Swiftech H220 leaked, mobo trashed. Could I have prevented this?

[Ichinisan]

Today I found that my Swiftech H220 has leaked in my system from the CPU block/pump. I noticed just after my system behaved strangely and then stopped powering-on at all (might be trashed). I will try to boot the system again when it dries out and I have found a cooling solution. The H220 manual references a “maintenance guide” with a URL, but the URL is bad now and generates a “404” error. I think I need that guide before I attempt any repairs or maintenance.

If I do get another Swiftech system, I want to know what I could have done to prevent this. I treated this as a closed-loop all-in-one system. I never disconnected anything or opened a fill port. It’s probably time to do some maintenance at least, but that guide is no longer available as far as I can tell.

I have a first-run NCASE M1 — a crowd-funded / crowd-conceived compact gaming case that was designed around the H220.

The M1 inspired many imitators immediately after. This case probably sold a LOT of H220 cooling systems because the development renderings looked great and the case was designed around the H220 (it even says so on ncases.com). The other cases inspired by the M1 probably sold a lot of H220 kits too.

Because this case was designed around the H220, my install was clean and very elegant. I never stressed the mounts or the tube connections. Today, I carefully transported the system and laid it on its side temporarily. For that brief period, the H220 radiator was in the same orientation as a typical top-mounted install while the block/pump was in the same orientation it would be in with a cube case.

I turned on the system only briefly and found that it was acting very strangely. It behaved as if a USB a device was being rapidly connected/disconnected. The only USB device connected was a mouse which was working fine. Even with the USB mouse temporarily disconnected, the system continued to show USB device error messages and play the constant connect/disconnect sound. As I went to pair a Bluetooth keyboard, I saw the “Bluetooth” category in Windows 10 Settings rapidly appearing and disappearing and then it stopped appearing at all (while USB errors continued).

I shut the system down, then found that it would not turn on again. I looked inside to see if something was wrong with the Bluetooth + WiFi mini PCI-E card or see if there was any USB device I was unaware of (there was not). I found that liquid coolant had leaked (and was still leaking) from the CPU block/pump.

Sorry for vertical video. I have a bulky phone case and both hands were full:

Definitely coming from the CPU block/pump and not from the radiator.


There is an oxidation pattern on the copper base.

I’m curious to know if that’s typical of long-term exposure to moisture, or if it’s just temperature causing that. It still feels smooth.

 

[EXCellR8]

that pattern is definitely moisture.

I had the same system and it certainly wasn't one of their better ones... but it didn't leak. I remember the clamps on the housing barbs weren't real great and my pump ended up frying the bearing. I would advise to check the rubber seals sandwiched between the copper base, housing, and pump top. I have one completely disassembled on my bench at home if you need reference pics.

i would also check the base of the fittings where they attach

 

[Ichinisan]

I took the block off of the pump and the square seal around the outside is definitely bad. I'm amazed at the amount of garbage inside, considering it has never been opened. Where would these contaminants come from?

 

[EXCellR8]

yup, mine was almost as bad when I cleaned it up from the previous owner... i don't know what coolant the guy had used but it turned like a dark blue and had these little black bits of who knows what in it.

bummer, but if it makes you feel any better after I rebuilt mine it only lasted about six more months until the bearing crapped out. an unfortunate risk you take with these things...

 

[Ichinisan]

Well, unfortunately my board appears to be toast. The corrosion on the CMOS battery and the Bluetooth+WiFi mini-PCIE module indicate they had been getting fluid on them for a while. My warranty on the Swiftech H220 expired in early March.

I removed the BT+WiFi module, CMOS battery, keyboard, mouse, and every single peripheral except the mSATA SSD (on the underside of the Asrock Z87E-ITX motherboard, where the SSD was not exposed). The only thing connected is the monitor and still can't get any video connected directly to the integrated HDMI or DVI outputs. Holding the power button wouldn't force the system off either, so I had to unplug it. I tried installing an EVGA GTX 760 video card and still couldn't get any video.

