So my pump caught fire...

[CharlieSheather]

Hi guys, a short story for you;

 

Last week I took my desktop with me to do some on site web development in a town a few hours away. I've hauled my desktop around with me a lot in the last few years (having been at university) so I had no problems packing it or during the trip. After I got there I promptly set up my computer and screens and turned it on, then went into a meeting. (a note; my pump is a DDC with and EK x-res top)

 

About half an hour later (still in the meeting) we noticed an electrical / plastic burning smell. We search around for a few minutes and narrowed it down to near my computer. The smell seemed to be stronger down near my computer to I pulled off my side panel just in time to see a plume of smoke shoot out of the side of the pump!

 

I quickly ripped out the power cable and then everything else and grabbed my case, rushing to a table outside. With the side panel still off, more smoke was coming from the pump. Luckily I had a drain valve installed, so I opened it up and just let the water run out onto the table outside. I ran back inside looking for something to get the pump out of my system (now smoking even more furiously). I spotted a kitchen knife, grabbed it and ran back outside. The knife was surprisingly sharp so it didn't take much to cut through the tubing either side of the pump. The pump was secured to the case with double sided foam tape so I just grabbed onto the res, tore it out of the case and threw it into the back yard.

 

After another couple of minutes the pump had stopped smoking, so I went over to it to inspect;

 

The base of the pump case was melted a bit (you can also see some smoke in the top right of the photo below).

 

I then opened up the pump case.

 

Close up of the area that was burning.

Case;

 

Pump;

 

I needed to get back up and running asap and as there was no local pc shops, closest one was 5 hours drive away, I decided to head down to the hardware store and grab a pond pump and some more distilled water. I got both for $40 which was cheaper than I thought.

 

As pond pumps usually require being submerged, I filled a container outside the case with the water and attached the pump. Although there was not much flow it worked very well.

 

The bottles in the container are filled with tap water and are there to raise the level of the distilled water above the top of the pond pump.

 

Edit: I forgot to say that luckily everything else survived.

 

So has anyone else had something like this happen to them?

 

PS. New pump is here so the re-build log coming soon...

 

Cheers

Charlie

[Darkman]

Holy shit, I thought watercooling was for keeping the computer running cooler..

On a more serious note, thank god you didn't ruin anything, pumps can run pretty hot at times.

[Firearm2112]

Shit man, that sucks. Did your CPU survive?

[CharlieSheather]

Shit man, that sucks. Did your CPU survive?

 

Yes, everything else survived, luckily

[connorpiper]

I would ask the company if this is a common problem. *Hint* They may give you a replacement. 

[Excon]

Im sure you could have contacted them and got a new pump for free aswell as any additional damage costs?

[foxhound590]

+1 for ingenuity 

[CharlieSheather]

I would ask the company if this is a common problem. *Hint* They may give you a replacement.

Im sure you could have contacted them and got a new pump for free aswell as any additional damage costs?

I've been in contact with the manufacturer, looks like I'll be sending them the pump so they can inspect it to see if there was some fault. The pump is 2.5 years old though and out of warranty so I'm not fussed about getting a replacement, but I wont complain if they give me one!

[airdeano]

welcome to the world of DDC. i have had similar issues and it stems from the

lack of air flow to/around the pump. the D5 uses the coolant as a cooling agent

to carry the heat away from the windings and pump itself. the DDC counts on

the airflow around it to cool. up till a year and a half, they have this:

 

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13221/ex-pmp-138/Swiftech_MCP35X-HS_Pump_Heatsink_-_Laing_DDC-1T1TPlus_MCP-35035535X.html

 

in combination with an 80x80 fan attached is what Laing prescribes for melting pump syndrome.

[Fragsa1]

It seems annoying that you have to "Cool" a component which already has "Coolant" running through it.. haha.

 

Almost the equivalent to requiring a PSU be powered by an additional cable. Or a fan that requires a cooling fan to cool it.

 

I'm glad I don't use a DDC.

[CharlieSheather]

welcome to the world of DDC. i have had similar issues and it stems from the

lack of air flow to/around the pump. the D5 uses the coolant as a cooling agent

to carry the heat away from the windings and pump itself. the DDC counts on

the airflow around it to cool. up till a year and a half, they have this:

http://www.frozencpu.com/images/products/large/ex-pmp-138.jpg

 

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/13221/ex-pmp-138/Swiftech_MCP35X-HS_Pump_Heatsink_-_Laing_DDC-1T1TPlus_MCP-35035535X.html

 

in combination with an 80x80 fan attached is what Laing prescribes for melting pump syndrome.

 

 I've seen something like that before but never though about using it myself. Looks like I should have...

 

It seems annoying that you have to "Cool" a component which already has "Coolant" running through it.. haha.

