Question Cougar Helor 240 - Pump suddenly stopped

[Hankdp26]

Hi guys, I have a weird issue I'm hoping anyone can lend a hand with. I've had my PC for about 2 years now (specs below), and my AIO cooler is a Cougar Helor 240mm.

If you can see the images in Google, it has like a little fan inside the pump, assuming part of the pump itself.

So my issue occurred a couple of days ago, I was downloading a game from Steam and suddenly poof BSOD, I was too slow and forgot to ss the error code, but event viewer showed:

"A fatal hardware error has occurred. A record describing the condition is contained in the data section of this event.

- System

- Provider
[ Name] Microsoft-Windows-WHEA-Logger
[ Guid] {c26c4f3c-3f66-4e99-8f8a-39405cfed220}
EventID 1
Version 0
Level 2
Task 0
Opcode 0
Keywords 0x8000000000000002
- TimeCreated
[ SystemTime] 2023-06-29T01:39:51.8597498Z
EventRecordID 58133
- Correlation
[ ActivityID] {3ef38c16-f522-44fa-8002-463ef06bf3e5}
- Execution
[ ProcessID] 7660
[ ThreadID] 8980
Channel System
Computer DESKTOP-XXXXXX (deleted)
- Security
[ UserID] S-1-5-19
- EventData
Length 298
RawData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

So after it restarted it kept booting to bios but never made it past that, so I hard reset and the PC was able to boot fine, I did a memtest and memories sticks seems fine and I was baffled at what could've caused this as the event log not sure what it means. THEN I noticed that the fan inside the pump had stopped spinning! But the temps were somewhat normal at 35ish idle, so could the BSOD be caused by thermal throttling? Bear in mind my MOBO doesn't have an AIO slot so the its connected to the FAN header, so no AIO information is available anywhere, but NZXT shows the CPU fan which I am assuming is the pump fan kept reading fine RPMs and stuff and the temps arent bad even when gaming. Also, by trying to troubleshoot I tried checking connections and everything was fine, the real head scratcher here is that I read that tilting the case on its side might make the liquid burst possible bubbles that may cause clogging? So I tried to tilt and set back up a few times and the pump fan kinda started working but visibly struggling. So every time I shut down and then turn on again the pump fan is completely stopped, but when I tilt the case on its side (pump now facing up) the fan spins perfectly fine and when I put the case back up the fan either stopps or spins very slowly.

Final details:
the AIO cable feels like they are running liquid.
Temperatures are 35-40 when idle (room temperature is around 70-77 degrees, really gets hot as we're going through a heat wave and room is small)
No weird sounds coming from the pump
Radiator fans spin fine, haven't cleaned the radiator, not sure if a build up of dust in the radiator be the cause of this?

Any idea whats going on? I'm assuming because its already 2 years old the AIO is starting to fail somehow, but not really sure if this failure means I need to replace the AIO ( as you know they are expensive) but really want to avoid another BSOD or any sort of even worst issued due to AIO failure. Thanks for reading and of course for any guidance here!


Intel I7-11700KF
RTX 3080 EVGA FTW 3 ULTRA
2X32 GSkill Trident Royal Elite RAM @4266mhz (they both came in the same package sold as a pair)
Asus Prime B560M-A AC
Cougar 850+ Gold PSU

 

[Aeacus]

THEN I noticed that the fan inside the pump had stopped spinning! But the temps were somewhat normal at 35ish idle, so could the BSOD be caused by thermal throttling?

The "fan" inside the pump is actually flow meter. If it doesn't spin, liquid doesn't move. And if liquid doesn't move, CPU has no cooling (well, technically, it has as much as it takes the liquid to heat up all the way).

And yes, thermal throttle can lead to BSoD. Most of the times, it will kill the power to the entire PC outright.

Temperatures are 35-40 when idle

Idle temps doesn't show anything. Run AIDA64, Prime95 or CinebenchR to benchmark your CPU and look what kind of temps it gets under load. I suggest running the benchmark test at least 30 mins straight, preferably 1h, to see how CPU temps under load are.

I'm assuming because its already 2 years old the AIO is starting to fail somehow, but not really sure if this failure means I need to replace the AIO ( as you know they are expensive)

AIO lifespan is 2-3 years for cheaper ones and 3-5 years for higher-end ones. Since you know that when AIO fails (usually pump motor dies), you have to replace the entire thing. And since AIO is expensive, why do you even use it? It has short lifespan and is expensive to replace.
Air cooler (tower type, e.g NH-D15) is far more durable and only thing that can go bad on it, is 10-15 bucks fan, which is both easy and cheap to replace.

