Can anyone help me with what's going on with my block?

Hi,

I just got my EK FC-GTX580 back from RMA last weekend.

I received a new EN nickel plated version and to my surprise it came with standoff mounting instead of the previous plastic washers which requires the use of thermal paste to keep them in place.

So I tore apart my loop, rinsed everything with hot water and then distilled water and fixed everything back.

But unfortunately, within 2 days of the loop running, this happened:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K...%252520wtf.jpg

The loop is running pure distilled water with silver kill coils.

The brown color stuff you see in the channel of the block is not things floating in the water but what looks like to me that the nickel plating is fading off! The color look like oxidised copper to me.

I want to know what happened with my block as there's no way I am going to wait another 6 week just for another RMA if the new block is gonna be the same.

Anyways I am going to take apart the block tomorrow to see what those brown things are.

Nice flash going on there....

I couldn't get a clearer shot since it's at night when I took this shot

http://www.ekwaterblocks.com/index.p...t01returnid=17

And wait 6 weeks for another block? This issue leaves the quality of the plating in question.

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Originally Posted by Kozato

And wait 6 weeks for another block? This issue leaves the quality of the plating in question.

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Uhm? Just open the block and wipe it with a cloth... If the stains persist then RMA.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kozato

And wait 6 weeks for another block? This issue leaves the quality of the plating in question.

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You might want to check the link first. They are suggesting it might just need to be cleaned. Sometimes this happens. A chemical residue left over from something or whatever. I had a Koolance bleed tube that appeared to be rusting, but after taking it apart the brown substance could be easily removed. My point is, don't panic yet, take some pics and email EK. They will tell you to pull it apart and if you find it really is corrosion then it will be covered still by the warranty. Yes, it's frustrating, but sometimes these things happen. Post back what you find out.

Sorry guys. I wanted to delete my previous post but the browser on my iPhone wasn't working well.

Yeah, I intend to take it apart tomorrow to try cleaning it. Looks like I have to flush my loop again.

Just curious, did you clean the inside of the new block before installing it, or just clean the rest of your parts and not that one?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6...%252520wtf.jpg

@Sparky

I flushed everything with hot water from the tap and then using a funnel and a tubing attached to whatever block or radiator I use, I will pour distilled water in to rinse the tap water out before installing them into my loop.

Anyways I have attached a clearer photo above. The side nearer to the I/O ports look like there's a little bit of flaking.

Before opening it up I would suggest sending EK the pictures and letting them tell you to break the seal. That way you do not void the warranty. I know you do not want to send it back again, but, if it turns out it is corrosion then you can RMA it and just grab a different block and then sell the new one when it comes back. Not a total recovery but better than nothing.

looks like residue buildup to me. I'd probably try jabbing a q-tip in there to see if i could wipe some of it off.

Utnorris: EK's seal sticker removal DOES NOT void warranty. It's been stated many times in this forum. It just tells that block is EK tested against leaks, not that removing it will void warranty.

tiborrr, Eddy: maybe it's worth to remove that sticker altogether? I've seen this EK sticker=warranty controversy several times too many. Imho it does more bad then good by growing misconceptions in most cases when majority of users wrongly assume by default that it's warranty related.

problem is, is you're running derp blocks.

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Originally Posted by zeropluszero

problem is, is you're running derp blocks.

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Haters gonna hate.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kozato

The loop is running pure distilled water with silver kill coils.

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Is your kill coils fine? I mean, does it look discolored?

I've seen a lot of "fake" kill coils around, most of them aren't pure silver and just plated.

Also, what fittings are you using atm?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Copie

Haters gonna hate.

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Its all he ever does (anything EK related).

Bit of an anti-EK hipster really.

-PB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by .::NeO::.

Is your kill coils fine? I mean, does it look discolored?

I've seen a lot of "fake" kill coils around, most of them aren't pure silver and just plated.

Also, what fittings are you using atm?

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They are still silver in colour, look the same as when I bought them.

I am using bitspower silver shining fittings.

