Old H80 dual fan pre built cooler

[Gunn3r]

I have a cooler that has now been working for 12 years without failing.  Amazing!

However I booted my machine and had a overheat CPU error out of the blue.  The CPU had been running in the high 30's Celsius prior to this (monitored with Coretemp) which is excellent I think.

So I thought this must be a dead CPU or a failed cooler.  I decided to investigate and laid the machine on its side and the machine now boots up and runs in the 30's again.  Have I just shifted a large airbubble which as formed for the last 12 years and do/can I replace the coolant on this unit, or shall just leave it alone now?

Many thanks for help if you can :)

[c-attack]

There is some degree of evaporation over time and eventually all "no maintenance" AIO products are going to reach their end.  Most of the time it is not mechanical, but at 12 years it would be logical to expect something to stop working right at some point.  A dead pump should give you the CPU boot error warning if you have a tachometer lead on CPU fan.  Low coolant levels are not easy to detect, aside from a decided "sloshing" around if you shake the unit indicating there is a lot of space in there now.  In your configuration with the radiator above the pump, I would not expect air bubbles to get trapped in the cooling block but lifting the front of the case to cause the in/out tubes to rotate toward the top should allow anything in the block to escape.   Bubbles to tend to make noise.  Small ones are erratic popping sounds and common after moving the case or taking it down for cleaning.  A single large bubble will change to the tone of the pump as a result of the pressure change and might detected as a strange shift in sound.  

 

Another possibility is the pump simply failed to start on boot that time.  That would not be terribly surprising at this age, but I think at this point you need to keep an eye on it through the boot process instead of powering on while you get a cup of coffee.  

[Gunn3r]

Thanks, great logical response that i understand.  i have instructed coretemp to start on boot and shutdown if hitting 80 degrees as a back up if I fail to see the temperature rising.

There is a sloshing sound if I move the case, so I presume there must be a large amount of air in there.  Is it worth me replacing the coolant?

 

[c-attack]

You won’t be able to add coolant (and reseal) without major surgery. This is true of old and new AIO units. The sales premise is a no-hassle cooling solution with no required maintenance. The other side of the coin is the unit is effectively disposable. You really don’t want to get into trying to open and refill one of these unless you are super skilled at this stuff. It’s possible the original H100 is the exception, but subsequent units had one way screws and things tend to come apart when you try to carefully disassemble. Nobody tries to repair these and those that do general do it to make a point. Putting back in your PC after that requires some bravery. 
 

It is theoretically possible the air shifted into the block and creates a little pressure pocket. However, odds are the pump didn’t start. I would stay the course for the moment and start thinking about what you want to replace it. 

[Gunn3r]

Cool, thank you.  I will look for a new one.  I think it is time for a replacement machine really, the pump has been in three different machines, all of which heavily overclocked.

Hyrdo X system looks superb, so will start to have a play with that as it looks built to last.

Cannot express how impressed I am with that little cooler of mine though 🙂