So my EKWB Predator 360 leaked...

[Setecastronomy]

so... any luck?  

Not really.  EK says I have to ship the unit back to them and they will pay the shipping cost, they said they will even arrange to have it picked up from my apartment, but when I try to get back to them to arrange a date/time for that, I don't hear anything back.  Very frustrating.  Right now the (defective) Predator 360 is just sitting in my closet back in the original package.  

As for the rest of the components:  I still haven't 'tested' the motherboard.  I just don't think it's worth the risk of potentially damaging the cpu/ram/gpu just to test if the board works.  There is a big stain on the PCB of the board from the coolant leak.  Yes I cleaned it off as best I could with 99% alcohol, but it's still stained.  I can see that the copper contacts/traces that got wet look like theyve started to corrode or rust.  MAYBE it will still work, but I've written it off as dead.

Also, my 980 ti has a full cover water-block and backplate from EKWB, with the QDC connectors (it was in the loop with my Predator 360 before all this happened).  I went to take off the EK stuff and just put the stock cooler back on, and one of the allen key screws on the backplate got stuck!  So, if I can't get that backplate off, I can't take the water-block off, and I have no way of using that card if it isn't connected to a Predator unit with those QDC things.  So essentially my 980ti is a paper-weight to me.  I've got $900 into that card and I literally can't even use it.  I'm debating trying to sell it on E-bay "as-is" and see if anyone wants it.  The only way it can be run is to be put in a system with a Predator cooling unit.  

All in all this experience was really frustrating, and a very expensive failure.  I've basically scrapped this whole x99 build and I'm just building a Skylake build instead, new motherboard, cpu, and gpu.  Going back to just air-cooling for all my components.  

I did learn one valuable lesson though: open-loop water cooling is really cool, looks awesome, and the performance is really impressive (when it isn't leaking), BUT, I'm not going to invest in an open-loop liquid cooling set-up ever again unless I can afford to replace everything in that system at a moments notice if something goes wrong.  

tl;dr  Basically this whole mess has turned me off from liquid cooling and I'm going back to air cooling.  Lost a lot of money in this incident, still haven't got anywhere with EK customer support.  

 

[EK Luc]

We decided to do a full recall of all the Predators sold in 2015.  This might have the effect of keeping the CS team busy.  I would shoot them a reply asking them for a follow-up on your RMA since it's been a while since you received news from them.

[shawn finkenstead]

So I got an email about potentially defective Predator units from EKWB.  Shut down my system to investigate, and sure enough, the cpu block was leaking.  

But it gets better, it leaked out of the CPU block and down onto the graphics card pcb, right near where it plugs into the PCI-E lane, and got coolant INSIDE the PCI-E port!

But it kept going, the coolant kept dripping down the motherboard PCB all the way down to the USB connectors, corroding every copper trace it came into contact with.  

I've totally dismantled the build and the motherboard is currently sitting on my workbench, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to dry it out.  What leaked out isn't just water, it's whatever coolant was inside the Predator AIO unit, and if im not mistaken these coolants are designed NOT to evaporate, correct?  

 

Honestly, even if I can get the motherboard 100% dry, I think the damage may already have been done as far as corroding the traces.  

As for the graphics card, it's a 980ti, that I have a full-cover EK block on, pre-filled with the Quick-disconnect couplings so it was in a loop with the predator 360.  So even if the graphics card wasn't damaged at all by the liquid, it's basically a paperweight if it isn't connected to a Predator 360 with the quick-disconnect couplers.  

So my question is, anyone have any experience in dealing with EKWB customer service?  The original email I got about the potentially defective unit said they will be giving free replacements for defective units, but can I expect them to do anything at all about the motherboard and/or GPU?

 

This really sucks, this was my first experience with a (semi) custom water-cooling loop.  I've heard nothing but good things about EKWB.  I was so nervous putting the water-block on the 980ti, and installing the predator 360 was nerve-racking, and I was so nervous about screwing something up the whole time, now it turns out the damn thing leaks all over my system not because of some noob mistake I made, but because of a defective o-ring!  

 

This is from the Ek Press Release earlier today....

We are warning all customers of EK XLC-Predator units to discontinue use of cooling device and contact EKWB for replacement unit or refund. EKWB is taking full responsibility for this issue and will be:

• - Replacing or refunding all returned units to the customers

• - Refunding the customer any computer component damage created by a leakage

- EKWB has redesigned and released a new version of EK-XLC Predator (Revision 1.1) on the 4th of January 2016 that prevents any leakage under normal working modes. All customers with Revision 1.0 units will be offered a replacement R1.1 unit or a full refund. - Revision 1.0 backplate is not compatible with Revision 1.1 backplate!

