Question Rad to Outlet Pump A240G AIR/Gap in Tube - Watercooling issue help!

[jamieinthejar]

Hi Guys,

Firstly, thanks in advance for any advice/troubleshooting ideas you can offer.

Recently changed over to a new MB, RAM, CPU etc. flushed the system a few times with distilled water and then put in my new Mayhem Pastel White liquid.

The problem is as follows:

As you can see from the photos, pretty much after the CPU block, the flow stops circulating, meaning it's running really inefficiently and recycling the same liquid rather than running through the entire system/rad.

https://imgur.com/a/PFbFgl0

View: https://imgur.com/a/PFbFgl0

https://imgur.com/a/35SIfJF

View: https://imgur.com/a/35SIfJF


After the CPU block there is liquid - although it looks like it isn't moving at all, and after the RAD there's no liquid. I knew there may be a little trapped air, but this seems more like perhaps the pump isn't strong enough or, there's a block/clogging in the CPU block/RAD.

It's also worth noting that there's a tiny little buzzing sound coming from the pump at the moment, almost like a slight vibration.

I've taken the loop pretty much mostly apart and re-assembled, tried tilting, running with the cap off/open etc. but no joy, any suggestions?

Cheers

 

[jamieinthejar]

I'm all for learning and definitely appreciate the guidance and help!

I just took apart the GPU block and holy moly... I'll post a picture shortly but I can safely say I'll never use Mayhem Pastel again, the block was clogged to sh*t. I'm in the process of cleaning now, but there's a good chance that the CPU block is in a similar state, so may be a little while before I'm back up and running.

 

[jamieinthejar]

Also, good point on the rubber gasket.... 😂

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, just be very careful during reassembly. If you are lucky, the gasket is fairly well attached to one side, so be sure not to disturb it.

And yes....clean that CPU block as well.

Also a very good idea to flush your radiator, if you can.

 

[jamieinthejar]

I just setup the loop after cleaning both the GPU and CPU block...... voilà!!!! I'll post pictures in the next hour or two to show you just how bad it was, but it was evidently the pastel and a major blockage, the rad looks like it still has some residual fluid, coolant and a little bit of blockage but I'm going to vinegar flush it shortly.

Gasket ended up being ok, it fit fairly well into one of the notches so I managed to get it back together careful, I see what you mean about the flapper under the hood of the CPU block too! Haha

Thanks so much for your help, final bits and pieces and I should be up and running.

I'll post again shortly!

 

[jamieinthejar]

As promised... heres the disgusting pictures that shows just how bad the Mayhem Pastel white clogged:

GPU block before:

https://imgur.com/a/AUvJpCK

View: https://imgur.com/a/AUvJpCK


GPU block after:

https://imgur.com/a/RTLRgxh

View: https://imgur.com/a/RTLRgxh


CPU block before:

https://imgur.com/a/UjWKpxf

View: https://imgur.com/a/UjWKpxf


CPU block after:

https://imgur.com/a/81DS5ga

View: https://imgur.com/a/81DS5ga


As soon as I cleaned both of these, the fluid sped through like lightning.

I've flushed with vinegar/water twice, flushed another couple of times with water, now I'm just running normal water open cap until probably tomorrow morning when I get my distilled through, which I'll then switch over.

Should also get my EKWB Azure Blue coolant through Monday.

Thanks again for everyone's help on this, especially @rubix_1011

 

[rubix_1011]

That's crazy - I don't think I have seen coolant clog like that in a very long time, so that's rather concerning.

BUT!!! - Kudos to you on getting that cleaned out and back to working order. You still may want to keep a close eye on it and clean it after a short period of time, or run your loop (once all cleaned out) for a few days with the 24-pin ATX plug jumped and then see if the components are any cleaner.

I would also check the pump and radiator while you're at it. Just make sure the pump isn't all gunked up and ensure the radiator doesn't have big clogs inside it. This is where diligence in cleaning and flushing will pay off.

 

[jamieinthejar]

Yeah, I'd only seen pictures online and heard horror stories about that kind of clogging, but it all makes a lot more sense now! I'm more just curious on how/why the coolant clogged like that in the first place, because if it's defective coolant, surely it wouldn't be on the shelf?

