I'm experiencing a problem.

The problem today which I had hoped to solve was due to a lack of space in the front of my case. The radiator I'm using is mounted right next to an AC in plug, and therefore the quick disconnects (to turn on my pump MCP300) will not fit when my case door is closed.

I therefore soldered wires onto the prongs of the AC in plug as well as female quick connects so as to be able to fit everything inside when all the quick connects are connected (by essentially extending the AC in prongs with wires).
I turned on my pump today manually, with a toggle switch rated at 4A on the 250V line. the pump is rated to consume
.42A on the 120V line and the AC in is rated at 15A on the 250V line.

The problem is that when I turn on my pump there proceed the most hideous clicking sounds accompanied by the vibrational hum.

I'm theorizing that the wires I used to solder the AC in and female quick connects cannot transmit the full 15A from the AC in cord?

Is it even possible that the pump is damaged because I used bleach to clean my circuit earlier?

another factor to account for is that there's no tubing hooked up to my pump - it's just the pump powering on, alone, with 1/2" barbs.

any help would be greatly appreciated....

Ok i havent personally liquid cooled a computer ...yet...
but from the info ive gathered i think its because your not supposed to have air in the pump, so mabey if possible take the stuff out, hook everything together and fill it up, and see what happens (if i rember right it usually makes a little noise at first then settles out)

NOTE: i may not know what im saying so be careful if you listen

i think you'r right. i just don't remember whether or not it was making that clicking sound when i turned it on without water first...but i just tried it WITH water and it's not making any noise...do you see a problem with the ratings on amperage and such?

nm i fixed it. i believe that one of the terminals wasn't soldered properly and maybe was skimping on the current it was sending. in any case, there's no more clicking

Gratz, and i dunno about any electrical stuff, basically i know if i put my finger in the socket its going to hurt and dont run around the ciruit breaker box with a bucket of water, well at least not to often

jalliecakez,
welcome to pimprig,
The sound you are hearing is a dry pump not good in any situation, remember it well, and if the CPU has power to it and you hear that noise...shut her down!! if you don't the next sounds you hear will be 100 million transistors screamming for their lives! ....word.

zenzzo....

dry pump? what exactly is that?

how did it come about, do you think? i've used the pump for a total of no more than twenty minutes.

and lastly but most importantly, is there a way it can be fixed?



i keep thinking it's the wires sapping the pump of current, because just now one of the contacts exploded in a small but still shocking way.

it was running fine for about ten minutes as i bled my system, actually maybe seven minutes, and now it's making that noise....what is going on...???

i belive what he meant by dry pump was a pump without water in it

but im not sure whats going on, you added water and such and its running fine and quit but somethings going on with the wiring?

EDIT: thats it for me cant put any other info in until i water cool on myself to know whats going on

there's water in my lines right now, it's full, it's just that the pump makes that stupid noise. it was working fine before, but now i notice the flow rate is much less, i can tell by eyeballing my reservoir. i'm convinced it's my wiring.

i guess a trip to radio shack tomorrow and an attempt to rectify it. i hope i haven't done any permanent damage to it

umm yeah, it you didn't have water in it you could kiss you pump goodbye for the most part. But if not it might just be air. I would worry about a vibration hum as long as that hum changes if you apply pressure to the pump.

i've tested my pump with an spdt switch many times without air or tubing...i guess I CAN kiss it goodbye then...


@#(*^@#(!^(@&*^EWO&*TDYWOTYOAS*T@Q #(Y @&Y

well, thats always been my impression but not always the case. But put it into some water and see it moves any of it. Thats a real simple way to test, you gotta a bathtub or sink?

I would like to hear that its still working cause no one wants to see you have to buy new gear.

EDIT :: your pump maybe damaged, but it still might work. If it doesn't move enough water your system won't cool right, so its up to your judgement.

i've tested it with water about three times tonight using a bowl full of water, and right now it's full of water. right now it DOES move some water, but the flow rate is laughable...

tomorrow i'm going to radio shack to buy some 20 gauss wire or more, overkill, just to be safe. it might be that it's sapping current. if not, then i killed it by using it without water or by using it with sapped current. that's my theory.

EDIT: lower gauss wires actually run more current

ok, if your wiring is correct and you can't move that much water then the seals or something in the pump is damaged. Try to power cords first if you think that could be a problem, but anything bigger than the cables that your pump uses is overkill as you said.

how are you priming the pump?

hmmm....i'm not sure how you mean "priming..."

this is my first foray into watercooling.

i usually set the tubing up in my case without the components (after measuring everything) then wire an SPDT switch into my relay switch made by swiftech to allow for manual bleeding and testing. i turn it on with paper towels to check for leaks.

siftech's v2 of the relay switch doesn't allow for manual fill and bleed - that's why i use a switch.

i know i've turned the pump on and off many times without water in it or tubing. maybe that's how it broke.

Yeah, that's a quick way to kill a pump...running it without water.