H100i V2 CPU Fan Error after 4 or so Months

I woke up this morning, turned on my tower, and was rather annoyed to see another CPU fan error.

Now, first of all 4 or 5 months ago, my normal H100 (NOT V2) gave me the same problem, the fans were running, but the pumps (appeared to have) failed. If I left the computer alone for like 12 hours, it would work, but as soon as I shut it down and started it up again, it would give me a cpu fan error. I sent in an RMA and they sent me a v2.

Now back to the present, I appear to have the same problem, albeit much quicker this time. I do not currently have corsair link set up, as the motherboard header it would have required would have meant I had only 2 USB ports, so I never set it up.

Going to wait until tonight to boot it up again and see if the cooler is doing the same thing as the original. Not quite sure what to do here, as replacing it again would be a major nuisance for me currently, although if I have to, I do have a card I can put in to enable the use of Corsair Link. Getting rather frustrated at the two pump failures in 6 months, rather unfortunate. Should I just send in another RMA anyway? Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Edit: Sent in an RMA, should be getting a replacement soon, as well as adding a card so I can actually use Corsair link, I hope that makes a difference, that's two cooling systems rendered unusable in 6 months.

Corsair Link would make it easier for diagnosing the issue, but if can be done without it. Since your intention is to run sans Link, installing it now may change the way the cooler operates.

The CPU boot error is usually not promising. There isn't much you can do.

1) Make sure the CPU fan header is set 100%/PWM/"Full Speed" or whatever the Asus lingo was for a 12v signal at that time. Your board may also have a 'disabled' setting that does the same thing. This can be reset unintentionally on a BIOS flash or if you reset to default.

2) If that checks out, move the H100i v2 to another board header. You will still need something on CPU fan to boot, so you can move another fan or stick the radiator fans on CPU/OPT to solve that issue. It will also take some current load of the unit, if that is a factor. Again, make sure the controlling header is set to 12v/100% etc.

3) Do you have lights on the unit? Can you hear or feel the vibrations in the pump with your fingers?

Unfortunately, this situation doesn't usually end well. It is a nuisance and most people do not keep a back up cooling system around expecting the primary to fail every 6 months. I am looking forward to the new model coolers and will be happy to see the v2/GTX series disappear.

https://corsair.secure.force.com/home/home.jsp

Corsair Link would make it easier for diagnosing the issue, but if can be done without it. Since your intention is to run sans Link, installing it now may change the way the cooler operates.

 

The CPU boot error is usually not promising. There isn't much you can do.

 

1) Make sure the CPU fan header is set 100%/PWM/"Full Speed" or whatever the Asus lingo was for a 12v signal at that time. Your board may also have a 'disabled' setting that does the same thing. This can be reset unintentionally on a BIOS flash or if you reset to default.

 

2) If that checks out, move the H100i v2 to another board header. You will still need something on CPU fan to boot, so you can move another fan or stick the radiator fans on CPU/OPT to solve that issue. It will also take some current load of the unit, if that is a factor. Again, make sure the controlling header is set to 12v/100% etc.

 

3) Do you have lights on the unit? Can you hear or feel the vibrations in the pump with your fingers?

 

Unfortunately, this situation doesn't usually end well. It is a nuisance and most people do not keep a back up cooling system around expecting the primary to fail every 6 months. I am looking forward to the new model coolers and will be happy to see the v2/GTX series disappear.

 

https://corsair.secure.force.com/home/home.jsp

The lights on my pump are lit normally until 10 or so seconds after the boot, at which point they turn red.

My settings should be fine, I couldn't really find anything obvious, no real fan controls or voltage options for the CPU fan but "CPU Q-Fan control", which I disabled.

As for vibrations, I currently can't have the case open and the power on at the same time.

Honestly, with the red lights and the funny noise, I figure it's toast, just wanted to make sure there was nothing I could really try that I already hadn't. Thanks for the diagnosis, about what I thought, not much I can do, just gonna send in another RMA, replace it, and enable corsair link.

