Is it OK to have some air bubbles in your water cooler pump ?

[Firas64]

hi
i have some air on my aio pump and its making a rather annoying ratling noise
is that bad for the pump ?
is there a way to remove the air from AIO PUMP ?
my cpu cooler is ARCTIC FREEZER 360
there a video for the noise test :

 

[OneMoar]

with sealed AIO units there isn't really a good way the air has no way to escape
also older aio might be getting low on fluid

may be time to cut the lines off add a res and refill it

the res needs to be the highest point in the system to give the air someplace to go

I would cut the lines at the block/pump head/drain it, tie a reservoir into the system and seal it all back up with good clamps or maybe some epoxy/pvc cement if you are paranoid

 

[sneekypeet]

You could try to "roll" the chassis to try to let air out of the head unit, which should then get trapped in the radiator. Although, with the way you have it installed, it should do this naturally! The real question for me is how can you tell it is air in the head unit rather than a bad impeller making that noise.

I would say this. Air in a head unit will reduce the thermal ability of the head unit, IE temperatures should be increasing if it is air. As to OneMoar's point, even if it were "low on fluid" the head unit is the lowest point, so for that to ring true the loop would have to be near empty, and again temperatures would show this too.

If you do not have any software to watch the pump speed I would sit in BIOS for a bit and see what happens with the RPMs of the unit. If you are seeing vast fluctuations in speed, it would point to the impeller dragging inside of the head unit.

If none of this is helpful, and you have recently purchased this cooler, I would contact ARCTIC and see if they have any helpful hints or offer an RMA!

 

[Firas64]

You could try to "roll" the chassis to try to let air out of the head unit, which should then get trapped in the radiator. Although, with the way you have it installed, it should do this naturally! The real question for me is how can you tell it is air in the head unit rather than a bad impeller making that noise.

I would say this. Air in a head unit will reduce the thermal ability of the head unit, IE temperatures should be increasing if it is air. As to OneMoar's point, even if it were "low on fluid" the head unit is the lowest point, so for that to ring true the loop would have to be near empty, and again temperatures would show this too.

If you do not have any software to watch the pump speed I would sit in BIOS for a bit and see what happens with the RPMs of the unit. If you are seeing vast fluctuations in speed, it would point to the impeller dragging inside of the head unit.

If none of this is helpful, and you have recently purchased this cooler, I would contact ARCTIC and see if they have any helpful hints or offer an RMA!

i tried roll and tilt the chassis but the noise became worse
thats the temperatures on LOAD
and the pump speed on 100%

 

[flmatter]

I have to agree with @sneekypeet it sounds more like the pump going bad or an impeller dragging, air trapped in a system normally is more of a gurgling sound than what I heard on your video. May be time to find a new AIO or rma

 

[BadFrog]

How old is the cooler? I do not recommend cutting an AIO cooler.

I'd use this as the perfect excuse to get a new AIO

 

[Firas64]

How old is the cooler? I do not recommend cutting an AIO cooler.

I'd use this as the perfect excuse to get a new AIO

8 months

 

[eidairaman1]

I say either get a new AI o or build a custom Loop

I have to agree with @sneekypeet it sounds more like the pump going bad or an impeller dragging air trapped in a system normally is more of a gurgling sound than what I heard on your video. May be time to find a new AIO or rma

Sounds like a cheap aio, RMA it run air for time being

 

[BadFrog]

8 months

Use a stock cooler for now, and submit a RMA to Arctic and send in. Warranty is good for 2 years. Sorry to hear your troubles. I've used Corsair AIO back in 2012-2014, and never had a problem.

IMO, I'd sell the arctic on Ebay or something and just get a new one. I've had bad experiences in the past with RMA's coming back and still having problems

As Eidairaman1 says, you can also go custom but you're looking at several hundreds of dollars. EKWB has a nice configuration tool to show you what you need.

 

[Sasqui]

8 months

Next question is... how long has it been making that noise?

