightly faster evaporation than hardline tubing in a custom liquid cooler. Different cooling setups can also have different rates of evaporation. If you have long tubing, it can slightly speed up the evaporation.
In most cases, evaporation alone will take at least a year to cause a visible liquid level drop in a custom cooler. You have to refill the coolant when the liquid level drops too much.
However, if you have a much faster liquid level drop in your custom cooler, it is not due to evaporation. For example, evaporation alone can’t cause a significant liquid level drop within a few weeks. This faster drop may be due to a leak in the loop or air bubbles escaping in a newly built loop.
On the other hand, AIO CPU coolers have very slow evaporation, and it takes at least 3 to 5 years for the evaporation to drop the coolant level and cause poor cooling. This duration also depends on the AIO cooler you have.
How To Lower The Rate Of Evaporation Of PC Liquid Coolant
You can use hardline tubing instead of soft tubing to slow down the evaporation in your custom loop.
Different types of soft tubing can also have different rates of evaporation. So if you want to use soft tubing, use one with minimal evaporation.
Why Does The Liquid Level Drop In Your PC Liquid Cooler?
The liquid level in your PC liquid cooler can drop for several reasons. A leak in the loop due to damaged tubing or connectors can cause fast coolant level drops.
Leaving air bubbles in a newly built custom loop can also cause the liquid level to drop. It takes at least a few weeks for the trapped air bubbles to leave the system. When the air bubbles escape, the coolant fills those gaps, and the liquid level in the reservoir will drop. However, this should stop after the first few weeks.
The coolant can also evaporate through the tubing, but evaporation alone will take years to cause a noticeable liquid level drop.
How To Fix Liquid Level Drop In A Custom Liquid Cooler
If you suspect a leak in your custom liquid cooler, you can locate it by placing paper towels inside the PC case and on the tubing. Paper towels will show signs of liquid at the leaking point. Then you have to fix the leak by fastening the leaking connectors or replacing the damaged tubes.
If your custom cooler is newly built, the liquid level drop might be due to leaving air bubbles. So you have to ensure there are no leaks and then wait 3 to 4 weeks to see whether the liquid level stops dropping.
Finally, if the drop is due to evaporation, it is not a problem. You can refill the coolant when the liquid level in the reservoir is too low.
Conclusion
The coolant inside your AIO CPU cooler or your custom liquid loop can evaporate over time.
Even though liquid coolers are closed systems, coolant can slowly evaporate through the tubing.
Soft tubing can cause slightly faster evaporation than hardline tubing. Different AIO CPU coolers can also have different rates of evaporation.
However, evaporation alone will take years to cause any significant liquid level drop.