14 DAY TRIAL // EK has just announced that it has halted the production of nickel-plated copper water blocks after receiving several notifications from customers complaining about the quality of the nickel plating used in its products.
The plating is used for protecting the copper water block from the corrosive agents found in water and gives the final product a distinct chrome-like lustrous shine.
However, this protective layer has failed in EK's water blocks and revealed the copper found underneath.
After these problems were uncovered, the company ran its own internal tests and concluded that the silver coils and copper sulphate additives, anti-algae agents used in public water supply, are to blame for this failure.
Although plausible, the explanation is hard to believe as most consumers use distilled water in their cooling loops, which is less corrosive than regular tap water, so many blame the substandard nickel-plating used by EK (RRTech has concluded a comprehensive suit of tests which are available over here).
EK's Managing Director Edvard König has addressed this issue in a response that was posted on the company website, which reads:
“As EK is looking for lasting solution for nickel plating issue (concerning corrosion because of silver coils and copper sulphate additive) we decided to halt sales of nickel plated products till solution is found and tested.
“Our resellers were advised to halt sales too. We cannot put users into position, that we replace products and corrosion starts again on new product. Hopefully we will find an answer and tested solution in short while.
“We will update you as soon as we have any news. However, If customer insists on buying EK nickel block, we offer a customer full 24 month warranty on material, manufacturing and corrosion.”
EK sells a wide series of nickel-plated water blocks, including CPU, VGA and motherboard cooling solutions. (via BitTech)