 

Almost the equivalent to requiring a PSU be powered by an additional cable. Or a fan that requires a cooling fan to cool it.

 

I'm glad I don't use a DDC.

My new pump is a d5 (xspc d5 photon 170 pmup/res combo). I'm glad to get away form the ddc as it was loud too... I'm installing the new pump right now actually

[Spev]

Hi guys, a short story for you;

 

Last week I took my desktop with me to do some on site web development in a town a few hours away. I've hauled my desktop around with me a lot in the last few years (having been at university) so I had no problems packing it or during the trip. After I got there I promptly set up my computer and screens and turned it on, then went into a meeting. (a note; my pump is a DDC with and EK x-res top)

 

About half an hour later (still in the meeting) we noticed an electrical / plastic burning smell. We search around for a few minutes and narrowed it down to near my computer. The smell seemed to be stronger down near my computer to I pulled off my side panel just in time to see a plume of smoke shoot out of the side of the pump!

 

I quickly ripped out the power cable and then everything else and grabbed my case, rushing to a table outside. With the side panel still off, more smoke was coming from the pump. Luckily I had a drain valve installed, so I opened it up and just let the water run out onto the table outside. I ran back inside looking for something to get the pump out of my system (now smoking even more furiously). I spotted a kitchen knife, grabbed it and ran back outside. The knife was surprisingly sharp so it didn't take much to cut through the tubing either side of the pump. The pump was secured to the case with double sided foam tape so I just grabbed onto the res, tore it out of the case and threw it into the back yard.

 

After another couple of minutes the pump had stopped smoking, so I went over to it to inspect;

 

The base of the pump case was melted a bit (you can also see some smoke in the top right of the photo below).

IMG_20141126_161949.jpg

 

I then opened up the pump case.

IMG_20141126_162609.jpg

 

Close up of the area that was burning.

Case;

IMG_20141126_162616.jpg

 

Pump;

IMG_20141126_162621.jpg

 

I needed to get back up and running asap and as there was no local pc shops, closest one was 5 hours drive away, I decided to head down to the hardware store and grab a pond pump and some more distilled water. I got both for $40 which was cheaper than I thought.

 

As pond pumps usually require being submerged, I filled a container outside the case with the water and attached the pump. Although there was not much flow it worked very well.

IMG_20141126_183409.jpg

 

The bottles in the container are filled with tap water and are there to raise the level of the distilled water above the top of the pond pump.

IMG_20141126_183416.jpg

 

Edit: I forgot to say that luckily everything else survived.

 

So has anyone else had something like this happen to them?

 

PS. New pump is here so the re-build log coming soon...

 

Cheers

Charlie

HAHAHAHAHA. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELL IT LOOKS LIKE I'M NOT GETTING AN EK PUMP  

 

This story seriously made my day. I think I'm getting the Swiftech MCP655, I hope it doesn't catch fire like yours.

[airdeano]

HAHAHAHAHA. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELL IT LOOKS LIKE I'M NOT GETTING AN EK PUMP  

 

This story seriously made my day. I think I'm getting the Swiftech MCP655, I hope it doesn't catch fire like yours.

 

it is not just an EK pump, but the Laing DDC pumps in general. manufacturers

relabel Laing pumps for their purposes.

Alphacool, EK, XSPC, Swiftech, Aquacomputer, Phobya, and like all do it.

[insulin shots]

Way to think on your feet to get the pc back up and running with the pond pump, distilled water, and a cooler. Gotta like the post for that lol

[ZarosTenjin]

As a DDC user myself i am thankful mine is directly cooled by my front fan intake

Sorry to hear you had such a disastrous failure with your pump!

[CharlieSheather]

it is not just an EK pump, but the Laing DDC pumps in general. manufacturers

relabel Laing pumps for their purposes.

Alphacool, EK, XSPC, Swiftech, Aquacomputer, Phobya, and like all do it.

 

 

HAHAHAHAHA. LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WELL IT LOOKS LIKE I'M NOT GETTING AN EK PUMP  

 

This story seriously made my day. I think I'm getting the Swiftech MCP655, I hope it doesn't catch fire like yours.

airdeano is right, mine was laing branded. Its the DDC design in general that failed here, not the manufacturer or reseller.

 

Way to think on your feet to get the pc back up and running with the pond pump, distilled water, and a cooler. Gotta like the post for that lol

Haha thanks, yeah well I had to be up and running right away, so I found a way.

 

As a DDC user myself i am thankful mine is directly cooled by my front fan intake

Sorry to hear you had such a disastrous failure with your pump!

Mine was actually right behind my front intake fan, but I think having it sitting on dampening foam was not great for keeping it cool.