[SOLVED] Why is my new CPU liquid cooler pump not working ?

[MorrisN]

Hello,
Yesterday I bought a new coolermaster masterliquid 240l v2 rgb and tried to install it in my pc. But when I turned it on, the cpu was overheating and I felt on the cooler that it was not pumping water. I don’t know what to do next. My motherboard is msi b550 gaming edge wifi and my cpu is ryzen 5 5600x. My cpu cooler has a 3 pin connected to the pump fan 4 pin. But why won’t it start pumping?

 

[dwd999]

Hello,
Yesterday I bought a new coolermaster masterliquid 240l v2 rgb and tried to install it in my pc. But when I turned it on, the cpu was overheating and I felt on the cooler that it was not pumping water. I don’t know what to do next. My motherboard is msi b550 gaming edge wifi and my cpu is ryzen 5 5600x. My cpu cooler has a 3 pin connected to the pump fan 4 pin. But why won’t it start pumping?

Refer to page 25 of the manual for your motherboard. The 4 pin connector from the pump (refer to diagram 11 on the cooler's installation instructions) is supposed to be connected to the 4 pin socket marked PUMP_FAN1 on the motherboard and the speed for that connector is supposed to be set to 100 percent all of the time at all temperatures. There are not supposed to be any 3 pin connectors.

 

[MorrisN]

Refer to page 25 of the manual for your motherboard. The 4 pin connector from the pump (refer to diagram 11 on the cooler's installation instructions) is supposed to be connected to the 4 pin socket marked PUMP_FAN1 on the motherboard and the speed for that connector is supposed to be set to 100 percent all of the time at all temperatures. There are not supposed to be any 3 pin connectors.

there is 1 connector from the pump for rgb and the other one is a 3 pin connector.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

i see two connections coming from the pump/radiator;
1x LED, 1x 3 \ 4pin.

this is correct?
if so;

first one goes to a motherboard LED header or the included controller.

second one goes to a 4pin motherboard fan/pump header.
whichever header is used needs to be set to 100% at all times. if not it may not get enough power to start up at all.

 

[MorrisN]

i see two connections coming from the pump/radiator;
1x LED, 1x 3 \ 4pin.

this is correct?
if so;

first one goes to a motherboard LED header or the included controller.

second one goes to a 4pin motherboard fan/pump header.
whichever header is used needs to be set to 100% at all times. if not it may not get enough power to start up at all.

Yes that’s correct, like that way it’s installed in my pc, I think I have received a broken pump.

 

[Paperdoc]

Yes, the THREE-pin cable from the pump that properly fits a mobo fan header DOES go to the PUMP/FAN1 header. It's part of a quirk of how pumps and older 3-pin fans operate. It is important that that header be set to PWM Mode, and NOT to Voltage or DC or Automatic Mode. IF there is an item for which type of device is plugged in there, set that to PUMP, not Fan. The wider 4-hole connector goes to a mobo plain RGB (4-pin) header, and with that you MUST align the marked 12 VDC line hole at one END of that connector to the 12 VDC pin of the header.

It is hard to tell whether or not a pump is working, so it may be faulty or not. A pump that IS operating at full speed in a new system is very quiet and vibrates very little. IF it is moving lots of heat you can tell from feeling the tubes at the pump, but yours clearly is not doing that. There's another possibility, though. Most such pumps arrive with some thermal conductivity paste pre-applied on the bottom where it contacts the CPU top. BUT it is covered with a protective plastic film that you MUST remove before installing, or it cannot work. Did you remove that?

 

[MorrisN]

Yes, the THREE-pin cable from the pump that properly fits a mobo fan header DOES go to the PUMP/FAN1 header. It's part of a quirk of how pumps and older 3-pin fans operate. It is important that that header be set to PWM Mode, and NOT to Voltage or DC or Automatic Mode. IF there is an item for which type of device is plugged in there, set that to PUMP, not Fan. The wider 4-hole connector goes to a mobo plain RGB (4-pin) header, and with that you MUST align the marked 12 VDC line hole at one END of that connector to the 12 VDC pin of the header.

It is hard to tell whether or not a pump is working, so it may be faulty or not. A pump that IS operating at full speed in a new system is very quiet and vibrates very little. IF it is moving lots of heat you can tell from feeling the tubes at the pump, but yours clearly is not doing that. There's another possibility, though. Most such pumps arrive with some thermal conductivity paste pre-applied on the bottom where it contacts the CPU top. BUT it is covered with a protective plastic film that you MUST remove before installing, or it cannot work. Did you remove that?

Yes I have removed it, it’s connected to the 4 pin header pump fan1 and set to pwm, but still not working, I’ll send the cooler back and buy one from msi, I think that’s the best option.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

I’ll send the cooler back and buy one from msi, I think that’s the best option.

that would depend on the particular model.
their MAG Core series with pumps integrated into the radiator have a very high failure rate.

 

[MorrisN]

that would depend on the particular model.
their MAG Core series with pumps integrated into the radiator have a very high failure rate.

What cpu cooler do you prefer?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

What cpu cooler do you prefer?

i have an EVGA CLC 280 that still works great after ~4 years of constant use.
i switched out the fans for Cryorig QF Performance due to the EVGA models being fairly loud.

i've seen some good reports of Arctic Freezer models over the last couple years.

my current ASUS Ryujin works great.
comes with very nice Noctua iPPC fans.

for air cooling;
the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4
or the Noctua NH-D15 chromax.