Just arrived, but my kid wants to help me with the new build so I have to wait until she's out of school.

Wasn’t paying attention and screwdriver accidentally slipped right into the fins am I cooked or am I good?

I'm no stranger to water-cooling, but I've never seen a block this corroded in one of my machines. When do you call it quits? When to replace?

I had tried the mystic fog coolant against everyone's recommendations, and like so many, it started to run clear after a few days. Instead of changing it right away, I just said "you know, I'll change it when my temps tell me it's time" which never happened. After a while I got tired of looking at it and decided to flush the system and I found this. I've yet to see how bad my mobo water block is.

What would y'all do?

Can anyone help with this noisy aio fan problem, it just started happening and i got this pc around a year ago from nzxt

DAE have a love hate relationship with this hobby? I love the final product, and most of the journey to get there, but today I’m beginning to lose my patience. Spent 2.5 hours draining my loop (poorly designed loop in terms of maintenance, featuring a vertical rad and a vertical GPU), and then I saw plasticizer leaching on my CPU block. And then I noticed it on my GPU block as well. And now I’m tearing down both blocks to clean them. I’m just so mad at myself and at this whole hobby for its level of difficulty. 🙄

Just me, or anyone else?

I’m 10,000% adding another drain port in my loop to make future drains easier.

I’m working on a DIY cooling setup using an Eight Sleep Pod 5 King cover that I currently own (no pod) as the mattress-side water grid, but replacing/bypassing the Eight Sleep hub with my own external cooling loop.

The goal is cooling only for now. I don’t care about heating. I also don’t want a permanent bucket/reservoir sitting in my bedroom, so I’m trying to build this as a mostly closed loop with fill/bleed/drain ports.

I’m posting because I’d like people to tear this apart before I buy everything. If there’s a flaw in the flow rate, pressure, tubing assumptions, pump choice, chiller choice, noise, condensation risk, etc., I’d rather find out now.

What inspired this

The main inspiration was this Truffle Security post:

https://trufflesecurity.com/blog/removing-jeff-bezos-from-my-bed

They used an Eight Sleep cover and connected the tubing to an aquarium chiller. That made me realize the useful part of the Eight Sleep system, for my purposes, is really the water-circulating cover.

I also looked at a bunch of other DIY / repair / teardown posts:

• The 1/8th Sleep https://near.blog/the-1-8th-sleep/ What I took from this: keep the system modular and serviceable; don’t overcomplicate the mattress side.
• TechTeamGB DIY bed watercooler/heater https://techteamgb.co.uk/2024/11/18/i-made-a-custom-bed-watercooler-open-source-diy-bed-cooler-heater-eight-sleep-type-thing/ What I took from this: external cooling hardware can work, but building the entire pad/control system from scratch is more complexity than I want.
• Homemade EightSleep Reddit prototype https://www.reddit.com/r/EightSleep/comments/1heaeh2/homemade_eightsleep/ What I took from this: the concept is doable, but I’d rather use the real Eight Sleep cover instead of making my own tubing pad.
• Update to Homemade Eight Sleep https://www.reddit.com/r/EightSleep/comments/1nc50rr/update_to_homemade_8_sleep/ What I took from this: custom controls are interesting, but I don’t want to design a full appliance right now.
• Pod 2 teardown / repair discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/EightSleep/comments/1dnjut4/pod_2_teardown/ What I took from this: don’t trust zip ties as hose clamps. Use real clamps. Leak prevention matters more than saving $10.
• Pump swap / repair post https://www.reddit.com/r/EightSleep/comments/1i4ulwv/swapping_a_pump/ What I took from this: the Eight Sleep pump class seems to be closer to a small 12V brushless DC circulation pump, roughly 7 L/min / 3 m head / 6–7 W, not a giant aquarium or pond pump.
• Tubing material discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/EightSleep/comments/16s07wz/what_material_do_they_use_for_tubing/ What I took from this: making the pad from random tubing is probably the wrong path. Heat transfer and comfort are hard. Better to use the actual Eight Sleep cover.
• Watercooling / mattress chiller thread https://www.reddit.com/r/watercooling/comments/1mjqoa6/been_looking_at_mattress_bed_water_coolers/ What I took from this: compressor chillers can work, but condensation and noise are real issues.
• DIY compressor-cooled mattress pad discussion https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/comments/rj63ei/diy_compressorcooled_water_mattress_pads_air/ What I took from this: compressor cooling seems more practical than a weak Peltier setup if I actually want meaningful cooling.

Why I’m doing this

I like the Eight Sleep cover concept, but I don’t love being locked into the official hub/cloud/subscription ecosystem. I’m mainly trying to get a reliable cooling setup that is:

• quiet enough for a bedroom
• cooling-only
• serviceable
• leak-conscious
• not wildly expensive
• not dependent on a permanent open reservoir/bucket

I looked into thermoelectric/Peltier options because they’re closer to how Eight Sleep seems to work, but most DIY-friendly TEC setups look either underpowered, inefficient, noisy once fans are included, or expensive enough that I might as well use the official hub.

So I’m leaning compressor chiller.

Proposed build

Basic loop idea:

Eight Sleep Pod 5 cover outlet
-> small 12V brushless inline pump
-> aquarium compressor chiller
-> Eight Sleep Pod 5 cover inlet

Service ports:

High point:
T-fitting -> valve -> capped fill/bleed tube

Low point:
T-fitting -> valve -> drain hose to bucket

I do not want a permanent reservoir. I’m okay using a bucket only when filling, bleeding, or draining.

