Swiftech H220 - My Bad Experience and a Cautionary Tale

[NamelessTed]

So, I thought I was lucky enough to get a hold of an H220 just a couple of weeks after it launched. I was quite excited to receive it and get it all hooked up. The noise lever and performance of the unit is solid, that part I really liked. The bad part is that at this point I have had to RMA two separate units. The good part is that Swiftech's support is top notch, no problems on that side. But the product itself has not been reliable at all.

 

My first pump died slowly. The pump would completely stop for just a second or two, and then start up again. At first it was only doing it a couple of times a day, and then it would do it every couple of minutes. I called tech support and they offered me some specific setting in the motherboard bios/uefi. This seemed to work as it didn't have a problem for about 2 or 3 days, until the pump itself just completely stopped and wouldn't turn back on no matter what I tried. So I got it exchanged for a new one, no problem.

 

My second unit didn't have any of the pump issues of the first one. I was really happy that I had a nice working cooler. Then today I heard a couple of pops, and some sizzling noise, immediately followed by smoke blowing straight out the top of my case. I turned the thing off as fast as possible. It wasn't until I got my computer opened up that I could see that it was the H220 and not some other components. Thankfully I don't need to replace mobo, cpu, or GPU. that would have been worst case scenario. But, my pump is totally fubar. The plastic around the cables coming out of the pump is totally melted and bubbled, not good.

 

I don't know if I am just having terrible luck with these units. Both times I called support I was advised that the pumps have problems with specific motherboards or power delivery. Apparently using voltage control will absolutely ruin these units. From everything that I can tell the CPU Pin on my ASUS P8Z77-V Pro is PWM so that shouldn't be the problem. Even still, it seems a bit crazy to me that a company would release a product that simply doesn't work with a certain set of motherboards on the market and not very specifically define those and let their customers know this. If it is an issue between the CPU header on my motherboard and the pump, I really don't want to use the new unit if it is just going to break again. Is it normal for water pumps to have these kinds of problems?

 

Again, maybe I have just had crazy bad luck with these units. Am I wrong in thinking that the 4-pin CPU fan header on my motherboard is PWM? Should I give the H220 one more shot or should I just abandon it for an air cooler and be worry free?

[terrytek]

So, I thought I was lucky enough to get a hold of an H220 just a couple of weeks after it launched. I was quite excited to receive it and get it all hooked up. The noise lever and performance of the unit is solid, that part I really liked. The bad part is that at this point I have had to RMA two separate units. The good part is that Swiftech's support is top notch, no problems on that side. But the product itself has not been reliable at all.

 

My first pump died slowly. The pump would completely stop for just a second or two, and then start up again. At first it was only doing it a couple of times a day, and then it would do it every couple of minutes. I called tech support and they offered me some specific setting in the motherboard bios/uefi. This seemed to work as it didn't have a problem for about 2 or 3 days, until the pump itself just completely stopped and wouldn't turn back on no matter what I tried. So I got it exchanged for a new one, no problem.

 

My second unit didn't have any of the pump issues of the first one. I was really happy that I had a nice working cooler. Then today I heard a couple of pops, and some sizzling noise, immediately followed by smoke blowing straight out the top of my case. I turned the thing off as fast as possible. It wasn't until I got my computer opened up that I could see that it was the H220 and not some other components. Thankfully I don't need to replace mobo, cpu, or GPU. that would have been worst case scenario. But, my pump is totally fubar. The plastic around the cables coming out of the pump is totally melted and bubbled, not good.

 

I don't know if I am just having terrible luck with these units. Both times I called support I was advised that the pumps have problems with specific motherboards or power delivery. Apparently using voltage control will absolutely ruin these units. From everything that I can tell the CPU Pin on my ASUS P8Z77-V Pro is PWM so that shouldn't be the problem. Even still, it seems a bit crazy to me that a company would release a product that simply doesn't work with a certain set of motherboards on the market and not very specifically define those and let their customers know this. If it is an issue between the CPU header on my motherboard and the pump, I really don't want to use the new unit if it is just going to break again. Is it normal for water pumps to have these kinds of problems?

 

Again, maybe I have just had crazy bad luck with these units. Am I wrong in thinking that the 4-pin CPU fan header on my motherboard is PWM? Should I give the H220 one more shot or should I just abandon it for an air cooler and be worry free?