 

[Hankdp26]

The "fan" inside the pump is actually flow meter. If it doesn't spin, liquid doesn't move. And if liquid doesn't move, CPU has no cooling (well, technically, it has as much as it takes the liquid to heat up all the way).

And yes, thermal throttle can lead to BSoD. Most of the times, it will kill the power to the entire PC outright.


Idle temps doesn't show anything. Run AIDA64, Prime95 or CinebenchR to benchmark your CPU and look what kind of temps it gets under load. I suggest running the benchmark test at least 30 mins straight, preferably 1h, to see how CPU temps under load are.



AIO lifespan is 2-3 years for cheaper ones and 3-5 years for higher-end ones. Since you know that when AIO fails (usually pump motor dies), you have to replace the entire thing. And since AIO is expensive, why do you even use it? It has short lifespan and is expensive to replace.
Air cooler (tower type, e.g NH-D15) is far more durable and only thing that can go bad on it, is 10-15 bucks fan, which is both easy and cheap to replace.

Hey man, thank you so much, what I needed to understand is if in fact the flow meter stops spinning it means the cooling is done, now I do, thanks man.

One other thing, the 11k series of chips are so so hot, will an air cooler even a high end one be enough? The money for a new AIO is not a problem I just wanted to be sure I needed a new one, which seems like I do.

Again, thanks a bunch

 

[geofelt]

AIO cooling is essentially air cooling.
The difference is where the heat exchange takes place.
The cooling capability is determined by the radiator or cooling stack fin volume and construction.
A top air cooler like the noctua NH-D15 is comparable in cooling to a 240 aio cooler.

Any modern processor will run hot.
Motherboard makers want to push their processors to go as fast as possible up to the limits of workload and cooling capacity.

You might think that a i9-13900K might be the hottest chip around... But not so.

Core i9-13900K Cooling Guide: Testing Intel's Flagship With Budget Air and Big AIOs

The Core i9-13900K can push even the most capable liquid coolers to their limits, but you don’t lose that much performance if you go with budget-priced air cooling.

www.tomshardware.com

Or this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFgswzTvyc

 

[Aeacus]

One other thing, the 11k series of chips are so so hot, will an air cooler even a high end one be enough?

As geofelt above said, air cooler is enough.

Though, Core i7/i9 K-series has always been hot. E.g i7-7700K is one of the hottest running chip ever made. Mostly due to the poor IHS. But that changed when 13th gen i7 and i9 launched. With the latest high-end chips, running at 95C is the new norm.

Also, when you have high CPU temps, it is not always the fault of CPU cooler. Most of the times, it's the neglect of the owner. E.g if you highly restrict the PC's airflow, by building it inside the fancy aquarium PC case (which is the norm nowadays), then it doesn't matter which CPU cooler you use, CPU still gets hot. Same goes with cleaning PC. Dust will settle and if you don't clean PC insides from dust, it will make thermals worse.

 

[Hankdp26]

As geofelt above said, air cooler is enough.

Though, Core i7/i9 K-series has always been hot. E.g i7-7700K is one of the hottest running chip ever made. Mostly due to the poor IHS. But that changed when 13th gen i7 and i9 launched. With the latest high-end chips, running at 95C is the new norm.

Also, when you have high CPU temps, it is not always the fault of CPU cooler. Most of the times, it's the neglect of the owner. E.g if you highly restrict the PC's airflow, by building it inside the fancy aquarium PC case (which is the norm nowadays), then it doesn't matter which CPU cooler you use, CPU still gets hot. Same goes with cleaning PC. Dust will settle and if you don't clean PC insides from dust, it will make thermals worse.

Thank you so much man! One last thing I promise, any idea why the flow meter starts spinning again when I set my case on its side? (AIO facing up)

 

[Hankdp26]

AIO cooling is essentially air cooling.
The difference is where the heat exchange takes place.
The cooling capability is determined by the radiator or cooling stack fin volume and construction.
A top air cooler like the noctua NH-D15 is comparable in cooling to a 240 aio cooler.

Any modern processor will run hot.
Motherboard makers want to push their processors to go as fast as possible up to the limits of workload and cooling capacity.

