Project "CUBEIT"

[GeoffP]

Well, looks like I have a dead pump

Checked cabling as I cut the length down and sleeved it, but absolutely no problems there, everything is insulated properly.

Pump runs from 8-24VDC - molex is providing 9.9V so plenty of power.

The only conclusion I can draw is that the pump is dead.

I can get one locally from PCCaseGear but that doesn't help with this unit. Don't think I can RMA it now as I have chopped the power cable, besides I got it from PPC and I am never buying anything from them again. The down time would also be excessive.

Pretty much I'm screwed and have to go for a local replacement pump.

Really, really pissed at the moment

Is there anything else I can try??

[teyber]

thats a huge case! i like it. sorry if i read wrong, but did i see that there was going to be 2 thermochills?

[GeoffP]

what pump is it? why cant you try 12V? thats what is is meant to go on i am guessing, and i bet the lesser amount cant supply it with enough. just plug your PSU into a mobo for a real test. the PSU may not be giving enough amps if its not giving the full volts

Check the sig
Swiftech MPS655

Hmmm, a bit worried as this is a leak test, I suppose I could plug it in and quickly flick the p/supply on & off to see if the pump fires up. Pump does need 1.9A.

EDIT: OK, just tried it with mobo plugged in, mobo lit up, pump still dead.

[GeoffP]

thats a huge case! i like it. sorry if i read wrong, but did i see that there was going to be 2 thermochills?

Hi, thanks, no only one rad..

[hoax]

is this the very first time you attempt to power up the pump??

really sorry to hear you have to go thru all this after so much work.. hope it works out

[GeoffP]

yep, first time
just about sums up my week.
gonna see if i can pull it apart - if not, throw it thru the wall.

[septim]

teyber, its ranker who has 3 thermochill rads...

geoffp, are you really sure about wiring of pump, you could have mistaken wiring, if not, then sorry to hear another setback...

[GeoffP]

Well,

Pulled pump apart, as much as I could anyway. NB: Like the magnetic half dome spinning thingamajigy

All cabling is correct, black to black, red to red - not real hard to get right, but worth checking again.

Pulled out an EDM 13.8VDC 2A Power supply and connected pump to it, nothing.

Bugger,
As per the picture there isn't much to check for on the circuit board (not for me anyway), no obvious burnt components, etc.

Put it back together, gave it one last try, BINGO, it started (only ran it for a second or two dry), but it ran...

Not sure why now and not before, put it back on the pc p/supply. nada, put it back on the seperate EDM p/supply, no problems..

So, setup the loop to be temporarily powered by the EDM while I leak test.

Been running about 30 minutes - no leaks at all YET - good thing, good thing

Boy that pump is noisy with the bubbles ripping thru it - didn't take too long to get rid of the majority of them. Lots of little one though.

Kinda got a vortex thingy happening in the REK res. Filled it practically to the top, have the top on and sealed, vortec still happening, not sure if bubbles are getting sucked back into the pump from the vortec, or bubbles are raising to the surface of the rad.



The question still remains, why doesn't either power supply I used get the pump going?

Pump is supposed to be power from 8V to 24V - needs 1.9A, maybe the p/supply needs more load on it apart from one mobo & one cd-drive to get it going - don't know, I'm not an electrician.

Would love to hear some theories from you techie guys

[dinos22]

pump, mobo + CD should be plenty of load for pump jump start

strange thing there

is your molex plugging in correctly in the PSU plug.....the only thing i can think of

[septim]

must be something wrong with your wiring, like broken wire perhaps. or the connectors are non contacting...

[InTheFlow]

Pump runs from 8-24VDC - molex is providing 9.9V so plenty of power.

You should have a higher voltage at the connector. It is a 12V line so with the +- 5% tolerances factored in you should see between 11.4 - 12.6 V on the +12 V Line. Since it works with the other PS, I think the low voltage is the issue. What voltage reading do you get when you measure the +12V line on the other PS? If the EDM's voltage is between the above values, then it has to be something wrong with your other power supply or the wiring job.

I'd look at the wiring first. How did you re-connect any wires that you previously cut? Did you solder them back together or do it another way? If you soldered them, were the solder connections shiny or dull looking after you were finished?

[GeoffP]

You should have a higher voltage at the connector. It is a 12V line so with the +- 5% tolerances factored in you should see between 11.4 - 12.6 V on the +12 V Line. Since it works with the other PS, I think the low voltage is the issue. What voltage reading do you get when you measure the +12V line on the other PS? If the EDM's voltage is between the above values, then it has to be something wrong with your other power supply or the wiring job.

I'd look at the wiring first. How did you re-connect any wires that you previously cut? Did you solder them back together or do it another way? If you soldered them, were the solder connections shiny or dull looking after you were finished?