 

 

Well, I think you might have bad luck with this product. I cannot believe this stuff happened to you. This is plain karma. :P  But, still, i think you should try it one more time. If it fails, again, you may try another AIO water cooler, like the Corsair H100i, or you might want to switch to air cooling.

[airdeano]

nameless ted, thank you for sharing your tale. and thank you for keeping it a calm

and reasonable tone. i have heard of similar issues with this kit and other tales.

 

the concept i believe is sound, but the "design" is fouled. you'd waited and got

some of the early released retail sku. along with several other peeps i'd worked

with i don't think you are going to get any satisfaction with "if released" newer RMA

replacement. did Swiftech offer a "patch" for the power deficiency? like a harness

from the PSU to power the pump outside the mobo power? i believe that is where

electrical power issue is. 12v stem from PSU with the mobo to cycle the PWM and

tach lead to mobo header. if not, that's what i'd do if i were to get a replacement and

remove the task from the motherboard and move it to the PSU.

 

but the caveat is that the replacement may ail from another common defect: pump grind.

which others have been told to use a separate reservoir to alleviate the air cavitation on

start-up. which is not covered by Swiftech (your dime).

 

since you have already been bit by the pump bug twice (one severe fatality) might look

an air-cooler as the other AIO are having hit or miss issues themselves.

 

airdeano

[NamelessTed]

did Swiftech offer a "patch" for the power deficiency? like a harness

from the PSU to power the pump outside the mobo power? i believe that is where

electrical power issue is. 12v stem from PSU with the mobo to cycle the PWM and

tach lead to mobo header. if not, that's what i'd do if i were to get a replacement and

remove the task from the motherboard and move it to the PSU.

 

The way I had it attached was directly to the motherboard cpu header. The H220 does ship with a fan splitter but that has been a complete disaster to work with. It plugs into a header on the motherboard and then gets its power from a 4-pin molex. The problem that I have had is that anything that I plug into it runs at full speed. The pump runs, but at full speed which makes quite a noise. Same with fans, whether they are 4-pin or 3-pin, full speed. I appreciate the inclusion of the fan splitter, the problem is that it just doesn't work the way I think anybody would actually want it to work. Full speed 24/7 is just completely unacceptable.

 

And in terms of long term effect, I don't know what it would have on the pump. I would expect that it would work, but who knows.

[airdeano]

and you verified the UEFI or speedfan to regulate the CPU_FAN to custom?

by default the header is 100% (no control).

 

the pump is rated for 24/7 at 12v for 60,000 MTBF (Meantime Between Failures)

that's 6.86yrs

 

airdeano

[NamelessTed]

No matter what fan header that I connect the splitter to, the UEFI gives an N/A in the settings field. It doesn't allow me to change any settings nor does it report the RPM of any of the fans connected. I spent hours trying to get the thing to work with absolutely no progress.

[crouuie]

Actually it does matter what fan header you use. My H220 did not work in cpu fan header which is 4pin. but when i set cpu fan header at full speed my unit worked at 3000 rpm. Swiftech H220 is designed to work at 12V which you do not get from fan header if it's not set to " full speed " 

 

Then another thing is that if you read h220 manual there is told to use this fan divisor where you can plug 8 fans and control one by motherboard. Plug your h220 pump in this which you can control, so your h220 gets 12V even if its working at 1300 rpm. This really works and if it dosn't work then its maybe broken pump. These units have problems with undervoltage.

 

All Swiftech H220 units have been leak tested so every pump should have been working 24 hour. 

[bamerx98]

So, I thought I was lucky enough to get a hold of an H220 just a couple of weeks after it launched. I was quite excited to receive it and get it all hooked up. The noise lever and performance of the unit is solid, that part I really liked. The bad part is that at this point I have had to RMA two separate units. The good part is that Swiftech's support is top notch, no problems on that side. But the product itself has not been reliable at all.

 

My first pump died slowly. The pump would completely stop for just a second or two, and then start up again. At first it was only doing it a couple of times a day, and then it would do it every couple of minutes. I called tech support and they offered me some specific setting in the motherboard bios/uefi. This seemed to work as it didn't have a problem for about 2 or 3 days, until the pump itself just completely stopped and wouldn't turn back on no matter what I tried. So I got it exchanged for a new one, no problem.

