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Loud DDC pump - isn't watercooling supposed to be quiet?

oscar7601
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On 3-3-2017 at 9:47 PM, oscar7601 said:

Just a quick update : I have now all my loop in working condition. Have had it running for about 7 hours now, still running to leek test it.

 

No air is circulating any more and the reservoir is almost completely full so that the pump doesn't suck some air in.

 

But the pump is still very loud!

 

I'm talking about a big delta in dB in the room : from 38dB (everything off) to 52dB when the pump is working!

 

Is that normal? This buzzing sound wouldn't be a concern for me if it wasn't that loud but... Is such a high noise level normal?

 

Really my video in the OP doesn't quite show how loud it is... my smartphone internal mic isn't so great...

It's the combination of using the pump at full speed and using it in a bay reservoir amplifying it's vibration through your case.

 

I have an EK bay reservoir with 2 DDC pumps. I can tell, you don't want to hear those at full speed. I have to run them at 20-25% PWM to get them silent.  At those speeds they can still provide a very decent flow.

 

52 minutes ago, oscar7601 said:

Just an update to this issue.

I have contacted XSPC and sent them a video and noise level measurments of my previous pump, which they said were not normal.

So they sent me another new one for free (which is awesome from them and I would like to thank them for the very fast answer given to my problem).

 

Yet, I have finally installed the new pump in the loop and... it's really about as loud as the previous one...

 

I have tested the 7V method, but the pump's speed seems not to vary. After a few minutes of research, I have found that most pumps are not voltage-driven...

Which lets me with basically no other option but to accept the noise level of this pump right?

Or should I try the PWM module I have received?


Yes, if the pump has PWM you should definitely use that to slow the pump down to acceptable noise levels.

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1 hour ago, Limecat86 said:

It's the combination of using the pump at full speed and using it in a bay reservoir amplifying it's vibration through your case.

 

I have an EK bay reservoir with 2 DDC pumps. I can tell, you don't want to hear those at full speed. I have to run them at 20-25% PWM to get them silent.  At those speeds they can still provide a very decent flow.

Alright so I definitely need to slow this pump down!

 

1 hour ago, Limecat86 said:

Yes, if the pump has PWM you should definitely use that to slow the pump down to acceptable noise levels.

Is there a way (other than by testing) to know if the pump has PWM?

 

Could a PWM signal hurt my pump if it's not PWM enabled?

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Or do what we already said and get a real pump. 

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2 hours ago, oscar7601 said:

Is there a way (other than by testing) to know if the pump has PWM?

If a pump is PWM enabled, then it will have a 4-pin PWM cable.

 

The pump likely also has a SATA or Molex cable for raw power but if it's intended to use a PWM signal then it will come with the typical 4-pin cable that you would plug into the CPU fan header on your motherboard. See bellow.

 

From: http://www.performance-pcs.com/pumps/ek-ddc-3-2-pwm-12v-pwm-pump.html

 

 

ek-ddc-32-pwm_02.jpg

2 hours ago, oscar7601 said:

Could a PWM signal hurt my pump if it's not PWM enabled?

You couldn't get a PWM signal to a pump in the first place if it's not PWM enabled. See above.

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2 hours ago, oscar7601 said:

Alright so I definitely need to slow this pump down!

 

Is there a way (other than by testing) to know if the pump has PWM?

 

Could a PWM signal hurt my pump if it's not PWM enabled?

Is this the pump you have? http://www.xs-pc.com/water-pumps/x2o-420-single-bayrespump

(You mentioned it in your post. But that is not a DDC pump as far as I can see... Which makes your post title a bit confusing... )

 

If so, I'm afraid you don't have a PWM supported pump and your only option is try lowering the voltage. That, or get another pump/res combo.

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Just my opinion on water cooling and noise ... if you want the most quiet PC possible, water cooling isn't going to win in this competition.

Dark Rock Pro 3 from be quiet! for CPU cooling, some GPU that have zero fan mode, same for PSU, 1 intake and 1 exaust fan from be quiet! on 600rpm and you have yourself dead silent PC when you go to sleep.

You can check my signature and see what loop I'm using, and when I go to sleep, I hear my PC ... mostly pump humming and some bad fan bearings.

I did tun off fans completly just to test the noise, and it didn't help much, because I can still hear pump even on just 40% speed.

