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- Date:
- Sunday , October 27, 2002
- Author:
- Steve Lynch
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Koolance EXOS External Water Cooling
Koolance is a name we've all come to associate with OEM style cooling on the cheap. Now, you can take that cooling on the road, from system to system and case to case...without a single modification to your current case.
Next in the package we have the 8mm tubing, internal and external. The heavier, bright blue hose with the cross hatch pattern is the external hose. Koolance included a length of the clear 8mm hose for internal use when adding components such as GPU and HD coolers.
The EXOS comes with a small bottle of ethylene glycol for mixing with distilled water to fill the system. A small blue funnel is also included to make filling the EXOS a little easier.
EXOS Outside:
The look of the EXOS is very much like the top of the Koolance PC2 system. The same “hood scoop” style fan configuration, front mounted LED with temperature controlled fans are carried over from the previous full case design. The unit has been reworked though to fit the reservoir and pumps into the area that had normally housed the system's PSU. A little sleek packaging and presto! You’ve got an external water cooling unit like the EXOS.
The top of the EXOS features three 80mm 12v fans like previous Koolance systems with one minor exception. Older Koolance systems had two 80mm intake fans and one 80mm exhaust fan. All three fans on the EXOS blow air out through the top, drawing cool air in from the large slotted vents on the side of the unit. The temperature controlled fans work two ways, they can be controlled thermostatically or manually, in a total of three different modes.
When the fan speed is controlled by the temperature reading from the probe in the base of the CPU-200G water block, the fans operate as follows: fan speeds at 45%, speeding up to 100% when the temperature reaches 113°F/45°C (Mode 1). Next, the fans operate at 45% until the temperature reaches 95°F/35°C with the speed increasing slowly to 100% at 104°F/40°C (Mode 2). Finally, the fans can run at 100% all the time (Mode 3). When manually controlled, each of the three modes can be selected independently with the push of a button on the front of the EXOS.
The newly reworked reservoir still contains the two small 12v pumps (one intake, one output) much like the older Koolance reservoir. The difference in the new reservoir is the smaller, much more compact design allowing it to fit easily in the back of the EXOS unit. The new reservoir is approximately ½ the size of the one used in the original Koolance. The newer reservoir can be seen on the right of the older (blue) reservoir.
The reservoir has a filling hole located in the base of the EXOS. Ideally, it would have been more convenient if Koolance would have relocated the reservoir filling hole to the top of the new reservoir so that the unit could be refilled without turning the unit over.
EXOS Inside:
The compact design of the EXOS is clever for a number of reasons. Let's take a look inside the EXOS so you can see the considerable amount of thought that went into the design of this unit. While the system may outwardly resemble the older Koolance PC2 systems, the new design, internally, is what sets the EXOS apart from older Koolance systems. Matter o' fact, the new self-contained design of the EXOS clearly sets it apart from all other water cooling systems.
You’ll remember that the older PC2 units utilized a plastic shroud that was used to direct the flow of air throughout the cooling system. The old plastic shroud is no longer needed because the bottom panel of the EXOS now performs the same functions the plastic shroud did on older systems. The fan direction on the EXOS actually pulls the outside air into the system through the side vents and then up through the radiator from bottom to top, expelling the air upwards and away from the system.
Installing the EXOS:
Installation of the EXOS is extremely easy and can be done in a few easy steps. There's more than one way a person can set up the EXOS depending on personal preference. We cover a basic “point A to point B” method, your experience may vary.
Once you set the EXOS unit on top of you PC, you'll want to insert the two white “quick connect” fittings into the back of the EXOS. You'll notice that these fittings allow the tubes to be moved and be rotated in any direction without bending or kinking, because the fittings swivel in their sockets. These type of fittings also allow you to remove the hoses while the reservoir is full, as they have a self-closing valve function.
Installing the hoses is extremely simple, no hose clamps are required. The quick connect fittings use a type of compression ring hose retainer. To install a hose, just unscrew the chrome ring, insert the end of the hose through it onto the quick connect fitting, and screw the retention ring down tight and you're set.