CoolTech Modula2 2F12F Water Cooling Kit

Setting up the Modula2 2F12F:

Cooltech supplied an excellent 15 page instruction book with all the necessary information for a quick and painless install. The first two pages are warranty, warnings, and safety after this we get into specifications and tools. The rest of the manual covers installation, filling, bleeding, and maintenance along with troubleshooting and technical support each section has detailed pictures also. I used more tools than listed due to how I installed this kit, but the only tools required are a drill with a 5mm drill bit, a Phillips screwdriver and a small adjustable wrench.

From the design the preferred mounting for the radiator would be on the rear of the case and routing the lines through an open pci slot, I chose to mount the radiator on top for space reasons, this created a few issues for me on the install which had nothing to do with the design. The lines run in and out of the radiator at 90º so I had to do some major cutting through the top of the case so they could route back to the waterblock and the reservoir.

I chose to mount the reservoir in the suggested location below the drives in the front of the case. I applied the supplied insulating foam to the bottom of the reservoir to decrease vibration and secured it with the supplied bracket, I drilled 2 holes to secure the bracket through the front of the case.

The waterblock has a spring retention device to mount in onto the socket above the processor, basically you apply your thermal paste and attach the block. Once attached you unscrew the 2 screws on each side alternating back and forth until they are loose and the block has a good mating surface.

I pre-measured the tubing for each section that needed to be ran and cut leaving about an inch extra for adjustment. This system uses 8mm ID tubing which is smaller than most comparable systems on the market so it is a bit harder to work with. The series of connections in order are: reservoir/pump to waterblock to radiator to reservoir/pump. To clean up the routing I used the supplied elbows to run as close to straight runs as possible. As you can see the longest distance is the reservoir to the radiator and it is less than the 130cm limit recommended.

Once everything was installed I filled the system with distilled water and water wetter mixture of 10:1 and UV automotive dye (free from work) and bled any air in the reservoir and radiator. This system uses an external power converter for the pump and needs to be plugged in before running the system this model does not have an automatic PCI turn on card. Once it was determined no leaks were present it was time to run the system and test temperatures.