Replace Bykski DDC pump with EKWB DDC pump?

[Romeowns]

Gidday team, 

I have inherited a watercooled rig from my late father-in-law and the Bykski "B-PMD3-COV" DDC pump on the 7000D distro plate is very rattly at 20% / 1800 RPM (as low as PWM will let it go via Gigabyte X570 BIOs).

I want to replace it with the EKWB EK-Loop DDC 4.2 PWM Motor as this is the only option I have available locally.
 

I hope that I'll be able to tune down the EKWB pump to below 1800 RPM so it'll be quieter / less rattly. The rig is used mostly for quiet office work and occasional gaming.

Can you please let me know your thoughts on:

* Is this a realistic hope? 
* Is this a straightforward task? 
* Is there more I need to consider?
 

Thank you for your time.

[PDifolco]

Why the hell do you run a pump at 20% rpm ? It's meant to run at 100% (or 90% ..)

If it's abnormally noisy at normal speeds then replace it indeed

 

[Romeowns]

I run the DDC pump at 20% because that's the quietest option and it barely affects the coolant temperature. My understanding is that the pump has PWM control for this very reason and can find no comprehensive opinion online as per the recommended RPM for DDC pumps - however, the majority appears to lean towards running them at a lower RPMs. For D5 pumps the opinion seems to lean more towards running them at 80% or higher given their much quieter operation. 

 

I’m still very eager to hear from anyone who has replaced a Bykski DDC with a EKWB / Xylem / Liang DDC pump.

 

The Bykski is apparently a clone of the Xylem DDC, but I cannot find precise dimensions of either pump online or any confirmation from anyone that they are directly swappable. 

[fonzz1e]

not sure about that distro plate pump, 

I know folks on reddit swap ltprka-04 cpu block pump combo to EK ddc 3.2 (4.2 is sata version) 

[Romeowns]

Thanks for the tip @fonzz1e, looks like @blackreplica in this Reddit thread replaced the Barrow DDC pump with the EK 3.2 DDC, reusing the same metal housing + heatsink. 

 

Interestingly, @blackreplica's Barrow DDC pump appears visually identical to the Bykski DDC pump. I understand that both are "clones", so they may come from the same distributor - hence the EK DDC pump may fit the 7000D distro plate after all. 

[Romeowns]

OK, I've opened my Bykski DDC pump fitted to my 7000D disto place and it's identical to the Barrow DDC pump fitted to the LTPRP-04 pump - both circuit boards are labelled as "Q2C-12B".

 

Also, this video shows the factory "Q2C-12B" pump in the Barrow LTPRKA-04, and others on Reddit etc have reported success in swapping this out for an EK DDC. 

 

Given this, I'll go ahead and buy the EK DDC 4.2 PWM pump to replace my Bykski "B-PMD3-COV" and report back my findings next week.

[Romeowns]

OK, my Bykski DDC pump died a couple of weeks back (that was a bit of a horror scenario walking in to 100% fans and a 90°c CPU) so I was forced to replace it with EKWB bits. 

 

The EKWB DDC 4.2 PWM pump and EK-DDC Heatsink fit onto the Bykski 7000D Distro plate perfectly without any problems whatsoever. You have to disassemble the PWM pump a little bit and apply the thermal pad + heatsink, but it's a simple task. 

 

The EKWB DDC 4.2 PWM pump is a major upgrade over the Bykski I had. The Bykski DDC ran at 1800 RPM minimum and the impellor was off ballance, leading to it scraping on the inner housing of the pump - and therefore noisy. The new EKWB pump will run very low, probably around 900RPM, but I have it at 1200RPM and it seems to be delivering the same flow rate as the Bykski DDC at 1800RPM, except the EKWB is very quiet. 

 

Also, not sure what could be causing this, but after the EKWB DDC pump was installed my rig is running and idling considerable cooler. Maybe I had a big air pocket in one of my rads, but in any case it was money well spent upgrading to EKWB. 

 

Also, I don't think the EKWB DDC 4.2 PWM pump would ever fit in the Bykski DDC heatsink. The heights and internal elements / groves / notches seem completely different. Just get the EK-DDC Heatsink while you're at it, it's really heavy and clearly dissipating the pump's heat and probably soaking up a bit of vibration as well. 

[fonzz1e]

On 9/1/2023 at 5:12 PM, Romeowns said:

my Bykski DDC pump died a couple of weeks back

not sure but its possibly due to its ddc pump not having thermal pads between pcb & alu heatsink

 

or just bad QC on their end, so far i've only use their rads & blocks (2 years on, no issue)