Koolance CTR-SPD10 Pump & Fan Speed Controller - Thoughts?

[Coldon]

link: http://www.koolance.com/water-coolin...product_id=750

So I've finally gotten annoyed with my ddc3.2's high pitched whine at full speed, my loop is really low restriction and my flow rate doesnt need to be that high.

I have a sunbeam rheobus controller that states it can do 20w a channel but when i hooked my pump up to it it didnt exactly work as intended so since then I've been looking around for a decent controller and i had settled on the koolance TMS-200 since it has a dedicated pump out and slightly more channels than the bigNG but since then all reviews I've read have complained about software issues, and I want one less thing to deal with to be honest.

I then saw they have the CTR-SPD10 controller as well which looks perfect for what I need, I'm just curious as to whether it is an analog or PWM controller and I cant find that info on the koolance site.

Does anyone have any experience with this controller? Any alternatives?

[astrodanco]

You can also ask Koolance support directly.

[Kibbler]

The latest software version (2.1.26) has been trouble-free for me, but there may be problems with other hardware combos.

The software is also open source now but I don't think anyone has done anything special with it yet.

That controller you linked to has a dial which means it's probably just a rheobus.

[Coldon]

I know that, but i would like a first hand account of someone that's used it... For example my sunbeam rheobus should have handled the pump fine since its 20w per channel, but it didn't and burnt out the one channel.

If I ask koolance about the TMS-200 they'd tell me how awesome it is and how i wont have any problems with it, but all the reports I've read from actual owners are quite different.

[Coldon]

The latest software version (2.1.26) has been trouble-free for me, but there may be problems with other hardware combos.

The software is also open source now but I don't think anyone has done anything special with it yet.

That controller you linked to has a dial which means it's probably just a rheobus.

Yeh, I'm just wondering if its a big analog pot or if its a pwm voltage regulator.
The more I think about it the more I realize I dont really adjust my fans or pump that much so having a fancy software controller is kinda pointless. I'm gonna fire off an email to them and see what they say...

[Church]

I'm guessing, that problems with using rheobus might rise from it changing voltage in 0-12 range, but DDC pump having operating voltage range much narrower, IIRC 8-13.? volts ..

[Coldon]

yeh that's exactly the problem, The full range of motion for the knob on the rheobus is around 240 degrees with only around 80 degrees of that for the operating range of the pump, which makes pump adjustment a very sensitive operation. It also seems to change the range depending on the load on the channel, with a light load, the LED color (7v) swap happens at around the 1 o'clock position and on heavy load it occurs around 11/12 o'clock position.

Also since the color changes at 7v and once I've throttled the pump down to around 2000rpm using the controller, the damn LED, starts flashing between blue and red so my room looks like I have a cop car parked in it (the damn SUPER BRIGHT leds are already insanely annoying as is). Don't ask me why its flashing the lights (i'm guessing tis to do with the PWM circuitry or something), or why it even thinks its running at anywhere near to 7v, my pump is running at around half speed so I'm guessing that should be around 8~9v...

I ran it for a while (~3 hours) like that, before I smelt some burning rubber and my PC shut down. I've noticed noticed that the plug on the rheobus was starting to melt, i unplugged it and now that channel is dead. So yeh not doing that again...

I've also heard horrible things about the lamptron controllers and win7 support for the bigNG/miniNG is still flaky...

[SoulsCollective]

Honestly, I'd just grab a big-ass resistor and heatsink it. You don't need control, just reduced speed, and that's probably going to be the least expensive option,

[Church]

If analogue voltage regulation used via rheostats, then you get heat dissipation when running on downvolted .. when pwm is in use, then it's just fast switching between fullpower/off, so no such issue. One might notice in specsheet for controllers that can do both analog and pwm voltage regulation, that those can handle much more via pwm. I'm guessing that your burnt controller wasn't enough to handle DDC's power usage in analogue mode or needed some extra cooling (eg. small fan blowing on it, or some heatspreaders attached)
P.S.
That high notch whine of DDC most probably is caused by small air bubbles in water hitting impeller .. those might be gone after running loop for longer time .. but then again might be reintroduced in some setups, eg. with high flow loop in reservuar via waterwhirl. No wonders that there are some antityphoon or antiwhirl(?) (or what was the right name. i'm too lazy to check) inserts in some model of reservoirs.