Proposed shopping list

Chiller

Poafamx / AL-160 / 42 gal / 1/10 HP aquarium chiller

Amazon examples I found:

• https://www.amazon.com/Poafamx-Aquarium-Chiller-Temperature-Constant/dp/B08C2X26S2
• https://www.amazon.com/Poafamx-Refrigeration-Compressor-Hydroponics-Freshwater/dp/B0C2Y22M1J
• https://www.amazon.com/Poafamx-Refrigeration-Compressor-Temperature-Hydroponics/dp/B0D17MKM3M

Reasoning: It’s a compressor model, relatively affordable, and some listings claim under 35 dB. I’m skeptical of that number, so I’d test it myself and return it if it’s loud.

Pump

TOPSFLO TL-B10-A12-0703 or similar 12V brushless DC pump.

Target pump specs:

12V DC
~7 L/min
~3 m head
~6–8 W
continuous duty
inline capable
not dry-run safe

Reasoning: This seems closer to the pump class used in older Eight Sleep units than a big aquarium pump. I originally looked at Sicce Syncra pumps, but they may be overkill flow-wise.

Pump power

12V DC power supply, probably 2A minimum, ideally UL-listed.

Tubing

Silicone tubing, but I’m not buying final adapters until I physically measure the Pod 5 tubing ID/OD.

Service fittings

• 2x barbed T-fittings
• 2x small ball valves
• caps/plugs
• drain hose
• optional flow indicator

Clamps

Stainless worm-drive or Oetiker clamps on every barb. No zip-tie-only connections.

Leak/safety

• leak tray / boot tray under all wet hardware
• water leak detector, probably Govee or similar
• GFCI outlet or plug-in GFCI adapter
• rubber/foam isolation under pump/chiller
• soft tubing near pump to reduce vibration transfer

Fluid

• distilled water
• some kind of compatible loop treatment / biocide

Still undecided here. I don’t want to use anything that might damage the Pod cover or tubing.

Things I’m unsure about

1. Is the Poafamx chiller actually quiet enough, or are the “under 35 dB” claims fantasy?
2. Is a 1/10 HP compressor chiller the right size for a king-size hydronic mattress cover?
3. Is the TOPSFLO-style pump too weak, too strong, or about right?
4. Should I add a tiny inline expansion chamber even if I don’t want a reservoir?
5. Is running this without a reservoir going to be annoying to fill/bleed?
6. Any reason this closed-loop design would create pressure problems for the Eight Sleep cover?
7. What’s the best way to avoid condensation if I’m cooling below room temp?
8. Any recommendations for safe biocide / loop treatment that won’t damage the cover?
9. Has anyone measured the Pod 5 cover tubing ID/OD or connector type?
10. Am I missing a better quiet compressor chiller under/near $350?

Basically: does this look reasonable, or am I about to build a quiet-looking but actually loud/leaky mattress aquarium?

Would appreciate any criticism, especially from people who have torn down Pods, repaired leaks, built DIY chillers, or measured the noise on these aquarium compressor units.

The concept resin case is still holding up so I wanted to raise the stakes for the next build. Replaced the acrylic front plate on my cpu block to eliminate the need for fittings. This will also allow for some very low profile solutions in small cases. You can do some interesting things with the fluid path once you get away from subtractive manufacturing.

Temperatures should be well within the limits for this clear v5 resin, but nothing like some real world testing. Full build, as well as a new video coming soon

hi, i bought a RTX 4070 Ti Super AI top OC without original air dissipator. I thought that PCB was the same of the other gigabyte 4070 and to use a waterblock but asking tò seller bykski waterblock it's no compatible. What do you suggest? Can i try to adapt or maybe go use a Universal gpu cooler and add RAM air dissipator?

After a fellow r/watercooling redditor said I don’t need a 45mm thick rad I took their advice and just got my AC 360 rad installed. First thing I noticed was that it was quieter than my Corsair. I think it has to do something with fans being right up against the fins on the Corsair. But I’m happy with the build. What are your thoughts.

If you weren’t here for my other post here are my specs:

14900k OC @ 5.8ghz All cores
RTX 5080 OC @ 3.2ghz
Z790 Hero
Fractal Define 7 Compact

EKWB Velocity DDC Pump Res Block
AC 5080 Epic X Core block
AC 240 Rad
AC 360 Rad
EK soft rubber tubing
EK Compression Fitting
Aqua Computer DP Ultra Coolant
Aqua Computer inline water Temp sensor

WaterTemp under load - 32°C / 89°F
WaterTemp Idle - 22°C / 71°F

CPU load - 78°C / 172°F
GPU Load - 47°C / 116°F

Ambient - 20°C / 68°F

The deltamate arrived and wow just wow this block looks heavenly.

So I've leak tested my build that I've put back together and everything worked flawlessly. However, when I began filling with the actual coolant (type in title) I started seeing those waves within the coolant as it got sucked down. I don't think I should be worried since it's probably just some of the additives that are supposed to be in the coolant, but wanted to make 100% sure

I decided to try something new and milled myself a distro plate from cherry wood. I know wood isn't compatible with liquid, I plan to seal it up with epoxy to make it waterproof. I also still need to mill the acrylic top and pump mount, so still a work in progress. What do you guys think?