Please Read Before Purchasing EK Nickel Plated Blocks - Update: Revised plating info - Page 3

Originally Posted by Petra

Err... how was that response from Gregor an accusation? All he stated was that: 1) you usually only see this sort of thing when a block is exposed to "aggressive liquid" (granted, EK's definition of "aggressive" has ranged from interesting to absolutely absurd over the past month or so... ) and that 2) exposure to straight distilled water cannot cause this sort of damage. The response leaves open the possibility of a defect in plating/plating prep.

I think you may have overreacted a bit to what was likely a language barrier related miscommunication.


I see one supportive post, two confused/surprised posts (one of which noting the possibility of a plating defect), and one post where someone is playing devil's advocate as of the point where you gave up... that's all it takes to constitute "attacks" and blind, fanboy-like favoritism? Mmmmkay...

If, like you said, you were running straight distilled water with only a KillCoil and what you're experiencing is indeed a plating failure, then I don't see why EK shouldn't replace the block--press the issue with them directly in a reasonable manner and things will eventually get worked out. Plating failures happen (anyone remember the peeling issues that Koolance was having with their nickel plating a few years ago or the crevice/exfoliation corrosion which resulted in the undermining of Swiftech's "military grade" plating on the Apogee GTX?).

As a side note, have you taken the time to disassemble the block and gain a better idea of what's going on (i.e. remove all doubt)? I mean, with the acrylic out of the way, it would be really easy to tell if the plating was removed or if something else is going on with the block. After all, not having the bare baseplate in hand would cause me to reserve judgment on the matter... and, on that note, Frozen forwarding you directly to EK was kinda lame (I can understand why they did it, but that's beside the point).

Originally Posted by Petra

Last I checked, those stickers only preserve what amounts to a "no leaks" warranty and have no impact on whether or not you're covered for defects in materials or workmanship (as far as Danger Den is concerned, the stickers are just there to indicate that the block passed a factory leak test). If simply disassembling the block completely voided any and all warranty claims, then there would be no reason to purchase any EK product. Ever. I say this because it would mean that properly caring for your cooling system would void your warranty.

Besides, if the OP were that worried about it, he could just clear it with EK first.