Question corsair h115i elite capellix setup nightmare

[oam_]

Hello -

I've set up this h115i elite capellix twice now, first time I was thinking defective, second time I'm starting to wonder if either defective again or something is just wrong. Maybe my SATA cable, but I'm not so sure. I've isolated the sata cable connection and received the same results, however I haven't tried a completely new cable. At this point I'm reaching. First attempt I remember seeing smoke on initial boot up, and second attempt I remember smelling the scent of plastic, but didn't see smoke.

The issue: (https://photos.app.goo.gl/7QfvfrsUUXuizX6V6) (cables are messy)

• The fans are spinning, the pump lights up. Commander Core is recognized in devices. However, iCUE doesn't recognize the h115i elite capellix. It also outputs: "Pump Error" and/or "Unknown Device".
• I've tried everything in their support page on both attempts: (https://help.corsair.com/hc/en-us/a...lix-liquid-CPU-cooler-is-not-detected-by-iCUE)
• It kind of works, but after a while the RPM from the pump connector stops reporting and my cpu temps heat up significantly. On both of these AIO cooler attempts: once this happens and I tap the pump head slightly with my finger the temperatures begin returning to normal. This is only a momentary fix and goes back to approaching overheating.
• This is how I'm plugging in the connection from the pump head to Commander Core (https://photos.app.goo.gl/qMA2xr4msABrt23w5) (messy) - I made sure the white pieces are lined up, and it's not loose or anything

Overall, this has been a nightmare and I'm beginning to really hate this product choice, and this ridiculous route through Commander Core. Any help or insight would be appreciated, thank you!

 

[Dragos Manea]

Be sure that the fan header in which you connected the pump is set to 100% all the time from bios

 

[oam_]

Thanks Dragos, I'll give it a try here. I set the fan chart in my bios to always be at 100% now for the corresponding pump header. I had to give it this slight tap w/ my finger to get it going again here. So far the temperature is holding around 29 celcius, not sure if it's going to hold tho. This is always what it does before it stalls out.

5 minutes later: I see it slowly rising now here again, it really seems like it's getting stuck or it doesn't have enough power to keep the rotor moving or something. This is the same behavior my first h115i elite capellix was having too before I replaced it w/ this one.

I just gave it another tap, and the temperatures are good again. I'll see how long it can persist. Is this normal behavior for AIO coolers? Doesn't give me much confidence to set it and forget it unfortunately like my prior air cooler. This is my first AIO, something seems very wrong.

30 or so minutes later: Was holding steady for a while, then same situation occured. Started going up into 70 celcius range, until another slight tap... This is w/ about 10% cpu load.

 

[oam_]

Some progress -

• I tried a completely different SATA cable and had some improvement. Seems temperatures are holding now, but no RGB & 100% fan speed - pretty noisy.
• This H115i Elite Capellix still isn't functional software wise. It appears to detect it in the iCUE software, but it gives me: "Pump Failure".
• The fan speed is 100% and the RGB lights are off as well. I tried forcing the firmware update, but no luck there. Any clues on what to do here next?
• I tried both iCUE3 & iCUE4 w/ the same results - I sent corsair a support ticket, but doubt I'll hear back before I decide to do either return it or replace w/ something else.
• There is another video here w/ a similar issue:
  View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjGa1D6Xx7E
  - I have no idea where this .hex file is that is referred to tho in the video.

Thanks!