Both pc p/supplies are providing approx 9.9V at the 4-pin molex - this is measuring the black & red wires on the molex - positive & negative. Can someone tell me what is the purpose of the orange & second black wire.

Soldering is fine but thanks for the suggestion

Leak testing - after 3 hours, NO leaks anywhere.
Only bubbles I can see are when I tap the rad, tends to release a surge of bubbles, but they quickly bleed out in the rad

Wiring job on the pump is OK as it is running fine on the EDM p/supply.

Can someone with the MCP655 do me a favour please, pretty please. Unplug it and take a photo of the end of the plug looking into the molex pins, plus if not viewable make a note of red & black cables leading to the molex pins.

Am asking for this as I am 99.999% sure I have the read & black pins on the correct side of the molex - pays to be sure though.

LEAK TESTING - After 3 hours no leaks at all

The only bubbles I see are when I tap the rad, that releases a small surge of air bubbles that are still trapped. They quickly bleed out through the rad though.

[dinos22]

you have to grab the RAD and give it a good shake a few times to get rid of all the bubbles

[GeoffP]

you have to grab the RAD and give it a good shake a few times to get rid of all the bubbles

LOL - that will be a bit hard, it is mounted in the U2 case I might gently lift the case on its side a bit, see how that goes.

[GeoffP]

Last update for today.

Re-wired and sleeved two 120mm fans for the rear hard drive mounting plates. Four hard drives will be mounted at the rear of the case. Two per mounting plate/fan location.
Before
After Nice and long to route along the edge of the case to the front fan controller.

These Noctua fans don't seem to push much air - they will be changed for Scythe SFF21F's if they turn out to be crap.

3 1/2 hours leak tested, still no leaks

[alpha0ne]

Both pc p/supplies are providing approx 9.9V at the 4-pin molex - this is measuring the black & red wires on the molex - positive & negative. Can someone tell me what is the purpose of the orange & second black wire.

Black and red @ the molex under load should read 5.0V, yellow and black should read 12.0V

[GeoffP]

Black and red @ the molex under load should read 5.0V, yellow and black should read 12.0V

So
A) If I had the Black & Red molex pins FROM the pump connected to the Black & Red molex pins FROM the p/supply under load I will only get 5.0V

BUT

B) if I had the Black & Red molex pins FROM the pump connected to the Yellow & Black molex pins FROM the p/supply under load I will get 12.0V?

Is this correct in my layman's terms? Sorry to sound like a dag, I just want to make sure.

Currently looks like I am using option A) which will under volt the pump.

Looks like I may have transposed the molex pins to the wrong side of the molex connector which would explain my problem

Thanks heaps alphaOne.

[GeoffP]

Picked up small leak from bottom rad barb 5 1/2 hours in leak testing. Only happens when I move the tubing - re-cabled-tied the tube, no probs

[septim]

yep yellow and black from PSU would give you 12v
which is what you need to run pump.

Lolz geoffp, at least you are good to go now.

[GeoffP]

DOH DOH DOH me so silly...............

[InTheFlow]

LOL - that will be a bit hard, it is mounted in the U2 case I might gently lift the case on its side a bit, see how that goes.

Yep, this can be tough. What worked best for me was to tilt the case up on a corner and move it around relatively violently. Once I stopped getting air out in that position, I'd switch to a different corner.

Both pc p/supplies are providing approx 9.9V at the 4-pin molex - this is measuring the black & red wires on the molex - positive & negative. Can someone tell me what is the purpose of the orange & second black wire.

The molex connector has two black wires in the middle. They are both ground. Then as alphaOne said, there is a 12V yellow wire on one side and the 5V red wire on the other.

I'm glad you figured out the problem and simply need to flip the pins around on your connector to fix the issue. However, I don't understand how you can be measuring 9.9V on the 5V line...

What voltage does your multimeter show you now that you have corrected the pin layout on the molex connector?

[GeoffP]

However, I don't understand how you can be measuring 9.9V on the 5V line...

What voltage does your multimeter show you now that you have corrected the pin layout on the molex connector?

The reb/black reading is an unloaded voltage measurement. Haven't measured the yellow/black pins yet, will do so tomorrow and post results.

[GeoffP]

Leak Testing:
Run for 17 hours now. No more leaks...

Can't see any bubbles in the loop at all.

Also plugged pumps red/black pins in molex so they marry with orange/black from pc p/supply. Turned on pc p/supply, pump runs my bad

[InTheFlow]

Also plugged pumps red/black pins in molex so they marry with orange/black from pc p/supply. Turned on pc p/supply, pump runs my bad

Congrats on getting it working. What voltage reading do you get?

[septim]

plug in the rest of the components and seal that case...