You might think that a i9-13900K might be the hottest chip around... But not so.

Core i9-13900K Cooling Guide: Testing Intel's Flagship With Budget Air and Big AIOs

The Core i9-13900K can push even the most capable liquid coolers to their limits, but you don’t lose that much performance if you go with budget-priced air cooling.

www.tomshardware.com

Or this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNFgswzTvyc

Super appreciated man! Thank you!

 

[Aeacus]

any idea why the flow meter starts spinning again when I set my case on its side? (AIO facing up)

AIO pump is what spins and moves the liquid around. Now, if the pump rotor is sleeve bearing, that doesn't do well at all when the shaft/bearing is in horizontal position. Horizontal position actually wears out the sleeve bearing the fastest.

Putting the PC to it's side, flips the entire pump assembly 90 degrees, where shaft/bearing is vertical (basically facing up). Also, gravitational forces are applied equally to pump motor and this is the most likely reason why pump is able to spin again, which in turn spins around the flow indicator as well.

All-in-all, there are 4 main bearing types used in fans/pump motors:

• Sleeve bearing - cheapest of them all. Also the shortest lifespan (~40.000 hours). Doesn't like horizontal mounting at all. Only good in vertical mounts (e.g fan facing up or down, rather than left or right).
• Ball, including double ball bearing - more expensive than sleeve bearing. Also longer lifespan (~75.000 hours). But the noisiest of them all. Usually used in industrial applications, where noise doesn't matter.
• Fluid-dynamic (FDB), including rifle bearing - more expensive than ball bearing. Good lifespan (~150.000 hours). Quiet as well. Nowadays, most good fans use FDB/rifle bearing. Only cheaper fans use either ball or sleeve bearing.
• Magnetic levitation (Mag-Lev) bearing - most expensive of them all. Theoretically endless lifespan (300.000 to infinity hours). Most silent of them all. Due to it's high cost, only used in very few fans.

There are variants of the main 4 as well. E.g Noctua SSO2 bearing is hybrid between FDB and mag-lev.

For example, my Corsair ML Pro LED fans are mag-lev bearing, but one 120mm fan costs easy $30, while one 140mm fan costs ~$40. For 40 bucks, you can get 6x ARGB fan set with control box. E.g this one: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zMMTwP/uphere-t7syc7-120-mm-fans-6-pack-t7syc7-6
So, yeah, would you buy just 1x fan which either has no LED at all or has single color LED, that you can not turn off (red, blue or white color), VS 6x fans with full ARGB control?

 

[Hankdp26]

AIO pump is what spins and moves the liquid around. Now, if the pump rotor is sleeve bearing, that doesn't do well at all when the shaft/bearing is in horizontal position. Horizontal position actually wears out the sleeve bearing the fastest.

Putting the PC to it's side, flips the entire pump assembly 90 degrees, where shaft/bearing is vertical (basically facing up). Also, gravitational forces are applied equally to pump motor and this is the most likely reason why pump is able to spin again, which in turn spins around the flow indicator as well.

All-in-all, there are 4 main bearing types used in fans/pump motors:

• Sleeve bearing - cheapest of them all. Also the shortest lifespan (~40.000 hours). Doesn't like horizontal mounting at all. Only good in vertical mounts (e.g fan facing up or down, rather than left or right).
• Ball, including double ball bearing - more expensive than sleeve bearing. Also longer lifespan (~75.000 hours). But the noisiest of them all. Usually used in industrial applications, where noise doesn't matter.
• Fluid-dynamic (FDB), including rifle bearing - more expensive than ball bearing. Good lifespan (~150.000 hours). Quiet as well. Nowadays, most good fans use FDB/rifle bearing. Only cheaper fans use either ball or sleeve bearing.
• Magnetic levitation (Mag-Lev) bearing - most expensive of them all. Theoretically endless lifespan (300.000 to infinity hours). Most silent of them all. Due to it's high cost, only used in very few fans.

There are variants of the main 4 as well. E.g Noctua SSO2 bearing is hybrid between FDB and mag-lev.

For example, my Corsair ML Pro LED fans are mag-lev bearing, but one 120mm fan costs easy $30, while one 140mm fan costs ~$40. For 40 bucks, you can get 6x ARGB fan set with control box. E.g this one: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zMMTwP/uphere-t7syc7-120-mm-fans-6-pack-t7syc7-6
So, yeah, would you buy just 1x fan which either has no LED at all or has single color LED, that you can not turn off (red, blue or white color), VS 6x fans with full ARGB control?