I too get the cpu fan warning on startup from the bios booting up and get hit with the F1 to enter bios so I turned off the monitoring of it. My cpu seems to be running hotter then it used to. I'm sitting close to the 40C range with voltage reducers on my AF120 White LED fans. Where I used to sit at mid 20C sitting in windows at idle or browsing the web.

I just removed the voltage reducers and I'm sitting in the 29-35C range and listening to the annoying fans now and hearing them throttle (maybe it's the pump since they are only 3 pin)

The link software was reporting H100GTX fan speed before I removed the voltage reducers. Now it shows 0 rpm even though the two AF120's are spinning.

I recently changed my mobo from a B150M Mortar Arctic to a Asus Z270G so the paste is new. It just seems like it's running much hotter now. For a while now sometimes when I shut down the computer I can hear the coolant slosh around which I wasn't able to hear some 4 or so months ago. I don't know if the coolant is evaporating and causing the temps to run higher or what. These higher temps were going on with the old board also but today I noticed the cpu was getting into the 52C range just watching a video in media center classic in a small window and browsing Firefox. This by far is not normal. Hence the reason I pulled the voltage reducers to begin with. (to increase the fan speed with full voltage to them)

You may not get a speed reading if you are running the 3 pin DC AF120s on the PWM H100i GTX connectors. They likely run at 100% all the time (hence the voltage reducers). While a AF120 is not an ideal radiator fan, it can be functional if you keep the speed at moderate levels. However, I don't see any reason to run them from the pump on your new board. You should have plenty of fan headers the Z270 can give you better control options.

29-35C coolant temp doesn't seem off for an Air 240 in Summertime. If the cooler is fading, you will start to see steady building coolant temps at idle (instead of a plateau) and after a load, the temps will remain up for an extended period of time (30-60 minutes instead of 5-10). Keep in mind that is case temp dependent as well, so if you heat up the 240, it is going keep the coolant temp at the same temperature.

You might also consider a different radiator fan. Presumably the radiator is front mounted as intake. A single pair of AF120's will struggle with the resistance at low speeds. At high speeds it will get air through, but it sounds like the 1500 rpm range is a bit buzzy for you. Something with a flatter, wider blade (like a ML120) will get more air through the radiator at moderate speeds where you want to be. There are lots of choices there, but I would look for a PWM version that can be powered from pump or board with the "hybrid' blade design.

You may not get a speed reading if you are running the 3 pin DC AF120s on the PWM H100i GTX connectors. They likely run at 100% all the time (hence the voltage reducers). While a AF120 is not an ideal radiator fan, it can be functional if you keep the speed at moderate levels. However, I don't see any reason to run them from the pump on your new board. You should have plenty of fan headers the Z270 can give you better control options.

 

29-35C coolant temp doesn't seem off for an Air 240 in Summertime. If the cooler is fading, you will start to see steady building coolant temps at idle (instead of a plateau) and after a load, the temps will remain up for an extended period of time (30-60 minutes instead of 5-10). Keep in mind that is case temp dependent as well, so if you heat up the 240, it is going keep the coolant temp at the same temperature.

 

You might also consider a different radiator fan. Presumably the radiator is front mounted as intake. A single pair of AF120's will struggle with the resistance at low speeds. At high speeds it will get air through, but it sounds like the 1500 rpm range is a bit buzzy for you. Something with a flatter, wider blade (like a ML120) will get more air through the radiator at moderate speeds where you want to be. There are lots of choices there, but I would look for a PWM version that can be powered from pump or board with the "hybrid' blade design.

What I get the bios boot warning on is the cpu_fan connection. (The actual 3 pin pump connection) If I enter the bios and head to monitoring then turn it on for the cpu_fan header it is 0 for a few seconds then actually will start to display the rpm.

If I leave it on monitor it's like the pump doesn't kick on until it passes the cpu_fan check on post since it errors every time and forces me to enter bios unless I have it set to ignore. Would be nice for it to monitor but not if I have to enter bios every time I start the computer. Just makes me think something is going on with the AIO especially when temps were mid to upper 20s while doing anything on my computer and now it rides around the 29-45C mark sometimes up to 50 just under normal non gaming use. Removing the voltage reducers drops the temps of course to the previously mentioned temp range in my other post.

