Corsair H60: Pump noise

Hello there,

I installed a new H60 (2018 edition) into my system (MSI Z170A Gaming Pro Carbon motherboard, i7 6700K is the CPU). The unit is installed in the normal orientation, with two Noctua fans in push/pull, exhausting warm air out of the back of the case. Picture: https://imgur.com/WxgegpJ. The reason I'm going for a 120 mm AIO is because the case itself is quite cramped. Thermally, everything seemed okay. My temperature peaks stay below 80C, even after running the most demanding stress tests (Prime95, Realbench, ...).

The pump block, however had been making a sound I can only describe like an old HDD. A non-rhythmic rattle, like you're reading data off an old drive. It's not a continuous monotonous buzz, it's more ... sparkly? My English language knowledge fails me here :) I double checked the connections, wiggled the tubes a bit, tried different SATA power headers, ... The RPM reported for the pump is 4050-4100, which seems desirable. There's no way to adjust RPM speed for the pump on this new H60 model anyway (probably for good reason).

Since I thought this noise wasn't normal and I must have gotten a defective product, I sent the unit in for replacement with my retailer, and got a new one the next day.

After installing the newly arrived unit, in the same way, I get the same noise. To be 100% sure it's not from another source, I went into BIOS and manually stopped all my fans - it's definitely the pump. Tilting my case to the right at about 45 degrees gets rid of the problem, which increases my suspicion it's air bubble related.

Anyone with similar experiences? Should I just wait and let it "settle"? I've read things about getting the unit out and shaking it all about? Letting the case run on it's side (isn't that ... dangerous?))?

I know the H60 isn't exactly the flagship cooler, but I still paid good money for it - would like to have it running silently/

Tilting my case to the right at about 45 degrees gets rid of the problem, which increases my suspicion it's air bubble related.

Correct. Bubbles are usually described as intermittent static or 'HDD-like" clicks. There typically are not very many issues with this on the H60 since it is a smaller unit with a high flow rate, but the end solution is the same regardless of size. You need to get the bubble out of the CPU block/pump area. That means angling the case or cooler so the pump is the lowest point and the bubble(s) can float out naturally.

For your specific set-up, that likely means lying it flat on its back. You don't need to let it run this way for hours. The bubbles should really release within a matter of seconds or the angle isn't quite right. While flat on its back, then lift from the front to get the outflow hose a bit higher than the rest of the block. Hopefully that will do it. Unfortunately this is a fiddly kind of thing, kind of like the old marble maze rolling game. Hopefully not as difficult.

Tried tilting the case as you described, to no avail - pretty hard to do as well.

However, the system has been running for about almost a day now, and I'm under the impression that the noise has lowered in volume. Hopefully it will die out completely.

It usually does. Normally the issue is glycerol/glycol bases coolants will bubble up when you shake them. Typically most of them fizz out within a minute, but sometimes it doesn't seem to work out that way. It feels like the number of users reporting this spikes in Dec/Jan/Feb. Whether this is because more units are bought in that time frame or its the 5 days in the back of a cold shipping truck is unknown, but it sometimes seems like there is a temperature factor. Don't take it out and shake it . :)

In a really stubborn instance, you can physically remove the cooler, hook up your 24 pin ATX jumper, and then power on the SATA while hold the rad up in the air, the pump hanging down at the bottom like a tail. Then you have to carefully mount it back up, rad first, without moving the pump head up top. That is a lot of work and a major pain, so not what I recommend unless things are dire. Most AIO coolers will work this out on their own without any additional steps.

Update: System has an uptime of 40 hrs now, since installing the pump.

Noise has gone down in volume, but is still there. Still the same noise profile: a burst-y, non-constant rattle, like an old HDD seeking data.

Did some more thermals testing: Prime95 never goes above 73C, max. I'm 99.9% sure the unit is installed correctly and cools as expected for a 120mm AIO.

Guess I'll give this a few more days.