6x fans hahaha.

Gotcha, so flippin' it on the side doesn't mean its actually working and it wears out the bearing so bigger issues can arise if I use it like that while I buy another... sigh.

Thank you so much for the time and detailed explanations man!

 

[Hankdp26]

AIO pump is what spins and moves the liquid around. Now, if the pump rotor is sleeve bearing, that doesn't do well at all when the shaft/bearing is in horizontal position. Horizontal position actually wears out the sleeve bearing the fastest.

Putting the PC to it's side, flips the entire pump assembly 90 degrees, where shaft/bearing is vertical (basically facing up). Also, gravitational forces are applied equally to pump motor and this is the most likely reason why pump is able to spin again, which in turn spins around the flow indicator as well.

All-in-all, there are 4 main bearing types used in fans/pump motors:

• Sleeve bearing - cheapest of them all. Also the shortest lifespan (~40.000 hours). Doesn't like horizontal mounting at all. Only good in vertical mounts (e.g fan facing up or down, rather than left or right).
• Ball, including double ball bearing - more expensive than sleeve bearing. Also longer lifespan (~75.000 hours). But the noisiest of them all. Usually used in industrial applications, where noise doesn't matter.
• Fluid-dynamic (FDB), including rifle bearing - more expensive than ball bearing. Good lifespan (~150.000 hours). Quiet as well. Nowadays, most good fans use FDB/rifle bearing. Only cheaper fans use either ball or sleeve bearing.
• Magnetic levitation (Mag-Lev) bearing - most expensive of them all. Theoretically endless lifespan (300.000 to infinity hours). Most silent of them all. Due to it's high cost, only used in very few fans.

There are variants of the main 4 as well. E.g Noctua SSO2 bearing is hybrid between FDB and mag-lev.

For example, my Corsair ML Pro LED fans are mag-lev bearing, but one 120mm fan costs easy $30, while one 140mm fan costs ~$40. For 40 bucks, you can get 6x ARGB fan set with control box. E.g this one: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zMMTwP/uphere-t7syc7-120-mm-fans-6-pack-t7syc7-6
So, yeah, would you buy just 1x fan which either has no LED at all or has single color LED, that you can not turn off (red, blue or white color), VS 6x fans with full ARGB control?

Btw my Cougar Helor manual says:

Bearing type: Hydro-Dynamic

I am assuming this is actually FDB but still not smart to put the case in horizontal position so the pump "works" while I get another

 

[geofelt]

I think the reason is that there is air in your system and certain orientations will keep air from collecting in the pump.

 

[Hankdp26]

I think the reason is that there is air in your system and certain orientations will keep air from collecting in the pump.

Not super sure man, but from what I've researched all over Google about possible failures, what the consensus on air build up is that the pump should be making rattling/coil noises, and mine isnt, just flat out the flow meter is not spinning when vertical but it does spin when horizontal...

 

[Aeacus]

I think the reason is that there is air in your system and certain orientations will keep air from collecting in the pump.

Air or not, but it doesn't explain why flow meter spins in one orientation but doesn't in another. That is to do with pump motor and most likely bad sleeve bearing in it.

In the unboxing video, at 03:58, you can clearly see flow meter spinning and even air bubble stuck in it. Indicating that when air does collect, it ends up in the flow meter area, instead inside the pump fan area. Also, there isn't any bubbling/rattling sound, which is common when water pump struggles to move liquid filled with air bubbles.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OqpuePfdTM

Btw my Cougar Helor manual says:

Bearing type: Hydro-Dynamic

That is the bearing of the rad fans, not the bearing inside the pump.
Specs: https://cougargaming.com/us/products/cooling/helor/

So, i don't think pump also has hydro-dynamic bearing. Instead, it most likely is sleeve bearing. Further evidenced by the flow meter that does spin in one orientation, but not in another.

 

[Hankdp26]

Air or not, but it doesn't explain why flow meter spins in one orientation but doesn't in another. That is to do with pump motor and most likely bad sleeve bearing in it.

