Hey,

Sorry about the repost, I can't seem to find my original thread anymore and I'm not known for my endless patience. Certainly not when I have been trying to silence my pump for 3 hours without success.

The pump is the Eheim 1048.
The reservoir is the Aqua computer aqua inlet
The tubes are 6cm/8cm
The rad is a 80mm rad with double fan.
The additive is AC fluid
The water used is distilled water.

The pump keeps rattling no matter what I try. I know I need an additive to minimize the problems between copper and aluminium. However I think the problem is related to a combination with the pump and the additive.

I used this additive because someone here recommended it to me. Now what I would like to know is why it immediately starts to make foam when applied. Why is that. I'm quite sure the noise is because of the foam.

What gives.

Sorry if this seems a bit frustrated, that's because I am frustrated.

The pump does not have a jumper for deairation and I never decoupled the pump from the inlet.  I attached the pump to the inlet and then I set up my WC setup.  I never used an additive until my CPU block started to get corroded.  My setup was quiet then and had been for a few months.  I remember the first silencing to be very bothersome but it worked then.  I then used some kind of blue additive and left it at that.  Ever since I had to stop the pump after those months of operation it has never been quiet anymore.

I have since then tried 4 times a water remove, cleaning and reapplying of the distilled water with the AC fluid. I have never had success with it.

I have not cleaned out the pump manually. I have stopped using the blue additive for some time as well. It didn't do anything in term of corrosion and it clogged up in all components and struck down chemically. It's the reason why I did the bleed and refill so many times already. I have only been using this setup for a few months, I bought the pump new.

Blue particles were always extracted when I started a new bleed and refill process. Except for the last time. To be sure I also filled the loop with some vinegar, flushed that out and started the normal refilling. This is when I tested the refilling liquid.
I took an empty bottle, cleaned it and filled it with distilled water. Then I added some AC fluid and I shook the bottle. I immediately saw foam being produced. This way I'm fairly sure that the foaming is not caused by the possible residu of previously used chemicals.
I shook the bottle twice and it started to produce foam.

During the time that the pump was quiet I had never cleaned out the liquid. Only because I couldn't get the pump quiet after it first powered down I decided to clean it out.

When I have some time I will post pics. I have also never attached the pump to the case used. I use it in a seperate case next to the case containing my rig. I just hadn't gotten around to it as the first time I tested the thing I had a hard time getting it quiet. Only after a while of moving everything around it somehow got quiet. It remained like that until I had the courage to power it down after some time.

I really think it's the foam that is bothering me. I don't see what else is wrong. Perhaps I should do the mod however the pump is new and I'm not about to void the warranty.

Here's a pic of the system. However taken with a replacement camera.



The pump and res are at the bottom. Through the bunch of wires connecting fans etc you can find the radiator on the top right.
Order here is, not that it matters much, res -> pump -> rad -> CPU block (maze design) -> res.

Quoted from "Infiltraitor"

You might want to try using a set of the anti-vibration mounts.

If you don't want to drill through the bottom of your case, it's possible to drill a piece of plexi to screw them into, using the pump's base as a drilling template.

That won't do me much good. The idea is that the pump gets quiet. Fixing the pump to the case won't help as I tried that already. It doesn't do anything in the slightest.

Quoted from "Infiltraitor"

So you've already tried using the anti-vibration mounts?

No, not by this particular means. I have however fixed the pump to the case once, which was pretty much not possible to work with. It had also not brought me any improvement in the situation, quite the opposite.
When holding the pump in the air it makes the most noise.
By making sure the tubing is not touching the case there is no improvemen.

Quoted from "JaR"

1. The mod doesn't void your warranty, because you only modify the pump wheel. You can get a replacement for that for about 7 bucks. It is not connected to the pump itself and can easily be exchanged.
2. If you want to get your pump silent, you've got to decouple it. Since the reservoir is connected directly to the pump it has to be decoupled too. Also make sure, that the cable and the tubes connected to the pump don't touch any part of the surrounding case. The easiest way of decoupling the pump is simply putting some foam plastic or a sponge under the pump. Also sometimes the tubes can transfer the vibration to the case. What kind of tubing do you use? (not the size, the material)

As the pump has always pretty much acted this way from the beginning I'm fairly confident that the mod is probably not the easiest solution. I am also under the impression that one is supposed to do that mod when the pump has been operating for quite a while.

I don't really understand what you mean by decoupling the pump from the reservoir. Do you mean putting some foam plastic between the res and the pump? Or just putting something that catches some of the vibration of the pump?
I have already tried putting a towel under the pump and res. That helps but I used to run it like this.
I'm using standard PVC tubes. 6/8cm. i'm also starting to think that's too small for that pump.

When I shut down the pump I still notice the foam in the tubing. It rises to the highest point in the loop. There's only AC fluid and distilled water in there together with a very small amound of residu from previous cooling substances. However I cleaned it out pretty good.
I still can't figure out why the AC fluid produces foam when used in distilled water, like I tested with the empty bottle distilled water and AC fluid.

Quoted from "JaR"

That would lead me to the assumption, that there ist air trapped somewhere in the pump.

Some 1048 are loud from the beginning on. Try the mod. In most cases it produces really good results.

I didn't mean that you should decouple the reservoir from the pump. I meant that, since it isn't possible to decouple the reservoir from the pump it will be vibrating along with it. Because of that the reservoir too has to be decoupled from the case.
How many times was that towl folded? If that helps, why don't you simply do that again?

No, that isn't too small for the pump. PVC doesn't carry the vibrations too far, so you won't get any problems from the tubing, unless it is touching something close to the pump.

Well, that's air and it's in the loop and that is known to make a pump pretty loud. So you've got to get that into the reservoir.

I don't know, I never tried to shake it, but I didn't notice any foam, when I put it into distilled water.

I bought two AC fluid bottles at once and both produce the foam immediately.  I tried to apply the AC fluid in two ways.  First filling the loop with distilled water, then add the AC fluid.  Foam immediately started to appear.
I also filled a bottle with the AC fluid and distilled water and then filled the loop with that.  Situation in the loop is exactly the same.  
Maybe I was using too much AC fluid?
I'm pretty sure that the air in the loop is caused by that foam.

edit: When I have the time, which i don't really have for powering down my system, I will try the mod. However getting rid of the foam should be my first priority, no?

Hmm,

It can't be much more than 2%. However I will try to bleed some out and replace it with pure distilled water to see wheather an improvement can be noted.

Quoted from "Wolf2000me"

Hmm,

It can't be much more than 2%.  However I will try to bleed some out and replace it with pure distilled water to see wheather an improvement can be noted.

I thinned it down a lot but there is no change in behaviour. I took some pics of the foaming being produced in my loop. It's quite extreme if you ask me.



pump and reservoir with foaming coolant.


Here I stopped the pump and waited for the foam to start going to the highest points in the loop. In the pic it's almost 10cm of foam piling up.