Thank you senpai. Yeah, going to keep a close eye on it for sure and I'll be changing the coolant over in a couple of days, but I'm definitely out of the worst of it. We'll see how the new coolant performs as you know for sure I'll be keeping a close eye on that!

The pump was a little clogged when I first took it apart when I had the issue, so it makes sense that the GPU/CPU ended up being the same.

 

[rubix_1011]

This is one reason I dislike coolants, period, especially opaque ones.

Curious if there is some form of chemical change in the coolant coagulating due to the loop components being aluminium rather than copper, nickel or brass...although doubtful. I would send Mayhems those images in a ticket and info from the bottle if it contains a lot number from production, or at least a date.

Much better using distilled water, some anti-microbials and just some dye for color if you choose. But, there are good coolants that are clear and prevent growth and corrosion.

 

[jamieinthejar]

Yeah, my first thoughts were maybe reaction to aluminium, or alternatively, due to the fact that the backplate is modular and is a little more forgiving on space and not so compact as one specifically targeted to a graphics card, it's got a little more room for gathering and error - but i'm not sure either of us is going to be able to answer that without spending alot of time testing!

Yeah, plan was to send both Novatech (where I purchased the coolant) and Mayhem a ticket/e-mail.

I've heard EKWB stuff is pretty solid so I'm going to give that a try, but I'm more sold on that idea now; that just plain old distilled water with a few necessary pieces is a better idea.

 

[jamieinthejar]

Just as an FYI to anyone else that see's this, and you @rubix_1011

Turns out that the Mayhem Pastel White isn't compatible with aluminium loops "this is to do with the Inhibitor is a copper/ Brass only inhibitor and doesn't work with aluminium."

https://www.mayhems.net/collections/pastel-pre-mix-1ltr/products/pastel-white-1ltr

Quote "Disclaimer:- Not For Use with Aluminium Radiators Mayhems internal testing has seen severe issues with Aluminium Radiators and as a consequence we do not support the use of any Mayhems Pastel Coolants with these Radiators. "

Seems that where I bought it from (Novatech) excluded this from the details in the listing of the coolant.

Mayhem have offered to send me out a Blitz Basic kit free of charge to clean my entire loop and send out 250ml of XT-1 Nuke concentrate which is compatible with aluminium loops.

 

[rubix_1011]

Oh nice! Yeah, that is some important detail that needs to be made aware by any reseller especially since EK have these high-quality all-aluminum kits where this would really be of concern. Glad they were able to come through and provide some resolution to the issue. I would make sure to really cleanse your loop to the best of your ability and get that gunk out of there.

Nice work - upsetting that this was the result of a chemical incompatibility, but also good to see that this really wasn't a build or related issue that someone would typically see. Good thing is that hopefully everyone learned a lot - including myself...I didn't know that some of those coolants were not compatible with aluminum builds...now I know.

 

[jamieinthejar]

Yeah agreed, Mayhem have a full deep clean kit arriving tomorrow which should be good to properly clean it out, but I did do a pretty thorough clean with the GPU/CPU block manually and the vinegar/distilled flushes, and as you can see from the screenshots it got a good clean!

I started to do some digging and found that EKWB "Solid" ones also aren't compatible with aluminium, on their own site the first half of their description states it's been tested with brass, copper, nickel, aluminium and stainless steel, then at the bottom it has in black bold and yellow highlight not to use the "Solid" variations with aluminium kit!

Novatech got back to me, offered a refund on the pastel coolant and also update their description to now include the disclaimer from Mayhem's website.

I'm glad it ended up not really being "my fault" as such, and more of a compatibility between what coolants are/aren't right for the system, but lesson learned!

Overall not a bad result! Cheers for your help @rubix_1011

 

[rubix_1011]

Yeah, definitely not your fault, and I commend you for going through all the steps to troubleshoot the issue.

Also, come back and give us an update once you get the flushing completed and the system up and running, including updated pics. I'd certainly like to see this story come to a happy ending.