So who thinks my Aquaero w/ home made super powerboster will work?

[Diverge]

My next mod is adding a tach sense to my D5 vario.

I emailed Laing asking if it was possible. They were kind enough to tell me how and gave me a picture showing the spot to solder the wire. The pcb board is coated with some kind of insulator, so I just gotta remove the coating off the spot to solder the wire... I might attempt it later tonight

[liguhy]

My next mod is adding a tach sense to my D5 vario.

I emailed Laing asking if it was possible. They were kind enough to tell me how and gave me a picture showing the spot to solder the wire. The pcb board is coated with some kind of insulator, so I just gotta remove the coating off the spot to solder the wire... I might attempt it later tonight

+1 to Liang for the quick, clear, and helpful communication. I'm also an avid backpacker/climber, and outdoor recreation & computer technology are two of the few businesses where they welcome that kind of communication (not to mention their RMA/warranty services). I assume they informed you they couldn't still warranty the pump if you did that, but that's expected.

[Diverge]

I assume they informed you they couldn't still warranty the pump if you did that, but that's expected.

I basically prefaced my email saying that I know modifying anything would void warranties, ect.

Hello Curtis,

I have a D5 vario that's used in my water cooling loop of my desktop computer. I know the pump doesn't come with an RPM sense, but I was wondering it's possible to add one, and if there is anywhere on the PCB that inside the pump to solder a wire on to get a rpm reading?

I'm experienced with electronics, soldering, ect. And know that modifying the pump would void any warranties; as a computer enthusiast who likes tinker with everything, I know the dangers in modifying stuff.

If you are not sure if adding a RPM sense is possible, would you happen to have a schematic of the PCB that's inside the pump?

Thanks,
<my name>

The initial guy didn't know, but he forwarded it to a coworker who knew exactly how to do it - he said they do it, and would even do it for me if I wanted to send the pump to him. Pretty nice of the guy to offer that (Please don't message me asking for this contact. It's not exactly a service they sell, it was more of the guy offering me a favor.. I don't think he wants his email all over the net. If your interested in this, email tech support from laing's website and ask if it is possible. Your luck may vary.)

I just made a brief attempt to solder the wire on... no success so far. I guess I didn't get the coating off, couldn't get the solder to stick... plus it was kinda scary getting my solder iron so close to my water hoses... i'm gonna have to drain my loop and take out the pump to do it right lol

[Vapor]

Could you post it? I would love to have it for my D5 as well

[liguhy]

... plus it was kinda scary getting my solder iron so close to my water hoses... i'm gonna have to drain my loop and take out the pump to do it right lol

I'd say that's a good idea, or you could just do the quicker version and

[Diverge]

Could you post it? I would love to have it for my D5 as well

Sure, here's the info (I haven't confirmed it, so I might be misinterpreting what he wrote yet):

its not real easy but it can be done, we do it here, see attached picture, on the opposite side as the red dial control there is a silver colored spot, see pictures, you need to clean off the conformal coating off the spot so that you can solder your tack wire to that.

The picture he sent is kinda blurry, and I don't think his pen tip is extactly on the spot he was refering to. but if you look in that area, you'll see a trace that ends in a little silver circle, with some label near it. I think that is the silver colored spot he was referring to.

If you have an oscilloscope, you can probe that spot and see if the signal varies when you adjust the speed setting. Could save us blowing up our fan controllers ;p

edit: hmm, i might just bring my T3 and pump to work and check it out with an oscilloscope. I can just run some short tubes from inlet to outlet on the T3, and it will be easy to do at work w/o the whole pc water loop

[Diverge]

Update; it works

I just gently scraped the coating off the little circle with a small screw driver till I started to see some copper color. Then it was easy to get some solder to stick. I figured I could use my old fan controller, since I just got a aquaero, and I wouldn't care if i blew it up the old one.



Min setting:

Max setting:

[Vapor]

It does work indeed

Nice showing...I'll have to mod mine up sometime when I get a chance, I like logging RPMs for my tests

[Diverge]

It does work indeed

Nice showing...I'll have to mod mine up sometime when I get a chance, I like logging RPMs for my tests

I really wanted it so my aquaero knows if the pump is actually on or not. Now that I have it controlling the pump voltage, i needed something for it to know if for whatever reason, it didn't startup at the set voltage.