[Sideroxylon]

I've also heard horrible things about the lamptron controllers and win7 support for the bigNG/miniNG is still flaky...

I run my bigNG/miniNG through Win7 and have no problems. Best fan/pump controller I've ever had hands down.

[Coldon]

I run my bigNG/miniNG through Win7 and have no problems. Best fan/pump controller I've ever had hands down.

Really?! I heard that there were some issue with the software in win7? So are those sorted out now? Hm... maybe the bigNG is back on the table for me

I've been running my loop for around 3 months now. I'm using an XSPC bay res, and at the moment have a hwlabs 240 and a swiftech 320 in the loop with the GTZ and my flow rate is pretty crazy...

when I did throttle the pump the noise dissipated so chance are my flow rate is a bit high but i don't see any sort of vortex in my res, only a bit of surface deformation (which probably means that there is one but isn't visible) above the inlet to the pump. AFAIK there is no anti vortex insert for my res. Now that I think about it my last two pumps were noisy but i had pump mounted res's while my first ddc3.2 was quiet and I was running a T-line back then.

Like I said I really dont need the crazy flow rate I'm getting atm, plus I think I might have gotten a 3.25 pump by accident since the rpm reading at 12v is 4500~4600.

[Church]

With issue you mean no support under Win7? I recall reading some time ago here @XS that there was new version released that supports it.
As for custom antivortex insert .. IIRC some people here (NaeKuh?) used credit card as such
BTW, i also heard about one case, where noise was caused by overtightened 3rd party top of DDC, where pump's impeller touched slightly it.
I might also blame for noise possible vibration going to case as resonator .. but you told that previous 3.2 was fine, and described noise as high pitch whine, i'm guessing, it's not the case. BTW, you might also dissassemble pump and recheck for any dye residue/gunk/alikes it's insides ..

[astrodanco]

The latest software version (2.1.26) has been trouble-free for me, but there may be problems with other hardware combos.

The software is also open source now but I don't think anyone has done anything special with it yet.

The TMS-200 software may be open source, but it's also VB6 which has been dead for over 10 years now. Insane that they used VB6 for this. VB.net is a different animal and the conversion from one to the other is something else. About all that is useful in this source code is to see how it communicates with the board and then role your own.

[Waterlogged]

Maybe try a 3.1 then?

What have you done in the way of isolating the pump from chassis?

How much open grill work is between you and the pump?

[Coldon]

the bay-res comes with rubber mounts, the noise is straight from the pump, it is possible its being amplified but once i rebuild my loop, i'll strip down the pump and res and remount it with some extra padding...

the bay fits in the 5.25 bay, there is no grill work between me and the pump... just a piece of plexi.

[avddreamr]

I'm pretty sure that it will do the job. It's probably similar to the knob they have on their integrated pump/res units. Those originally shipped with ddc2 pump, which at full tilt will give you whine that makes you think there is a banshee in your computer case.
Another alternative is to take your pump, and mod it to a ddc 3.1, if your pump is not the most current version that is capable of this, it is a simple as desoldering the power wire, and moving it to a different spot.

[Vapor]

I use one of these SPD10 pump controllers to control a DDC3.2 on my testbed, I like it A LOT.

Bottoms out at ~7.65V and tops out at ~12.5V at moderate flowrates Never had any issues with overheating or odd pump noises or anything.

[Coldon]

I use one of these SPD10 pump controllers to control a DDC3.2 on my testbed, I like it A LOT.

Bottoms out at ~7.65V and tops out at ~12.5V at moderate flowrates Never had any issues with overheating or odd pump noises or anything.

thanks vapor, thats awesome to know, finally a first hand opinion!

