Lifespan of a DDC pump?

kiteloopy

kiteloopy

kiteloopy

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Joined
13 Apr 2008
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Notts / Reading

Hi everyone,​

Does anyone have any idea of what lifespan I should expect from a DDC Pump? I've had my PC under watercooling since 2020 and my 2nd pump has just failed. The first one was the Alphacool and the second was the EK (4.2 PWM). Should I expect them to fail this often?
I have three radiators, 1x 120, 1x 240 and 1x 360. Both the CPU (5800x) and GPU (2070s) are water cooled and I have the glacier r160 as my reservoir and pump mount. The case is a NZXT H710.

Its my first water-cooling build and apart from my pump issue its been flawless. If I need to remove something then more than happy to take everyone's advice and i'll modify.
Cheers all!
 
Ddc usually 50,000 hours
Roughly 5 years I think that works out as
Can help if got a heatsink on them
None of my pumps have failed that quickly
Actually only 1 ddc has failed on me
Somehow got some liquid in the pcb
Had a second one the impeller went out of balance
Replaced the impeller still works fine
So they're pretty reliable
Assuming they don't get really hot
 
I've had mine running for 7years and still seems fine. I have changed 3 cases since then and few different rad configs. Currently running on 2x360 and 1x240 rads. Usually run it at about 30% for daily use and bout 60% when gaming.

Obv mistype on the 11 rads - just 1x240 :D
 
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I run mine at 30% so it's silent, has been running 3-4 years now. Temps fine with 3x240, It did have issues starting a few months ago and needed a tap, but flushed the system and fine now. I bought a spare ready for a fail which probably means the pump will outlast me. Overall, dumping 300W into it so not all that stressed.
 
About 5 years on average, could be more, could be less

A badly designed loop can easily kill a pump in one year
 
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That 50,000 hours figure is running time as well, so depending on how much use it should last a lot longer.

Is the inside of the case hot? These sorts of pumps are more likely to fail if the electronics on them overheat. It’s possibly a big loop as well that might be putting too much strain on the pump - do you have a flow meter in the loop?
 
After a bit they tend to gunk up a little, clean up and good as new, had a few and never had a problem with ddc.
 
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Jokester said:
That 50,000 hours figure is running time as well, so depending on how much use it should last a lot longer.

Is the inside of the case hot? These sorts of pumps are more likely to fail if the electronics on them overheat. It’s possibly a big loop as well that might be putting too much strain on the pump - do you have a flow meter in the loop?
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Not particularly. I dont have a air thermometer or flow meter on it. What would constitute a big loop?
 
kiteloopy said:
Not particularly. I dont have a air thermometer or flow meter on it. What would constitute a big loop?
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CPU + GPU + 3x radiators in series will be relatively restrictive depending on the blocks used. I always found the DDC to run really hot so was prone to overheating the electronics in the back of it if it wasn’t cooled properly (both air and a decent flow of water through it).
 
Jokester said:
CPU + GPU + 3x radiators in series will be relatively restrictive depending on the blocks used. I always found the DDC to run really hot so was prone to overheating the electronics in the back of it if it wasn’t cooled properly (both air and a decent flow of water through it).
Click to expand...

Ok thanks for the advice Jokester. The 120 is attached to the exhaust fan at the back so I think this would be the easiest thing to take out. Ive never had the pump or fans set to at zero whiles its been on and the pump+res combo is attached directly to a front 140mm fan so its had SOME air through it. Come to think of it I think ive got 2x240 rads and not the 360 but I guess the difference is little at this point.

Ive raised a ticket with the OCUK shop to see if I can get a replacement. If I cant get a replacement, would I be better just swapping the res and pump for a EK D5 Combo? something like the Kinetic TBE 200?
 
Grim5 said:
About 5 years on average, could be more, could be less

A badly designed loop can easily kill a pump in one year
Click to expand...

From the top of my head, it goes as follows
Reservoir - 1x240 rad - 1x240 rad - CPU block - 1x120 rad - GPU block - Reservoir

Too much for one pump?
 
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kiteloopy said:
From the top of my head, it goes as follows
Reservoir - 1x240 rad - 1x240 rad - CPU block - 1x120 rad - GPU block - Reservoir

Too much for one pump?
Click to expand...


Nope, it's more about placement of the pump inside the case - for example if the pump is located above the reservoir(s) then that can lead to air bubbles getting trapped inside the pump. Because these pumps use the liquid in the loop to cool themselves, air bubbles can cause overheating of the pump which can rapidly reduce its life span. That's why you'll usually see in photos of custom loops the pump is around or near the bottom of the case. So as long you put the reservoirs higher than the pump, then you should be good to go :)
 
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I had 2 DDC pumps that I used for about 15 years running seperate loops for CPU and GPU without any additional cooling for the pumps. Only swapped them out as I changed to a single loop with a D5 as it's quieter that the DDC pumps
 
how long is a pice of string...

DDC 50,000hr but that is flow and temp limited.
run it wrong you could kill one it a week
 
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