What are you guys using to control your pumps and fans

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Watercool

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Jun 10, 2012
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I was wondering how you guys are controlling your pumps and fans with your watercooling setups.

I am looking to put together a watercooled build, but what is holding me back right now is how the pumps and fans are controlled. I would like to have my fans and pumps controlled based on what the mobo is showing, same way current air cooled fans operate.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
I am using the Mcubed bigNG in my NAS box, while my Blackbird project is sporting a Koolance TMS-200 with Daughterboard.

Then, there is also the Aquaero 5. All of these will offer similar features, some with more modern GUI's, but at the end, I guess the better one might probably be the Aquaero 5.

With that said, the bigNG runs just fine on my NAS with Server 2008 R2, something the Koolance won't do, application is not supported - very weak from Koolance.

Also, Shoggy at Aquacomputer couldn't give me assurance the AA5 would work either, so, your call.

Running almost any other version of Winblows, should be ok.
 
Pump is virtually silent anyway when it's properly decoupled, so i just run it full power the whole time off a motherboard header (CPU, it's set so if it fails everything shuts down).

On the current build all of the fans run off motherboard headers/molex. The two "chassis" headers power the radiator fans and the exhaust.

On the new one they shall be running mostly off a fan controller (the box just says kaze server, though I think it's sold as a "master ace") because I'm upping the fan count. Also because it's going to (hopefully) be temperature controlled passive and sets of fans will only turn on when it gets hot enough. At least thats the plan.
 
I just redid my loop a week ago, and got myself the Koolance TMS-205. Install was easy and it seems to power everything well, (I have 3 Enermax Apollish and 1 Scythe Ultra Kaze, 1 D5 Pump, 1 Koolance Flow Meter, and 1 Coolant Temp Probe on it), but the software won't detect the board when it's plugged into USB.

I have contacted Koolance's tech support and they told me to reformat and follow the instructions (Which I followed) and if that didn't work return it for repair. So, I'm returning it. If I ever get the software to read the thing I'll let you know if it is worth the hassle. :cool:

Before I redid my loop I just ran the pump full out all the time and had the flow meter hooked up to the cpu header and the fans to the system headers.
 
Running my whole system off an Aquaero 5 Pro. If you have the patience to configure it, the AQ5 is really the only way to go. It has virtually unlimited expandability too, if you manage to exceed the basic unit's capabilities.
 
AmTrak said:
I just redid my loop a week ago, and got myself the Koolance TMS-205. Install was easy and it seems to power everything well, (I have 3 Enermax Apollish and 1 Scythe Ultra Kaze, 1 D5 Pump, 1 Koolance Flow Meter, and 1 Coolant Temp Probe on it), but the software won't detect the board when it's plugged into USB.

I have contacted Koolance's tech support and they told me to reformat and follow the instructions (Which I followed) and if that didn't work return it for repair. So, I'm returning it. If I ever get the software to read the thing I'll let you know if it is worth the hassle. :cool:

Before I redid my loop I just ran the pump full out all the time and had the flow meter hooked up to the cpu header and the fans to the system headers.
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Which version of Windows?
 
ugapug said:
Running my whole system off an Aquaero 5 Pro. If you have the patience to configure it, the AQ5 is really the only way to go. It has virtually unlimited expandability too, if you manage to exceed the basic unit's capabilities.
Click to expand...

Nice endorsement. Can you post the specific AQ5 parts you used. When I looked at their website, I wasn't clear on what I really needed to have, e.g. do I need to have the external display.

What were the alternative products you compared AQ5 against? Was the Corsair Link available when you were making your decision?
 
x509 said:
Nice endorsement. Can you post the specific AQ5 parts you used. When I looked at their website, I wasn't clear on what I really needed to have, e.g. do I need to have the external display.

