Official EK statement - Nickel Plating Issues

[mlwood37]

Well..... we need to fix that don't we.

The problem is mate the prohibitive costs involved in shipping if i had a decent reseller who was willing to arrange shipping it wouldn't be a problem and that way the costs are kept low. I've refused single customer's who even say they will pay for shipping because i think its not fair on them and the end price would be more than what i ever wanted to ship it for.

How ever i have reseller such as http://www.specialtech.co.uk and various other reseller whom may be willing to do it.

[Utnorris]

Once again, I would like to express that there is no nickel flaking found.

The new products with some spots that may look like nickel corrosion is nothing more but the leftover from a nickel plating bath water. if you moisture it with your breath and use a cotton mop you can clean it.


Right now we can recommend only the coolants that we have tested, EC6 and AT Fluoprotect, more tests will follow. The distilled water is an option if you change it regularly but cant guarantee it as distilled water has different qualities across the world....

I could have sworn in the other thread that the guy tried to wipe it off and it didn't come off:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=517

Response to Vapor's question:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=524

[Paradoxxx]

Man... considering that I have had my FC580GTX block installed for <1 month, should I be concerned with this issue right now? I am using a silver coil within my loop.

I should have gone for a Koolance/Aquacomputer block... so much for EK superiority.

[step]

Man... considering that I have had my FC580GTX block installed for <1 month, should I be concerned with this issue right now? I am using a silver coil within my loop.

Yes you should be concerned.

[Utnorris]

Man... considering that I have had my FC580GTX block installed for <1 month, should I be concerned with this issue right now? I am using a silver coil within my loop.

I should have gone for a Koolance/Aquacomputer block... so much for EK superiority.

Should you be concerned? Yes. Should you have gone with some other brand? Yes, we all should have.

[zeropluszero]

The problem also lies with EK trying to pass the blame on to users and basically tell us what we can and cannot use in our systems. I don't want to purchase anything from a company that can't own up to a mistake they made, and will not be purchasing anything from them due to this issue.

exactly as UTNorris said they would.

if u bought them at sidewinder... return the blocks now.
Gary said he would refund full credit no questions asked on nickle ek products bought b4 60 days.
Your best option is return, exchange, and not worry about bs premix coolant.
Koolance - Aqua Computers - Swiftech - Bitspower - DD
Has excellent nickle that u dont need to use BS premix coolant.
the nightmares with premix do not justify the extra bling eK brings no matter what angle you look at it.
Im sorry eddy, but if ur forcing us to use aftermarket coolant, we will goto another vendor.
So Fix your plating.. or you will lose all your nickle block sales.

no way i'd TOUCH a premixed coolant. i will continue to recommend that no one else does either.
i only hope that EK can see the issues with its own plater, and is remedying it by changing without telling the community, and that its blocks from here on out will be of better quality.

So, is anything going to happen on EK's part? Something to improve nickel plating process, slow down corrosion, improve durability of blocks?

you'd hope so.

1. Why have no other manufactures had issues with users using these additives?
2. Why have some blocks shown issues before the blocks were ever run in a loop? Notably whats going on in the picture that Gary used in his statement.
I'm pretty 50/50 on this solution. On one hand, users will be able to get their blocks replaced through their vendors\EK directly, which is great. On the other hand, I feel that EK did have (or still has) a plating issue. I do hope that if this is the case, that they have secretly fixed it. I use to hold EK in higher regards then what I feel they now deserve in response to this. Depending on what happens in the next few weeks\months, this could easily change for the good\worse. Either way, I do hope EK has made some changed to the plating process, rather or not they will admit to it, because from all of the evidence I have seen, this issue seems isolated to EK blocks only.

1) because their plating is simply better
2) this is nothing but proof, that the plating has issues, and renders reading anything that is mentioned in that report with a grain of salt

i must really agree with you on this one. i would rather quit watercooling than use premix..

well aquacoomputer here i come

spoken like a pro

Thanks, that helped. So the only real option is to use the gelly luquids?

thats what it sounds like EK wants you to do, the same ones proven to break down in blocks and clog them.

Great, now I have 5 nickel paper weights!

maybe you can return them to the reseller for a restocking fee.

