Choosing The Best Pump for Your WaterCooling System

[LANjack]

Anyone have any comments on mcp650, good or bad?

I'm looking to get a small 12v pump that has good head. Ultimately I'd like to house the pump inside the case, with some sort of custom fixation for the heatercore to the side of the case. These marine pumps look big, are they?
Oh this would be probably a pretty resctrictive loop. Ultimately I would be phase cooling the cpu, but until I can save the money, I'm going to be cooling cpu, gpu, and eventually ram. I hope to run 1/2" tubing.


Any other suggestions/advice is mucho appreciated.

[The_Dark_Hacker]

i like them. i have one. if you are going to use them i recommend getting 2 and running them in seriies. i was thinking about getting 2 but i have to wait till i build a rad box

[LANjack]

Yea but running two would kind of take the point out of buying it because its smaller, no? I think Ill get some dimension specs on the others, they don't look too big in some of the gallery pictures.

[MaxxxRacer]

the mcp650 (lain d4) is realy small compared to the marine pumps. The marine pumps when hooked up around around 4 to 5 inches tall and about a foot long.. Suffice to say the are freeking huge. But I love mine...

[LANjack]

After lots of careful consideration, I've decided to go with the BlueLine HD20 Water Pump 420gph #495 @ 109$, it's supposed to be the same as the iwaki md20, and supposedly quieter.

[Holst]

Ive been very happy with my eheim 1250 pump.
Just about the right size for watercooling and very well built and reliable.

[slavik]

I assembled a water system for my friend with an L30 (or L35) and to hear it, I had to move my ear to about 6" and then I heard a quiet humm

I am sure that pumps in general would be quieter, because even though water transfers sound much better than air, water density is much higher, so the sound spreads out more and travels more (by molecule) than in air

what I mean by travels more is that in air, a string of 100molecules will be longer than a strain of 100 molecules in water (so sound travels through more molecules in water and gets dampened)

The Iwaki noise is a deeper sound. It isnt like the whiny sound of fans. Its a powerful rumbling type of sound. It feels like a really weak sub (speaker) is going. But its low enough that when the computers fans are on (even on low) it gets washed out and u cant tell its there. Just as long as the pump doesnt touch anything metal. If the pump touches your case it will sound like you are running a saw zall in ur room. It makes the case vibrate like a back massager... Thats why i run my pump with it sitting on the carpet outside of the case.. makes tubing easier and it makes the system quieter and easier to work on.. Just not portable.

[LANjack]

So with the Iwaki RZT, am I correct in assuming that you would need some serious clamps on the hoses for that kind of pressure?

[Craig]

So with the Iwaki RZT, am I correct in assuming that you would need some serious clamps on the hoses for that kind of pressure?

Hose clamps should be used with all pumps to insure no leaks. Higher pressure pumps do need them more, but they are always a good idea. Worm drive clamps are my choice with my MD20Z.

[MaxxxRacer]

I use the plastic ones, but I have to go with craig on this one. The steel hose clamps that you screw tight are the much better way to go. they are ugly, but they get alot more pressure than the plastic ones. Even with my hose clamps I had some issues with my tdx leaking when i shortened up the tubing line going from the iwaki. But i quickly fixed it by retightening everything in the area.

[Craig]

...... they are ugly, but they get alot more pressure than the plastic ones.

Hmmm, OK, for bling....www.pi-thon.com

Originally for show car lines. They'll hold any pressure from a PC water pump ......5X over. Bit expensive however.

And to go with them check out the anodized alum fans here.......www.so-trickcomputers.com

Hope these links help......

[Holst]

I use silicone hoze, which is quite thick and soft.

As its so soft it sort of "sticks" to the barbs, so you dont need to use clamps.
I just use tyewraps so you cant pull the hoze off by accident.

Appart from not being clear its the best watercooling hoze by a long way IMHO.

