Cooler Master seidon 120v fan noise

[theramsian]

I know this is a highly repeated question but I have searched each and every thread regarding the same topic, I have a coolder master Seidon 120v and I had it for few months now. the pump was connected directly through a 3-pin power connector coming from my case (which has a fan speed controller attached on top of my NZXT phantom 630 full tower) I didn't realize all that time that my fan controller was set on normal speed, however 3 days ago I changed my fan speed to max (which is supposed to provide full 12V for any fan attached including the water pump). ever since I did my pump started making weird noise, I also noticed that changing that speed varies the LED lighting under the pump cover I can see it clear. after search I connected the pump to several ports including CPU connector, CPU_OPT which does the same function, and also Chassis fans (PWM and DC modes) same thing happened when the fan reaches 100%.

I am tired of searching, I don't know if it's completely safe to keep the pump at that level of rpm, it's not doing anything bad neither to the CPU temperatures nor the performance, I got solid 28c-30c at idle mood, my maximum temp at 100% CPU load (using Kombuster CPU stress test) was 60c. Help!

Link for the noise test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2jrS-jq4AE

 

[the nerd 389]

That is not a good noise at all. Those pumps usually use an electromagnet to keep the pump rotor centered. If you ran the pump without the full 12v on it's positive pin (3-pin speed control will lower this voltage), it can damage the pump. Simply put, this happens because the pump won't have enough power to keep the rotor centered, and it ends up scraping one of the sides of the pump housing.

You want the pump to use a 4-pin connector if you want speed control, and it should be in PWM mode. This gives the pump a full 12v on it's power connection, and controls speed with the 4th wire instead. Since full speed causes that sound regardless of how it's set up at full speed, you should run it slower using this form of speed control. Keep the speed just low enough to prevent that sound completely.

Eventually, you won't be able to stop the sound reliably by dropping the speed. When this happens, order a new cooler, as it means the one you have is about to go out.

 

[Ironsounds]

Hello... A Fast spinning propeller-impeller (pump) can cause "Cavitation" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation

 

[theramsian]

That is not a good noise at all. Those pumps usually use an electromagnet to keep the pump rotor centered. If you ran the pump without the full 12v on it's positive pin (3-pin speed control will lower this voltage), it can damage the pump. Simply put, this happens because the pump won't have enough power to keep the rotor centered, and it ends up scraping one of the sides of the pump housing.

You want the pump to use a 4-pin connector if you want speed control, and it should be in PWM mode. This gives the pump a full 12v on it's power connection, and controls speed with the 4th wire instead. Since full speed causes that sound regardless of how it's set up at full speed, you should run it slower using this form of speed control. Keep the speed just low enough to prevent that sound completely.

Eventually, you won't be able to stop the sound reliably by dropping the speed. When this happens, order a new cooler, as it means the one you have is about to go out.

I can keep it connected through that 3 pin power connector which is connected to my global fan controller so I can handle the noise, it has got 3 levels, 100%, 70%, and 40%. When I drop it to 40%% the noise disappears, anything further starts the noise, safety wise I will keep it fully powered, and thanks for the advice but I won't recommend that cooler to anyone else.

 

[the nerd 389]

If you put that water pump on a 3-pin connection, it will be destroyed. This is not unique to that cooler. This is true of almost all water pumps. If you don't have a 4-pin connector, get a different cooler ASAP. That one won't last long on a 3-pin connector.

 

[theramsian]

Alright I changed now on 4-pin connector, I actually got 4 of them free to use, so I connected the pump on 4-pin but it still makes that noise, so I went to my fan controller utility program supported by my motherboard and now I am about to change rpm levels, after many some attempts changing the rpm, it seems the pump starts the noise after 1600 rpm, so should I keep at 1600 fixed?

 

[the nerd 389]

Yes, you want to keep it between 1500 and 1600 if the noise starts at 1600. Also, double check to make sure that the 4-pin header you're using is set to use PWM mode if there's an option for PWM/DC control.

 

[theramsian]

Thanks a lot for the help, that'll do it.