According to my convo with XSPC, Mayhems Pastel coolant "killed the pump" - Opinions?

Alex_91 · 9 Aug 2016 at 10:37

So back in March my XSPC X20 750 Dual Bay Res/Pump V4 (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xspc-x2o-750-dual-bayres-pump-black-v4-wc-186-xs.html) stopped working after maybe a year and a half, I replaced it with an XSPC Twin X2O 420 Single Bayres/Pump (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xspc-twin-x2o-420-single-bayres-pump-wc-333-xs.html) which appears to have broken after less than 5 months.

I have always used Mayhems Pastel. But XSPC Support blames Mayhems coolant for the fault saying it "Killed the pump" and suggest [i quote exactly] "do NOT USE any Pastel Coolant."

Here is the email thread:

The Mayhems Pastel coolant killed the pump

you can see there are some residue in the impeller , or they attached the axis and made it stop

In your case , My suggestion

1. do NOT USE any Pastel Coolant.
2. remove the pump from the reservoir, and try to clean it carefully, it might survive again.

please change your coolant immediately, otherwise the pump will be killed soon.

Best Regards

Mr. XU
The XSPC Support Team

---- On Mon, 8 Aug 2016 00:07:15 -1000 ########### wrote ----

Hi Mr. XU,

Apologies somehow the message never came through (even in junk mail), regardless thanks for your email.

It appears both pumps are actually dead, I tried changing power connections a few times to different female connections on the PSU but to no avail.

I have always used Mayhems Pastel colours – namely Pastel Orange for a long time now https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mayhems-pastel-orange-coolant-1l-wc-017-mh.html. If you believe there may be an issue with the coolant I will try to see if its caused a jam – opening the watercooling loop was the only thing I haven’t tried to make it work, will do this over the coming days and get back to you if it’s still not working.

I appreciate your assistance on this, many thanks indeed.

Alex.

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of XSPC support
Sent: 08 August 2016 01:30
To: ##############
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [##2153##] Form Submission - Contact Tech Support - Twin X2O 420 Single Bayres/Pump Stopped working after less than 5 months.

four days ago, I replied.

To : ###########
Cc : [email protected]
so, one pump is dead, and the other one is working ?

what kind of coolant you are using. try to clean your loop, maybe something jammed the impeller of the pump.

can u check all power connections ?

Best Regards

Mr. XU
The XSPC Support Team

Best Regards

Mr. XU
The XSPC Support Team

---- On Sun, 7 Aug 2016 04:47:26 -1000 [email protected] wrote ----

Select: Returns / RMA
Name: Alex Robinson
Company: #########
Email Address: #########
Subject: Twin X2O 420 Single Bayres/Pump Stopped working after less than 5 months.
Message: Hi,

Second time of writing (first had no reply?!). I purchased the above product through Overclockers UK. I got in touch with them who said to get in touch with you directly.

Really disappointed this product has stopped working as its such a pain to take the old one out and fit a new one. But what makes this whole thing more exasperating is the fact that this item was a replacement for my old XSPC D5 Dual Bay Res / Pump V2 which stopped working earlier this year after just over a years use!

Please could you give me more information on arranging a replacement as its well within its first year of warranty.

Yours faithfully,

Alex.
Tel. #####
(Sent via XSPC - Performance PC Water Cooling)

In the mean time I am awaiting a new OCUK pump (https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...ek-ddc-x-top-plexi-value-combo-wc-031-oe.html) and will open the loop and try and clean it all etc once I also have the opportunity to fit the new one. Will report back on the results when complete.

Do you think XSPC are just coming up with a poor excuse? Would be great to hear your thoughts.

Many thanks!

Rustyone · 9 Aug 2016 at 11:36

Everyone always blames someone else, best thing to do is draw your own conclusions.

Any dealings I've had with XSPC have been a waste of time, just about want to know what you had for breakfast in case they can blame that

On the other hand I stopped using Mayhems because of problems with it.

vsg28 · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:02

This one is actually quite plausible.

Doogles · 9 Aug 2016 at 14:14

If I was XSPC I would replace it in good faith considering you have brought from them twice although I would say not to use the stuff they think killed it. If they think their is a problem with that coolant they should have said in the manual.

Deleted member 651465 · 9 Aug 2016 at 15:31

Contact Mayhem through the forum. They would be interested to know / sample your fluid.

Personally, I've never used anything fancier than distilled water with some Mayhem dye. If I were building a system tomorrow, I'd go a step further and just get colour tubing

Greebo · 9 Aug 2016 at 16:42

EVH said:
Contact Mayhem through the forum. They would be interested to know / sample your fluid.

Personally, I've never used anything fancier than distilled water with some Mayhem dye. If I were building a system tomorrow, I'd go a step further and just get colour tubing

Yeah i did that last build. Down side is when you want to change your colour you have to change all your pipework

Sayso · 12 Aug 2016 at 16:34

EVH said:
Contact Mayhem through the forum. They would be interested to know / sample your fluid.