[Toolius]

This is just a little off topic but umm would this controller work on the MCP 350 ?
i just bought the MCR 220 Drive and a apogee xt and the Whine is a little bothersome.
Im thinking i should just get a MCR 220 rad and a speed controlled MCP 655 if that will be quieter at setting 2 or 3 ?
i have tried everything to get any stuck air bubbles out if at all there were any and i dont think there is any air in the loop anymore.
The whine kinda changes every 30 - 40 seconds ..gets higher pitched and then slightly lower pitched and then higher again.. Am wondering if i have a faulty or unbalanced pump maybe ? is there a way i can check ?
Cheers guys !

[Waterlogged]

This is just a little off topic but umm would this controller work on the MCP 350 ?
i just bought the MCR 220 Drive and a apogee xt and the Whine is a little bothersome.
Im thinking i should just get a MCR 220 rad and a speed controlled MCP 655 if that will be quieter at setting 2 or 3 ?
i have tried everything to get any stuck air bubbles out if at all there were any and i dont think there is any air in the loop anymore.
The whine kinda changes every 30 - 40 seconds ..gets higher pitched and then slightly lower pitched and then higher again.. Am wondering if i have a faulty or unbalanced pump maybe ? is there a way i can check ?
Cheers guys !

If it's changing pitch like that, your still recycling air.

[Toolius]

Thank you soo much sir waterlogged ! Cant appreciate your help enough sir !
i am uploading a video of my MCR 220 Drive with the Whine right now.
All i have running in the video is the MCR 220 drive pump. No fans at all .
Would highly appreciate it if you could tell me is this whine normal sir ?
Its been going like this for the last 2 days..
Thank you soo much for the help again... Would really love it if i can get this sorted and not have to spend another 200 $ on another W/c system and another 200 $ to ship it to india
Cheers sir.. and kind regards !

Edit .. here is the video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scr258p2CT4

[Waterlogged]

Thank you soo much sir waterlogged ! Cant appreciate your help enough sir !
i am uploading a video of my MCR 220 Drive with the Whine right now.
All i have running in the video is the MCR 220 drive pump. No fans at all .
Would highly appreciate it if you could tell me is this whine normal sir ?
Its been going like this for the last 2 days..
Thank you soo much for the help again... Would really love it if i can get this sorted and not have to spend another 200 $ on another W/c system and another 200 $ to ship it to india
Cheers sir.. and kind regards !

Edit .. here is the video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scr258p2CT4

Hm, that doesn't sound like the normal air recirculation but then again, it's not a normal setup. If you can get some kind of clamp and put it on the tubing to slow the flow for a while it might help. It would also help if you put the case on a slight tilt so that the cap on the rad is the highest point and fill it as much as you can (repeat as needed until it's completely full). Give both of those a try and see if it helps any.

[Toolius]

Hello Sir waterlogged..
I tried both those suggestions and still have the same whine from my pump..
Do you think that this particular pump is faulty ?
Will a D5 at setting 2 or 3 be quieter than what i have ?
I have ordered the SPD -10 controller and will check if that helps..
Sorry for all the questions sir and thank you for taking the time to help
kind regards

[Waterlogged]

Hello Sir waterlogged..
I tried both those suggestions and still have the same whine from my pump..
Do you think that this particular pump is faulty ?
Will a D5 at setting 2 or 3 be quieter than what i have ?
I have ordered the SPD -10 controller and will check if that helps..
Sorry for all the questions sir and thank you for taking the time to help
kind regards

I would give the controller a try, if it's still annoying. . .I'd write it up as a flawed design and look at either getting rid of it or dealing with it in some other manner. I'm getting the feeling that by hard mounting the pump to the rad, the rad is amplifying the volume of the DDC whine that for me (in person) is nearly unnoticeable, but in your vid, drove me nuts.

[Coldon]

well i've now ordered the controller, once I receive it, I'll do a mini review on it