Laing DDC noise

[Tlkki]

This is my first watercooling build but i thought i had everything in mind.
Setup:

pump -> cpu - > gpu - XSPX 360 -> pump

I thought i wouldnt need a res, and mounting in in my stacker 832 would be too much hassle because i have so many HDDs.

The pump makes a constant LOUD ratting sound every time i turn it on when mounted.
Is teh pump supposed to rattle if there are only very tiny air bubbles attached to the tubing?

I tried it in a dummy loop to be sure if the pump wasnt defective, and after some turning and when all the air was out of the loop the pump turned silent. I was holding it on my hand.

The weird thing is, the pump is only silent when the left side is facing down. When leveled, ratting begins again. I have reseated the aquacomputer top several times now, and no improvent. I even ran it leaky to see it the screws were too tight.

Should i just leave it rattle away until the system has finished bleeding? No res here.

 

[WoodButcher]

Good pumps don't rattle. If you could post a pic or two it may help to see what is wrong. What model? Pumps do vibrate, are you using a foam mount of some sort or hard mounting to the case? It is possible the direction it is mounted allows air to pocket inside the pump but not likely to "rattle". Air does make noise when running through but again I have never heard what could be described as a rattle, more like water in a blender.

 

[Tlkki]

http://i45.tinypic.com/2hgbhao.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/2gt57j6.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/2hx9dgg.jpg

Rubber mounts used to mount. Rattles even when completely isolated by hand. Flow seemed good though. Last night i removed it thinking ill try a dummy loop with the stock top. Yes i can hear the difference when bubbles enter. Sounded like it rattled only when only water was circulating.

But usually when i tilted the case front panel down or back panel down, bubbles did appear to come from the pump for a couple of seconds, but then only water and no change in the sound.

 

[WoodButcher]

My first thought is that pump is to close to the T in that configuration. Generally when using a T it is setup so that you have an inverted capital T, the flow running straight through the top cross. Your layout is using that T as a 90 so I would bet that is causing the problem. Replace that short section with a loop of tubing as small as you can make w/o kinks, probably 12" - 14" will be the shortest you can make. I can't tell from the pics whether that is the in or out of the pump but if it is the inlet use extra care to avoid kinks as the suction side will collapse much more easily.

 

[Tlkki]

Yah i know. I just figured if i filled the T completely the pump would get all the water it needed no matter where it was, and there i could hide it behind one of the case columns nicely. No loop fill fit there with my current tubing/setup so ill have to redesign. Pics coming shortly. Thanks for the help! Greatly appreciated.

Being a noob i purchased a spare T fitting just in case, guess im needing it now.

 

[aigomorla]

ur pump isnt fully bleed yet.

give it a few days to bleed completely.

also why do u have a T on your rad?

If thats your drain... you have it setup wrong..

 

[Tlkki]

I made a new setup with woodbutchers advice.

http://i48.tinypic.com/wjti4m.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/14e98ue.jpg

the T was about as full as it is on the photo, but before i turned off the pump, it was almost full! How did the pressure get so high? Still the rattling is very loud. Sounds like the impeller is just banging itself against the walls of the pump interior.

I made a small video where you can hear the sound pretty well. When the screen goes black i just forgot my phone on the floor. Its about 4MB.

http://www.filedropper.com/16022010
@aigomorla:
Is that just noise before the pump is bled out?

 

[MotF Bane]

Is that a DDC-2?

 

[aigomorla]

no that sound isnt normal... it sounds like you got a bubble stuck in the chamber....

Turn the pump off, do you notice bubbles going up?

 

[Tlkki]

@aigo:
up the loop on the inlet? No i dont.

motf:
No the cheapest DDC. All those DDC-1/+/T/2/2+ just confuse me. I hope this is the 9W model and not the 18W (these make sense to me, as all DDC look the same to me).

I wanted a decent pump without much noise. Originally i was going to get the D5, but i wouldnt fit, and people said it had less head pressure than DDC. It was more expensive as well.

 

[aigomorla]

it shouldnt rattle like that.

It really sounds like you got something in the impeller.

Can you take apart your loop and inspect the pump one more time?

Maybe you got the top on wrong?
The DDC's make a humm noise when fully primed and bleed.

Yours sound like its gurggling an air bubble... or something is messing with the impeller.

 

[Tlkki]

Oh well. Maybe ill take pics this time. Coming up shortly.

Lol! the pump still rattles but MUCH less. i reseated the O-ring which i had skipped previously. How come it still rattles though.
Could i make the O-ring a bit thicker somehow? Maybe then it would stop completely.

I cycled the pump a bit, and now the rattling begins only after the pump has reached max speed. In start and stop phases it is silent. Before the pump started and stopped instantly, like it was building up a force to spin up and like something was braking it to stop. Could the O-ring do this? If then why? How to fix it? do they sell spares? Oh and what else could thouch the impeller?

Edit:
Hey what do you say? I couldnt resist trying the system even with the rattle. It worked okay i think. 47C load temps on i7-920 @ stock. I have the EK Supreme LT budget block. Is it okay?

Then i went passive to help AS5 cure to reach higher CPU temps, and guess what. The rattling is GONE! When it stopped the tubes were clearly warm to the touch so water temps mustve been 40C or something.

EDIT2:
WTF? I turned the fans back on when CPU hit 69C. When cooled back to 53C i can hear some rattle again. What the heck is going on??

 

[WoodButcher]

Have you had the pump apart down to the impeller?

 

[aigomorla]

something is definitely wrong with your pump...

Or its a Bubble thats not getting released... and not allowing your pump to pull water.

i would look at RMAing it if its not what i described above.

Who did u get the pump from?

 

[Tlkki]

Yeah i emailed them before i posted this thread to see what they thought about this. Just got a reply saying its a loud pump. Took more than a day to reply so ill see where it goes.

The system is totally usable as long as i keep the fans at low RPM and cpu and GPU at 100% load. The pump makes a humming sound now.

The GPU block is amazing by the way. 30 sec of furmark brought the 5870 to 81c on air, but now 1h going and stable 46C lol. The CPU is another matter however, probably the GPU is heating it up as well, 56C @ load with GPU 100%. The stock cooler gave me low 60s. So not much improvement there.

@woodbutcher:
Yes several times. Last time i reseated the O-ring too, which i ignored on previous times. That brought the rattle down, but didnt make it disappear. (on a cold loop that is)

EDit:
Ok now en email came out of the blue saying they are sending a replacement. Nice eh?