PWM Pump

Sky01454

Sky01454

Sky01454

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Joined
27 Jan 2009
Posts
212
Hi guys

I have been WCing for over a year now however about mid June last year I changed pump to a PWM one and since I dont understand how it works. I know how it works with fans but on a pump? One thing that was obvious was that it was very slow when I was refilling my loop so i had to pull the PWM plug from my motherboard. I can never see or hear it go faster even though my CPU is overclocked and playing games. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

PS: is clouding on the tube normal? Will get some pictures up later
 
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If it's connected to the Water Pump header on the motherboard you'll need to set it up properly in the BIOS. I'm running an Asus Z170 Maximus VIII Hero and in the BIOS on that board you can set the pump minimum & maximum speed plus a mid point, so it cycles through 3 speed settings depending on temperature. IMO there really is no point though as the pump speed makes sod all difference to cooling performance, and the noise as the pump speeds up / slows down can get very annoying. In the end I just set mine to 55% and left it there.
 
I think that behaviour where its plugged in to a MOBO header but PC off while your filling the loop and pump going slow is normal. I have 4 PWM pumps and all behave like that, lowest RPM until the BIOS readings kick in or Windows fan software. Without a reading it will mill along at a very slow speed so when filling just detach the header.

Normally I use AI Suit 3 fans controller to manage the fans and pump. In most cases I just set it to 35% mine and leave it there in main build. IMO main benefit of the PWM pump is not needing to change any dials on the pump itself once in the build.
 
What OJ said. It's mainly useful for turning the speed down until it's quiet enough not to irritate you. A decent decoupling mount helps with this too. EK's DDC heatsink is good for keeping the pump cool as well as providing rubber legs to mount it....assuming you have a DDC pump that is.

Clouding in your tubes isn't a good thing. It probably means you didn't flush out your rad well enough or it could be an incompatibility between tubing and coolant. Some coolants and tubing don't get on. Notably Mayhems and Primochill/XSPC. There's a thread on this forum at the moment.
 
If you're having grief with the motherboard header note that some motherboards do not do proper PWM on all their 4-pin fan headers. It seems disturbingly common for them to do PWM correctly on the CPU header (which Intel mandate) but the rest are voltage control despite having 4 pins. You could try one of these: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/nzxt-sentry-3-touch-screen-fan-control-bb-003-nx.html
That will take (according to spec) PWM fans.
Or there's an Aquaero 5 LT on offer (and in stock) at the moment: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aqua-computer-aquaero-5-lt-usb-fan-controller-wc-011-aq.html
That only has 1 PWM channel. The rest are 3-pin voltage control but you can plug other fans into those. Aquaero 6 has 4 PWM channels but lots more expensive - does have a screen though.
These are autonomous so you can control the from software and draw pretty graphs/gauges etc but they will work (read sensors, change fan speeds, sound alarms) even if Windows isn't.
 
Cenedd said:
What OJ said. It's mainly useful for turning the speed down until it's quiet enough not to irritate you. A decent decoupling mount helps with this too. EK's DDC heatsink is good for keeping the pump cool as well as providing rubber legs to mount it....assuming you have a DDC pump that is.

Clouding in your tubes isn't a good thing. It probably means you didn't flush out your rad well enough or it could be an incompatibility between tubing and coolant. Some coolants and tubing don't get on. Notably Mayhems and Primochill/XSPC. There's a thread on this forum at the moment.
Click to expand...

It is indeed XSPC. Link?
 
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