EK DDC 3.2 PWM pump not starting

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I bought the x360 kit from EK back in September last year and since then I have now had 2 pump replacements sent out...
this third pump (a month old) has now just started failing just like the other two have and I wonder if there is an issue I am
missing somewhere or I have just had seriously bad luck. Either way i'm almost pulling my hair out as EK have never heard of this issue before.

The pump fails to spool up when booting the computer from cold after it has been off for between 4-8 hours.
It just repeats a stop start action then pauses for a few seconds. I have to hit the top of the pump to shock it into starting
otherwise the cpu hits the temperature cap I set from the first time this happened and shuts down.
After a few hits/taps the pump spools up and works perfectly fine. It has full PWM control and I can shut the computer down then cold boot it and the pump starts up on it's own no problem.

Coolant is the EK Blood Red premixed if that has any influence on the issue.

I have tried;
disconnecting the PWM header before booting
tried every fan header on my MB
BIOS set to run pump at 100% until Speedfan takes over in windows

This is the third pump to show the exact same symptoms and I just can't see what is wrong
 
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Hi Luc,

It was just the pump unit itself that was replaced, the top is still the original one from the kit.

I brought out the old one that failed a month ago and got a video of the issue, I lubricated the pump with coolant before testing it for the video so it wasn't running dry.
It just repeats that cycle until I help it or it can eventually starts on it's own which it has done once or twice but it could take minutes (I wasn't in the room when it first happened)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOd6T4BAI-g

not the best video, but I didn't want to risk any further damage to the old pump without it submerged if I had to revert in case of a failure with the current one.
 
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Looks like you've tried most things, all I can think of is a bigger hammer :)

All you can do is another RMA, get EK to send an advanced RMA so you can swap it over and send the faulty one back. Rather than sit waiting.
 
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Looks like you've tried most things, all I can think of is a bigger hammer :)

All you can do is another RMA, get EK to send an advanced RMA so you can swap it over and send the faulty one back. Rather than sit waiting.

EK have been top notch in their RMA service, couldn't fault them at all. They dispatched both of the replacement pumps without
requiring me to send mine back which is appreciated especially as I am currently in the final few months
of my Games Dev HND and need my computer lol
 
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Having done a bit of reading a few people are saying the bearings inside the impeller try to seize up and so I just checked my first pump I had and it was seized solid.
When I turned it by hand it cracked/popped and started to turn with heavy resistance even with coolant around it to lubricate it.
 
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Having done a bit of reading a few people are saying the bearings inside the impeller try to seize up and so I just checked my first pump I had and it was seized solid.
When I turned it by hand it cracked/popped and started to turn with heavy resistance even with coolant around it to lubricate it.

That sounds like the major issue it.

You might be able to request EK to replace you with a D5 tbh, these DDC PWM clearly has QC issue.
 
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Hi Luc,

It was just the pump unit itself that was replaced, the top is still the original one from the kit.

I brought out the old one that failed a month ago and got a video of the issue, I lubricated the pump with coolant before testing it for the video so it wasn't running dry.
It just repeats that cycle until I help it or it can eventually starts on it's own which it has done once or twice but it could take minutes (I wasn't in the room when it first happened)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOd6T4BAI-g

not the best video, but I didn't want to risk any further damage to the old pump without it submerged if I had to revert in case of a failure with the current one.

Maybe the issue is with the pump top instead. Maybe the top as a defect that block the pump from spinning...but at the same time if it was the top, i'm not sure that just by kicking it a bit would make the pump spin again...i'm confused with this problem.

The bearing thing could be possible but what I found weird is that you would have got 3 crappy DDC in a row.

Do you currently have an active ticket? If you have one, you could asked them about the possibility of a faulty pump top.
 
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I don't have a ticket active at the moment, with this being the third time
I was convinced that I was doing something wrong and wanted to try find any solutions before starting an RMA again.
Would an exchange to a 3.25 DDC or a D5 be possible through RMA?
 
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Could it be possible that there is an issue with the coolant in the loop?
My first pump was ran in the kits clear concentrate diluted with D.Water for 2 months before running for 2 months in the blood red before failing.
The second lasted just over a month in the same coolant and now this pump as well failed in the same amount of time.
It's the only other variable I can think of that could be causing the problem as two pumps failed within the same time frame of each other with the same symptoms.

I still have 3/4s of the 2nd bottle of the premixed EK Koolant EVO here and it was bottled in 09/2015 that I bought from OCUK so well within shelf life and I am more than happy to supply samples of the coolant new and used for testing.
 
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I don't have a ticket active at the moment, with this being the third time
I was convinced that I was doing something wrong and wanted to try find any solutions before starting an RMA again.
Would an exchange to a 3.25 DDC or a D5 be possible through RMA?

If you decide to start a new ticket to RMA it again, I would ask if it could be caused by a defect in the pump top and also I would asked them if it could be exchanged for another pump model.


Could it be possible that there is an issue with the coolant in the loop?
My first pump was ran in the kits clear concentrate diluted with D.Water for 2 months before running for 2 months in the blood red before failing.
The second lasted just over a month in the same coolant and now this pump as well failed in the same amount of time.
It's the only other variable I can think of that could be causing the problem as two pumps failed within the same time frame of each other with the same symptoms.

I still have 3/4s of the 2nd bottle of the premixed EK Koolant EVO here and it was bottled in 09/2015 that I bought from OCUK so well within shelf life and I am more than happy to supply samples of the coolant new and used for testing.

I'm pretty sure your coolant isn't the problem.
 
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I gave the pump a few days to see if it would sort itself out, past 2 days(now 3) the pump has started on it's own again so
I don't know what caused it as I didn't change anything. I will keep an eye on it and hopefully it was just a temporary issue as the other 2 never recovered from it.
 
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Hey Luc,

Quick update. The pump fixed itself and started running fine for 25 days after the initial issue but alas it has resurfaced and has failed to start 3 days in a row :(
 
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You said about asking to have the pump type changed to a D5 or another model if I started an RMA, do you know if it would be possible to get this pump top that connects to the XRES series? I cannot see it as a standalone item anywhere.

Lzo82nK.png

Steve
 
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Hey Luc,

Quick update. The pump fixed itself and started running fine for 25 days after the initial issue but alas it has resurfaced and has failed to start 3 days in a row :(

Damn :(


You said about asking to have the pump type changed to a D5 or another model if I started an RMA, do you know if it would be possible to get this pump top that connects to the XRES series? I cannot see it as a standalone item anywhere.

Lzo82nK.png

Steve

We don't sell the pump/res attachement alone but maybe, if it's part of an RMA, the guys at the customer service team can do something like a special replacement. I would at least ask them about it.
 
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Hi Luc,

I sent in an email to CS where Igor got back to me. He says that it should be possible and is piggybacking on your suggestion for a change in pump model and also the pump top I think.
He has passed on my email to the RMA department to which I should get a reply tomorrow to arrange something with them.

Been great customer service so far, must be sick of the sight of me by now but hopefully this will be the last time. *touch wood* :rolleyes:
 
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Hi Luc,

I sent in an email to CS where Igor got back to me. He says that it should be possible and is piggybacking on your suggestion for a change in pump model and also the pump top I think.
He has passed on my email to the RMA department to which I should get a reply tomorrow to arrange something with them.

Been great customer service so far, must be sick of the sight of me by now but hopefully this will be the last time. *touch wood* :rolleyes:

Great!

Let me know when the RMA team get back at you! :)
 
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