[thelude]

Man that blows. Thats a lot of expensive parts you have there. Keep on trying to see if EKWB will pay for those damage parts. According to them they are trying to help all affected customers. Good luck.

[NoobCase]

I'd shoot Ek a break here and give them time to take care of all the customer solely based on their reputation in the business.

[paredaks]

My Predator 360 showed up with water in the package - including some rust colored. Lucky that I never installed it. However it's taking a couple of weeks to get it back to the reseller and a replacement back to me because they said EK instructed them to tell me to "use the cheapest shipping possible or else you won't be reimbursed. You can pay the difference if you want faster shipping".

 

Having already paid to ship it to me once, I'm not paying again. But it means a two week turnaround on what, the most expensive AIO you can buy? Right now I have an expensive PC with a cheap air cooler (is that getting reimbursed? yea not likely) just so I can get it all set up software wise. But can't do much beyond that.

 

 

The retailer said that the 'o-ring' issue came up when the system was under load. Mine barely made it out of the packaging. Does that mean they've actually caught the problem? Gotta say my confidence is on shaky ground...

 

Oh yea - and now the Predator 240 has QDC? I bumped up to the more expensive model to get QDC. That one's no one's fault of course, but on top of the leaking, man not a good day.

 

-t

[Setecastronomy]

Oh I'm not mad at EK about it, don't get me wrong.  On a long enough time line, any company is going to have a faulty product go out the door.  This was my first time buying from EK, and I got burned, but that's just my bad luck.  I still think EKWB is an awesome company, they have a great reputation in the industry for a reason.  I mean look at the way they have announced this recall, I really respect the way they aren't trying to hide anything that's going on.  
Yes, in my specific case I've had a difficult time coordinating this whole return shipping/refund thing, it's been almost three weeks since I first opened the RMA, and I still haven't had the defective unit shipped back yet,  but I'm not angry about it.  I get that the company is really busy dealing with this, and they are half way around the world from me.  
This incident has scared me away from liquid cooling for a bit, but if/when I decide to go back to doing a custom loop, EKWB will be at the top of my list.  
Bottom line, as frustrating as this has been, one faulty o-ring in one specific cpu block doesn't ruin the entire companies product line credibility.  Mistakes happen, they stood up and admitted it and are trying to make it right.  I respect that. 

[TheProfosist]

Check out Corsair. I had my H100i leak and they replaced my H100i and my parts that were affected (CPU, GPU, PSU & Mobo) all for free and within 2 weeks.

Yea there are like 5 too many reports of leaks for me to buy the Predator 360.

A recall has been issued, the issue fixed, and a new model issued.

[EK Luc]

My Predator 360 showed up with water in the package - including some rust colored. Lucky that I never installed it. However it's taking a couple of weeks to get it back to the reseller and a replacement back to me because they said EK instructed them to tell me to "use the cheapest shipping possible or else you won't be reimbursed. You can pay the difference if you want faster shipping".

 

Having already paid to ship it to me once, I'm not paying again. But it means a two week turnaround on what, the most expensive AIO you can buy? Right now I have an expensive PC with a cheap air cooler (is that getting reimbursed? yea not likely) just so I can get it all set up software wise. But can't do much beyond that.

 

 

The retailer said that the 'o-ring' issue came up when the system was under load. Mine barely made it out of the packaging. Does that mean they've actually caught the problem? Gotta say my confidence is on shaky ground...

 

Oh yea - and now the Predator 240 has QDC? I bumped up to the more expensive model to get QDC. That one's no one's fault of course, but on top of the leaking, man not a good day.

 

-t

 

The reseller is asking you to pay for shipping??

[brandishwar]

The reseller is asking you to pay for shipping??

Some will have you do that and then reimburse you in some fashion. I recently received a wrong item from Amazon and had the option to ship it myself using whatever service option I desire and they'd reimburse me up to a certain amount, or you can take their shipping label. Performance-PCs has reimbursed me with in-store credit whenever I've had to ship back a wrong or defective item.

[vagabond139]

Remain calm. Ek said they will replace all parts damaged from the defective units leaking,

 

https://www.ekwb.com/news/656/19/Important-notice-from-EKWB-EK-XLC-Predator-240-and-360-R1-0-Product-recall/ 

[levibaker88]

Also got a 360 here and I'm like it should be fine, it'll only be a handful of isolated cases and EK are just being careful. Well after seeing this mine is certainly getting pulled out and returned, more than happy to get the V1.1 edition 360 Predator though.

 

Anyone used a stock Intel cooler on a 4790K lol

[paredaks]

The reseller is asking you to pay for shipping??

