H100i Suddenly around 10c higher in idle, temp spikes...

Hi, i have been having computer issues lately and finally figured them out(it was Microsofts fault with new updates) but in the process i had removed and installed the corsair H100i a few times because i thought it was hardware related and had to replace parts to diagnose the problem which eventualy turned out not to be hardware related.

 

Now the weird part......suddenly the idle temps are way higher than they used to be. I experimented with different thermal paste spreading techniques ,the best for my i7 4790k is a very thin layer all over and a tiny pea sized ball in the middle. It's up to 10c cooler than putting too much. I even tried using just the bit in the middle, the line method, the X method etc.......out of all of the methods the spread thing and tiny ball in the middle works best at least for my heatspreader.

 

I thought i had it fixed and got my temps back down to the mid 20's at idle. But then one time i turned it on and suddenly it was making the STRANGEST sound ever. The only way to describe it is as if there was something inside the pump rattling around really badly i was pretty scared at that point that somehow it was my CPU frying lol i was like WTF.......

 

So i changed pump speed a couple of times and suddenly it went away. But now i notice EVERY time i turn it on the pump makes this sort of "skooshing" sound like a water pistol and just sounds a bit like it's rattling now when i first power on the machine......i tried tapping the pump etc and nothing has brought my temps back to what they use to be. The lowest i can now get it is 32c idle but as soon as i try Prime95 it goes right up over 90c.

 

I'm pretty fed up taking the pump on and off and checking and double checking everything over and over and come to the conclusion that the radiator/pump or tubes are clogged up or something.

 

Should i ask for an RMA? And can i pay for a new cooler whilst the RMA is being processed? Worst case scenario is i end up with 2 coolers. I already have 2 motherboard now and 2 PSU's and went up from 16gb of RAM to 32GB because of the Microsoft problem lol. Been a very frustrating 2 weeks for me.

The key to differentiating cooler vs other types of problems is the H100i Temp or coolant temperature in iCUE/Link. This is on the right side of the pump picture on the cooler tab. It is the same as the room temp when the PC is powered off, then most people will warm to +4-7C over that when powered on. Load temps are often +6-10C above the idle temp. This puts most people in a 25-30C state at idle and up towards 35-40C at heavy load in warm months.

 

If you see the coolant continue to rise in temp from the moment you boot up and reach the upper 30s plus with minimal load, that usually suggests a flow issue. This can also be seen if you run a load/game and then the coolant will not come down, but be aware high case temperature can do that as well. Minimum coolant temperature = case ambient temperature in the location of the radiator.

 

It is not uncommon to get air bubbles after moving the cooler around. The normal fix is to rock the case backward (while the pump is running) so the inlet/outlet hoses are above the block. Air bubble goes out the top naturally. If you have a mammoth case or this is impossible for other reasons, you might get some traction by cycling the pump speed from low to high to low to high. The pressure change may push out the bubbles.

 

However, the prior GTX/v2 series of coolers seem to have a higher incidence of flow issues not related to bubbles. It can be hard to tell it apart. Bubbles make static/popping like noises. A physical blockage does not, at least until the the impediment becomes extreme. You may then hear some high pitch whine or "squeal". The least common issue is mechanical failure. You get sporadic performance issues like this, but it may go on/off etc. There is usually a clear change in pump tone and mechanical noise dissimilar to the bubble static.

 

It's hard to tell anything from this end. I would start a ticket with Corsair Support now. Response time is... variable. Let us know about the coolant temp so we can try and pin the issue down and provide as much info on the ticket as possible to prevent a lot of back and forth. That will cost you time. You can do an Advanced RMA on credit card hold, if it is available. You have to ask. You will get a new H100i v2 in return. If you were thinking of moving up to a new model, this would be the time and the replacement unit can be re-purposed.

Yesterday i came home and turned on the machine and tried to move it around to shift or break up whatever debris was in the cooler or air bubbles and it started to make that really weird static sound from the pump and then fully 100% died. The pump starts for a couple of seconds during powering up then just cuts out fully leaving my CPU to get to stupidly high temperatures. I already bought a newer model corsair 115i RGB to replace it and as the cooler is still under warranty i'm going to put in a support ticket and get it replaced and keep as a spare or give to one of my friends who is using my Corsair H50 that is almost 10 years old lol.