EK improves nickel plating to solve corrosion issues
Water-cooling enthusiasts found the nickel plating on some waterblocks was being corroded.
We previously reported that the waterblock manufacturer had halted production of its nickel-plated waterblocks, due to reports from customers that the plating had started to corrode.
This, according to EK, was due to the mixing of certain types of coolant, silver coils and copper sulphate-based additives, which are both used as anti-algae treatments.
However, a member of water-cooling forum RRTech called rubidium completed his own testing, and revealed what seems to point at sub-standard nickel plating, with plenty of copper visible through the plating on the site's test sample.
Thankfully, EK has finally come up with a solution. The company says it will now be using Electroless nickel plating - a more expensive and harder-wearing method of depositing a layer of nickel onto the surface of copper waterblocks.
According to EK, the process is up to five times more expensive than the standard electroplating method it had been using, while offering far-improved resistance to corrosion and a hardness equal to hard chrome and superior to that of electrolytic copper.
EK also states that the 'old' blocks will continue to be sold, but with advisories on which coolants and additives to use to avoid corrosion issues. Both old and new nickel-plated waterblocks will still come with EK's 24-month warranty, although the company claims that very few people have returned corroded waterblocks.
Do you own one of the affected blocks? Are you planning to buy one of EK's nickel-plated blocks in the future? Let us know in the forums.
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14 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyWont the corroded pieces sink to the bottom of your reservoir though, which are usually clear?
The sticker is there to only cover against out-of-the-box leaks. If you remove it and the block fails in some other way, ie. corrode, it would still get covered. If you doubt you could put the o-ring back properly without causing a leak, you might wanna reconsider watercooling alltogether as you'd need to open the block at some point anyway for cleaning.
You can read about it from EK's site.
"EK blocks are sealed with warranty void circular label, which proves that the block has withstood a pressure
leak test. Removing it will void only leaking issues. Any other RMA issues can be reported to
support@ekwaterblocks.com for further analysis."
"Warranty Void If Removed" is pretty misleading though.
Just friggin use the same method as EVERYONE ELSE!
You are the ONLY ones with this issue, and STILL blames it on the coolant...
Everyone can now look forward in a price increase in EK products dou to the "new nickel plating procedure"
A price increase like that will proberly put EK up around the same price as AquaComputer, and who would want EK machining over AquaComputer?
In terms of design, then I would. But I'm right there with you. Hopefully - any price increase would come with a even greater quality increase.
Dont get your hopes up. There will still be very visible machining marks on the Ek blocks. No reason for them to turn down production speed and lose money when they can just fire away with some bs like "look at us, we use electolytes, beacuse thats whats plating crawes for"
The plating might improve, but that wont hide the marks in the copper base:)
and especially due to the debris in the loops that could cause severe injury to my little 'o' pump..
The proof of the lacking plating quality, and the "out of stock" tags thrown everywhere, i must say MIPS sure is a brilliant alternative, especially if EK bumps the pricetag even more...
And pope, go check tons of pics of other brands. Machining marks are everywhere. EK acrylic tops just allow to see the interior of block.