Anyone else regret going full water ?

[tyler_jrb]

I hear you. the failed fitting went back to EK who confirmed it was knackered and replaced it.

The seal on the threaded rotating bit (which you cannot handle/see) on the right.

Mine was the same all be it an EK 90 degree elbow. Leaked out of the rotary o-ring. New fitting and was fine although by that time I'd already made my mind up about getting rid of it all.

Don't know how my top card survived as it leaked straight onto the SLI fingers and filled the SLI bridge before I spotted it.

 

[Razor Time]

I've had a failed o-ring on a D-TeK Fuzion CPU block which I was using on my HTPC, the case was horizontal so my motherboard ended up sitting in a puddle of coolant, I only noticed it as I kept on getting random blue screens for about a week or so. Result was a faulty mobo which had to be replaced to the tune of £250 and the block got replaced. I also got coloured coolant on my flooring which stained it, it was the last time I ever touched coloured coolant and I now just stick to clear coolant and coloured tubing.

I have also had one Bitspower snake 90 degree fitting with a faulty seal on one of its joints, it was only a slight weep and the fitting was in the lower section of a TJ07 so no damage was done, I was just pleased I found it when I did. I was pretty surprised with a Bitspower fitting failing, but I guess it can happen.

Talking of EK I recently found a random hex screw in the bottom of my new case, I wondered where it came from but as it was a new build I didn't think too much of it and put the screw to one side. A few weeks later I found another screw and this time it twigged that it looked like an EK screw. I checked my waterblock for my 980Ti and found that two screws from the front plate were missing and most of the other screws were really loose. It was a new one on me as I have had many gpu blocks and not seen this one before. After this I checked my 1080Ti block before installing it and a few of the screws needed a slight tightening.

 

[D1craig]

I had an EK 90 fitting get a leak. Really squitlrted when you put any sort of pressure on it. Luckily I had a few spares. I thought it was something I had done because it was pretty easy to turn.

 

[Habakkuk]

Reading this thread I'm now terrified of leaks.

 

[Aberfala]

Reading this thread I'm now terrified of leaks.

Don't be, I've only had two in the last 9 years and that's with Lots and lots of loop changes (I must have redone my loop at least half a dozen times in the last year alone as I keep changing cases or other hardware.

 

[HoneyBadger]

To be honest, when you get that new game that you're dying to play, or like me need the PC for work, you then start to get paranoid and find yourself checking the res more and more to see if it's dropped. I've had a total of two fittings (All from EK) and a 120mm RAD go bad on me - yep it could have been me, but I'd like to think I know what I'm doing.

When you also see on the forums how the EK Predators have failed, you start to think.

I've only had exposure of EK, Bits Power and Alphacool - EK are 'main stream' - but I'd give them a wide birth now, BP seem good but very expensive and alphacool seem great with reasonable value, so much so I've ordered some of the AIO's (Both CPU and GPU) with quick disconnects and will be using them moving forward, so I have the benefit of proper rads and swappable bits, but hopefully none of the drawbacks. (he says!)

 

[queeg]

I have noticed more people complaining about eks quality lately theres most likely some truth to it. I have allways used there cpu & gpu blocks and never had any problems apart from the last 980ti backplate I got one of the holes at the very back of the plate wasn't drilled through I still used it and had no problems.
I have tried there fittings a few times but just don't like them much prefer the monsoon stuff haven't tried bitspower just to much £.

with ek I do wonder if its just a case of they sell so much more than the other watercooling manufactures that they seem to be developing an image for poor quality

 

[HoneyBadger]

with ek I do wonder if its just a case of they sell so much more than the other watercooling manufactures that they seem to be developing an image for poor quality

Yeah, fair point.

 

[pastymuncher]

with ek I do wonder if its just a case of they sell so much more than the other watercooling manufactures that they seem to be developing an image for poor quality

Or that their standards/QC has dropped. That is certainly the case with their customer service as I and others have found out.

 

[Aberfala]

Or that their standards/QC has dropped. That is certainly the case with their customer service as I and others have found out.

I don't know if their QC is worse than it was or not but as both the problems I had with fittings and GPU block were a few years ago and I've not had any since in my own limited personal experience it's improved.

The problem I had with the block was the o-ring wasn't fitted properly between the metal block and plexi cover, it leaked as soon as I added coolant. I took one look at it and saw the problem immediately. There is no way even a cursory glance by someone in QC could have missed it.

I find it ironic that in order dismantle the block and fit it correctly I had to remove the QC sticker

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I've got all my parts lined up and bought for a full custom loop, and I'm thinking of holding off on air!

 

[D1craig]

99% of problems are brought on by mistakes from the user. just do it now or you never will.

 

[BriT]

Decided to go back to air so ordered the D-15. Mainly due to the fact that you can't really get anymore from the GPU since of the boost system and can't increase volts. Plus it's easier to maintain and cheap.

 

[Aberfala]

I think it'd be interesting to see of those that have had problems with leaks etc if that has put them off watercooling in the future.

Personally despite a couple of issues over the years there is no way I'd consider going back to air.

 

[pastymuncher]

I wouldn't either. Despite my problems with EK blocks O rings failing (which I caught while it was still just a drip) I would never go back to air cooling. I like my silence and ridiculously low temps too much.

 

[queeg]

Or that their standards/QC has dropped. That is certainly the case with their customer service as I and others have found out.

I did say that I have seen a lot of complaints recently to know its not just user error. fortunately I haven't had to contact them but there is no excuse for bad customer service and would personaly stop using them if that was my experience.

 

[Razor Time]

I think it'd be interesting to see of those that have had problems with leaks etc if that has put them off watercooling in the future.

Personally despite a couple of issues over the years there is no way I'd consider going back to air.

I love watercooling as it brings me silent running and I have OCD when it comes to noise so this helps out massively. Plus I have always liked messing with my loop.

Air cooling is fine for me if its a non gaming rig, other than that it has to be watercooled.

 

[OLDPHART]

I wouldn't either. Despite my problems with EK blocks O rings failing (which I caught while it was still just a drip) I would never go back to air cooling. I like my silence and ridiculously low temps too much.

Me too, had a leaking 45'D fitting so l don't use any angled fittings at all now as todays tubing is very flexible.

PrimoChill -Primoflex Advanced Tubing l find lives upto its name.

 

[pastymuncher]

Try the Mayhems tubing, it's even better. I used to use the Primochill stuff but switched to Mayhems and won't be using anything else now. It's cheap, flexible and very easy to work with.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Try the Mayhems tubing, it's even better. I used to use the Primochill stuff but switched to Mayhems and won't be using anything else now. It's cheap, flexible and very easy to work with.

I've used it in my benching rig and I wouldn't use it in my gaming rig. It kinks like mad and requires sweeping bends.

It's just too soft.