RE: the return procedure – maybe the main retailers around the world could maybe consider accepting the returns on behalf of the end user and holding them all at their particular locations then return them in one large shipment rather than having the individual end user ship them direct to EK.
Then EK could have all returns sent out direct to the end user at his expense which would eliminate quite a bit of valuable vendor time and would at least show a bit of good will on EK’s behalf.
In fact other than scrap value, i honesty don’t see what good these returns will do for EK so why not bite the bullet and accept pictorial evidence to eliminate the costly returns procedure to the end user and ship them new blocks as most are having to pull systems apart in their own time and expense which fundamentally isn’t their problem to begin with.
Either way, no doubt this is going to cost EK a fair price so why don’t you do the right thing by the very people that got the EK brand to where it is today (well a couple of months ago) and offer new blocks at your own expense.
Seriously Eddy, you need an English speaking PR to stop this becoming one of, if not the most disastrous PR disasters i’ve seen in my 10+ years of watercooling and at this point, i’m honestly not sure you are aware of how bad this actually looks for the EK brand whether it be from a long time user, or potential new one.

great to see someone with your presence posting on this. with such great points as well.

Well damn
I guess my next step is to find some kind of reputable additive for my loop (if there is any). Or I can just cross my finger and hope my block was properly plated

Its distilled and a biocide. in another brand of waterblock

sorry, im with toad on this one... and knowing gabe, he wouldnt touch those blocks soley on the reason of if the plating should somehow fail, it would be flipped onto swiftech.
And gabe is a solid businessman, and he doesnt like digging his own graves.

As it stands... even with your expensive testing, no one trusts your plating, and they wont until you've done a through investigation on your plating process.

i sure dont.

Personally, I now need a solution to the current situation with the waterblocks, and then I will never buy from Ek again. That's just as simple as that.

who would want to?

im gona tear appart my nickel plated hk3.0 this week.. cant wait to see the carnage from running this distilled+kilcoil acid combo breaker.
im amazed that there is still a block there.

you'll have to post a picture, i cant wait to see the damage.

Should you be concerned? Yes. Should you have gone with some other brand? Yes, we all should have.

and i did. *pats self on back*

[Phatboy69]

Come on Mods get this thread under control.

The way people are putting "Do not buy" stuff in here is slander and they should be told to remove it from their signatures as its completely inappropriate.

Gotta love these keyboard cowboys shooting from the hip with no personal experience with the product.

[OC Maximus]

The problem is mate the prohibitive costs involved in shipping if i had a decent reseller who was willing to arrange shipping it wouldn't be a problem and that way the costs are kept low. I've refused single customer's who even say they will pay for shipping because i think its not fair on them and the end price would be more than what i ever wanted to ship it for.

How ever i have reseller such as http://www.specialtech.co.uk and various other reseller whom may be willing to do it.

Thank you for the information.

[schoolslave]

*sigh* hopefully I can get a replacement for a regular copper bottom for my HF.....

[zeropluszero]

Come on Mods get this thread under control.

The way people are putting "Do not buy" stuff in here is slander and they should be told to remove it from their signatures as its completely inappropriate.

Gotta love these keyboard cowboys shooting from the hip with no personal experience with the product.

this isnt ocau. they wont do that.

i have plenty of EK personal experience. do a search on ocau for my worklogs.

[Phatboy69]

this isnt ocau. They wont do that.

I have plenty of ek personal experience. Do a search on ocau for my worklogs.

did you personally experience nickel problem?

[Sparky]

I think saying avoid ALL EK is rather harsh and unnecessary. Avoid nickel-plated? Maybe so. But the normal blocks? Those are fine as they obviously won't have this problem.

[step]

Come on Mods get this thread under control.

The way people are putting "Do not buy" stuff in here is slander and they should be told to remove it from their signatures as its completely inappropriate.

Gotta love these keyboard cowboys shooting from the hip with no personal experience with the product.

Gotta love the backseat moderating.

[zalbard]

I believe people are recommending not to buy EK products because if some other problem with some other product arises in the future the resolution of the said problem may also end up being unsatisfactory.

[Vapor]

Come on Mods get this thread under control.

The way people are putting "Do not buy" stuff in here is slander and they should be told to remove it from their signatures as its completely inappropriate.

Gotta love these keyboard cowboys shooting from the hip with no personal experience with the product.

Utnorris and zeropluszero are stating their opinion and doing so without crossing the line of 'bashing.' Please don't attack them over a difference of opinion.