I have coretemp to start at windows boot, and have it set to shutdown if my cpu temp reaches 75 deg C... and that had kicked in a few times when making adjustments to how I had it controlling the pump. Now I should have another fail safe option.

[Vapor]

Yeah, good call there. A D5 at 1800RPM may be the weakest pump readily available...but it's a heck of a lot better than a D5 at 0RPM

[Diverge]

Yeah, good call there. A D5 at 1800RPM may be the weakest pump readily available...but it's a heck of a lot better than a D5 at 0RPM

yeah, sure is. I saw multiple times how fast the cpu temp increases when the pump stops. happens so fast you don't even have time to goto windows start button -> shutdown, or increase the pump voltage via aquaeros software. It scared me a couple of times lol

[Vapor]

Yeah, if the CPU is loaded and overclocked well, it's fast enough that if you unplug a DDC and plug it back in, the system will have crashed by the time the start-up delay passes

D5s start a little faster and a little more progressively though....but I haven't tried a live stop/start with one.

Anyway, really, really great info in this thread here

[Factotum]

German experience

[Grinder]

Can anyone confirm soldering a tach wire to the Swiftech mcp655? (I understand this is a rebranded Liang D5 vario).

I'm looking for more evidence this works, or still works, and wary of differences in PCB. I like the reliability of the D5 - I have an old mcp650 that is still working great. I'd like to drive it from the power supply but monitor the rpm (and flow with a flow sensor for that matter) with a BigNG/Aquaero/TMS-200.

[Diverge]

Can anyone confirm soldering a tach wire to the Swiftech mcp655? (I understand this is a rebranded Liang D5 vario).

I'm looking for more evidence this works, or still works, and wary of differences in PCB. I like the reliability of the D5 - I have an old mcp650 that is still working great. I'd like to drive it from the power supply but monitor the rpm (and flow with a flow sensor for that matter) with a BigNG/Aquaero/TMS-200.

Pop the back off your pump and look for the pad to attach the tach wire too. If it's there, you should be fine. It's a simple mode, hardest part is getting the enamel off the pad so solder will stick to it.

[Grinder]

Thanks Diverge. The thing is, I haven't ordered the pump yet (can't get these things locally in Halifax ) In Canada, I often deal with NCIX and they carry Swiftech.

So I'm trying to decide between a Swiftech mcr655-b (rpm wire but setting 4), a Swiftech mcr655 (adjustable, no rpm wire but possible?), or a Swiftech mcr355 (could be adjusted with voltage, has rpm wire, but possibly a little louder and a little less reliable than the D5).

Ideally, I want a mcr655 with an rpm sensor. If I can't be certain of that, I'll go with a mcr655-b, providing I can find proof that the performance diff between setting 4 and 5 is minimal. If it is not, I'll consider the mcr355 and a top.

[Church]

imho 655B is not worth it. Noise & performance wise 350 is similar, but uses less power and is smaller.

[Sadasius]

Damn I am going to try this maybe this weekend. Got 2 of them that could use this mod. Would be nice to know when a pump fails or if it is running slow etc. Thanks Diverge!

[Grinder]

imho 655B is not worth it. Noise & performance wise 350 is similar, but uses less power and is smaller.

I guess I the D5 style gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling, since my Swiftech MCP650 has lasted 5.5 years and going strong (crosses fingers) And I have lots of room in my case

Actually I'm planning on a fan controller (aquaero, bigng, or tms-200) and I don't plan to drive it from the controller. Just monitor the rpm and probably flow. I'm not religious about super quiet, but I like the idea of the vario without having to mess with the voltage that I'm driving the pump with.

Damn I am going to try this maybe this weekend. Got 2 of them that could use this mod. Would be nice to know when a pump fails or if it is running slow etc. Thanks Diverge!

I'll be watching

[Grinder]

Are we there yet Sadasius?

[jcrouse]

Somewhat unrelated, but after this mod, if I set the dial to 5, is it possible to control the speed using voltage with an Aquaero 5.

Thanks,
John