Took apart my Apogee GTX recently.

[nikhsub1]

One word comes to mind. Stubborn.

[phelan1777]

Guys No Bashing Gabe/Swiftech as I stated in my first post I just posted my observations with no intent of ill will @ either party.

[Xilikon]

I'm not bashing him, just stating a fact.

[NaeKuh]

phelan its either this.

You messed up, or the company messed up.

The thing is, your way to advance to mess up like this. So obvious default. The company messed up.

I guess the GTX is a dime dozen. I havent had any problems running it in my loop when it had the alu top. The Alu top isnt on anymore, but when i pulled it off, it was still shiny and new.

But it seems the later tops that came out after mine, are having QC in lower spec. Mine was probably one of the first to roll out.

But man, phelan, i feel for ya, i feel bad for the stealth owners now.

[systemviper]

I LOVE THIS QUOTE -

O lny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

now I have a responce for people that hate my spelling, you made my week with that quote, mucho gracious..

nOW i have to decide if I want to spend the 40 for the copper top, isn't that the energizer bunny...

[nikhsub1]

What swiftech should do is that for every top that gets corroded, they should send the user a copper top replacement free of charge.

[starlon]

Or make the tops with delrin to begin with.

[IanY]

Yeah I wouldn't be surprised, though I am sure if I got my gf to call, I would get the block sent back on their dime and money refunded, or have them ship me a copper top on their dime and cost me nothing. And And And........it would be done with a smile on both parts.

She works wonders on the phone when it comes to arguing policies/warranties/terms of service and related subjects. She aced her contracts class and is writing wills.

in the mean time I am just getting my cruncher up and running, which is air cooled by a Typhoon, and the gpu is water cooled with a MAze 4.

Err.. with all due respect, its going to be another woman at the end of the phone line, and so I doubt your gf would be able to do anything lol And Michelle at Swiftech is nice and reasonable and not easily fooled lol

[IanY]

What swiftech should do is that for every top that gets corroded, they should send the user a copper top replacement free of charge.

You know and I know that it is wishful thinking.

[Nate P.]

Or make the tops with delrin to begin with.

They do make delrin tops for the Apogee GTX... it's called the Apogee GT!

[MrToad]

We already talked about that before and Gabe refused to listen to us Brass or stainless steel would be pretty cheap indeed.

Be careful with stainless, because there's many different alloys.

Some of them may be corroded by copper, others would corrode your copper parts.

Nickel plated brass, brass and copper. And if you can, copper "onry".

[IanY]

Oh let's stop crying over the GTX. There are alternatives. It doesn't figure into the competition anymore.

[Sparda]

It just marketing/business after all. Since they can create and produce a good water block.....they must be aware of this puny aluminium problem.

[Nate P.]

Oh let's stop crying over the GTX. It doesn't figure into the competition anymore.

No kidding. Just grab a Fuzion and be done.

[dinos22]

outch

looks nasty

[starlon]

They do make delrin tops for the Apogee GTX... it's called the Apogee GT!

Well, the tops are designed a little differently from what I understand.

[Sunayknits]

A little Zerex, regular anti-freeze or similar would have likely prevented this. Corrosion inhibitors keep this from happening and if you service your loop every so often with the proper mix you'll never have this problem.

What's simpler, buying a new top or using a different mix?

*runs for cover*

[starlon]

It's "simpler" to just stay away from aluminum.

[Waterlogged]

A little Zerex, regular anti-freeze or similar would have likely prevented this. Corrosion inhibitors keep this from happening and if you service your loop every so often with the proper mix you'll never have this problem.

What's simpler, buying a new top or using a different mix?

*runs for cover*

G11 IS anti-freeze.

[Omastar]

What swiftech should do is that for every top that gets corroded, they should send the user a copper top replacement free of charge.

But instead they'll sell a swap-in top for a price nearly as high as the block itself? Right.

[zLynk]

I wonder if swiftech use brass for the top and galvanized it using nickel/chrom will solve this problem.

I dont know but brass is cheaper than aluminium right? And all the barbs we are using use brass galvanized with nickel/chrom. Besides we even use brass and chopper in our radiator. ...

Brass doesn't react with copper, so it could be used for the top. There would be no need to plate it, except to appeal aesthetically. Brass tarnishes quite readily, so a top made out of the material would start turning brown in no time; that's the reason for a nickel plating.

Aluminum is cheaper and softer than brass. Tooling costs for cutting the material are cheaper, since the bits last longer. Anodizing is cheaper than plating.

It's all about the money, bud.

[Waterlogged]

Brass doesn't react with copper, so it could be used for the top. There would be no need to plate it, except to appeal aesthetically. Brass tarnishes quite readily, so a top made out of the material would start turning brown in no time; that's the reason for a nickel plating.

Aluminum is cheaper and softer than brass. Tooling costs for cutting the material are cheaper, since the bits last longer. Anodizing is cheaper than plating.

It's all about the money, bud.

The problem is, the GTX is double plated. The smart thing to do was stay away from the aluminum but, seeing that's what they used, they should have stayed away from the zinc/cobalt plating and just tripled up on the nickel thickness. Zinc is an anode metal and even though it's mixed with cobalt, I suspect that's what's starting the whole corrosion process. All it would take is a bad blend (ie. heavier on zinc side) to get it started. I defended the stock GTX top for quite a while, that was until knowledgeable users started getting this problem.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Stuff like that is pretty common.

Has happened in every single loop i have run.

[Froggy]

Can you shoot an improved pic of the inside of your top? It is hard to see if it iscorrosion or mineral type build-up. The "paint" you are referring to is in the middle of the top?

[phelan1777]

Can you shoot an improved pic of the inside of your top? It is hard to see if it iscorrosion or mineral type build-up. The "paint" you are referring to is in the middle of the top?

sorry, but the camera won't let me get any close, even with the macro enabled. though you can see my finger prints on my fingers in the on pic.