Swiftech H220X restored to new(ish)

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DedEmbryonicCe11

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 6, 2006
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I know the old acrylic plate looks filthy but that's entirely rust from the steel screws being in contact with coolant (note, more rust around the cracked corners). When I dumped out the coolant to disassemble the system it was as clear as it went in. I had previously topped off the reservoir at least twice due to the slow loss and got this replacement panel free under warranty. To my surprise the cracks remained stable in the state shown above and I was able to continue running it gimped for months. The coolant level had thus dropped low enough it was worth spending a good portion of a day getting this repaired and leak-proof (until the damn thing cracks again like they all do). One of the two fans had also failed completely.:dead: I cleaned both fans and attached a third of the same Swiftech model to the fan splitter. Testing all three verified the dead one would try to start up and just move a tiny bit. I cut the sleeved 4pin cable off at the fan hub to use as an extension later on. One of the two fans that still functions is clearly on the way out with a worn bearing(s?) so I've purchased two Noctua NF-A12x25.

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I'm going back to a custom loop when it craps out again I had already purchased a new waterblock and it's just sitting pristine in the box.. I honestly expected this Swiftech to die a long time ago but like I said the coolant was clear and the pump is running at the full 3000 rpm and silently so I'm not sure maybe it has another couple years left in it.

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^ I ran 3DMark Firestrike, then Luxmark, then ROG Realbench without clearing the min/max data. 57°C max on the hottest core doesn't seem too bad for such a cheap cooler that's been running years 24/7. I will update when I get the Noctua fans installed.
 
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Zarathustra[H] said:
How long have you been using it?

Those cracks certainly look disconcerting!
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I have a scan of my MicroCenter receipt it was purchased Oct. 18 2015 so I'm still within the 3 year warranty for a bit. It's been running almost constantly since then aside from vacations or doing upgrades/maintenance. As far as I know all of these panels crack eventually and that is why they changed the design first with the X2 and now again with the X3. It was a bad bad idea to drill holes through acrylic and screw it into place against an o-ring because the pressure required is too much for the thickness of the material left around the edges.
 
Nice work! Thankfully my plate has not cracked or shown any damage yet... that I can see.

I installed my H240x in November 2014 and its still chugging. Not 24x7 but I have my CPU at 4ghz. I'm just starting to get to the "minimum" line on coolant and will soon be replacing it with the A360G from EK.
I have found this Swiftech kit to be extremely good for what it is and cost.
 
Ripskin said:
Nice work! Thankfully my plate has not cracked or shown any damage yet... that I can see.

I installed my H240x in November 2014 and its still chugging. Not 24x7 but I have my CPU at 4ghz. I'm just starting to get to the "minimum" line on coolant and will soon be replacing it with the A360G from EK.
I have found this Swiftech kit to be extremely good for what it is and cost.
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Yeah I'm not knocking the value for what I paid. Almost three full years now and it's only costing me new fans which I'll be able to reuse long after the pump gives out. The only serious gripe I have in general is that with a custom loop it's much easier to get a good mount on the CPU block. With these AIO kits you have no control over tubing length and which way the material naturally wants to bend. Every single time I've installed my H220X I've felt like I could get a way better mount if I had 4 hands since the tug of the tubing on the block pushes the TIM all around before I can get it snug.
 
Yeah I know what you mean, I had my pump radiator resting on the top side of the case so I could put the block down as straight as possible then mounted it. Thankfully the fittings rotate so the tubing is not too bad on mine but there is not a lot of spare room in my case for it to be mounted any farther away. New kit should be fine but I need to remove one of my HDD racks in order to mount the res / pump in a good spot for shorter tubing runs.
 
it may be a good idea to silicone that panel around the gasket and screw holes. you wont need as much pressure when re-tightening the screws.
 
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