Currently the stains or "corrosion" is only found on the gpu block. My reservoir, tubings and cpu block DO NOT SHOW similar stains.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by churchy

Utnorris: EK's seal sticker removal DOES NOT void warranty. It's been stated many times in this forum. It just tells that block is EK tested against leaks, not that removing it will void warranty.

tiborrr, Eddy: maybe it's worth to remove that sticker altogether? I've seen this EK sticker=warranty controversy several times too many. Imho it does more bad then good by growing misconceptions in most cases when majority of users wrongly assume by default that it's warranty related.

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I was just basing my answer on the link from Tibor. I didn't want the guy to take the block apart and then EK not RMA it if it needed to be. I guess I should have been clearer on my response.

What would you guys suggest for cleaning nickel plated blocks?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by paulbagz

Its all he ever does (anything EK related).

Bit of an anti-EK troll really.

-PB

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Fixed ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lowfat

What would you guys suggest for cleaning nickel plated blocks?

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EK's site says something about using a non-abrasive metal cleaner or polish. I guess just be sure to get it completely rinsed off before putting it back in your loop.

Alright just an update guys.

I took the block apart and cleaned it up.

Unfortunately there's this black stain which I can't clean off that is near the center screw with the o-ring around it.

but nevertheless, the block looks great now:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...%252520003.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...%252520007.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-e...%252520009.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-i...%252520019.jpg

Keep us posted after it has been back in use for a while and let us know if it returns.

Nice job cleaning it up. But yes, keep us posted on any recurrences.

not suposed to use polish..

it leaves a coat on your top layer which hinders thermal transfer.

Your suposed to wipe the residue, and then wipe again so you get bare metal instead of polish.


Glad to see it was just a stain and not actual breakage of nickle....

EK's site said to use some polish. I thought it was odd, but :shrug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sparky

EK's site said to use some polish. I thought it was odd, but :shrug:

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cuz it would probably keep your blocks inside shiny, they get less complaints, until you polish a great surface area on the inside of the block, where they get another form of complain...

ie... my gpu is too hot... whats wrong.... problems..


But then again sparky u know me...

When a vendor tries to say YOU NEED TO DO THIS... If it makes no sense i tell them, no... YOU NEED TO DO IT FOR US OR I'LL GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.. :P

But seriously Tibor, you guys need to clean new blocks yourselfs... and inspect for stuff like this.
Not trying to vendor bash, but the last thing i would want is to force ANY NEWBIE to open a GPU block up.
If the GPU block ages, or the oring is warped from sitting in storage, your asking the member to suffer HARD.

And trust me.. I and a lot of other guys who been doing this a lot longer then even some vendors have all agree... Opening a GPU block = MAJOR PITFA typically followed by a lot of bad words and a lot of ranting as well as your fingers being laced with vasoline as a final hail mary b4 u give up and end up buying a new gpu block!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm with Naekuh on this one. Even though it wont mess up the warranty, a user should never have to open their GPU block by recommendation of the manufacturer. It's a major PITA, and I would recommend sparing any and everyone from having to do such a thing. Cleaning those blocks after manufacturing really should be the manufacturer's job.

NaeKuh & Alexandr0s: "But seriously Tibor, you guys need to clean new blocks yourself" / "Cleaning those blocks after manufacturing really should be the manufacturer's job" - was there anywhere stated that user received block in such stained state? IIRC in OP user wrote that those stains appeared "within 2 days of the loop running". So EK should be responsible for prechecking/rinsing/cleaning loops of anybody that bought their blocks? Guys, please be more attentive when reading please :)

Churchy of you add a new part to an existing loop and stuff starts to grow on it (and nowhere else) its pretty obvious it was on the new block out the box. Be interesting to know what it was - doubt algae could grow that fast?

Interesting comparison.

