H115i Platinum - Air in pump? Crackling noise on low pump rpm, fine on 'extreme'

[dr-turret]

Hi,

I did an upgrade on my PC yesterday, to a Ryzen 9 3900x, 16GB Corsair RGB RAM, X570 Aorus Master Mobo and Corsair H115i Cooler

 

When I turned the machine on I heard a sound like I'd got a wire in the way of a fan blade somewhere, so I stopped all the fans and unfortunately the noise continued

 

I then realised that the noise was coming from the pump, I disconnected the pump for the power supply to confirm

 

After installing and booting in Windows I installed the Corsair iCUE software. From there I could then change the pump speed

 

I then discovered that the noise changes in accordance to the RPM the pump is set to:

 

Extreme (2900rpm) : no noise, it's completely fine

Balanced (2400rpm) : light crackling noise

Quiet (1890rpm) : comparatively laud cracking noise

 

I've done a video to show the difference: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Edi1rDLDe248q1Zrbcpq-my2vKguLZ0Q/view?usp=sharing

 

Is this normal because it's new? I feel like if it is they should mention that the 'quiet' mode is really noisy until the pump system has bedded in, and the water bubbles have risen to the heatsink..

 

Is it going to damage my lovely new CPU, as it can't cool it enough?

 

Should I get Amazon to get a replacement out, or wait this out. The PC will have now been running for about 20 hours with the pump on 'extreme', and it doesn't seem to have improved at all :(

 

Cheers

[dr-turret]

Just to confirm, it's a:

Corsair Hydro 115i RGB Platinum, Hydro Series, 280 mm Radiator (Dual ML PRO 140 mm RGB PWM Fans, Advanced RGB Lighting and Fan Control with Software) Liquid CPU Cooler, Black

[c-attack]

Is this normal because it's new? I feel like if it is they should mention that the 'quiet' mode is really noisy until the pump system has bedded in, and the water bubbles have risen to the heatsink.

 

Yes, it is somewhat common with AIO coolers and certainly this one. This is the same as all the other posts with similar tags in reference to the Platinum series coolers. You likely need to do some tilting of the case to encourage the air bubbles to take the outlet tube.

 

 

Is it going to damage my lovely new CPU, as it can't cool it enough?

 

No, it has no effect on cooling. It's just annoying.

[dr-turret]

Thanks for your reply, really appreciated!

 

I've actually tried tilting the case, ran it for an hour or so on its side. When it's on its side it's actually a lot less crackly, but as soon as I put the tower back up (Corsair 750D) the noise is as bad as before

 

I've also tried shaking the radiator and wiggling the pipes around with the pump on max, but none of this seems to work. I've also tried holding the radiator as high as possible and at the same time changing the RPM in the hope it'll lodge any stuck air out of the pump.

 

Could it be a faulty pump? The radiator is mounted on the top of the case which seems to be recommended, but I don't know what more tilting will do as it doesn't seem to be making a difference

 

Will it just get better if I leave the pump on extreme so there's no noise, will I eventually be able to use lower rpms? Will need to decide whether to order a replacement fairly soon as I'm concerned the pump is simply defective

[c-attack]

It's not a faulty pump, at least in the mechanical sense. What you are describing is the same as most of the other users struggling with this. I have traditionally treated it like other air bubble issues with water cooling (tilting, pump speed cycling), but for whatever reason the Platinum seems to be more stubborn. Unfortunately, since you can't see under the cap, it's hard to guide it out. Some users are successful. Others quit and give up. I am afraid this is trial and error. I do think the replacement is likely to be same, so I would save that move for a later date.

[dr-turret]

Thanks, is there anything else I should try other than tilting the case, maybe take it off the CPU and shake move it around a bit? Or will it slowly fix itself with time

 

Sort of relieved it's not faulty and it's an issue with the product a lot of people have. They should downgrade it from platinum to bronze though, as it's crazy you have to do all this to make it work properly (and you may not even manage it)

[c-attack]

The shaking is better saved for clogged or blocked flow pumps. Glycol based coolants tend to fizz a bit when shaken. It normally goes away in less than a minute, but likely not what you want to add into the mix.

 

The only other thing I can mention is yesterday's user with the same issue found relief by turning the case completely upside down, the opposite of what I would expect to work (hoses at the highest point). So once again, very much trial and error.

[dr-turret]

Interesting idea, thanks. I'll try turning the case upside down and running it like that for a bit.

 

I'll report back

[dr-turret]

Nope, turning the case upside down and adjusting the pipes still seems to make no difference. Tilting the case does change the intensity of the noise but with the case upright, the noise is still as loud as it has always been

 

There's some air wedged in there that I just cannot seem to get out

 

Only option is to leave it for a day or so on extreme (high rpm), and if it doesn't fix itself I'll get a replacement via Amazon, and hopefully not have to go through all of it again

[c-attack]

 

Only option is to leave it for a day or so on extreme (high rpm), and if it doesn't fix itself I'll get a replacement via Amazon, and hopefully not have to go through all of it again

 

If you get to that point, one or thing you can try is put on a 24 pin ATX jumper (usually in the PSU kit) or use a back up PSU with one and run the AIO while its out of the case in your hands. Now you have near perfect control over its orientation.

[dr-turret]

I left the PC off last night on the off chance that the pump being on was preventing the air to float into the radiator, but it's still just as bad today

 

Amazon are delivering a replacement H115i Platinum tomorrow, so hopefully that'll fix it. Got to love Amazon's customer service, would take ages getting a replacement out from Corsair or most other retailers

 

Do you think I'll need to wipe the thermal paste (the paste that came with the H115i) off the CPU prior to putting the new H115i on? Or can i just swap them over and leave whatever thermal paste is stuck on the lid of the CPU there do you think?

 

Ideally don't want to risk damaging the socket and/or CPU by rubbing alcohol liquid onto the lid of the CPU, I didn't put any extra on initially, just used the thermal paste that's pre-applied to the H115i

 

I'll update the thread to advise whether the replacement resolves the problem

[c-attack]

I would wipe the CPU off. The new one will have the pre-laid amount. The combination could be too much or prevent the from spreading properly. Use a cotton pad or even an old micro-fiber cloth from a pair of sunglasses. I have cleaned the CPU off while still on a vertical motherboard countless times. There isn't going to be any run off and it evaporates extremely quickly.

[dr-turret]

So the new one seems to be a lot better than the previous one, I can now run it on balanced mode without it crackling, but I still get significant noise on 'quiet'.

 

Decided to settle with this though, as the 'balanced' mode is quiet enough, the pump isn't the noisiest thing in the case at this speed so I won't need to use the pump on 'quiet' mode. The new pump means I don't have to run it on 'extreme' 24/7 to avoid the pump noise - so happy with it now :)

 

The only slight concern I now have is that it arrived with the radiator fins slightly damaged/bent, but I think this is normal? I've attached some pics

[c-attack]

Yeah, it would be rare to find a perfectly pressed radiator of any make or size. It’s pretty soft and rather easy to had your own with a simple fan bump during install. On the positive side, it has zero impact on performance until you get large concentrations of that all in one place. Seems like an improvement from the last on the pump.