Question about my first foray into watercooling

[Hardball]

Putting a new rig together and I will be using a Swiftech H220 AIO in an NZXT Phantom 530 case. The radiator on the H220 has the reservoir with a fill port on one end of the radiator. One side (the bottom?) of the rad is flat and level, while the other side has the reservoir and fill port which is at a 90 degree to the rad and sticks up about 1/2 " higher on that end of the rad.

My question is can the radiator be mounted with either side facing down? I will be mounting it at the top of the case and many of the Youtube videos regarding the installation of this H220 shows the rad with the reservoir and fill port facing down, which is how I would like to mount it. Looking around Swiftech's site, I saw a post where it suggests that you must have the rad facing fill-port up. I also emailed Swiftech and got the following response regarding this question,

"Yes, it does make a difference. You really can’t install these with the fill-port facing down. The reason for this is that the reservoir is designed to work as an air trap. With the fill-port facing down it’s not possible for the reservoir to do its job in that way. So any air that gets into the loop via evaporation will end up in the pump."

Does anyone here have experience with the H220, or similar AIO's, and can verify that it needs to be mounted fill-port up only?
Thanks.

 

[schmuckley]

uhh..here's what I have: http://www.overclock.net/t/1503843/my-bong-cooler-build-log-evaporative-cooling/0_100

IMO..the best way.
Strictly my opinion..

 

[Hardball]

Cool project schmuckley, but not the answer to my original question.

 

[Hardball]

Got the H220 installed, but getting high idle temps on the 3570k according to the bios. It is showing a cpu temp of 52-55c and that is at idle. I have removed and remounted 3-4 times now and reapplied the Noctua NT-H1 each time, but get the same temps. The ambient temp is about 25c.

I am also getting a cpu fan error message on the bios splash screen at startup. The cpu block/pump from the H220 is plugged into the Cpu Fan header on the Asus P8Z77-V Pro as called for in the instructions, but there is no reading in the bios for the cpu fan header, just an N/A. With an AIO water cooler like this H220, is there supposed to be an rpm reading for the pump displayed from the cpu fan header that it is plugged into?
Is there a chance that the pump on the H220 is not even working? Would having just the water block attached to the cpu, without the pump working. result in the temps I am getting, without actually frying the cpu?

 

[Subyman]

Maybe try plugging it into a normal fan header and setting the speed manually? Do you have an independent fan controller that you can use to test with? You could also get a Molex to fan connector adapter and plug it straight into that. It will run at max speed, but you can at least see if it is working. Maybe be a motherboard setting issue somewhere that is messing with your fan speeds.

 

[Hardball]

I have tried plugging into the other fan headers, but got the same result. I installed Realtemp today to check if possibly the bios was reporting an incorrect temp, but Realtemp has it at 61-65c while at idle and stock speed. It looks as if I got a pump that was DOA on this H220.

 

[aigomorla]

i need a picture of how its connected.

Suby's man's recommendation on plugging it directly to the motherboard is NOT recommended.

These pumps can draw almost anywhere from 1.25-2amps of power off the header, which in some cases maybe too much for a motherboard header to handle.
Compare that to a typical fan which draws about .25-.52A (for a high speed 38mm thick fan).
As you can see its drawing almost 4x the power a normal fan would draw on that header.
(this is under the assumption the MCP30X is about 75% the raited performance of a MCP50X)
http://www.swiftech.com/MCP50X.aspx#tab3
Max. power (@12 V) 25.8 W
Max. current (@12 V) 2.15 A

Also these pumps require at least 7V+ to start up.
It maybe a startup voltage problem if the pump is not spinning, which is why i would need a picture of how its setup.

 

[Hardball]

aigomorla--

As per the Swiftech instructions, I plugged the 4pin pwm fan molex that comes out of the cpu block/pump into the cpu_fan header on the Asus P8Z77-V Pro. I have also tried in the other fan headers on the motherboard to no avail. Isn't this the standard setup for the AIO's as far as plugging in the pump into the cpu fan header?

