Rampage III Gene fullcover waterblock?

[saxin]

My computer will not boot after I installed the EK waterblock. But if I start the computer without the 8-pin 12V ATX plug the computer starts.
Well, maybe not the motherboard is broken, but it may just be the waterblock that shorting without destroying anything.
I'll check on the backplate if it hit anything on the back. And I'll try to start the computer with the original cooler to be on the safe side if the motherboard is broken.
I have not seen any burn marks on the motherboard ....... yet I have electrical tape on the side of the waterblock.
The waterblock had also become green at the hole where the 8-pin connector is, it may have something to do with a short circuit?
I had to disassemble the block and clean. The Green were sticky and it also smell. When I got it clean it was a dark surface below, a little rust-colored.

Says later how it went

[MrToad]

My computer will not boot after I installed the EK waterblock. But if I start the computer without the 8-pin 12V ATX plug the computer starts.

My first board behaved exactly the same. Upon removal of the block, and with the stock cooling fitted, worked fine.

However I did notice that the (is it ceramic?) insulation of the NB it was somehow damaged, it had small "spots" all over, but this didn't seem to affect the board with the stock cooling on.

[februariusx]

my first attempt i saw boomerang flash came from north bridge



then i closely observe the standoff then i found that i missing 2x 2.1mm stand off so i request to Gregor for something replacement but it take so long so i made my own standoffs

but second mobo still dosent me give me luck, i accidentally crush the chokes nearly at the northbridge,

the third attempt is the great success, it is notify that the thermal pads are to wide to the mosfets, but it gives protection to the shorting feets of chokes nearly to cpu (red rectangle),

but the day i succeed the replacement standoff came by...

then i get my powertool sander and sand a little bit to the said mosfets near at northbridge (blue rectangle).

i put some space around .5 mm - 1 mm to the left seeing from cpu slot, because the space to the right are too enough no need for sanding

[februariusx]

My computer will not boot after I installed the EK waterblock. But if I start the computer without the 8-pin 12V ATX plug the computer starts.
Well, maybe not the motherboard is broken, but it may just be the waterblock that shorting without destroying anything.
I'll check on the backplate if it hit anything on the back. And I'll try to start the computer with the original cooler to be on the safe side if the motherboard is broken.
I have not seen any burn marks on the motherboard ....... yet I have electrical tape on the side of the waterblock.
The waterblock had also become green at the hole where the 8-pin connector is, it may have something to do with a short circuit?
I had to disassemble the block and clean. The Green were sticky and it also smell. When I got it clean it was a dark surface below, a little rust-colored.

Says later how it went

my second attempt happen exactly like yours, i think the mobo wraps, have you notice some fall off debris from BGA of your NB and some little piece of break from housing of choke near to northbridge

[Vetalar]

it's TRULY better than lost!!!
some reply from EK waterblocks would be nice. i heard that Eddy very helpful with their product's problems but in this thread 7 kills on 7 pages and no reply from producer it's nice to receive personal e-mails but not everyone already buy the block and some feedback would be nice.

[saxin]

my second attempt happen exactly like yours, i think the mobo wraps, have you notice some fall off debris from BGA of your NB and some little piece of break from housing of choke near to northbridge

I can hear a sparkle sound round 8-pin ATX connector. Nothing is burned around it.

[psygnosi]

I believe you guys need to isolate this small section as well. Marked in green. Why do I feel like an EK Beta tester?!?



psygnosi

[Diverge]

You guys should all stop using these blocks! Unless you like losing $200+ motherboards


It's clear there is a design flaw. People who have no problems, don't necessarily have no problems. They probably just lucked out... w/ unmounts and mounts, odds are they will blow their boards up too.

[nice Pants]

I just so happen to stumble upon this thread while in a process of gathering all the parts so... I got lucky I guess, but I'm stuck with a block though

[MrToad]

I'm just eagerly waiting for news from EK.

At the moment I'm suspended in limbo, with the computer taken apart and bits all over the house... And with Christmas looming in the horizon I'm not sure it will be back together before the new year...

[tiborrr]

Hi guys,

we have mounted the EK-FB-R3Gene water block on the motherboard for over ten times. The board refused to post on five attempts, therefor we recommend:

DO NOT TRY INSTALLING the EK-FB-R3Gene water block until further notice!

We will probably need a few days to find the reason for such behavior and to find the workaround for the problem.

Best Regards,
Niko

[schoolslave]

Hi guys,

we have mounted the EK-FB-R3Gene water block on the motherboard for over ten times. The board refused to post on five attempts, therefor we recommend:

DO NOT TRY INSTALLING the EK-FB-R3Gene water block until further notice!

We will probably need a few days to find the reason for such behavior and to find the workaround for the problem.

