Disassembly

As mentioned on the previous page, the reservoir top cap is effectively just threaded in place and easy to remove. Doing so gives us a better look at it from the other side, which confirms the presence of an O-ring to keep the coolant from leaking out if your reservoir is filled to the rim. The reservoir body itself is also threaded into the pump top and can be removed just as easily. There is another thick O-ring on the pump top for the same purpose, and we also see a thin acrylic plate to separate the coolant volume and allow for a longer travel path, which provides more time for air bubbles to rise up and into the reservoir as opposed to getting sucked back down into the pump.


This plate also provides a base for the anti-cyclone foam piece, which rests neatly on top and does not get in the way of the tube threading back in place on the pump top. I would recommend trying out the reservoir without the foam piece first, if only because my previous experience with this pump tells me there is not going to be a whole lot of flow turbulence, and you would want to use PWM control on the pump to slow it down and speed it up to help bleed the loop of air.

Disassembly of the pump itself involves removal of the four feet first, which is easy enough to do because of the thick rubber cover, to expose the four metal standoffs that hold the pump top and body together. These standoffs, apart from having threads for the pump feet, also have a hex head inside for the provided Allen key. This disassembly is not recommended, especially as you risk damaging the pump motor past this point.


Removing all four standoffs allows us to take apart the pump top, pump body, and acetal bottom cover protecting the PCB. A closer examination of the pump top reveals the RGB LED strip positioned on the outside of the acrylic top similar to what we saw with the EK-Supremacy Classic RGB block.


The impeller is indeed different from what the Laing DDC or Swiftech MCP50X/MCP30 use, or even the custom DDC pump in older EK AIOs. It has three openings for coolant to be circulated and pushed out through and a magnetic bottom to aid in rotating around the central ceramic shaft bearing. The PCB is cleaner and has better soldering for all components than the Topsflo TDC that will also draw comparisons here if you are familiar with that pump. Note that the impeller rests on two stainless steel washers and around the ceramic shaft bearing, and these washers can come loose or stick to the magnetic part on the impeller when opening the pump. These are added around the axis to provide resistant surface contact to where the pump runner bushing slides during rotation.