[blowsion]

am having an alphacool 900 liter pump it can go all the way up to 1500 liter if u put 24 v on it

[MaxxxRacer]

Interesting. Does it dump alot of heat into the system? Got any pics or pq curves I can take a look at.

[blowsion]

http://www.alphacool.de more info can be found on this page

[nikhsub1]

The ultimate pump I've found so far: Iwaki RD-30 24v

[MaxxxRacer]

I heard cathar talk about it but ive never seen one...

Nick, got any other specs like heat output on that baby.. it sure looks purty... Also what fittings does it use.. I would like to put this in the uberleetxtreme category in my guide..

That thing gives more head that a :banana::banana::banana::banana: star... scarry!

[nikhsub1]

I heard cathar talk about it but ive never seen one...

Nick, got any other specs like heat output on that baby.. it sure looks purty... Also what fittings does it use.. I would like to put this in the uberleetxtreme category in my guide..

That thing gives more head that a :banana::banana::banana::banana: star... scarry!

Well the specs say it runs on 3.2A at 24v, so 3.2 x 24 = 76.8W consumption. Cathar thinks this is in reality much lower, my multimeter won't read the AC, need a new on. Anyway, at 18V, Cathar estimate about 23w gets to the water or 83% of consumption. See here: http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/sho...&postcount=182 and here for a P/Q at 18v: http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/sho...&postcount=153

The pump has 3/4" barbed fittings, the only way it comes. You can get 1/2" OD tubing on it, but it is a biatch.

Maxxx, keep in mind that pumps in regards to heat output will vary greatly depending on what is being cooled, the heat load and the rad(s) used. For HOT CPU's and GPU cooling, pump heat is MUCH less of a concern than say a stock cpu with a small rad. My system for example will benefit from more power and wont really care about the additional pump heat, My Pressy at 4Ghz probably pumps out 130W or so, my vid card maybe another 40W and then I have the 120.3. With that said, Cathar has ranked the RD-30 as numero uno among all the pumps thus far at 18v.

[EnJoY]

How do you make it run at 18v? Also, where did you buy that? I'd like to pick up the RD-20 maybe.

[MaxxxRacer]

u run it at 18volts with a meanwell power supply or something equivalent... same thing used to power TECs...

Nick, I know abut hte heat being less of a factor in hotter systems, I was just curious...

[nikhsub1]

Yes, I have a meanwell S-240-24 that has a voltage adjustment knob right on the back, very handy. The pump can sustain 26v according to specs, I will most likely just run the sucker at 24v. I would imagine 26v would give it close to a 40 foot head

These pumps are VERY hard to come by... I found a guy selling 6 brand new on ebay for about $100 each, I bought 2 but got 3; The first pump I received has a broken mounting tab, the pump is fine but one of the mounting tabs broke clean off, I still have the tab and the pump, the seller told me to just keep it, he sent me a new one and got reimbursed by UPS for the damage. I then bought another one for Cathar and sent it to him. So, I have a perfectly brand new RD-30 with a broken mounting tab sitting here. No I am NOT selling it, sorry!

[MaxxxRacer]

nick my good friend. have you heard of the offer you cant refuse I have one for your for that rd-30..

But seriously.. is there anywhere that we can consistently get these.. I want to add them to my sticky but I wont do so until I can find a reliable place to get them.. I dont want to send ppl on a wild goose chase and have them pming me like mad to find these things..

also was cathar able to find a 12volt version of this pump. If there was a 12volt version it really would be the ultimate solution...

[EnJoY]

http://www.ryanhercoproducts.com/Aut...EC=640&GRP=400

Make the call it seems...

[The_Dark_Hacker]

i want one of those pumps. they are beautiful. does that thing weight like 50 pounds. it looks like it

[EnJoY]

No, that pump weighs about 2 1/2 pounds. Here is a link to information on all the RD series pumps, I believe you could order them from this site as well: http://www.oberread.com/IW_RD_Series.htm