1x GTX480 block (brand new EN as well) after 5 days with silver + distilled

http://i.imgur.com/S9YTz.jpg

Now what i did was, pulled the loop apart, cleaned and flushed the entire loop several times, replaced that block with another brand new one (all in the same batch, purchased at the same time) and filled it with EK clear coolant (was epic cheap as part of the sale EK was having on it)
This is what they look like after 5 days (keep in mind the 'dirty' block is not in the loop at all, and hasnt been touched since being removed)

http://i.imgur.com/FVxY7.jpg

Little difficult to see as i cannot take photos for :banana::banana::banana::banana:, but they are crystal clean.

Just food for thought.

Custom loop is a DIY hobby, and last time i check it requires regular maintenance..... so anyone who cant open up a block to clean it should get one of those h80 stuff cause sooner or later you gonna run into problems. :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by churchy

NaeKuh & Alexandr0s: "But seriously Tibor, you guys need to clean new blocks yourself" / "Cleaning those blocks after manufacturing really should be the manufacturer's job" - was there anywhere stated that user received block in such stained state? IIRC in OP user wrote that those stains appeared "within 2 days of the loop running". So EK should be responsible for prechecking/rinsing/cleaning loops of anybody that bought their blocks? Guys, please be more attentive when reading please :)

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Then please tell me why EK devoted an entire page to this problem? Apparently, it's not as rare as you would think and, in my opinion, the responsibility of EK to fix.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Section8

Keep us posted after it has been back in use for a while and let us know if it returns.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Utnorris

Nice job cleaning it up. But yes, keep us posted on any recurrences.

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I will update you guys whether the stain comes back or not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

not suposed to use polish..

it leaves a coat on your top layer which hinders thermal transfer.

Your suposed to wipe the residue, and then wipe again so you get bare metal instead of polish.


Glad to see it was just a stain and not actual breakage of nickle....

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I couldn't clean off the stain without the use of the polish. But after that I washed off the residue of the polish off with some gentle soap and warm water, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

cuz it would probably keep your blocks inside shiny, they get less complaints, until you polish a great surface area on the inside of the block, where they get another form of complain...

ie... my gpu is too hot... whats wrong.... problems..


But then again sparky u know me...

When a vendor tries to say YOU NEED TO DO THIS... If it makes no sense i tell them, no... YOU NEED TO DO IT FOR US OR I'LL GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.. :P

But seriously Tibor, you guys need to clean new blocks yourselfs... and inspect for stuff like this.
Not trying to vendor bash, but the last thing i would want is to force ANY NEWBIE to open a GPU block up.
If the GPU block ages, or the oring is warped from sitting in storage, your asking the member to suffer HARD.

And trust me.. I and a lot of other guys who been doing this a lot longer then even some vendors have all agree... Opening a GPU block = MAJOR PITFA typically followed by a lot of bad words and a lot of ranting as well as your fingers being laced with vasoline as a final hail mary b4 u give up and end up buying a new gpu block!!!!!!!!!!!

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alexandr0s

I'm with Naekuh on this one. Even though it wont mess up the warranty, a user should never have to open their GPU block by recommendation of the manufacturer. It's a major PITA, and I would recommend sparing any and everyone from having to do such a thing. Cleaning those blocks after manufacturing really should be the manufacturer's job.

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I agree on this. I was kind of surprised when the stains appear on the newer EN blocks which were not supposed to have problems and then I was linked to EK's homepage asking me to dismantle the block to clean it myself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Copie

Interesting comparison.

1x GTX480 block (brand new EN as well) after 5 days with silver + distilled

http://i.imgur.com/S9YTz.jpg

Now what i did was, pulled the loop apart, cleaned and flushed the entire loop several times, replaced that block with another brand new one (all in the same batch, purchased at the same time) and filled it with EK clear coolant (was epic cheap as part of the sale EK was having on it)
This is what they look like after 5 days (keep in mind the 'dirty' block is not in the loop at all, and hasnt been touched since being removed)

http://i.imgur.com/FVxY7.jpg

Little difficult to see as i cannot take photos for :banana::banana::banana::banana:, but they are crystal clean.

Just food for thought.

