A good pump to replace (defective) Swiftech MCP355

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djBon2112

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Messages
5,279
Basically, I've got 2 Swiftech MCP355s. One doesn't start at all, and the other has trouble starting and will ocasionally randomly shut off when moved/touched, even a slight bit. It just died randomly several minutes ago and my GPU got above 110 degrees celsius (I don't even want to know how hot the CPU was...).

This is unacceptable, and frankly the quality of these pumps I find really sad compared to how praised Swiftech is. Does anyone recomend a replacement pump? It needs to be extremely reliable, start all the time (I will be shutting down my computer every night and it better start again in the morning...), and move enough fluid to make my Storm effective.
 
Your experience is certainly not unique, and recently a new less powerful revision of the pump was issued to address reliability. Haven't heard of any problems with the 3.2 version. I'm sure you you would be OK with the new one, otherwise the mcp655 is reported to be highly reliable, albeit slightly noisier.
 
The MCP655 isn't noisy per se, it merely vibrates quite a bit. I have mine sat on a piece of 1" packaging foam and it is basically silent - the dampening pad which comes with it is only partially effective at isolating it from the chassis. Great pump really.
 
+1 for the mcp655... very reliable pump and I don't think its noisy at all. I ended up putting mine on a piece of petra's gel stuff, works great!
 
calvin_q said:
Your experience is certainly not unique, and recently a new less powerful revision of the pump was issued to address reliability. Haven't heard of any problems with the 3.2 version. I'm sure you you would be OK with the new one, otherwise the mcp655 is reported to be highly reliable, albeit slightly noisier.
Click to expand...

A question: If I were to RMA these pumps, would I recieve the new revision or the same one I sent out?
 
The symptoms you mentionned looks like there is a issue of the PSU feeding the pump. Is the molex connector well connected ? Did you try another molex to rule out this ? What power supply do you have ?

If you are having issues starting the pump just a short time after installation, you may be having the same issues with a D5.

 
You might want to consider either the Innovatek HPPS or the Aqua Computer Aquastream pumps. They are utterly reliable to the point that it is hard to find parts in stock except through e-tailer's. They both have the ability to change the flow rates and when OC'd to the maximum they perform better than the Eheim 1048 pumps.
 
Thanks for the advice guys! I think I'm just going to (try) to RMA my pumps and get the new revision; I just bought my new system (Q6600 of course! ;) :p) and I've got no money for new pumps!

Edit: Does anyone know how to file an RMA with Swiftech? I can't find it anywhere on their page...
 
Xilikon said:
The symptoms you mentionned looks like there is a issue of the PSU feeding the pump. Is the molex connector well connected ? Did you try another molex to rule out this ? What power supply do you have ?

If you are having issues starting the pump just a short time after installation, you may be having the same issues with a D5.

Click to expand...

It's not a power issue, this pump has done this on multiple PSUs. I think it might be loose wires inside the pump, but I'm not about to open it to check...
 
Xilikon said:
The symptoms you mentionned looks like there is a issue of the PSU feeding the pump. Is the molex connector well connected ? Did you try another molex to rule out this ? What power supply do you have ?

If you are having issues starting the pump just a short time after installation, you may be having the same issues with a D5.
Click to expand...

These pumps draw only 10-18 watts, right? So why would any modern PSU be involved here? :confused:

If in fact the DDC's are having these kinds of problems it would be better off checking the molex connector of the DDC, correct? IMHO, the problem here is the crappy Laing controller boards. This is so much of a problem that two different companies now make products to fix this bad pump design (mCubed and Aqua Computer).
 
I was just tossing potential causes around. It is possible the molex on the pump side is not well built and had minimal contact but a RMA will fix this for sure. If it has done the same on multi PSU, then we can remove the PSU from the troubleshooting steps.
 
The DDC is very sensitive to "dirty" PSU's. Noisy lines have been considered the primary cause for those that have failed.
 
Ranker said:
The DDC is very sensitive to "dirty" PSU's. Noisy lines have been considered the primary cause for those that have failed.
Click to expand...

Like I said a crappy pump controller given modern PSU's. And isn't what you say about "noisy lines" just wild speculation?

From what Aqua Computer and mCubed, that have built Laing pump controllers, have done it should be obvious what the problems are.

Aqua Computer:

  • Adjustable start burst
  • Measure the maximum speed
  • Adjustable deaeration - program
  • Adjustable voltage to pump
  • Adjustable rotation value
  • Send the RPM signal to the mainboard or produce an "ok signal" in the controller
  • Speed monitor with renewed burst if the pump stops
  • Connects to any USB port

mCubed:

I looked around and couldn't find anything other than how to hook up a Laing pump to the BNG device. I did find some information of modifying a controller board to provide a "kickstart" to the pumps. One thing I have to say about mCubed is that they got the best manuals in the biz.
 
For RMA's just email [email protected] or you can call her at (562) 595-8009 for a RMA number. They're pretty quick with good customer service. I had defective micro-res and turn around time was only 1 week.
 
lostiam2 said:
For RMA's just email [email protected] or you can call her at (562) 595-8009 for a RMA number. They're pretty quick with good customer service. I had defective micro-res and turn around time was only 1 week.
Click to expand...

I'm not good with e-mailing people... do I just put "RMA" in the subject and describe my problem (pump has trouble starting up)? Sorry if this is a really dumb question... ;P
 
Explain where your purchased it and when. Then explain your situation and you may want to throw in there that you have tried another pump in its place as a test and it worked :)
 
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