Quad G5 Liquid Cooling Pump Chugging, nasty thermal disparity between cpu's

Where did you get your new pump? Is there any chance of the follow-up and pictures? I need to get my cooling system up and running.

Thanks Jo.

Here's some pictures of my cooling system during repair:

http://www.collinsfamily.co.uk/G5_repair

The total cost was about 70 UK Pounds which breaks down as:
Pump - 48 UKP
3/8" tubing - 2 UKP
Fesser One Cooling fluid - 4 UKP
Thermal compound - 8 UKP
plus postage. All bought from watercoolinguk

I'm pleased to report that it's all working well with no leaks and no more premature shut-downs.

Hi.

This helps a lot!

When you say you used parts from the old pump I take it you used the circuit board from the mac pump, is that correct? Unfortunately I suspect that this is the part that has failed in my pump! Were you able to test your old pump, as in what exactly had failed - leakage maybe? I don't have any leakage, but I cannot get the impeller to turn by applying +12v to pins 1 and 4 and -12v to pin 6, I gather this should make it spin.

The heat exchanger plates(?) on my 2.5Ghz both looked similar to your bad one - but not quite so bad.

The jelly stuff in the pipe scares me as looking into these problems makes me more worried about my working 2.7Ghz G5!

Thanks Jo.

Wow, impressive. If Apple only knew to what lengths its customers go to to keep their Macs running. I'm sure they would be proud, and chagrined. 🙂

Is the circuit board the same in the Swiftech? I saw pictures of a pc version of the pump and it had a very different circuit board to the mac one! I am getting confused now. Is there a particular pump that has the correct circuit board in it? although it needs the wires re-soldering to be right for the mac. If there is one - which one?

Thanks.

Jo.

Hi Jo

I actually used the top 2/3rds of the new pump, (including cirucit board), and the bottom section from the old one - this way it ended up physically the same. I soldered the wires from the old pump onto the new one, but if yours is like mine you'll need to reverse all the wires. Look for a mark on your new circuit board that says GND, and compare it to the wiring layout of the Mac connector mentioned earlier in this thread. After I'd put the pump together I actually cut through all four wires and temporararily wired it up to the PC power connector that came with the new pump. This allowed me to fill the system and test it, using a PC for a power source. I wish I'd taken photographs of all this, but I was on a roll at the time and didn't want to stop!

A couple of things didn't go well though... The worst being that I managed to crack the radiator by over-tightning the fill-hole screw. Fortunately I had some metal epoxy which sealed the hole nicely. I also decided to wash the radiator to remove the years of gunk buld up - bad idea! The second I turned the system for the first time the most disgusting smell came from it! Luckily after a week it died down and it's all OK now. Phew!

Feel free to email me if you need any help. You can work out the email from the link I put in the last post.

Andy

I'm sure they would be proud, after all they were founded by one of the greatest hardware hackers of all time!

I have had a little better luck today after deciding to retest my pump using a pc for the power source, and it worked fine - it would appear there is a short delay before it fires up. As there is no evidence of any leaks from the pump I have reassembled it and will be reusing it.

I have ordered some Feser One coolant and some clear tube and have reassembled the parts using new 'o' rings. I shall then have the fun job of refilling the system and testing for leaks.

Thanks Andy for your help - it is very much appreciated. I will report back how things go.

Jo

And "theftsters" as well, but that was the game back then. Chagrined too though in that Apple knows about these problems with the cooling systems. If I was a manufacturer I would be embarrassed to see my customers trying so hard to cope with my mistakes.

Are you sure you don't want to try this number and perhaps get yourself a new Mac?
Apple Customer Relations 1-800-767-2775

I would have phoned that number, but unfortunately I'd already started taking it all apart and changing it before I found this thread! The other issue is that I live in the UK, so that number won't work for me. From experience we in the UK have a lot less luck dealing with manufacturers than those who live in the same country as the main office. Professionally I've had some interesting dealings with Sony where I've found major flaws in their products, but all the UK office says is "The Japanese office isn't interested". My findings hit a magazine and Sony's sales dried up over night - they phoned me up very angry! The UK market is so much smaller than the USA or Japan so we tend to get left to sort out our own problems. Happy for Apple to prove me wrong - you know the address to send a new MacPro to 🙂

I really appreciate your posts. I have my LCS apart now. It was JUST starting to leak on both cpu pads! Pump still works. Maybe the reason for cpu A overheating was low coolant? I expected more to come out but hard to judge. Whatever I end up finding out, this procedure was surely needed! Any tips on new o-rings for the cover pads?

Hi R,

🙂 Love it when a single individual has such an impact. Well done! They were angry, did they address your complaint though? From my experience Sony is a great company, but at that last point where the company meets the consumer, they are completely clueless. Sort of like Apple used to be.

And I'm amazed at your technical skills for tackling such a project as you are now engaged in. I wish you the best of luck in everything continuing to go well.
Probably the work you've done has voided Apples obligation to you but you never know. From what I've heard the UK has excellent Apple customer service reps, I think they are based out of Ireland. Just on the remote chance of something positive happening perhaps you should seek them out. A possible opening line might be, "Hi, while I was creating my own cooling system to make up for Apples flawed design, I hurt my back. What are you going to do about it?". Lol, there's a grain of truth there that Apple is well aware of.
Anyway, I wish you the best of luck.

After the Sony Rep had calmed down, he quietly explained that my comments had largely caused all sales of the product to dry up. I think he was kicking himself for not listening in the first place!

As for Apple, I dare say if I spoke to the right person I may be able to get a Mac Pro, but the honest truth is that I wouldn't feel good about doing it. My G5 worked well for years, so its not as if it owed me anything. Yes, this particular design wasn't up to Apple's usual high standards, but it was still a darn sight better than most manufacturers. I would love all of my electronic equipment to last forever, but the reality is that it will break at some stage. I repair all my electrical equipment when it dies and the biggest challenge is finding parts, (usually eBay these days). Spare parts for Macs are not readily available, hence having to come up with more creative solutions!

Oh, and don't be too impressed with my technical skills, there really wasn't too much to fixing it. It tricky bit is plucking up the courage to do it!

I expected more coolant to come out too. It's possible you've got a blockage in a pipe, especially those that come from the bottom of the radiator. I had to cut the old rubber pipes off as they wouldn't twist off, and when I did I found the blockage. As for o-rings, I actually used the old ones as I didn't have any new ones of the correct size. What I did do was add a load of silicone grease and screwed the covers down as tight as I could.

After the Sony Rep had calmed down, he quietly explained that my comments had largely caused all sales of the product to dry up

Have you had any similar dealings with General Motors in the recent past?...
Well, I admire your ethos, very UK, hip, hip and chin up and all that... 🙂 I imagine a cigar and a V sign as your Mac roars to new found life. 😎

So, um, just don't look at this page. Lol, at least you'll know there is a need for your knowledge on the subject. Hmm... a shilling per call for advice? What's a shilling?