CPU watercooler problem

[ultimateSuper]

Hi there,
I've had an enermax liqmax 120i (first gen) http://www.enermax.co.uk/liqmax/
for 3 and a half years, it was working fine until now. As soon as I start my pc it won't turn the pump of the watercooling system on. I've had this issue for the first time 3 days ago, but then when I had it figured out, it strangely just worked again. Now I'm facing the same problem today, sometimes my pc starts and the temperature stays around 30 to 40 °C, just normally, and sometimes it goes up until 90 + °C. I try to turn the pc off before it goes that high, which in fact means I just have the time to check if the pump is working when I go into the system..
I already unmounted the cooling system, cleaned everything and put it back together, but it won't do anything. Then I tried to switch the cpu fan and the sys fan1 plugs on the mainboard: same problem 🙁
Anyone got any ideas about how I could fix it?

 

[n0ns3ns3]

the only thing that you can practically do is to put it in a recycle bin and not to buy overpriced wannabe liquid coolers.
not practically, you can try to disassemble the CPU block (which is also the pump) and check if it's a bearing or just dirt in a pump.
in case of the first, we return to step one - put it in a recycle bin.
if it's just dirty, well, you can try to clean it and go through complicated procedure of refilling the cooler and closing it. probably you will break it in the process.

 

[ultimateSuper]

Ok thanks, you're probably right, and just for protocol I didn't built the pc xD
What I thought was that it could as well be a software error, maybe the bios perceives the pumps as a fan and therefore "tells" to act like a fan...

 

[velocityg4]

It sounds like a bad motor start capacitor. A start capacitor gives the motor a little extra kick of power to get started. Then a run capacitor helps the motor maintain speed. Sometimes you luck out and the motor is able to overcome resistance and start even without the extra torque from the start capacitor.

As this is a sealed unit there is nothing you can really do without destroying it. If you keep trying to turn it on you may luck out and have it start. But the same thing will happen again.

Unless there is some special reason you need liquid cooling. Due to confined case size or extreme overclocking. Move back to air cooling. It is cheaper and has fewer moving parts making it more reliable. They are generally quieter and perform as well as most liquid cooled units except some of the big 280mm/360mm units. It the fan fails you just buy a new high static pressure fan. A Cryorig H7 or Be Quiet! Pure Rock are good budget units, a Cryorig H5 Universal or Scythe Mugen 4/5/Max are good mid range and Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 or Noctua D15 are good high end units.

 

[ultimateSuper]

You might be right I tried to put the power supply to 100% form startup in BIOS hoping it gives enough kick for the capacitor to get the pump started. I noticed by switching the fan plugs on the mainboard that the cpu fan only starts at low speed when I turn the pc on and then slowly goes up to full 2500 rm. I'm waiting like 10 min for the cpu to cool down and then I'll try again starting the pc.
Otherwise I'll buy this one I think: https://www.amazon.fr/Quiet-Pure-ventilateur-processeur-socket/dp/B00OB40ULU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495980267&sr=8-1&keywords=pc+cooler+be+quiet

 

[n0ns3ns3]

the pump is actually acts exactly like a fan.
it's just runs faster

 

[ultimateSuper]

I tried to start it with two different configs: one with the pump starting slowly and the fan at 100% and for the other one I switched the plugs: both didn't work but with the first one the pump went until sth like 500-600 rpm before shutting down. And I got this error message in the software for the mainboard (msi command center): http://prntscr.com/fd16bb

 

[n0ns3ns3]

well, you need a new cooler.
good air coolers are cheaper and more reliable than most AiOs.
if you want to keep using AiOs, check out Swiftech H220 X2