Personally, I've never used anything fancier than distilled water with some Mayhem dye. If I were building a system tomorrow, I'd go a step further and just get colour tubing

This, haven't used anything but water, biocide and coloured tubing, my build are more functional than funky though.

Mayhems · 14 Aug 2016 at 20:52

Weve contacted Paul over at XSPC and are getting a few sent to us to test and come up with any answers we can come up with. If the pump is weak its definitely plausible how ever the viscosity of pastel is pretty close to water. We will work with paul and sort this out between us both.

Pastel has now been selling for over 5 to 6 years now with no one ever reporting the pump dyeing on them due to pastel specific formula.

We will keep you updated !

VKleita · 14 Aug 2016 at 23:25

Interesting, had similar comment off XSPC approx. 4 months ago.
"It's your set up - D5 pumps never break, you must have done something to it, like using thick liquid"

In the end OcUk had to get involved as the pumps were only 2 months old before XSPC where even interested in looking into replacements.

Then after various messing about and various comments of "Sending the pumps away for testing, this might take up to 90 days" I just decided to forget it and go with a AquaComputer Ehiem style pump and have never looked back.

Thou I don't for a second believe Pastel coolant killed my pumps. BUT it was an absolute **** to clean out when going back to clear coolant, the coloured tubing idea does sound like a very good one for future builds....

I will be very interested in the findings Mayhems

Mayhems · 15 Aug 2016 at 00:26

VKleita said:
Interesting, had similar comment off XSPC approx. 4 months ago.
"It's your set up - D5 pumps never break, you must have done something to it, like using thick liquid"

In the end OcUk had to get involved as the pumps were only 2 months old before XSPC where even interested in looking into replacements.

Then after various messing about and various comments of "Sending the pumps away for testing, this might take up to 90 days" I just decided to forget it and go with a AquaComputer Ehiem style pump and have never looked back.

Thou I don't for a second believe Pastel coolant killed my pumps. BUT it was an absolute **** to clean out when going back to clear coolant, the coloured tubing idea does sound like a very good one for future builds....

I will be very interested in the findings Mayhems

One thing ill say were not here to point fingers but to give the best answers we can do. The best way we can do this is by getting said products and evaluating our products and getting direct answers. If we find an issue we will either fix it, warn about it and pass the information directly on to consumers and manufacturers alike. At the end of the day we have nothing to hide.

XSPCPAUL · 15 Aug 2016 at 10:13

Hi Alex,
I'm sorry for the reply you received. Our support staff shouldn't have replied in this way. I'll send you an email in the next 5min and take over the support ticket.

We're in contact with Mayhems to see if we can find the cause of this issue.

*Rich* · 15 Aug 2016 at 18:08

I used to run an XSPC bay res/pump. (750 i think it was) and also ran two XSPC waterblocks.

The only fluid i ever used in that build was Mayhems Pastel Blue.

Never had any problems with any component.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18473725

Hope it gets sorted, what ever the cause.

Alex_91 · 16 Aug 2016 at 11:59

Mayhems said:
Weve contacted Paul over at XSPC and are getting a few sent to us to test and come up with any answers we can come up with. If the pump is weak its definitely plausible how ever the viscosity of pastel is pretty close to water. We will work with paul and sort this out between us both.

Pastel has now been selling for over 5 to 6 years now with no one ever reporting the pump dyeing on them due to pastel specific formula.

We will keep you updated !

XSPCPAUL said:
Hi Alex,
I'm sorry for the reply you received. Our support staff shouldn't have replied in this way. I'll send you an email in the next 5min and take over the support ticket.

We're in contact with Mayhems to see if we can find the cause of this issue.

Thank you both very much for looking into this, it seems there are a lot of people interested in finding out if there is any issue!

I have now recieved another pump which I ordered from OcUK, for the long term goal I aim to have a dual loop system using this pump and an XSPC Bay/res pump, but will use the new pump for now if the current one does not work after cleaning. (Hence the delay in my part from actioning the suggestion).

I will aim to get the system flushed / cleaned and drying tonight, should have the result as to whether the XSPC pump works again either tonight or tomorrow evening.

For clarity for those interested, Paul from XSPC sent a polite email which I have just replied to:

Hi Paul,

No worries, thanks for your helpful input – I’ll try this tonight / tomorrow & will let you know the results. I trust opening up the kit as you describe will not invalidate my warrantee? I will try to just flush the system first and will only continue taking it appart if there’s no success.

