Question CORSAIR H110i GTX Water Cooler Not Cooling

[bcaballero]

Up until late 2018 everything was fine, it ran quietly never overheating (I use it mostly for development), then all of a sudden the fans on the water cooler started running at full blast very loudly. The cooler is still under warranty but Corsair suggested I test a few things first.



-In BIOS, and iCUE, was the pump reading 0RPM?
-What's the case and where is the radiator installed?
-Have you tried connecting the pump on a different CPU_Fan header or a dedicated AIO pump header?
-Have you tried changing the thermal paste as well? If so, was there any changes in your temps?
-Are other coolers able to cool down your processor temporarily?


For a perfectly working water cooler to stop working randomly do any of the above sound like they would be the most likely culprit? The Corsair app shows the fan and pump running fine, but even with the PC sitting at the bios or waiting for Windows to be logged into the CPU overheats.

 

[Gmoney06ss]

Other than the first one that would signify complete pump failure, none of those really make sense. I mean I guess it's possible the header on the mobo has failed, but I would think that's very rare.

Can you hear the pump running? Are the tubes coming into the radiator different temperatures?

What are your temps? It could just be a fan issue, but my first guess would be pump failure. If it's still under warranty corsair should take care of you. They usually have pretty good customer service.

 

[rubix_1011]

Did you flash your BIOS, which would reset your fan curves and settings?

What is the outcome of switching the header to another one? I would think this should easily determine whether it was running or not. Also, most of these coolers have the ability to run full speed if you do not connect the PWM header, have you tried this, only powered by the SATA connection?

 

[bcaballero]

Other than the first one that would signify complete pump failure, none of those really make sense. I mean I guess it's possible the header on the mobo has failed, but I would think that's very rare.

Can you hear the pump running? Are the tubes coming into the radiator different temperatures?

What are your temps? It could just be a fan issue, but my first guess would be pump failure. If it's still under warranty corsair should take care of you. They usually have pretty good customer service.

Thanks for the help. I was thinking that pump failure would be the only reason for it to SUDDENLY stop working. As for hearing them, they were such good pump when they were working the thing never really made a sound.

 

[bcaballero]

Did you flash your BIOS, which would reset your fan curves and settings?

What is the outcome of switching the header to another one? I would think this should easily determine whether it was running or not. Also, most of these coolers have the ability to run full speed if you do not connect the PWM header, have you tried this, only powered by the SATA connection?

Thanks!

I did try switching the header and got the same results. I attempted to update the bios but after I started having problems but the CPU go too hot while trying to run the updates. Based on the responses here I'm thinking it has to be pump failure now.

 

[Paperdoc]

Those first and third questions from Corsair are all about checking whether the Pump unit is working. Well, more precisely, whether it is turning and sending back a speed signal. You say yes. You also say that, when this problem started, the obvious symptom was the rad fans suddenly started to run full speed most of the time. This indicates clearly that the CPU's internal temperature sensor reported the over-temperature condition properly, and the mobo CPU_FAN header's automatic control system responded properly by speeding up the rad fans. So all this tells us that most of the system is working.

What those items do not tell us is whether there is any fluid in the cooling loop for the pump to move, to carry heat from CPU to pump to radiator, etc. If the fluid in your system has leaked out significantly, it cannot move the heat to the rad for removal by the fans, even if the pump turns and the rad fans work. Check with Corsair Tech Support for how to fix this.

 

[bcaballero]

Those first and third questions from Corsair are all about checking whether the Pump unit is working. Well, more precisely, whether it is turning and sending back a speed signal. You say yes. You also say that, when this problem started, the obvious symptom was the rad fans suddenly started to run full speed most of the time. This indicates clearly that the CPU's internal temperature sensor reported the over-temperature condition properly, and the mobo CPU_FAN header's automatic control system responded properly by speeding up the rad fans. So all this tells us that most of the system is working.

What those items do not tell us is whether there is any fluid in the cooling loop for the pump to move, to carry heat from CPU to pump to radiator, etc. If the fluid in your system has leaked out significantly, it cannot move the heat to the rad for removal by the fans, even if the pump turns and the rad fans work. Check with Corsair Tech Support for how to fix this.

Thanks for your response. I ended up taking out the entire pump cleaning off the thermal paste and reapplying installing the entire thing. I was able to install iCue now and everything is working properly.

 

[Paperdoc]

Thanks for letting us know, glad you could solve the problem.

 

[Karadjgne]

It was the word 'suddenly'. That usually implies a failure.

If I had to guess why there's a 'sudden' failure of thermal paste, it would be that you used Arctic Silver 5, and it cured. Unfortunately curing means drying out, and on a pump that's a disaster as there are constant vibrations. If the seal on that paste vibrates and breaks, gets knocked, shifted, bumped, dropped, whatever and the seal breaks, then yes, you'll get 'sudden' paste failure and high temps.