SOLVED: AIO temps suddenly jumped from 60 to 83 deg (H115i)

[Fuzzy_3D]

EDIT: Solved. I used "Silver Grade Anti-Seize" on the mounting nuts (don't ask why ) when installing the water block a year ago, and noticed they were a little loose then I was removing them today. I think vibration from the water pump coupled with the lower tightening friction caused them to unscrew a bit.

Opened the case up, took off the mounting screws with just my fingers. Already had kryonaut on there, but noticed the pattern left by the TIM was a little... thick (not clamped down tight)?

Removed the TIM, cleaned with alc, reapplied the kryo, cleaned off the anti-seize, remounted everything, temps back to normal.

/EDIT


My sig rig locked up the other day (frozen screen, buzzing audio, then BSOD). Rebooted fine, but opened core-temp and got a peak of 83c on one run of cinebench.

Looking through my OC logs I was getting 60c peak when I first installed the H115i and tested this config.

-Corsair Link reports pump speed of 3000 rpm
-Fans are spinning
-Dust cover is off (for trouble shooting)

Anything else I should check before I pull the rig apart?

I'm thinking the liquid inside may have evaporated or the block could've developed a blockage, but that's pure speculation.

 

[IdiotInCharge]

My H115i is freshly installed, and I haven't seen an issue with it yet.

Have you contacted Corsair?

 

[VanGoghComplex]

Fuzzy, is the thing making any unfamiliar noises? Sometimes those CLC units will get a little air trapped in the pump, and that's all it takes to almost stop fluid movement in the loop. That's usually a pretty noisy problem.

 

[Archaea]

Is the radiator above the CPU? With the hose connection on the lowest part of the radiator. That should eliminate the air bubbles that are assumingly causing your issue.

 

[Fuzzy_3D]

Have you contacted Corsair?

No, though it's a few months out of warranty, I will ask them if I can't figure it out.
I'm really more curious as to what's wrong with it and seeing if I can fix it myself.
Asking on here to rule out all possible non-intrusive solutions because once I crack it open there's no going back.

Fuzzy, is the thing making any unfamiliar noises? Sometimes those CLC units will get a little air trapped in the pump, and that's all it takes to almost stop fluid movement in the loop. That's usually a pretty noisy problem.

No, it's still near silent. If it wasn't for the one BSOD and looking at the temps, you couldn't tell anything's wrong.

Is the radiator above the CPU? With the hose connection on the lowest part of the radiator. That should eliminate the air bubbles that are assumingly causing your issue.

It was actually on the side of the standing case, probably level with the CPU since I built it. I tipped the case over so the rad is above everything a few days ago thinking the pump may have cavitated, but my temps still hit the mid 80s after one run of cinebench. Though my temps go back down pretty quickly, so heat is still being drawn away.


I'm going to try re-applying the TIM and re-mounting the block.

Was looking forward to "upgrading" to and OC'ing a 3770k this weekend.

 

[greyboxer]

good luck!

 

[doyll]

Good Luck! Being over 5 years old your CLC has lasted longer than many, so could easily be pump giving out and not flowing coolant as good as it should, low coolant level or combination of the two.

 

[Pandur]

Start with replacing the TIM. I've seen numerous examples of huge temperature spikes happening because of old TIM that's failing. The stock grey goop Corsair use on the H-series will go bad within a few years and have to be replaced. I've made the mistake of mounting a few H-coolers without replacing the stock TIM right away with my go-to TIM instead, and the performance will go to hell within 1-3 years. Exactly the way you describe it. So start with some new TIM and see what happens.

 

[Fuzzy_3D]

Good Luck! Being over 5 years old your CLC has lasted longer than many, so could easily be pump giving out and not flowing coolant as good as it should, low coolant level or combination of the two.

wut?

Corsair Warranty Periods:

• Hydro Series™ products have a 5 year warranty

There I go being an "ass" in assuming it was only 1 year.
Bought it last october. Sure glad I asked here first.

Start with replacing the TIM. I've seen numerous examples of huge temperature spikes happening because of old TIM that's failing. The stock grey goop Corsair use on the H-series will go bad within a few years and have to be replaced. I've made the mistake of mounting a few H-coolers without replacing the stock TIM right away with my go-to TIM instead, and the performance will go to hell within 1-3 years. Exactly the way you describe it. So start with some new TIM and see what happens.

That's exactly what I'm going to do. Pretty sure I left the stock stuff on there, will replace it with some kryonaut shortly.

 

[Fuzzy_3D]

Solved: I used "Silver Grade Anti-Seize" on the mounting nuts (don't ask why ) when installing the water block a year ago, and noticed they were a little loose then I was removing them today. I think vibration from the water pump coupled with the lower tightening friction caused them to unscrew a bit.

Opened the case up, took off the mounting screws with just my fingers. Already had kryonaut on there, but noticed the pattern left by the TIM was a little... thick (not clamped down tight)?

Removed the TIM, cleaned with alc, reapplied the kryo, cleaned off the anti-seize, remounted everything, temps back to normal.

 

[doyll]

wut??




There I go being an "ass" in assuming it was only 1 year.
Bought it last october. Sure glad I asked here first.

So now you show us you are a complete idiot by jumping at me because I believed you when you said it was 'few months out of warranty'? Most 8 years olds have more moxy.

 

[Fuzzy_3D]

So now you show us you are a complete idiot by jumping at me because I believed you when you said it was 'few months out of warranty'? Most 8 years olds have more moxy.

Complete idiot? Plausible. Jumping at you? Not at all, I'm glad you brought it up. Will never underestimate Corsair's warranty again.

 

[Hurin]

I had the exact same experience with my H115i over the last couple weeks. And I too thought I had essentially resolved it after remounting and reapplying MX-4 TIM. Yet, a few days later, temps were climbing again. Keep an eye on it. You may find the same thing: Temps improve for a while. . . but then inexplicably climb again hours or days later. Full details in this thread.

Spoiler: I eventually gave up on getting the H115i to cool reliably again and put a Noctua NH-D15 on it. Problem solved (and then some!).

 

[Archaea]

I still vote airbubble and reseating the cpu waterblock rid the airbubble.

 

[THRESHIN]

Solved: I used "Silver Grade Anti-Seize" on the mounting nuts (don't ask why ) when installing the water block a year ago, and noticed they were a little loose then I was removing them today. I think vibration from the water pump coupled with the lower tightening friction caused them to unscrew a bit.

Opened the case up, took off the mounting screws with just my fingers. Already had kryonaut on there, but noticed the pattern left by the TIM was a little... thick (not clamped down tight)?

Removed the TIM, cleaned with alc, reapplied the kryo, cleaned off the anti-seize, remounted everything, temps back to normal.

That stuff works great on cars, but has no place in your desktop. The screws are just too small and you can't torque them down enough without breaking something.

If you want something to help hold it all together, use the low strength purple thread locker. It'll come apart with minimal force later. But honestly lock washers will do fine.

Lesson learned, I know I have plenty of those