Question Help me understand if and how I damaged my AIO cooler?

[alki97]

I recently upgraded the thermal paste on my aio cooler and and after doing so My PC would turn on for a little bit in the bios, but very often would just shut off a few seconds after turning it on. The times it didn't turn off within a few seconds, I would get a 'cpu fan error' in the boot screen. Touching the heatsink it would get super hot and would hit 80C in the BIOS. I realized I didn't plug my cpu fan cable in for the first few runs and also reapplied the thermal paste because I definitely applied a little too much my first go round.
The bios kept showing CPU fan N/A. To check if this was a mobo or fan issue I swapped the pins on my chassis fan with the CPU fan and the chassis fan was spinning and showed the RPM, whereas the CHA fan read N/A making me think something happened to my AIO cooler. I have a few questions

1. The fans on the radiator spin so I'm not sure what's going on with the heatsink. Why is it getting so hot? Does something go on internally with in the AIO heatsinks that require it to do something while dissapaiting heat?
2. If I did mess up the internals of the AIO mechanism what could have done it? I pretty standarly removed the heatsink, wiped off the old thermal paste from the CPU and AIO metal, and then screwed it back in. I can't imagine what I could have done to mess it up within those steps.
3. I think my PC turned off automatically if my CPU hits 90C. This probably happened 10-20 times within the span of an hour. Should I expect any permanent damage from doing so? I was pretty ignorant and didn't realize it was an over heating issue until very late in the process. I'm running a 3930k (planning to do a massive upgrade in a year or so) and rely on a 4.7 overclock for the time being.

Thanks!

 

[DSzymborski]

Sounds like the pump either died or the pump isn't plugged in. What cooler is this?

 

[alki97]

Sounds like the pump either died or the pump isn't plugged in. What cooler is this?

2013 h60. It worked last time I used it (around a year ago).

 

[DSzymborski]

2013 h60. It worked last time I used it (around a year ago).

And is the pump plugged in?

If it is, when it's on, can you feel movement on the tubes?

 

[alki97]

And is the pump plugged in?

If it is, when it's on, can you feel movement on the tubes?

Yeah the pump is plugged in as well as the radiator fan. And yes, I do feel a slight tingling from the tubes which is the strangest part. I've dismounted and mounted the block multiple times to make sure that it's fit snug. Is there some mechanism within the CPU block that might have gotten disrupted, because if that's not it I really don't understand why I'm getting to 90C.

 

[DSzymborski]

Yeah the pump is plugged in as well as the radiator fan. And yes, I do feel a slight tingling from the tubes which is the strangest part. I've dismounted and mounted the block multiple times to make sure that it's fit snug. Is there some mechanism within the CPU block that might have gotten disrupted, because if that's not it I really don't understand why I'm getting to 90C.

It's hard to say, but coolers by their nature are fairly simple things: it's a basic exercise in thermodynamics. If liquid is getting to the radiators and the fans are working, then it will cool down. And if liquid isn't getting to the radiators, then the pump is not functioning properly. You say you haven't used this for a year; do you have another cooler you can use in the meantime?

 

[alki97]

It's hard to say, but coolers by their nature are fairly simple things: it's a basic exercise in thermodynamics. If liquid is getting to the radiators and the fans are working, then it will cool down. And if liquid isn't getting to the radiators, then the pump is not functioning properly. You say you haven't used this for a year; do you have another cooler you can use in the meantime?

No I just ordered a noctuna cooler. I'll keep this thread open until it comes and I install it. Thanks so much for your help!