Switech Maelstrom (My thoughts)

[nimrod0031]

I recently built a new pc and redid my loop with some new pieces, one being the Swiftech Maelstrom. Now I am by no means a expert but I have been watercooling pc's for almost 10 years.

The unit is solid feeling and doesn't feel cheap at all. it comes with several barb locations you can customize but I just used the ones on the back that it shipped with. I'm using the unit in the single pump setup.

Everything went in and hooked up easy but something I didn't like were the plastic clamps for the tube. They felt like they really wouldn't aid much in making sure the tube was fastened to the barb nicely. I would prefer the metal screw down clamps instead but that's nothing that a trip to the hardware store won't fix. Once I got everything hooked up this is where I had issues. I've been running the pump for about 2 weeks now with no issues once it was filled tho.

First of all the I've not used a bay res since probably 2005 so I'm not as use to that as a simple T line. When you fill this unit you can't fill it up past their full line or it will leak (I know full line means full but how about when your trying to bleed it?). If the pump was running it was fine but the second you turn it off it would start to seep out of the fill port in the top. You can imagine how hard this makes it to bleed the air out of the system when you have air bubbles coming in and you can't add more water.

Because I've not been able to fully bleed the system the pump is more audible then normal. It's not a deal breaker but disappointing to say the least. What I ended up doing was cutting teflon tape in half long ways and wrapping it around the threads of the fill cap to help. What I would like to see is possibly some thicker acrylic used for the top and longer threading for the fill port. The threads now are very short which makes putting the cap back on annoying at times.

Overall tho I love this unit but I know of a couple others who have had the exact same problems I have had. I wouldn't hesitate to get another one but think they have a bit of room to improve it.

Here are some pics

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Very nice!

I as well was in the same boat and had issues priming the puimps and bleeding the loop with this reservoir. I had to tilt the case a few times just to get some tubing wet before I turned on the pumps and shut them off while refilling it. Its a shallow reservoir and where the fill port is is that one cylinder area that ends up going dry (I had 2 pumps at full capacity running) when the rest of the res is full of water which than sucked in air and filled up the loop with air at times. The same area that sucks water into the pump seems to be problematic but once its all said and done its great and would as well purchase another one as well. Great res pump combo imo and nice that they added a temp sensor + screen to it.

Overall your build looks great and is coming along.

 

[DropTheBase]

I also have the same problem, it leaks out of the fillport if i tilt the case.

I had to overfill the res because it sucks in water faster than water from the other side of the res into the intake area. Are you saying that after a while, this doesnt happen anymore? I had run it for over 6 hours and air bubbles would not leave the loop, not until I overfilled the res.

I like the teflon idea. Does it actually completely stopbthe leak?

 

[nimrod0031]

Nope I never got all the air bubbles out but its about as good as it's going to get I think. The teflon didn't stop the leak but it did help some. If I over filled it just a tad it would stop but then it leaked. The level I have it at now it isn't leaking at all and its right at the full line.....but as you know I've got some bubbles that just won't leave.

I used a exacto knife to cut away any dangling pieces of teflon too so they wouldn't get into the system over time.

Something I'm going to try when I refill (soon if I decide to put the gtx 680's on water) is to hook the pump up via pwm and turn the speed down and see if maybe that won't make it easier to bleed those last few bubbles.

 

[DropTheBase]

One thing worth mentioning. If you turn the pump on AFTER you close the fill port, it doesn't leak when you turn the pump off.

The problem for me is only when I tilt the case such that the reservoir water touches the fill port (turning the computer on its side for example); that's when it leaks. This isn't that big of a problem since my computer is always standing up, but it's definitely something I do not want to worry about.

I'm also thinking of buying a fatter o-ring. The o-ring, I noticed, is really sunken into its holder. Since the o-ring is very thin, I'm thinking that that contributes to the problem. I also read on the Swiftech forum that it helps to wet the o-ring a little to get a tighter seal.

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I also think I might try using the PWM feature. However, when the reservoir is really filled, the pump is already really quiet (12-13dB..I measured). Overfilling the res immediately got rid of almost all the bubbles.

 

[DropTheBase]

Update.

I tried just wetting the o-ring. It actually seemed to stop it from leaking (when the case is turned on its side).

I did not try opening the fill-port, turning on the pump, closing the fill-port and then turning off the pump. I imagine this will still cause a leak.

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The PWM feature is working great, btw! The pump is much quieter now.

 

[phantomofnight]

Thank you for the information. I think I'm going to go with this system. Hopefully it will work for me. Won't be able to start the build for a while, but when I do I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures and post a log.

 

[nimrod0031]

I wouldn't worry about it not working. It just takes some creativity in bleeding it lol. And as far as wetting the O ring and closing the lid with the pump off I tried both of those with little success. Wetting the O ring helped a bit but I have a feeling I the o ring was just a tad bigger it would also help.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Surprisingly, I havn't had any issues like the one you guys speak of. (knocks on wood) I will keep an eye on that even though knowing the top fill port is tightly shut. I know I've moved the case around for bleeding and never saw any leakage from the top when sealed shut with the O-ring positioned where its suppose to be because I did notice it can move around when you're trying to start tightening it or even when you're loosening it it would come off.

 

[nimrod0031]

That's something I should have kept a better eye on to see if it was getting moved when I tightened it. When you put the cap back on there can be a decent amount of play sometimes that I would guess could cause that o-ring to slide. That o-ring moves easily so I could see that happening. I'm going to watch for this more next time, thanks!

 

[briansun1]

over all what would you rate it on a scale of 1-10 ?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

over all what would you rate it on a scale of 1-10 ?

As to what? The quality of the reservoir? Process to prime and bleed?

 

[briansun1]

both

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I'd give it an 8+ pushing to 9. Quality and craftsmenship is good. Not a 10 because the res is shallow and not a real full 5 1/2 tank. It creates a painful priming job possible because of single/dual pumps under it.

 

[nimrod0031]

Pretty much what jack said. Quality is great but it's tough to bleed. Not impossible just more time consuming.

 

[jcw122]

Nice review, thanks! Why'd you decide to go res vs. t-line this time around?