 

 

Up-front, yes. And then a reimbursement somehow, but only if I used "the cheapest possible shipping". Which means slow to them. And then slow back to me. It's too late to do anything different now - replacement unit is on it's way to me, though it'll be a week or so. Recall notice came too late for me - I would have likely worked directly with EK and ended up with less uncertainty (shipping reimbursement) and a faster turnaround. And kept the issue out of the reseller's hair.

 

But like others have said - burned, but no traumatic loss.

[levibaker88]

Yep definitely started to leak:

 

[shawn finkenstead]

Also got a 360 here and I'm like it should be fine, it'll only be a handful of isolated cases and EK are just being careful. Well after seeing this mine is certainly getting pulled out and returned, more than happy to get the V1.1 edition 360 Predator though.

 

Anyone used a stock Intel cooler on a 4790K lol

 

I did last Feb but I didn't overclock!!!

[EK Luc]

Yep definitely started to leak:

 

 

You will need to start the RMA for your unit.

 

Sorry for the inconvinience

[Derpologist]

Not sure if this has been posted on this thread:

But I heard something on NCIX Tech Tips about EK recalling some Predator AIOs and giving a full RMA on any parts damaged. 

 

@EK Luc is this true?

[EK Luc]

Not sure if this has been posted on this thread:

But I heard something on NCIX Tech Tips about EK recalling some Predator AIOs and giving a full RMA on any parts damaged. 

 

@EK Luc is this true?

 

Yes it's true.

[Derpologist]

Yes it's true.

good company

[paredaks]

Finally got my rev 1.1 Predator 360 (sent via the slowest, cheapest shipping as per EK's instructions).

 

It's missing 2 essential plastic washers. So I can't install.

 

Emailed support earlier today, they're on EU time, so won't get the message till sometime around the middle of the night my time. Curious what they can do other than send out replacement washers which will take an indeterminate amount of time. Or at least dimensions/material of the washer, see if I can find it locally.

 

Since the machine is apart I'm not even going to bother putting on that cheap air cooler I bought while the component swap was going on. I'll find other ways to spend my weekend.

 

Frustrating, but I'm not curing cancer. Quality Control #70 (the tag included in the box) didn't do a great job. I keep reading about how EK is stepping up and taking care of everyone, not gotten that love myself it seems. Just bad timing/luck.

[EK Luc]

Finally got my rev 1.1 Predator 360 (sent via the slowest, cheapest shipping as per EK's instructions).

 

It's missing 2 essential plastic washers. So I can't install.

 

Emailed support earlier today, they're on EU time, so won't get the message till sometime around the middle of the night my time. Curious what they can do other than send out replacement washers which will take an indeterminate amount of time. Or at least dimensions/material of the washer, see if I can find it locally.

 

Since the machine is apart I'm not even going to bother putting on that cheap air cooler I bought while the component swap was going on. I'll find other ways to spend my weekend.

 

Frustrating, but I'm not curing cancer. Quality Control #70 (the tag included in the box) didn't do a great job. I keep reading about how EK is stepping up and taking care of everyone, not gotten that love myself it seems. Just bad timing/luck.

 

What!?

 

You only had 2 plastic washers instead of 4?

[paredaks]

What!?

 

You only had 2 plastic washers instead of 4?

 

 

Yup. Only 2 in the bag. And contacted support they didn't know what I meant (perhaps I could/should have sent a photo, but there's so few parts it didn't occur to me). So no help yet. Another day turnaround with the time change, I would think.

 

Thought EK was top tier. Not really impressed, especially for the money. Product looks so nice (sitting on my table).

 

Gonna head to a hardware store (or three) to try and find the same. Have to say I'm not excited about putting a non OEM part on my motherboard.

[paredaks]

Went to a nice old-school hardware store, found washers that have the same inner diameter, and maybe 1/3mm wider outer diameter. Same height. Close enough. 

 

For what it's worth, there's also one extra mounting screw that was floating around loose. Maybe they just weren't paying full attention in the rush to get the 1.1 revision.

[levibaker88]

You will need to start the RMA for your unit.

 

Sorry for the inconvinience

These things happen, sent back through PCCG in Aus, keen to get the new one and finally order my GPU Predator AIO haha.

[paredaks]

Just to vent, in case anyone's listening. I was able to use the washers I found at the hardware store and they worked fine. Cooler installed, I fired up the machine - and only 2 of 3 fans work.

 

I checked cables and connections and everything. Seems the problem is that the damaged fan does not spin freely. I tried to find any reason it was binding, but there's nothing like that. So it's a bad fan.

 

EK, what's going on?

 

Am I being an idiot trying to fix this - is this really the best on the market, or could I do just as well with something else?