As for the signatures....hmmmm....by including a message in a signature, it is effectively a message said in every post. While there are plenty of cases to not say it in a post (it's off-topic in the majority of topics), I'm not sure it's inherently wrong. Whether it's allowed or not is dependent on the wording, I suppose....certainly restrictions should be tighter than a common post because the message will be off-topic and potentially disruptive in the majority of topics. Will need to think about this one more.

So yeah, back to what we've been saying the whole time...please don't bash/attack members, please don't bash/attack companies.

EDIT: whoa there Utnorris...

[Sparky]

I believe people are recommending not to buy EK products because if some other problem with some other product arises in the future the resolution of the said problem may also end up being unsatisfactory.

I guess. I just know there are many companies that you don't want to buy products X Y or Z from because those have issues, but A B and C are all just fine.

When X Y Z don't sell well, they usually get the picture.

[Phatboy69]

I believe people are recommending not to buy EK products because if some other problem with some other product arises in the future the resolution of the said problem may also end up being unsatisfactory.

Maybe so, but there is a constructive and informative way to do that versus the abusive and slanderous behaviour that is completely uncalled for.

[Phatboy69]

Utnorris and zeropluszero are stating their opinion and doing so without crossing the line of 'bashing.' Please don't attack them over a difference of opinion.

As for the signatures....hmmmm....by including a message in a signature, it is effectively a message said in every post. While there are plenty of cases to not say it in a post (it's off-topic in the majority of topics), I'm not sure it's inherently wrong. Whether it's allowed or not is dependent on the wording, I suppose....certainly restrictions should be tighter than a common post because the message will be off-topic and potentially disruptive in the majority of topics. Will need to think about this one more.

So yeah, back to what we've been saying the whole time...please don't bash/attack members, please don't bash/attack companies.

EDIT: whoa there Utnorris...

Gee if I were a manufacturer I dont think id ever bring a product or comment anywhere near this place if thats your attitude. In my opinion

[Vapor]

Gee if I were a manufacturer I dont think id ever bring a product or comment anywhere near this place if thats your attitude. In my opinion

Anybody can say "don't buy xxxxx." That's their opinion and there's a LOT of legit reasons why somebody will discourage the purchase of something (think of all the aluminum products nearly everyone discourages). It's how they say it, where they say it, and how often they say it (and sometimes why they say it) that causes issues.

Again, we maintain what we've been saying the whole time...please don't bash/attack members, please don't bash/attack companies. For example, Utnorris was just banned for a pretty inappropriate cuss-out.

[shazza]

@Phatboy69 - that's a little unfair. Our goal here is to try to keep the thread going so people can express their questions - and yes, even their frustrations. It would be a lot more constructive for all of us if the only posts people made dealt with their specific experience, or some relevant technical knowledge - but that' not going to happen in the real world. People are upset, and they are wanting to express their concerns. That's not a bad thing - it provides the vendor with an opportunity to evaluate their customer's reactions.

But, I'll just repeat that trolling and flamebaiting posts, and fighting with each other is going to do nothing to help the situation. People can add their thoughts, but please stay calm ... or at least civil.

[theseeker]

Enough is enough, let it go.

Good night!

[Phatboy69]

Just remember its the manufacturer that pays for the advertising to keep places like this running.

People without a direct experience with this particular problem have no right to slander the product/company, and If I was a manufacturer trying to do the right thing by my customers and got this response in a forum Id give it a wide berth its just not worth the bad and unjustified PR.

If I were EK Id be getting my lawyers to look at this very closely as, putting a slogan in your signature is slanderous and a lot more than an opinion.

[step]

People without a direct experience with this particular problem have no right to slander the product/company

They have the same right as people who have.

[zeropluszero]

wont EK's lawyers be too busy trying to retract their warranty wording?

thanks to the moderating team here at XS for letting me say my peace. much better than those at OCAU, who are long on the ban hammer and short on the reasoning.

EK doesnt pay for any advertising here.

[aqualab]

People without a direct experience with this particular problem have no right to slander the product/company,.

I have no issue with my EK block, except that with all this craziness, I inspect my block 3 days ago, and in an hurry to put back my pc online after this non necessary checkup, I forget to clamp a hose, look at the results 2 day later, $ 1500 of parts flooded ...

Peoples will may not experience flood, but it will be downtime to check all the block because some place someone cut the corner. And try to put back an o'ring on a motherboard block.....