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Help with Aquaero 6 XT PWM controller.

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D0G1

Unregistered

Help with Aquaero 6 XT PWM controller.

Sunday, November 17th 2013, 3:52am

Just upgraded my system with the following components:

(1) Aquaero 6 XT controller.
(2) Swiftech MCP655-PWM-DRIVE 12v Water Pumps.

These pumps are powered by a standard 4 pin molex connector, with speed
being controlled by 4 pin PWM fan connector using only the PWM and Speed wires.

PWM fans are being controlled by FAN 1 and FAN 2, and seem to be working fine.

PWM pumps are being controlled(?) by FAN 3 and FAN 4, however
when I select “PWM controlled” in Fans>Advanced settings, the pumps seem to
not operate at all (judging by rapidly rising temps, and lack of bubbling surface
in reservoir)…Note that Controllers>Curve controller is set to 100% Min
power and 100% Max power for test purposes.

If I go back to Fans>Advanced settings and select “RPM controlled”, with
Max RPM of 4600 and Min RPM of 4600, for test purposes, the pumps
will then operate, but the RPM will not go above approximately 3000 rpm.

If I connect the pumps to the motherboard CPU fan connectors, full pump
operation and RPM up to 4600+ rpm is available.

Questions:

Any ideas why is the PWM controlled mode is seemingly not working with the pumps,
but the motherboard PWM fan connectors do?

Any ideas why the RPM controlled mode seem to work somewhat?
Is RPM mode some form of PWM operation?

Thanks for any help! :huh:

sebastian

Administrator

Posts: 10,178

Sunday, November 17th 2013, 9:55am

Quoted from "D0G1"

If I connect the pumps to the motherboard CPU fan connectors, full pump
operation and RPM up to 4600+ rpm is available.
maybe an issue with read out the speed signal.

Try: Power Controlled, and set it with a preset controller to 100%, in the fan tab the output voltage must be between 11..12V when the output has 100%.

Otherwithe reset the device to factory default, the all outputs has 100%.

jsaliga

Unregistered

Friday, January 3rd 2014, 3:52am

That's a very disappointing answer. If a PWM pump will work with a MB CPU fan header but not the Aquaero 6 then it should be obvious that there is a problem with the PWM control implementation with the Aquaero, Telling someone to power control the pump totally sidesteps the issue. I have the same problem and in order to have PWM control over my pump I have to plug the PWM cable into fan headers on my motherboard.

Any chance that this issue could be addressed with a firmware update?

This post has been edited 3 times, last edit by "jsaliga" (Jan 3rd 2014, 3:25pm)

jason1

Unregistered

Same here

Monday, January 6th 2014, 5:54am

I have 2 MCP655-PWM-DRIVE 12v pumps in series hooked up to Fan 2. They work at 100% power (running at near 3000 RPM), but if I lower the power to 99% the pumps turn off. I've tried both PWM and Power Controlled. Not very happy with the 6 XT at this point.

sebastian

Administrator

Posts: 10,178

Monday, January 6th 2014, 7:23am

When a normal Fan is speed controlable on thisport the Pump is the problem not the aquaero.
Some fans on the market are not controlable with fan controllers.

ozzy

Junior Member

Posts: 8

Thursday, January 9th 2014, 2:30pm

is this a common problem? swiftech pwm pumps do work with aq 6 or not?

mandrix

Full Member

Posts: 362

Thursday, January 9th 2014, 6:15pm

I run 2x Swiftech pwm D5 pumps from the Fan 4 (pwm) header of an AQ 5 Pro, and the MCP35x2 pumps from the Fan 4 (pwm) header of my other AQ5 Pro and they work fine. Seems strange they would not operate from (any) header on the AQ6.
I'm using the Aquasuite 2013 5.2 software. But I've been running this configuration for some months now.

But even so I find it very strange that out of two pumps, neither would work. I would try resetting the device, then trying a pwm fan. If that works then reconnect the pump and try.

railgun

Full Member

Posts: 171

Wednesday, January 15th 2014, 5:22pm

I'm running an MCP35X2 on a 6 XT and these are working just fine with PWM control. When I have time, I'll post up some screenshots of how I'm setup.
In the meantime, I'm using outputs 1 and 2 and put them both under one temp curve profile and they work exactly as expected.

Railgun

Full Member

Posts: 171

Wednesday, January 15th 2014, 10:40pm

So here's how I have the pumps configured in terms of PWM...

And the curve I have...

As you can see, the pumps are humming along at 1500RPM...on the low side showing they're being controlled properly. I don't have a pic of the connections...and don't think I really need one as it's pretty straight forward to connect them.