What were the alternative products you compared AQ5 against? Was the Corsair Link available when you were making your decision?
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I used the Aquaero 5 Pro USB, which doesn't have the remote in the package or programmable touch buttons on the front. The LT is essentially the same guts as the Pro and XT, it just doesn't have a display or IR for the remote. I recommend getting the Pro, the display is nice to have. I added the remote separately and a black faceplate. I also picked up the high flow meter as well. If you have a high draw fan setup or a couple of DDC pumps, you might want to pick up a Poweradjust2 Ultra as well, I'm leaving my D5 on setting 5 and decoupling it, so it's essentially silent. I'm also using Gentle Typhoon AP15s on the rads, and XSPC Xinrulian 2000 rpm fans everywhere else, all run off the fan channels of the AQ5. I put the pump monitoring cable on the last fan channel of the AQ5 and set it to shut the system down if the pump speed flatlines for 6 seconds. I also put two Bitspower temp stop fittings, one in each 480 rad, and set another alarm for high water temp to shut the system down as well. Oh, and I also picked up the RGB LED from Aquacomputer and set it to change colors based upon the CPU temp, which makes it pretty easy to tell how hot things are just by glancing down :) If you end up getting an AQ5, PM me and I'll walk you through how I set it up to read the MB sensors reliably.

I used to use a Kaze Server fan controller, and I had a Lamptron FC5 V2 briefly. However, they're essentially "dumb" fan controllers. Honestly, the AQ5 is capable of much more than just fan control, and Aquacomputer is still adding features to the software.
 
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ugapug said:
I used the Aquaero 5 Pro USB, which doesn't have the remote in the package or programmable touch buttons on the front. The LT is essentially the same guts as the Pro and XT, it just doesn't have a display or IR for the remote. I recommend getting the Pro, the display is nice to have. I added the remote separately and a black faceplate. I also picked up the high flow meter as well. If you have a high draw fan setup or a couple of DDC pumps, you might want to pick up a Poweradjust2 Ultra as well, I'm leaving my D5 on setting 5 and decoupling it, so it's essentially silent. I'm also using Gentle Typhoon AP15s on the rads, and XSPC Xinrulian 2000 rpm fans everywhere else, all run off the fan channels of the AQ5. I put the pump monitoring cable on the last fan channel of the AQ5 and set it to shut the system down if the pump speed flatlines for 6 seconds. I also put two Bitspower temp stop fittings, one in each 480 rad, and set another alarm for high water temp to shut the system down as well. Oh, and I also picked up the RGB LED from Aquacomputer and set it to change colors based upon the CPU temp, which makes it pretty easy to tell how hot things are just by glancing down :) If you end up getting an AQ5, PM me and I'll walk you through how I set it up to read the MB sensors reliably.

I used to use a Kaze Server fan controller, and I had a Lamptron FC5 V2 briefly. However, they're essentially "dumb" fan controllers. Honestly, the AQ5 is capable of much more than just fan control, and Aquacomputer is still adding features to the software.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you. :D This was so much more clear than what's on the website.

For me, all I need is the ability to control fan speeds, etc., from inside Windows. In fact, I would rather not have a front panel display, since most of those "ruin" the clean lines of my Corsair 700D case. I guess I would get the LT instead.

I also really appreciate how you have used other features to prevent a system failure due to a water-cooling problem. I agree that most fan controllers are "dumb" and the front panel knobs or displays to me at least detract from the appearance of my Corsair case.

I was seriously considering the new Corsair Link, but they seem to have so many software problems with third-party fans, etc., that I had to look for alternatives.
 
The nice thing about the Aquaero is you can set it to basically turn the LCD contrast and brightness down to zero after a timeout period. Trust me, the ability to see what your temps are by hitting a couple of buttons on the front is addictive :)
 
ugapug said:
The nice thing about the Aquaero is you can set it to basically turn the LCD contrast and brightness down to zero after a timeout period.
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Didn't know that, but that fact changes my thinking. I am not one of those guys who likes a too-bright control panel in one (or two!) drive bays on all the time.

Trust me, the ability to see what your temps are by hitting a couple of buttons on the front is addictive :)
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I suspect I would be similarly addicted. :p
 
Trust me, I've had systems with Deltas at 100% that I ran for years. I know "jet engine at take-off" levels of fan noise. Playing BF3 with essentially ZERO noise is definitely the way to go :D
 
I've been using the Kaze-Q on my latest water-cooling build. I have a 360rad, 240rad, and a pump hooked up for speed control and it seems to work great (so far).
 
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