 

My second unit didn't have any of the pump issues of the first one. I was really happy that I had a nice working cooler. Then today I heard a couple of pops, and some sizzling noise, immediately followed by smoke blowing straight out the top of my case. I turned the thing off as fast as possible. It wasn't until I got my computer opened up that I could see that it was the H220 and not some other components. Thankfully I don't need to replace mobo, cpu, or GPU. that would have been worst case scenario. But, my pump is totally fubar. The plastic around the cables coming out of the pump is totally melted and bubbled, not good.

 

I don't know if I am just having terrible luck with these units. Both times I called support I was advised that the pumps have problems with specific motherboards or power delivery. Apparently using voltage control will absolutely ruin these units. From everything that I can tell the CPU Pin on my ASUS P8Z77-V Pro is PWM so that shouldn't be the problem. Even still, it seems a bit crazy to me that a company would release a product that simply doesn't work with a certain set of motherboards on the market and not very specifically define those and let their customers know this. If it is an issue between the CPU header on my motherboard and the pump, I really don't want to use the new unit if it is just going to break again. Is it normal for water pumps to have these kinds of problems?

 

Again, maybe I have just had crazy bad luck with these units. Am I wrong in thinking that the 4-pin CPU fan header on my motherboard is PWM? Should I give the H220 one more shot or should I just abandon it for an air cooler and be worry free?

Well I can tell you, you're not the only one my friends H220 today just did what your second unit has down Swiftech need to get there shit together and fix this problem

[NamelessTed]

Well I can tell you, you're not the only one my friends H220 today just did what your second unit has down Swiftech need to get there shit together and fix this problem

I will say that I have had my 3rd H220 installed for a while now and it has been working great. If I could go back in time I don't think I would buy one, or any AIO water cooler for that matter. The new Cooler Master that is the replacement for the H220 seems to be almost identical so that would probably be the one to go with if a person wants to go AIO water. But I would just grab a big ass Noctua air cooler if I could. I have considered potentially selling the H220 but at this point its in my rig and im just a bit too lazy to take it out.

[airdeano]

I will say that I have had my 3rd H220 installed for a while now and it has been working great. If I could go back in time I don't think I would buy one, or any AIO water cooler for that matter. The new Cooler Master that is the replacement for the H220 seems to be almost identical so that would probably be the one to go with if a person wants to go AIO water. But I would just grab a big ass Noctua air cooler if I could. I have considered potentially selling the H220 but at this point its in my rig and im just a bit too lazy to take it out.

 

i've been a big corsair h100/i supported and have tried numerous other AIO solutions

and now have had the H220 for 5months and i still will support the H100/i. i have had

similar issues with this the third one after RMA replacements. expectations of a higher

price point and having capital issues is not a personal challenge, but should have been

addressed upon retail/review release. out of 28 H100/i installs for others and myself,

three pump issue, 2 controller and 1 DOA. but this was after a long lineage of no issues

to report. after some e-tailer rumblings of RMA faults of the H100 and H220 the H220 is

not doing so well at 7% with a small sales block of under 1000 sold. and not including

what Swiftech has done on a personal level of contact. i personally would not suggest

the H220/320 for a build with these types of complications (even with direct RMA).

pay less, get similar performance and save for a custom loop, or keep it under budget

and purchase a mid/high-end air cooler. me i will continue to stay with the H100/i.

i really liked the Thermaltake 2.0 Extreme, but alas the pump thump is getting more

prevalent like the H60/70 pumps (i do not endorse single fan AIO). may bastardize the

2.0 radiator and the H100i controller.. maybe?

[BryanSwift1]

OK, I feel I need to add something to this conversation. If the customer "Ted" tried using our PWM splitter and anything connected to it would only run at full speed despite any setting he tried, then the header was obviously voltage regulated. If this is the case then most likely this is the source of his issues. That motherboard appears to have a setting in the BIOS to adjust it from voltage control to PWM. I'm guessing that it had to be in voltage control and this is what led to all of the issues this customer experienced. It's true that we have had a couple of issues with these kits, but for the most part they perform flawlessly. That is if they are installed and used correctly.

[terrytek]

OK, I feel I need to add something to this conversation. If the customer "Ted" tried using our PWM splitter and anything connected to it would only run at full speed despite any setting he tried, then the header was obviously voltage regulated. If this is the case then most likely this is the source of his issues. That motherboard appears to have a setting in the BIOS to adjust it from voltage control to PWM. I'm guessing that it had to be in voltage control and this is what led to all of the issues this customer experienced. It's true that we have had a couple of issues with these kits, but for the most part they perform flawlessly. That is if they are installed and used correctly.

Uh, why did you decide to bump this?