Where else could it be plugged in to? Do you still need a picture of how it is connected (you mean to the motherboard?)??

Thanks for the insight.

 

[dougp]

i need a picture of how its connected.

Suby's man's recommendation on plugging it directly to the motherboard is NOT recommended.

These pumps can draw almost anywhere from 1.25-2amps of power off the header, which in some cases maybe too much for a motherboard header to handle.
Compare that to a typical fan which draws about .25-.52A (for a high speed 38mm thick fan).
As you can see its drawing almost 4x the power a normal fan would draw on that header.
(this is under the assumption the MCP30X is about 75% the raited performance of a MCP50X)
http://www.swiftech.com/MCP50X.aspx#tab3
Max. power (@12 V) 25.8 W
Max. current (@12 V) 2.15 A

Also these pumps require at least 7V+ to start up.
It maybe a startup voltage problem if the pump is not spinning, which is why i would need a picture of how its setup.

If it's anything like the pump on the Apogee Drive II (which I believe they are), then it actually has a fan header for PWM and a molex for actual power.

OP, make sure that both are plugged in. I doubt your pump was "dead," or else you wouldn't have been able to get the air out of the system. You could have air trapped and it's not properly moving water.

 

[Hardball]

There are no other connections with the H220. It is just a single wire coming out of the cpu block/pump that has a 4pin PWM fan header that is supposed to be plugged into the the cpu_fan header on the motherboard.

Why do you doubt the pump being dead? What do you mean about that i wouldn't have been able to get air out of the system? I never said anything about air in the system.

Just to clarify, this is a new rig that I started to build last weekend. All the parts are new and have been purchased over the last year or so. None have been opened or used before last weekend.

Also, I just looked at the H220 manual, and on the specifications page it has for the pump:
speed: PWM adjustable 1200-3000RPM
voltage:12v
power: 6W
connector:4-pin

Can those requirements be met by the cpu-fan header on the motherboard??

 

[nitrousninja]

Have you tried connecting a fan to the CPU header on the motherboard? It could be the board too. Or you can hook the pump to a sata connector via adapter and it'll run at full speed if its not dead which is how I bleed and leak test my systems. That way you'd know for sure if its the motherboard or the pump.

I've had my H220 in a few builds and its really awesome for the money. I hope this helps!

 

[Hardball]

Yes, I plugged other fans into the header and it works, so I know it isn't the motherboard.

The adapter is a sata power connector with a 4pin pwm fan header at the other end? If I hooked that up and it worked, could I leave that as the permanent connection, or is it just for testing purposes?

 

[nitrousninja]

You could but it would run at 100% and be fairly loud. I would check with the Swiftech reps at Overclock.net. They've been really helpful to me and a lot of others.

 

[dougp]

Can you please post a link to the exact product you bought? Just curious because they product multiple H220 products, though if you're referencing a H220 exactly, which comes prefilled, then you can ignore my note about air and filling the loop.

When you have the pump plugged in, you should feel some small vibrations on the line, as well as the pump.

 

[Hardball]

Yes, it's the H220 which comes prefilled. When it's plugged in there is no sound or vibrations from the pump or lines.

 

[dougp]

Yes, it's the H220 which comes prefilled. When it's plugged in there is no sound or vibrations from the pump or lines.

That sucks - hopefully you ordered it somewhere you can do an exchange easily. I've seen quite a few people recommend the new Kelvin series from Fractal Design as it's expandable - http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/water-cooling

 

[Hardball]

I set up an RMA with Swiftech. After I removed the H220, I decided to try and install the stock Intel heatsink/fan. When I did, the Cpu Fan Error message went away and the idle temps were 30-33c, which is where they should be, not the 60-65c that I was getting with the H220 installed. It looks like I got a DOA pump on the H220.