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You were probably lucky that your block was clean off the factory.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alexandr0s

Then please tell me why EK devoted an entire page to this problem? Apparently, it's not as rare as you would think and, in my opinion, the responsibility of EK to fix.

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If this problem is going to become a common issue then I think EK should address it before releasing it to merchants. Imagine more customers getting the same problem as I do and asked to dismantle the block to clean it only to damage the block in the process. Who's going to be responsible when that happens?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Alexandr0s

Then please tell me why EK devoted an entire page to this problem? Apparently, it's not as rare as you would think and, in my opinion, the responsibility of EK to fix.

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To lessen false positives of "damaged blocks" because of recent EK witch hunt overscared users sending in simply stained/dirty blocks and to not write each time individually reply to try cleaning first before RMA. Maybe even from my suggestions in this thread. So blocks becoming stained in loop are not as rare and it's EK responsibly to clean them? BTW, there are rumours that houses/apartments also become dusty by time. EK probably should at very least vacuum those hauses where clients that bought their blocks live.

Hmm, I see you're right. I must have misread something. Still, I would seriously look at other alternatives than opening up the blocks, because it can be a major PITA to fit the o-ring back in afterwards.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by churchy

NaeKuh & Alexandr0s: "But seriously Tibor, you guys need to clean new blocks yourself" / "Cleaning those blocks after manufacturing really should be the manufacturer's job" - was there anywhere stated that user received block in such stained state?

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Churchy, you trying to challenge me lately? I see you questioning me a lot lately..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kozato

Hi,

I just got my EK FC-GTX580 back from RMA last weekend.

I received a new EN nickel plated version and to my surprise it came with standoff mounting instead of the previous plastic washers which requires the use of thermal paste to keep them in place.

So I tore apart my loop, rinsed everything with hot water and then distilled water and fixed everything back.

But unfortunately, within 2 days of the loop running, this happened:

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^ so that tells me, the blocks were improperly cleaned... unless you want to say the OP's loop was pretainted, and it deposited on the block in 2 days time.

NaeKuh: you think he didn't notice those stains before when installed it when it has transparent top? Imho it's very hard to install block on gpu with eyes blindfolded :). however short term 2 days seems and whatever caused them, as user wrote - it was after installment. And how that makes EK responsible for pre-cleaning stains when they weren't there yet?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

Churchy, you trying to challenge me lately? I see you questioning me a lot lately..

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:rofl:

-PB

Quote:

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Originally Posted by churchy

And how that makes EK responsible for pre-cleaning stains when they weren't there yet?

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because its become such a problem that EK is telling people to polish their blocks.

Do you see gabe, Sven, Six or Tim tell everyone to bust out a polish and start cleaning?

Well ive seen gabe say use pinesol on a DDC, but never to polish one of his blocks.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by paulbagz

:rofl:

-PB

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man i got more guys trying to be like skinnee's running around now trying to break my soap box!

if u dont have the weapons like skinnee does my soapbox is invulnerable!

*Dr Evil pinky laugh*

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

:hammer:

2 months in the loop and my EN Nickle 6970 block has the same problem. I think I am just going to run it this way till I take it all out for maintainance. I don't know which polish to use anyway. Btw, this is my third lc build and I kind of know what I am doing, so I am quite sure it's not user error.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

man i got more guys trying to be like skinnee's running around now trying to break my soap box!

if u dont have the weapons like skinnee does my soapbox is invulnerable!

*Dr Evil pinky laugh*

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Dude, just use Nadeshiko as a soapbox, that thing is indestructable :rofl:!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mav2000

2 months in the loop and my EN Nickle 6970 block has the same problem. I think I am just going to run it this way till I take it all out for maintainance. I don't know which polish to use anyway. Btw, this is my third lc build and I kind of know what I am doing, so I am quite sure it's not user error.

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Just find something that similar to what I use, metasol or you can try brasso. Make sure you clean the block with gentle soap to wash off the polish after you are done cleaning up.

Anyways the loop has been running for a few days and the block looks perfectly fine.