In the unboxing video, at 03:58, you can clearly see flow meter spinning and even air bubble stuck in it. Indicating that when air does collect, it ends up in the flow meter area, instead inside the pump fan area. Also, there isn't any bubbling/rattling sound, which is common when water pump struggles to move liquid filled with air bubbles.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OqpuePfdTM




That is the bearing of the rad fans, not the bearing inside the pump.
Specs: https://cougargaming.com/us/products/cooling/helor/

So, i don't think pump also has hydro-dynamic bearing. Instead, it most likely is sleeve bearing. Further evidenced by the flow meter that does spin in one orientation, but not in another.

Again, thank you so much Aeacus! I think I'll just pronounce it dead and look for another AIO, I was looking at some NZXT ones, but would really like to avoid another AIO with sleeve bearings (ideally FDB) but not super sure if the specs in every AIO are clear on that (kinda like the cougar).

Any recomendations? Ideally looking for 240-280mm as my case is not super big and I think I'd have some issues fitting a 360mm

 

[Aeacus]

Ideally looking for 240-280mm

As far as AIOs vs air coolers go, you won't gain any cooling performance if you go with AIO over air cooler since both are cooled by ambient air.
For equal cooling performance between AIOs and air coolers, rad needs to be 240mm or 280mm. Smaller rads: 120mm and 140mm are almost always outperformed by mid-sized air coolers. Single slot rads are good in mini-ITX builds where you don't have enough CPU cooler clearance to install mid-sized CPU air cooler.

Here are the positive sides of both (air and AIO) CPU cooling methods;

Pros of air coolers:
less cost
less maintenance
less noise
far longer longevity
no leakage risks
doesn't take up case fan slots
additional cooling for the RAM
CPU cools down faster after heavy heat output

Pros of AIOs:
no RAM clearance issues*
no CPU clearance issues
CPU takes longer time to heat up during heavy heat output (about 30 mins)
* on some cases, top mounted rad can give RAM clearance issues

While how the CPU cooler looks inside the PC depends on a person. Some people prefer to see small AIO pump in the middle of their MoBo with tubing going to the rad while others prefer to see big heatsink with fans in the middle of their MoBo.

Main difference between AIO and air cooler is that with AIO, you'll get more noise at a higher cost while cooling performance remains the same.
Here's also one good article for you to read where king of air coolers (Noctua NH-D15) was put against 5x high-end AIOs, including former king of AIOs (NZXT x61 Kraken),
link: http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-d15-versus-closed-loop-liquid-coolers/1

Personally, i'd go with air coolers every day of the week. With same cooling performance, the pros of air coolers outweigh the pros of AIOs considerably. While, for me, the 3 main pros would be:
1. Less noise.
Since i like my PC to be quiet, i can't stand the loud noise AIO makes. Also, when air gets trapped inside the AIO (some AIOs are more prone to this than others), there's additional noise coming from inside the pump.
2. Longevity.
Cheaper AIOs usually last 2-3 years and high-end ones 4-5 years before you need to replace it. While with air coolers, their life expectancy is basically unlimited. Only thing that can go bad on an air cooler is the fan on it. If the fan dies, your CPU still has cooling in form of a big heatsink. Also, new 120mm or 140mm fan doesn't cost much and it's easy to replace one. While with AIOs, the main thing that usually goes bad is the pump itself. And when that happens, your CPU has no cooling whatsoever. Since you can't replace pump on an AIO, you need to buy whole new AIO to replace the old one out.
3. No leakage risks.
Since there's liquid circling inside the AIO, there is always a risk that your AIO can leak. While it's rare, it has happened. It's well known fact that liquids and electronics don't mix.

---

But i digress and to actually answer your question; Arctic Cooling and it's Liquid Freezer II is solid,
lineup: https://www.arctic.de/en/products/cooling/cpu-cooler/cpu-water-cooler/

It has also reviewed well;
360mm rad, Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-360-argb-review
240mm rad, Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-240
280mm rad, GamersNexus:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPaSEGe6ML0


280mm rad, teardown by GamersNexus:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQRwn-lecnk

 

[geofelt]

I think the white fan like thing is just a free flowing spinning thing that shows fluid flow.
The pump is not connected to it.
If there is no flow, on one orientation and there is with another, I think an air bubble is keeping the fluid from flowing.
Air in the system will rise to the top.
Perhaps you can post some photos of each orientation.

I admire your persistence in planning for another AIO cooler and expecting a different result.