Bradeck

Junior Member

Posts: 11

Sunday, January 19th 2014, 1:08pm

It seems the aquaero 6 and the Swiftech MCP655-PWM aren't playing nice with each other, maybe due to implementation of different version of the PWM standard.
In my setup, if I put the pump at 99% power (I set a controllet with fixed output), then the pump stops, and at 100%, it rusn at 3000 RPM.

It's known to both Swiftech and Aquaero, and they are woking on it.

Besides the fact that it's "fun" to control everything with the aquaero, the pump is so silent at full speed, I just let it run at 100%

dsadfsgffdg

Newbie

Posts: 12

Tuesday, January 28th 2014, 2:11pm

i have the exact same issue, if i connect the pump and select pwm control it shows 3000rpm for 100%, at 99% is shuts off. The mobo operates the pump fine but not a £160 dedicated controller?. omg :(

stevebit56

Junior Member

Posts: 18

Aquaero 6 purchase

Sunday, February 2nd 2014, 7:06pm

Quoted from "Bradeck"

It seems the aquaero 6 and the Swiftech MCP655-PWM aren't playing nice with each other, maybe due to implementation of different version of the PWM standard.
In my setup, if I put the pump at 99% power (I set a controllet with fixed output), then the pump stops, and at 100%, it rusn at 3000 RPM.

It's known to both Swiftech and Aquaero, and they are woking on it.

Besides the fact that it's "fun" to control everything with the aquaero, the pump is so silent at full speed, I just let it run at 100%


I'm getting ready to purchase the Aquaero 6 does any of the admins know when this problem will be addressed by Aquacomputers or Swiftech I already have the MCP665-PWM pumps!!! Should I wait on purchasing the Aquaero 6 or would it be safe to say they will come up with a fix that is a firmware update? I'm worried ;( I will have 2 pumps that won't work with the controller !!!
:P [color

WaterJunkie

Newbie

Posts: 5

Thursday, June 12th 2014, 10:23am

The solution is simple.

Increase the PWM frequency to 25khz from the 15khz it's running at now.

Do you hear me AquaComputer??

My $220 controller, $40 worth of cables and accessories, $60 flowmeter and $120 Swiftech MCP655 PWM are useless.

Please fix it.

My motherboard outputs a 25khz PWM frequence and is able to control the pump from 0 to 100% reliably.
Your Aquaero 6 XT outputs a 15khz PWM frequency.

NOT COMPATIBLE WITH DEFACTO STANDARDS.

sebastian

Administrator

Posts: 10,178

Thursday, June 12th 2014, 11:25am

Quoted from "WaterJunkie"

The solution is simple.

Increase the PWM frequency to 25khz from the 15khz it's running at now.

Do you hear me AquaComputer??

My $220 controller, $40 worth of cables and accessories, $60 flowmeter and $120 Swiftech MCP655 PWM are useless.

Please fix it.
The aquaero FAN Outputs for (PWM Control) use 25KHz as Target Frequency.

Quoted from "WaterJunkie"


NOT COMPATIBLE WITH DEFACTO STANDARDS.
The aquaero is full compliant to the intel FAN standard.



The Problem is the MCP665-PWM Pump.
This pump is not compatible with a standard PWM FAN Control header.

Take a look to: http://www.formfactors.org/developer%5Cs…re_PWM_Spec.pdf

Quoted

2.1.4 PWM Control Input Signal
...
This signal must be pulled up to a maximum of 5.25V within the fan.

..

Note:
New fan designs are strongly encouraged to implement a 3.3V pull up for compatibility with
buffer design limits on Hardware Monitor Devices e.g. Super IO devices.
The Pump needs an external resistor to run with the standard pwm control signal from the aquaero. The Developers from the pump has forgotten this.

Quoted

Your Aquaero 6 XT outputs a 15khz PWM frequency.
WRONG! The aquaero Outputs 25KHz on Fan headers. The PWM Outputs (2-Pin) can used for Controlling LEDs or other 12V Devices. This outputs use 15KHz. The PWM 2-Pin Output is not a valid control signal for fans. The 12V supply is modulated with the PWM not a control signal. This is a big difference.

WaterJunkie

Newbie

Posts: 5

Thursday, June 12th 2014, 5:23pm

I'm glad we got that cleared up. :D

Quoted

The Pump needs an external resistor to run with the standard pwm control
signal from the aquaero. The Developers from the pump has forgotten
this.
Would you mind giving us an example of where and how this resister needs to be installed? what value?

Regards,

Junkie

WaterJunkie

Newbie

Posts: 5

Thursday, June 12th 2014, 6:49pm

two cups of coffee and my brain is finally engaged.

I read "Pullup" and that suggest to me that the PWM line needs a pull up to the 5v rail.

Installed a 10K resistor between PWM wire and +5v in typical pull up configuration.

Viola!

Total PWM control of my Swiftech MCP655-PWM via Aquaero 6 XT

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