Mag Drive Pumps
 

I am the FNG, and I am sure that this has been asked a million times, but I spent all of last night reading thread after thread and found nothing. I am thinking of buying a Danner Mag Drive (Petsmart has em) as my only other alternatives are Sedra, Rio & Mini-???. When I say available I mean I can walk into the store and buy these brands.

Get the the F'n point...okay, okay I am going with danner. One is this a good idea? Second is this mag deal, Magnets near my hdd scares me, is this diff (this mag deal)? Do I need to worry about some magnetic field? Help me out I am the FNG. Thanks fellas. Oh and btw I am going for a setup exactly like this:


http://www.ocaddiction.com/reviews/w...e/image030.jpg

You need to make sure your pump has the delivery head to push the water that high. If I wanted to buy an inexpensive pump I would put the radiator in the front of the case below the HD rails. The other problem with this type of setup is the difficulty of bleeding the lines as the radiator is the highest point in the system it makes using a res/airtrap really difficult. I'm not saying that setup is bad just difficult and possibly problematic.


Go to www.dangerden.com and check their pumps out!

Why do you wish to duplicate that system?

The rad is at the top of the case where it will trap air and have it's effectiveness reduced. And it will be useing case air which is warmer and less effective in cooling the rad, or trying to blow cool air down which means it will fight the natural flow in the case. And Cathar's White Water block will outperforme the Maze 3 used in the pictured system.

The convection process should help a bit. If he bleeds the lines properly it shouldnt be a problem.

I have that exact same case and I want my setup to fit in my case. I already have a brand new Z4 waterblock that I got for $30 and that is a lot better than spending the benji that the whitewater goes for (I'm just a poor fella with a kid and a serious apitite for women so cash is in short supply). I am probably going to buy a danner mag drive 2 (250gph@$35) or a 3 (350gph@$45) tomorrow. I may remove the lower drive bay and if I do then I can mount the rad at the bottom. I dont know if it is going to be possible but I hope to run and bleed the system outside of my case for 24hrs and then just move the whole unit and mount it inside as I have plenty of room to work with.

I was just lookin at my case and thinking that I could make a res that sits on top and then I could move the rad to where the res was. I'll make a bracket to hold the fan/rad and cut my window so that I can open the side of the case independently. Maybe even put the fan/rad on hinges so that I can swing it out of the way when I go into my case. Nevermind this last paragraph just thinkin out loud, I'm gonna do some planning and I will post the final detail and maybe some pics if I can.

It sounds to me like you are on the right path. Keep up the research and you should do fine! As for bleeding outside of the system, it should be possible just make sure you dont have any tubing/routing issues inside the case.

Alright I've been banging my head against the wall for a while and still can't come to decision so I need your guys opinion. Which Danner the 250gph or the 350gph?

go for the mag drive3, that way youll have the extra flow if you decide to add another block or something. for ten bucks more it cant hurt, ive got that pump and its great.

The 350 has more head. I'd get it. :)

If I were you, I'd think about taking out one of the drive cages so you can put the radiator in the bottom front of the case. It would be easier to set up your system that way, and you'd probably get better performance.

I've heard that the dangerden reservoir creates all kinds of bubbles. I'd use a T-line instead.

I'd get the Mag3, (350 GPH) but not so much for the higher max flowrate as for the higher max head. Most systems are much more limited by the head of the pump than by the flowrate.

Okay I have done some refiguring and this is what I have come up with as a setup. Tell me what weaknesses you see

i have the mag 5. i'm happy with it. just make sure you seal the housing with silicone. otherwise the pump will leak from back pressure.

Don't use brass barbs or you'll crack the impeller housing at the inlet. Check out this article:

http://www.procooling.com/articles/h...___3_31_00.php

for dealing with leaks.

Other than initial leaks and tendency for the inlet to crack over time with brass barbs, the Danner is a decent pump. I used a 250gph one for a long time.

I watercool in a similar case; I removed the lower hdd cage to get room for a heatercore though:

http://www.procooling.com/~phaestus/chevettehole.jpg

Have fun!

Your new plan looks pretty good. Only gains left I can see is this.

If you keep things where you've pictured them but change the routing to:

pump -> rad -> CPU -> res -> pump

You could shorten your total lines length some which will help maintain a higher flow rate. And by going rad to CPU it should get your water into the block just a slight bit cooler. The gains wouldn't be real big but should offer some.

You've already got lots of good advice on pump choice.

I hear where you are coming from on money issues. I can't really tell what rad is in that other guys case for sure. If it is a Danger Den one you can save a few dollars and even gain in performance by useing a heater core instead. Not as pretty but better performance and lower cost. Check the thread iced at the top of this forum's page, it will show you a ton of heater cores and you can find the right one to fit the location in your case. But I'd check for it at a local parts shop as you'll save the shipping charge & might get a better price to boot. Fan shrouds aren't hard to made & will also help preformance. A search on the site can show you options on shrouds. A set up like Phaestus's has is hard to beat.

Should work well for you, good luck.

RE the bleeding problems, you need to be prepared to work with the system a bit. I have a watercooled YY Cube, and I spent a couple hours when I set it up bleeding it. Let the pump run a couple minutes. Bubbles accumulate in the high points. Turn pump off and gently tilt the case to guide the bubbles to where you can get rid of them. You may need to tilt to some extreme angles, so make sure your water cooling components are well mounted and there are no leaks at those angles. Add a little more coolant. Repeat.

You can bleed these systems almost no matter what the configuration, and with clear tubing, you can see where the bubbles are.

How about that via-aqua 370gph that dtek sells, I am considering one of their rads and saw the pump for cheap. Is it a POS?

ive never had any experience with those pumps personally (the via aqua 370), but ive heard they tend to rattle and be a bit loud. personally, id stick with the mag drive over one of those.