My PC Spec is as follows:

Base Components…
Case: Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 High Airflow ATX Cube Case
Motherboard: Asus Crosshair V Formula Z AMD 990FX (Socket AM3+)
CPU: AMD FX 9370 4.4GHz Socket AM3+ (Not Overclocked – watercooling mainly for noise reduction)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Pro Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 DRAM 2400MHz
GPU: Asus Radeon R9 270X DirectCUII TOP 2048MB
PSU: Corsair TX 850W ATX SLI Compliant Power Supply
SSD: Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps
HDD 1: Seagate 2TB 3.5" SATA Desktop Hard Drive
HDD 2: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II

Watercooling Components…
Pump: XSPC Twin X2O 420 Single Bayres/Pump
Tubing: XSPC HighFlex Hose 716" ID, 58" OD, 15.911.1mm, 2m, ClearUV
Coolant: Mayhems Pastel - Orange Coolant 1L (Used about 0.9L)
CPU Block: It was from an “OcUK Tech Lab - V6 Watercooling Kit 120” in 2013 – XSPC Raystorm CPU WaterBlock (AMD) It looks like your current V3 although it says “in” on the block instead of the “^”.
Radiator 1: XSPC EX360 120mm Radiator - Black
Radiator 2: Also from the “OcUK Tech Lab - V6 Watercooling Kit 120” in 2013 – I believe it’s the MagiCool Copper Radiator 140

Many thanks indeed!

Will keep you updated. Kindest regards,

Alex.
Tel. #######

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of XSPC support
Sent: 15 August 2016 10:28
To: ########.com
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [##2153##] Form Submission - Contact Tech Support - Twin X2O 420 Single Bayres/Pump Stopped working after less than 5 months.

Hi Alex,
Sorry for the last reply you received.

First of all addressing "Mayhems Pastel coolant killed the pump ". The pumps are unlikely to be dead and will likely both work once cleaned. If you remove the pumps from the reservoir and clean the inside of the acrylic the chances are very high that both pumps will start working again.

We have inspected a few units with this issue and it appears to be caused by a residue is left from the coolant. This residue builds up and stops the pump from starting up.

We're currently investigating this issue with Mayhems, but it appears to be a compatibility issue with the 420 pump and Mayhems Pastel. When used with non-pastel coolant the 420 pump have proven to be extremely reliable.

Could you give me the full spec of your system and a list of the cooling components?

Regards, Paul
XSPC

Hotwired · 16 Aug 2016 at 12:10

Causing me to wonder if a centrifuge effect can be caused in the pump which makes the dye particles concentrate in an awkward location.

Mayhems · 16 Aug 2016 at 14:41

Hotwired said:
Causing me to wonder if a centrifuge effect can be caused in the pump which makes the dye particles concentrate in an awkward location.

There are no dye particles in coolants. The issue if at all is with the nano particles that are currently at 10 to 40nm how ever the new pastel as of 2 months back V4 (top left hand corner of 1 Ltr versions of the bottles) have new surfactants and new inhibitors to combat issues such as build up.

Alex_91 · 17 Aug 2016 at 13:02

UPDATE:

Following XSPC / Paul's comments, I got round to opening the loop etc...

Great news – the pumps are working again! It took a good 15 minutes of trying when they were out the acrylic casing – believe it or not I almost gave up, then in a last ditch attempt used WD40 which almost immediately done the trick!!

I then cleaned the pumps extra thoroughly as I can’t imagine the WD40 will mix well, then this morning gave them a quick try with some distilled water (not in a proper loop but when back in the acrylic casing) and all seems good. Its now drying ready to put back in the PC.

Before taking the loop apart however, I noticed just outside the exhaust of the pump a small black lump – I actually managed to extract this and hold it, it seemed to be like a rusty spec of metal. It was very hard but crumbled under the pressure of my nail. See photos

In all honesty I didn’t notice any build-up of anything on either pump what so ever, although some corners of the casing had some orange colouring still which I could not reach. I also noticed some orange colouring on a barb fitting, at first I thought it was a build-up but on closer inspection, its seems to have discoloured the metal locally within a damaged part of the barb (done months ago when fixing the barb connection to the pump – cloth to prevent this slipped).

To potentially help find out what version of Mayhems liquid was used – it was ordered from OcUK on 25th June 2015.

SO... still not sure what made the pumps stop working, could be a number of things hinted above. After the WD40 they were perfect and sent in air like new - perfectly quiet (whisper level if that). Back in the acrylic they were much noisier when i gave it a spin for a moment dry, i gather the sound will dumb down a lot when its submerged in liquid.

Borealis · 17 Aug 2016 at 13:05

Photos aren't appearing?

Could have been junk getting dislodged and coming out of the rad possibly?

Alex_91 · 17 Aug 2016 at 13:25

Photos as follows:

The foreign body 1:

The foreign body 2:

The foreign body 3:

The foreign body 4 (Crushed):

Overview when loop was together:

Pumps working perfectly after WD-40 :eek:

:

Colour on Barb 1:

Colour on Barb 2:

Not sure if this matters but some female screw parts were firmly attached but raised?

Alex_91 · 17 Aug 2016 at 13:31

High res images avaliable on request - also you can see the very minor colouring in the acrylic pump housing on the last photo.

Borealis · 17 Aug 2016 at 13:46

That foreign object looks to me like junk out of a rad. I don't run a custom loop myself though, so I could be totally wrong.

According to my convo with XSPC, Mayhems Pastel coolant "killed the pump" - Opinions?

Deleted member 651465

Deleted member 651465