Hi guys! Some time ago I bought a MCP350 pump from the marketplace. However, I’ve been testing it recently and it makes a helluva racket. I currently have it connected to my XSPC dual 5.25” bay res which is bolted into my system and its very loud indeed. There was probably still some air in the loop as this was just while I was leak testing, and I could see some air spinning round in the pump top too. How much noise does air in a pump make actually make? (ie: is the noise just air or is the pump motor faulty). I have it connected via the PSU 4 pin connections, so its probably running at full throttle. Thanks! Parge
The pump should be inaudible if mounted correctly. However, if you have air in the loop then that will create a lot of noise. It should be quite easy to determine whether the noise is being caused by air or not. If it's making a "whooshing" sound or a noise similar to your belly when holding in a fart, then it is most likely just air. However, humming or knocking would indicate the the pump is not mounted securely enough, or it has a fault. Also, check that you have enough water in the res. I've only ever used Koolance reservoirs, but have found that I need to have them filled pretty much all the way to the top, otherwise the pump causes too much disturbance which is also noisy.
It's possibly resonance being transferred through the res into the case as that pump should be very quiet normally.
I've always found bay-res very noisy I'm afraid - a bit of foam/sponge underneath an essentially floating pump is the best way to isolate vibration noise. I'd still suspect that it's air bubbles though - even if they're practically invisible they still make a terrible noise, and DDCs don't seem to clear as well as D5s and similar pumps.