Zalman Reserator 2 keeps thinking flow has stopped!?

burningmilkmaid · Post by **burningmilkmaid** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:00 am

Hello, this is a sad moment,

I have wanted to get myself a reserator ever since they were mentioned... however long ago that was, and i finaly have my hands on one, got it working no trouble... even the initial getting air out of the system prooved no real issue, however as of yesterday half way through the film i was watching the thing set the alarm off to alert me that there was no flow... i reset the reserator, all seamed to be well, no leaks no kinks good flow.. then it tripped again, and its been setting the alarm off ever since.. i have no taped a ball of paper over the reset switch so it restarts every time the alarm goes off, but this is not exactly ideal..

does anybody have any ideas thoughts? the funny thing is that if i block the flow by kinking the pipe for 10 seconds the alarm sounds as it should but when its just resetting all on its own the thing is still spinning as the alarm sounds... is it just not spinning fast enough?

I am going to try the degassing tube again and tilt the thing right over again to ensure no bubbles exist..

the system is all on the level... even with my PC on its side on the desk next to the reserator.. i am only using the cpu block and have no other problems air bubbles etc...

cheers.. wish me luck!

burningmilkmaid · Post by **burningmilkmaid** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:51 am

I have set it up with the degassing tube and have had no problems at all!! even tho the pipe is rather kinked.. so unsure of the reason for this.... i am wondering if the ratio of liquid in the reservoir to length of hose is significant, I filled it up with the whole bottle of zalman fluid and 1 liter of de-ionized water as directed, perhaps more is needed if using the whole length of tube.. longer the tube more chance to cool... will try again with whole hose and try with more water... trip to the shop tho.

spookmineer · Post by **spookmineer** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:51 pm

The pump will have an easier task if the tubes are as short as possible.

After degassing, the reservoir should be almost completely full: depending on how long the tubing is you might need more then 1 liter of deionised water (although I doubt a 3/4 filled system will give an alarm - and more tubing doesn't have that much effect on the total fluid capacity).

How long has this setup been working? Maybe the waterblock is clogged up and needs cleaning - it is the most obvious reason for the waterflow to be insufficient. Is the "impeller" (flow meter) in the front spinning as it was before?

burningmilkmaid · Post by **burningmilkmaid** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:07 pm

it has only been up and running a day or so before i had any problems, i shortened the tube and it was ok for about 30mins then it was back to sounding the alert every 1 min or so, i have connected it up with about 1 meter of tubing on its own and it seams ok now.. i dont understand... even when its working fine it sounds the alert... but only when i have have it connected up to the rest of the PC.. i am going to leave it over night with it just pumping around a 1 meter length to see if it works like this....

the reservoir is pretty full 2-3cm under the hole where the power cable runs... i will get some more water tomorrow to see if this helps at all...

have emailed zalman in the hope that they might respond with some miracle cure.. however i am begining to feel that i should return this thing

Post by **Rusty075** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 2:51 pm

Has your blue light started to flicker yet?

I had the exact same problem with my Res II. My solution was to bypass the whole sensor/reset switch/power button assembly so that the pump will just aways run whenever it is plugged in. Its silent, so why would you want to turn it off anyway? If the pump ever would fail the system would just overheat and shutdown anyway.

It's been over a year since I modded mine, so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. If you take the top plate off of the "front" silver tower part you can see how the black aluminum plate is wedged between the aluminum silver extruded part. A little twist with a screwdriver and it can be pried out. If I remember right it was pretty simple to see what you had to disconnect to get the power running straight to the pump...I think all I had to do was wirenut acouple of wires together. You are messing with 120v though, so make sure you unplug it first!

burningmilkmaid · Post by **burningmilkmaid** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 3:06 pm

yeah that was my initial reaction i have already had a little look but was going to send it back so didnt want to do anything drastic. sounds like it is an option tho, might do it anyway, seams a little odd to just give up like that...

my led is bright and strong tho.

time for sleeping for me tho cheers very much will let you know what i discover.

burningmilkmaid · Post by **burningmilkmaid** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:15 pm

I have since positioned my PC on the floor with the reserator on my desk, this is something the manual specifically states is a bad idea, however i am not getting any issues thus far...

i dont actually see the issue of having it lower, after all the water still wants to balance out at the same level...

burningmilkmaid · Post by **burningmilkmaid** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 4:26 pm

nope its all gone baaaad again..

i should go to bed and stop talking to myself

spookmineer · Post by **spookmineer** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 2:03 pm

The best position for the reserator is with the bottom at the same level as the bottom of the PC (or: both on the same surface).
If one is higher then the other, the pump has to either "suck" more than is necessary, or "push" more than is necessary, maybe resulting in a bad flow and thus triggering the alarm.

Have you tried placing both the PC and the reserator on the same floor?

Zalman Reserator 2 keeps thinking flow has stopped!?

Zalman Reserator 2 keeps thinking flow has stopped!?

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