ok more follow up. After posting in several forums there is a feeling that the block might be touching a resistor on the card forcing to it to ground out.

I know it was mentioned that clearance work was done on the cards when they arrived but it is possible the issue may still be a problem.

This was one of the responses.


My guess is that some part of the copper block is on a resistor or similarly dead grounding the card. Even the back plate for that matter.