Hoping to find a Z87E-ITX board because it's the only one that fits my requirements. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available anywhere online, not even used.

 

[aigomorla]

a leak from the screw head like that would result from a crack on the o-ring.
Inspect the oring... fwd pictures to swiftech and ask if they can send you oring replacement.
Michelle is really great at Customer Support.
If you cant find a crack / on the oring, then it say u have a crack somwhere on the actual block..... make sure u do a 24 hour leak test on the apogee drive before you attempt to remount it.

Im sorry to hear from your loss... can i know what dye/premix you used?

This is also why i always and cant stress aways do maintance on a custom LCS system such as a bi annual flush.

Would it have saved you?
Cant really answer that question without knowing what premix you used.

 

[Ichinisan]

a leak from the screw head like that would result from a crack on the o-ring.
Inspect the oring... fwd pictures to swiftech and ask if they can send you oring replacement.

Yeah. You can see the “ring” (I’m referring to the rounded square thing) is almost missing a whole corner. It didn’t feel very rubbery either. It felt more like plastic or TPU, which wouldn’t seal as well as rubber. My buddy tried to lift the square thing off and it broke into several pieces.

Michelle is really great at Customer Support.

Mackenzie responded to my email. Mentioned a compatible replacement pump I will look into.

If you cant find a crack / on the oring, then it say u have a crack somwhere on the actual block..... make sure u do a 24 hour leak test on the apogee drive before you attempt to remount it.

Yeah. That rounded square ring seems to be the failure point.

Im sorry to hear from your loss... can i know what dye/premix you used?

This is also why i always and cant stress aways do maintance on a custom LCS system such as a bi annual flush.

Would it have saved you?
Cant really answer that question without knowing what premix you used.

I did not use a premix. I treated it as a closed-loop system. Swiftech’s web site and manual says you shouldn’t need to perform any maintenance within the 3 year warranty period if it’s used as closed-loop. Mine is just outside of the warranty, but I suspect it had been leaking for a very long time and it didn’t cause a problem until I turned my system on its side.

This is what the WiFi/Bluetooth module looked like:

I borrowed a stock Intel cooler and the system still wouldn’t boot yesterday. No video, even with no GPU or WiFi/BT module installed. Today, I got the system to turn on momentarily and started copying some important files before it spontaneously rebooted. Then Windows wouldn’t see the USB drive until I moved the drive to a different USB port. I copied everything off the computer and shut down. Now it won’t power on again. So it looks like I probably still need to replace this board and/or CPU.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Only time I ever had a cooling issue was when I had my H220, its still sitting in the box as junk in my closet after the pump failed. I could have easily had it replaced under warranty, but my liquid cooling days will never come around again.

 

[aigomorla]

I did not use a premix. I treated it as a closed-loop system. Swiftech’s web site and manual says you shouldn’t need to perform any maintenance within the 3 year warranty period if it’s used as closed-loop. Mine is just outside of the warranty, but I suspect it had been leaking for a very long time and it didn’t cause a problem until I turned my system on its side.

did you use PT-Nuke?
Cuz that blue in the middle tells me you used Cu2SO4.

Either that or you had alu in your loop and had corrosion.

 

[EXCellR8]

bummer about the board... it looked like quite a bit leaked out though so I would have been surprised if you didn't have issues.

when the bearing went in mine I almost cooked the six core i7 before I realized something was up and shut it all down. that was a few years ago and the system hasn't been installed in anything else; even after testing it for a few hours I still wasn't real confident that is was going to hold up

 

[Ichinisan]

did you use PT-Nuke?
Cuz that blue in the middle tells me you used Cu2SO4.

Either that or you had alu in your loop and had corrosion.

It had whatever coolant they put in at the factory. Probably just water and an anti-algae agent.

 

[aigomorla]

oh u had the swiftech AIO before they got sued...

OK, now i understand.
That thing is hydr-x. Its basically antifreeze, propyl glycol.

That white gunk u had in the middle of your base plate... was it jelly like or crystal like?