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I have an Artic Accelero Hybrid VGA cooler that I've been using for more than a year previously, but later had to swap out for a good 8 months for various reasons. This is a sealed cooling system, that comes with everything needed (including coolant liquid) out-the-box.

Now I installed this cooler back in place, but the pump does not seem to push water, only marginally. It was working flawlessly the last time.

I've ensured the plate is aligned to the GPU correctly, and after some time I can feel that the tube is hot close to the GPU, and almost completely cold towards the radiator. By this time, the GPU will have heated to around 75°C, idle. This is clearly bad, I used to get 35-40°C idle and at most 50-55°C under full load.

Could it be that the coolant liquid gone bad, or just needs some time to refresh after spending 8 months sitting in a drawer? I've now left the pump on, desperately hoping it will somehow fix itself, but I don't trust it will just work miraculously. Is there anything I can do besides leaving it running for a while?

I can hear the usual sound coming from the pump, so it is certainly doing something in there, it's just that the heat does not reach the radiator. There are no obvious seams or broken parts, and when I shake it a bit, I can hear the coolant in there.

Edit: if I flip the pump (it should have its heat receiving plate pointed upwards), there's a crackling sound coming from the inside. I suspect there's some air in there, but I have no idea how I would manage to get it out.

John Weisz
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  • Is the pump getting the correct voltage to operate? – Burgi Mar 07 '16 at 13:20
  • @Burgi Yes, 12v. – John Weisz Mar 07 '16 at 13:30
  • Did you flush the system with water to clean out any old gunk? Is the pump above or below the radiator? You might have lost some coolant to natural evaporation over the time it was in storage especially if it is alcohol based. – Burgi Mar 07 '16 at 13:43
  • Unfortunately this is the limit of my knowledge of both plumbing and liquid cooling... – Burgi Mar 07 '16 at 13:44
  • @Burgi Actually, it is a sealed system, there is no way to clean it as such. The radiator is _above_ the pump, but it might've been the other way around when it was in the drawer for 8 months. – John Weisz Mar 07 '16 at 14:03
  • In that case you might need to leave it to settle for a few hours, let the air bubbles come up to the radiator where they are less harmful. – Burgi Mar 07 '16 at 14:15
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/36645/discussion-between-burgi-and-john-white). – Burgi Mar 07 '16 at 14:21
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    @JohnWhite - There are numerous guides on how to get air out of a liquid cooling system. It being a close system shouldn't change overall method. – Ramhound Mar 07 '16 at 16:54

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