Welcome to another bay reservoir review, the Koolance RP-401X2. I thought the RP-402×2 was compact for two pumps in a double drive bay size, but this model takes that concept up another notch. The PMP-400 (DDC3.25) pump motors are very compact and Koolance figured out a way to put not only one, but two motors in a single drive bay reservoir that retains much of the same multitude of options as the 402×2 flavor. You can run one pump only and share both reservoirs, you can run two pumps in separate loops, or you can combine the two pumps via their serial kit for extreme pumping power.
A special thanks to Tim from Koolance for sending over the sample to review.
Packaging & Accessories
First let’s have a look at the box opening:
It comes in a longer brown box as shown here with solid foam protection along the sides
Having done a few drive bay reservoir reviews, it should be noted that not all come fully assembled. The Koolance RP-401×2 is of the fully assembled and ready for pump status types. It also has a block off plate installed on the left (P2) side and plugs ready for a single pump installation. This keeps the number of loose parts down to a bare minimum and should save some time up from on the assembly front.
No major assembly required, ready for single pump right out of the box
It does also come with what I would call a quick guide. It’s a smaller double-sided black and white four page guide. Don’t expect a ton of detail here, but the guide is well illustrated and covers the key installation areas well although I would have liked to see some added info on bleeding. You can download the electronic and color version of the manual here for a more detailed look.
In general the package was very complete short of barbs and the serial kit. Those items will have to be purchased separately and are an added cost. The reservoir/top does come fully assembled with the necessary port plugs and pump block off so you can run one or two pumps as desired and there isn’t any assembly needed which is also nice. The Packaging and protection also seems good and arrived in good condition.
All these reviews make me want to switch to yet another product, stop it!
Excellent job once again!!
[...] e test di Martin liquid lab __________________ Abit Aw9D Max – Intel E6600 – 2gb Cellshock DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 – BFG [...]
Martin
I assume then that the Swiftech MCP35X 12 VDC Pump will work with this unit like the 402×2?
Nevermind i see that it does
Hey all, You know this Single Bay / Dual DDC Pump is sweet, I have the Dual Bay one myself. The only thing is if you really want to cool down those DDC pumps properly is to cut out the each bottom DDC pump enough to expose the circuit board and then utilize one of the open single bays below the DDC (now exposed) pumps and use a Bay Rafter (from Scythe) and put a 120mm fan to assist more cool air up underneath those DDC pumps to keep them cooler. I have personally done this and have been able to get 2 to 3C lower in my temps (because these DDC pumps tend to run warm/hot). To me it’s worth pursuing. Of course the front of the cover on the Koolance Single Bay will be upside down, but that could a nice conversation piece when your friends ask you why it’s upside down… he, he…
P.S. – Here’s a link to see exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to exposing the bottom of those DDC Pumps:
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/934512-martins-koolance-rp-402×2-rp-452×2-13.html
On this page (13), I’m post #123. You’ll be able to see the pics of what I’m talking about. Hope this helps those that want to cool these pumps down a bit more…
Lastly, I don’t know if you can turn this unit upside down or not, as it might disrupt the water flow, but if you can’t they should have made it where it was built that way; like XSPC’s Dual Bay / Dual Pump model that I will be changing out soon for the new Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25in Reservoir that I just received.
Now that I read the entire review (on page 8), Martin said: “I would suggest at least having some sort of fan blowing over the top of the pumps, particularly if they are running in low restriction loops where flow rates may be high. High flow rates are generally what contribute the most to high DDC heat levels.”
You see, just like what I said only this time you can use a fan on the top instead…
Dear Martin,
You said: “…an incredible amount of pumping power with two pumps in series where you double your head pressure netting upwards of a 50% flow rate increase over a single stock top PMP-400 pump.”
My only question is, if you’re gaining up to 50% more flow rate, than with the current Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25in Reservoir that I just received, how much lower can your temps be if you’re using that Dual Pump setup over the Single Pump setup that I will be using for my i7 970 OC’d Processor? Just curious if you know, or at least a best guess. BTW, thanks for the great review…
One to two pumps is not going to be a huge temperature gain, it’s usually around a degree or less depending on the block/rad used, but it can mean the difference between a loop that won’t bleed out due to high restriction and/or inverted radiators and one that will self bleed.
Thanks Martin for replying so quickly. I thought there wasn’t much change. I was starting to regret getting that nice Koolance RP-402X2 Dual 5.25in Reservoir for a moment there. I read your other review and it’s really a great unit. Can’t wait to install it soon…
BTW, with what you mentioned about issues of bleeding the system. I’m not too worried about it as I used Quick Disconnects from Koolance as well and it serves me well… When everything is said and done I’m going to post some pics on my site or a YouTube vid… It’s what I call my Mac Hak Pro (All PC parts on a Siliverstone FT02 Tower). Thanks again, for the reply…
putting the pumps upside down is such a stupid design!