I got tired of the fans being spooled up so just put the reducers back in. Bouncing around 37-43 watching the EVGA live stream and posting this. Link is set to balanced.

Hmmm.... that bit is concerning. Power on to CPU fan should be instant. I don't know what the Asus preferred start voltage is for a DC fan when set to curve, but based on my motherboards it is not 12v. That is why it is important to make sure you set CPU Fan to "Full Speed" in Q-fan or Disabled in the Advanced BIOS -> Monitoring section.

Unfortunately it sounds like there is some type of flow problem when in Windows as well. This could be related to the above if the BIOS of AI Suite is trying to tune it like a fan. However, if you have disabled the controls and you get infrequent or erratic changes like that at the desktop, it might suggest an internal power problem on the pump. If true, you should start the tech support ticket now before things get worse.

Keep an eye on the H100i GTX temp (coolant temp) this value should float around 4-7C over room temp at idle. If you are getting into 40's at the desktop, that is a problem. It should go up with load (as much as 10-12C), but if it will not come down after, that again suggests an issue.

Hmmm.... that bit is concerning. Power on to CPU fan should be instant. I don't know what the Asus preferred start voltage is for a DC fan when set to curve, but based on my motherboards it is not 12v. That is why it is important to make sure you set CPU Fan to "Full Speed" in Q-fan or Disabled in the Advanced BIOS -> Monitoring section.

 

Unfortunately it sounds like there is some type of flow problem when in Windows as well. This could be related to the above if the BIOS of AI Suite is trying to tune it like a fan. However, if you have disabled the controls and you get infrequent or erratic changes like that at the desktop, it might suggest an internal power problem on the pump. If true, you should start the tech support ticket now before things get worse.

 

Keep an eye on the H100i GTX temp (coolant temp) this value should float around 4-7C over room temp at idle. If you are getting into 40's at the desktop, that is a problem. It should go up with load (as much as 10-12C), but if it will not come down after, that again suggests an issue.

Well toyed around with the fan settings I could with the Asus software. Mind you the settings in bios are disabled for all fan controls. So how the software is able to somewhat change the fans I have no idea.

AIO temp is sitting @ 34.6-34.8C while the cpu package is 31C as I'm seeing reported in the Corsair Link software. AC is set on 84 and the thermostat is just outside the office in the hall and the door is open so there can't be too much of a temp difference other then the heat put into the room from my computer. We are talking 4-5' between the thermostat and my 240. The 240 is right at the office door and the thermostat is mounted out the door way to the left on the outside of the office wall.

So based off what you said I'm in the ok range at least now after tweaking the fan settings that I could. There is a difference of 6C between the ambient temp and the GTX temp. I have a thermometer for sticking in ac vents I could set on my mouse pad for a bit to get the actual office ambient temp but it can't be that far off the Hvac setting.

I was about to connect the pump to the WC-Fan and the rad fans to the cpu_fan/cpu_opt fan connections and see if I come up with anything different but the tweaks I did seem to be making a difference. I really wasn't liking the bouncing around in the 50C range at idle. That was so not right. Still doesn't explain the bios post halt to hit F1 because the CPU_Fan isn't detected when that is the 3 pin fan header from the pump that is connected there. Pump should kick on when the computer is powered on therefore negating any errors from the post.

Fan Speeds reported from Link:

Pump 2700-2850

GTX Fans 1140-1200

Top exhaust fans 1139-1156

Rear 80mm Exhaust fans 1677-1785

Pulled out the thermometer. Ambient above my keyboard is 85.3F (29.6C) and exhaust temp out the top and back of case is 91.6F (33.1C). So with those temps said it's probably cooling the best it can without some serious fans or a chiller considering the ambient room temp and the fact water cooling can't create miracles and lower the ambient temp. It can only work with what it has to work with. LOL Just glad it doesn't sound like a jet plane and the temps aren't bouncing around 50C anymore. They shouldn't be that high unless I'm benching the cpu.