In my experience with a custom loop, MCP655 pump, EK Res and 320 Radiator, air would be audible, but they sound wasn't quite as "grindy" as what i hear in your video. And for me, it would only happen for a few minutes after maintenance, while the Res had time to capture the bubbles. You could literally watch bubble moving in the tubes and entering the Res while it was purging.

I looked on the Arctic site, couldn't find anything about maintenance, filling purging etc. in manuals

 

[jboydgolfer]

this happened with the current Kreij memorial giveaway PC build i have recently finished. if it is layed on its side, etc, it makes a "gurgling" sound for a short time, until the bubbles are worked out through the pump. ive never had it happen so pronounced before, but its temps remained fine, and it stopped about 10 seconds after turning on.

 

[OneMoar]

I have heard air in pumps make some hideous sounds
had a water pump that sounded like metal on metal despite the pump being entirely plastic it was so bad

if its cooling adequately fawk it it will be fine

 

[Gasaraki]

Why would there be air in an AIO?... It's sealed. That video doesn't show that it has air. You have other issues and it's not air.

 

[OneMoar]

because no system is 100% sealed and water like anything else breaks down overtime

 

[jboydgolfer]

Why would there be air in an AIO?... It's sealed. That video doesn't show that it has air. You have other issues and it's not air.

ive gotten air bubbles b4 in an AIO. if you shake an AIO , it can cause bubbles to form. if you have a sealed water bottle, and shake it, tiny bubbles form, id guess its similar. but i understand your reasoning.

 

[EarthDog]

Firas... from OCF? Its been years...

 

[phanbuey]

AIO's have air in them, they have space to deal with that as well... they also evaporate a bit over time...

the way that you have it mounted should allow the air to settle at the top and not cause any issues though.

 

[ZenZimZaliben]

That sounds like a failing bearing to me. If it got louder when you rolled the chassis it is likely from the centripetal force on the failing bearing...or it could have gunk/debris (likely chunks of bearing) in the bearing housing.

 

[jboydgolfer]

In The video it's kind a hard to hear the sound that the pump is making , theres so much hum from the fans and other white noise. Is it possible to disable your fans and just let the pump run by itself ,so we can hear it on its own?

As the video is now, I agree it sounds less like air bubbles and more like something else, but I've had air bubbles that sound kind of "funky" too, so I'd love to hear it and a more pure form

 

[jaggerwild]

@OP
Have you been monitoring temps? This would tell you weather its a bad pump or just air, air will find a settling place. Also sealed units evaperate

 

[erocker]

Sounds like the pump is going out, not air.

You can contact their support here: https://www.arctic.ac/us_en/liquid-freezer-360.html

 

[Firas64]

@OP
Have you been monitoring temps? This would tell you weather its a bad pump or just air, air will find a settling place. Also sealed units evaperate

i get 18 C on idle and on load 19-20 C
with prime95 v294b5 i get 65 C max with small FFTs
my cpu is i7 7700k on 4.5ghz not delidding

Next question is... how long has it been making that noise?

In my experience with a custom loop, MCP655 pump, EK Res and 320 Radiator, air would be audible, but they sound wasn't quite as "grindy" as what i hear in your video. And for me, it would only happen for a few minutes after maintenance, while the Res had time to capture the bubbles. You could literally watch bubble moving in the tubes and entering the Res while it was purging.

I looked on the Arctic site, couldn't find anything about maintenance, filling purging etc. in manuals

The noise began two weeks ago

That sounds like a failing bearing to me. If it got louder when you rolled the chassis it is likely from the centripetal force on the failing bearing...or it could have gunk/debris (likely chunks of bearing) in the bearing housing.

Today I rolled the chassis and the noise stopped completely, but after two minutes the noise returned

 

[thebluebumblebee]

EKWB has a nice configuration tool to show you what you need.

You can save a lot of money by buying one of their kits. Best way to go when starting with custom water cooling.

 

[jboydgolfer]

Regardless of the source of the sound, I've never had a problem contacting manufacturers( while pump is still under warranty ) & telling them it's making the sound , they should offer you either an advanced RMA or a standard RMA.

It's better to be safe than sorry ,and wake up one morning and find water in your build, or have the pump fail