—-by fatsnail from CHH
How is it “stupid?” Please explain, so we can all be enlightened. Also, Fatty, you really ought to be careful on how you word things. It’s pretty offensive… :-\
hi martin, congrats on what you have done here, it fills a over do gap!
I need to run a 51/2 to 6 inch fan for 4 hours off a small motor cycle battery.
this is for a patent I hold and no one seems to be able to help me.
and I need to solar charge the battery.
anyone know kind of fan to use, how big cell must be?
I have encountered a problem with fan voltages and would please ask of you or anybody reading this a few things. can you please e- mail at lyradesigngroup@yahoo.com.
thanks for any help on this–JIM
It seems like if you mount the pumps upside down in there then you could use the MCP35X-HS Heatsink that is offered by Swiftech to cool the pump quite nicely.
Well, scratch my previous comment that heatsink would extend past the confines of the 5.25″ drive bay. Too bad, Perhaps just a generic heatsink of appropriate size would help. Just a thought.
It depends on the space you want to mount to. Yes you can use those if you don’t have anything in the next bay or an open bodied fan controller. People don’t always use every bay in most Cases. As long as you account for them you most certainly can use them. As far as I know there is no case with shelves north and south of a bay device.
Oops *slowly wipes egg off face*
I still say the best way to have the most efficient amount of heat escape the part of the DDC Pump is to cut open the plastic bottom or take off the bottom completely and install the Koolance Heatsink kit (to a point), but DON’T put on the heatsink part (just the metal shell, to keep everything in place), and put a 120mm fan right underneath the bottom of the other open 5.25″ bays to blow cool air right on the pumps themselves to keep them at their coolest. Then once a year just blow the little bit of dust off that will accumulate on the pumps to keep them clean. I did that and there was so little dust anyway, cause I have micro filters on the bottom of my FT02 Sivlverstone Case that pretty much keeps all the dust out anyway, and the little that does accumulate is easy to blow out using DataVac’s Electric Duster (which by the way is the best buy out there). If you need more of a reference please go here to see what I’m talking about so you can see the actual pics of what I’m talking about (I’m the 3rd comment/reply down from the top of the link):
http://www.overclock.net/water-cooling/934512-martins-koolance-rp-402×2-rp-452×2-13.html
Later…
Martin, do you think it would be wise to put a kill coil in this reservoir? I feel like it might damage the pump or be hard to remove from the reservoir if required. I’m planning on running dual pumps in series using the U-Connector kit. I didn’t want my kill coil making its way into either of the pumps.
It won’t get down into the pump, it would have to travel down some really small passages to do that, but I suppose getting it back out may be a little challenging. Worst case you could take the face off and get to it for sure. I don’t use kill coils myself, I’ve been pretty happy with PTnuke.
Looks to me like the rp401x2 has front fill ports now. Or am I seeing something on Koolance website? Also those bottom plugs you can take off and then put the plate back to merge the two chambers, does that work? With both on the bottom and taking gravity into mind, not sure that the water from the second chamber would get into the primary. Only way I can think of and the pressure may be to much is to have the out in the one that the pump is on, and the inlet on the secondary. So the water goes into the second one, causes pressure from a full chamber to move the water into the first thru the “tunnel” underneath. Otherwise I would think most of the fluid in the second chamber would just sit.
Thoughts?
JR
Pump noise aside, is their much water turbulence NOISE with those small tanks? Both of my two ddc’s are very quiet if, there wasn’t a lot of whooshing water sound this could be a sweet way to tidy up my current arrangement. I’ll miss my Swiftech MCRES’s, such a perfect little design.
I didn’t notice anything in regards to turbulence. If anything I would expect some noise caused by vibration transfer into the case through the drive bay mounts. That depends a lot on the actual case though, so it’s pretty hard to judge in a review. I just know that most pump noise is generally caused through vibration transfer so if you spend a little extra time isolating that, you can usually do some good. These bay reservoirs typically rely on the mass of water/acetal to serve as a dampener of sorts. The acetal does do a lot better than acrylic bay reservoirs, but it’s still somewhat of a solid mount unless you allow it to float a bit on softer materials.
Thanks Martin
I thought maybe with such a confined tank size it might have some splash. It is pretty well baffled though. I was thinking about a building a tray in that bay with a back stop. Then I could slide the rez in to just sit on to the tray which will be lined with a soft spongey rubber. Rez wouldn’t be secured to the chassis in any way except for the sides and the back stop which will also be lined. I think I can decouple – at least that’s what my last girlfriend said!
Thanks again for the reply!
*gosh, I feel like I just talked to Henry Ford about my car!
Martin,
The top fillports… are those G4 threaded? If I wanted to run tube up to fillports on the top of my case would they work? The rez will be in the topmost bay and there is plenty of room up there for the fittings.
Thanks,
CMD
Yes they are, but they are recessed so a bit limited on what fits down in the recess. I know regular Koolance barbs as well as Danger Den fatboy barbs work, but you won’t be fitting compression fittings and the like without some sort of G1/4 extension to remedy the recess.
Excellent, thanks for the info Martin!