Best Regards,
Niko

At least EK acknowledges the problem right away, still a shame that this wasn't caught before....

[MrToad]

At least EK acknowledges the problem right away, still a shame that this wasn't caught before....

Tell me about it

[zeropluszero]

Hi guys,

we have mounted the EK-FB-R3Gene water block on the motherboard for over ten times. The board refused to post on five attempts, therefor we recommend:

DO NOT TRY INSTALLING the EK-FB-R3Gene water block until further notice!

We will probably need a few days to find the reason for such behavior and to find the workaround for the problem.

Best Regards,
Niko

Excellent news frankly.
i look forward to hearing what can be done.

[Church]

tiborr: I'd also check with another board. I wonder if these issues hadn't slipped through initial Q&A tests because of some new revision with a little bit differently placed chips then first revisions of board you were initially projecting block for?

[MrToad]

We will probably need a few days to find the reason for such behavior and to find the workaround for the problem.

I appreciate that you can't wave a magic wand and come up with a workaround, but can you be a bit more specific please?

I've been trying to get this computer up and running for a month now, with no little cost both in money and patience, I'd really like to know if I'm likely to have a tidy flat and a working computer by Christmas or not...

I know that I could always put it back on air, but every time I take apart and put together the computer I risk damaging something else...

I apologize if I sound pushy (or whiney even) but I'm really starting to feel the pressure...

[Vetalar]

a magic wand

i think voodoo practice or some necromancy skills serves better in resurrecting dead boards... ZOMBOboards is coming

[Diverge]

Any updates tiborrr?

[tiborrr]

In a bit, board/block assembly is undergoing testing!

[tiborrr]

Testing is not yet complete and the results are inconclusive. We tried many custom and alternative mounting methods but to no avail - sometimes the board works and sometimes it trips the protection and refuses to boot. We believe there might be some issues with the ASUS Rampage III Gene circuit board design as it has little to zero tolerance to PCB bending. But the strange part is that many boards works normally with the EK-FB R3Gene block, but there are also few boards that just refuse to work. Therefore we cannot guarantee our EK-FB R3Gene block to work properly on any Rampage III Gene board.

So, our current conclusions are:
- if you have no problems with the EK-FB R3Gene waterblock, feel free to use it without any restrictions
- if you have issues with the block, return the block for refund to your seller
- we will still try to find a solution to this problem, but will probably need much more time

Best Regards,
Niko for the EK R&D team

[zeropluszero]

Testing is complete, but the results are inconclusive. We tried many custom and alternative mounting methods but to no avail - sometimes the board works and sometimes it trips the protection and refuses to boot. We believe there might be some issues with the ASUS Rampage III Gene circuit board design as it has little to zero tolerance to PCB bending. But the strange part is that many boards works normally with the EK-FB R3Gene block, but there are also few boards that just refuse to work. Therefor we cannot guarantee our EK-FB R3Gene block to work on just any Rampage III Gene board.

So, our conclusions are:
- if you have no problems with the EK-FB R3Gene waterblock, feel free to use it without any restrictions
- if you have issues with the EK-FB R3Gene waterblock, return the waterblock for refund
- we will stop the distribution and selling of the EK-FB R3Gene waterblock until further notice as we need to perform more thorough investigation

Best Regards,
Niko for the EK R&D team

Tiborr/Niko,

My R3E Gene waterblock was purchased directly from EK's website.
how may i go about returning the waterblock for a refund?
my email was zeropluszero@gmail.com.

[tiborrr]

zeropluszero,

Gregor has already replied you with the details via e-mail.

Regards,
Niko

[zeropluszero]

i see that now. thank you very much. i look forward to my next EK product.

[MrToad]

Testing is not yet complete and the results are inconclusive. We tried many custom and alternative mounting methods but to no avail - sometimes the board works and sometimes it trips the protection and refuses to boot. We believe there might be some issues with the ASUS Rampage III Gene circuit board design as it has little to zero tolerance to PCB bending. But the strange part is that many boards works normally with the EK-FB R3Gene block, but there are also few boards that just refuse to work. Therefore we cannot guarantee our EK-FB R3Gene block to work properly on any Rampage III Gene board.

So, our current conclusions are:
- if you have no problems with the EK-FB R3Gene waterblock, feel free to use it without any restrictions
- if you have issues with the block, return the block for refund to your seller
- we will still try to find a solution to this problem, but will probably need much more time

Best Regards,
Niko for the EK R&D team

Mine was purchased from Scan here in the UK.

Are the suppliers aware of this? Don't want to ask for an RMA and look like a pillock

[tiborrr]

Thank you for your understanding, zeropluszero.
"Those Who Never do Anything, Never Make Mistakes"

@Mr.Toad:
Yes, your supplier is aware of that, do not worry!