Yet Another Pump Problem

Well, that didn't last long.

I had a bit of a scare the other night. I was installing my new Logitech webcam, and of course I ignored the instructions and plugged it in without installing the software. I then proceeded to start to install the software. At some point during this process, there was an ominous buzztt from one of my LCD panels and it went blank.

It was rather weird, the power switch didn't want to turn the panel off, and the backlight was still visible, but no desktop etc. I swapped the panels round, and this confirmed the panels were OK. After checking the connections at both ends, it's off with the side of the PC to investigate the mystery.

At this point I attempted to reboot and discovered the pump, whilst making reasonably normal noises, was not actually moving any coolant. At this point I start to sweat - the CPU's OK, but have I blown one of the output channels on my rather expensive graphics card ?

impeller_shafted_t.jpgSo it's back through the ritual of draining the coolant and dismantling the pump. This time I discover that the impeller has come adrift from the shaft - the shaft is partially keyed, and with the separation seen the key will not engage in the keyway, so the impeller will not be driven.

The construction is fairly weird, there's a rubber o-ring inside the white impeller moulding which appears to be intended to cause some form of force fit. But it doesn't work very well.


I resorted to some super glue - I wish I'd removed the o-ring first, since it seems to cause a small amount of off-axis displacement, removing it may have led to better balanced running - but nevertheless, I reassembled, spilt coolant everywhere and fired up. Despite my care in trying to avoid airlocks, it took quite a while before the pump settled down. At first I thought the glue had failed, but eventually some trapped air must have released and the pump returned to "normal".

As you might imagine, I was relieved to find all components were intact. But I now have had two failures. Although the Waterchill forums are quite noisy with problems with these pumps, I don't think the coolant is helping. So I probably need to choose:- different pump or resort to water as coolant.

I'm not keen on the water option, since the pushfit connectors on the Waterchill kit have a habit of leaking if they are moved off-axis. Fine if it's all neat and tidy and lashed down, but if you delve around inside the PC, you risk a water leak. Not good.

Oh yeah - the graphics issue ? Solved by removing the Logitech drivers, reinstalling the video card drivers and then following the correct sequence for installing the webcam.

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by David published on May 13, 2005 2:09 AM.

More crappy programming was the previous entry in this blog.

Are Americans Genetically Optimistic ? is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.