 

My advice for anyone who want to get as quiet PC as possible, is to go with air cooling, and just get decent fans from be quiet!, zero fan speed PSU/GPU, and don't use HDD .... just SSD. It will be dead quiet when at idle, and just barely audible when gaming.

While gaming with air coolers, they might be more noisy than custom water loops, but I prefer the sound of fans from my GPU, rather than pump noise.

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4 hours ago, PrimeSonic said:

You couldn't get a PWM signal to a pump in the first place if it's not PWM enabled. See above.

 

Yes I can, with this I bought from eBay : http://www.ebay.fr/itm/141773508216

 

4 hours ago, Limecat86 said:

Is this the pump you have? http://www.xs-pc.com/water-pumps/x2o-420-single-bayrespump

(You mentioned it in your post. But that is not a DDC pump as far as I can see... Which makes your post title a bit confusing... )

 

If so, I'm afraid you don't have a PWM supported pump and your only option is try lowering the voltage. That, or get another pump/res combo.

Yes that is the exact model I have, except mine has a SATA connector instead of a Molex.

 

As mentioned before, I have tried the 7 volt mod but the pump speed would absolutely not change from 12 volts to 7, which made it very clear it is not a voltage-driven motor inside the pump.

 

Since I now have two exact same res+pump combos, I think I'm going to give the "old" one a try hooked up to the PWM module I bought from eBay. Even if it dies, I'm not using it anyway. xD

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Alright so I've just tried the PWM module... doesn't change anything xD

 

This damn pump is like a tractor! Nothing seems able to slow it down!

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On 2/9/2017 at 9:19 AM, oscar7601 said:

Thank you for your reply.

While I do understand that watercooling is not automatically quieter, I have to say I did not expect the pump to be that loud.

About the noise in the video, there was only one 140mm fan running other than the pump itself (actually I can't even hear the fan, I only hear the pump).

 

 

Alright I will report back here if this goes on like this once the hole loop is built :)

 

Thank you  everyone for your answers. I like how people try to help each other on this forum.

that particular res is known for being too small for a too powerful pump. 

its really hard to bleed the air out of it

so mostl likely bubbles

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1 hour ago, en1gMATIC said:

that particular res is known for being too small for a too powerful pump. 

its really hard to bleed the air out of it

so mostl likely bubbles

 

I have a res on top of it connected to the inlet of the res+pump combo now so there is litterally no air inside it.

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17 hours ago, oscar7601 said:

Alright so I've just tried the PWM module... doesn't change anything xD

 

This damn pump is like a tractor! Nothing seems able to slow it down!

Indeed, I guess your only option is to get a different unit like this if you want something similar:

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-sbay-ddc-3-2-pwm-incl-pump

 

Just keep in mind that bay mounted pump/res combo's are always louder than their cylinder style counterparts.

 

 

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STORAGE: WD PC SN530 512GB + Samsung Evo 860 500GB // COOLING: Full custom loop // DISPLAY: LG 34UC89G-B

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19 hours ago, oscar7601 said:

 

I have a res on top of it connected to the inlet of the res+pump combo now so there is litterally no air inside it.

oh...

i have absolutely no idea how to solve your problem except exchanging it with like a ek d5 pump/res tube reservoir

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I think I finally found a way of screwing the combo in the case so as for it to make less noise. Now the pump is about as silent as all the fans together which is satisfactory to me ^_^

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17 hours ago, Limecat86 said:

Just keep in mind that bay mounted pump/res combo's are always louder than their cylinder style counterparts.

Unless, the user can decouple the bay from the case or have a bay res that has a decouple setup.

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Oh and just FYI if you happen to be reading this thread because you are facing the same issue with the same product, I have contacted XSPC to ask them and they confirmed this product cannot be PWM-driven. They suggested I drove it through voltage but not below 9 volts. As you have already read previously I have even been down to 7 volts and it would not change the pump's speed so... yeah it's basically "impossible" to vary the pump's speed.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Little follow-up to this thead : the noise this combo was doing got me so annoyed I bought another pump ( this one ) from AliExpress.

 

Couldn't be more happy about it! It's PWM-driver directly from the motherboard (requires up to 10 watts) and is running incredibly quiet! :D

 

The only noise I can now here coming ouf from my PC is that of the fans ^_^ Which is really nice.

 

I have left the combo in place as a bay reservoir since it was more convenient than taking it out and running all the tubings once again. Working like a champ until now :)

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