 

[Hankdp26]

As far as AIOs vs air coolers go, you won't gain any cooling performance if you go with AIO over air cooler since both are cooled by ambient air.
For equal cooling performance between AIOs and air coolers, rad needs to be 240mm or 280mm. Smaller rads: 120mm and 140mm are almost always outperformed by mid-sized air coolers. Single slot rads are good in mini-ITX builds where you don't have enough CPU cooler clearance to install mid-sized CPU air cooler.

Here are the positive sides of both (air and AIO) CPU cooling methods;

Pros of air coolers:
less cost
less maintenance
less noise
far longer longevity
no leakage risks
doesn't take up case fan slots
additional cooling for the RAM
CPU cools down faster after heavy heat output

Pros of AIOs:
no RAM clearance issues*
no CPU clearance issues
CPU takes longer time to heat up during heavy heat output (about 30 mins)
* on some cases, top mounted rad can give RAM clearance issues

While how the CPU cooler looks inside the PC depends on a person. Some people prefer to see small AIO pump in the middle of their MoBo with tubing going to the rad while others prefer to see big heatsink with fans in the middle of their MoBo.

Main difference between AIO and air cooler is that with AIO, you'll get more noise at a higher cost while cooling performance remains the same.
Here's also one good article for you to read where king of air coolers (Noctua NH-D15) was put against 5x high-end AIOs, including former king of AIOs (NZXT x61 Kraken),
link: http://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-d15-versus-closed-loop-liquid-coolers/1

Personally, i'd go with air coolers every day of the week. With same cooling performance, the pros of air coolers outweigh the pros of AIOs considerably. While, for me, the 3 main pros would be:
1. Less noise.
Since i like my PC to be quiet, i can't stand the loud noise AIO makes. Also, when air gets trapped inside the AIO (some AIOs are more prone to this than others), there's additional noise coming from inside the pump.
2. Longevity.
Cheaper AIOs usually last 2-3 years and high-end ones 4-5 years before you need to replace it. While with air coolers, their life expectancy is basically unlimited. Only thing that can go bad on an air cooler is the fan on it. If the fan dies, your CPU still has cooling in form of a big heatsink. Also, new 120mm or 140mm fan doesn't cost much and it's easy to replace one. While with AIOs, the main thing that usually goes bad is the pump itself. And when that happens, your CPU has no cooling whatsoever. Since you can't replace pump on an AIO, you need to buy whole new AIO to replace the old one out.
3. No leakage risks.
Since there's liquid circling inside the AIO, there is always a risk that your AIO can leak. While it's rare, it has happened. It's well known fact that liquids and electronics don't mix.

---

But i digress and to actually answer your question; Arctic Cooling and it's Liquid Freezer II is solid,
lineup: https://www.arctic.de/en/products/cooling/cpu-cooler/cpu-water-cooler/

It has also reviewed well;
360mm rad, Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-360-argb-review
240mm rad, Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/arctic-liquid-freezer-ii-240
280mm rad, GamersNexus:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPaSEGe6ML0


280mm rad, teardown by GamersNexus:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQRwn-lecnk

Thanks again so much for the beyond and above answer, super helpful!!

 

[Hankdp26]

I think the white fan like thing is just a free flowing spinning thing that shows fluid flow.
The pump is not connected to it.
If there is no flow, on one orientation and there is with another, I think an air bubble is keeping the fluid from flowing.
Air in the system will rise to the top.
Perhaps you can post some photos of each orientation.

I admire your persistence in planning for another AIO cooler and expecting a different result.

I'm not sure I understand, I'm sorry. As I got froM Aeacus is that the issue is in the sleeve bearing in the pump, I do not think its an air bubble causing the flow meter to stop as I already reseated, bump the tubes, clean the radiator, basically everything other than opening the pump (which I think you can do, but as I am tech agnostic I would be totally lost on what to do). After all of that, no spinning of the flow meter other that with the case set horizontally.

I gave up on the AIO and just bought an NZXT 280 elite.

What I'm gonna do is research about the radiator ideal location, the cougar one i had it on the roof of the case with the cables going into a simple loop to the right side of the pump, as I understand radiator on top was the ideal way, but just not sure anymore.

 

[Aeacus]

What I'm gonna do is research about the radiator ideal location, the cougar one i had it on the roof of the case with the cables going into a simple loop to the right side of the pump, as I understand radiator on top was the ideal way, but just not sure anymore.

Years ago, JayzTwoCents made in-depth video about that conundrum;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCZ5iP5cu8g