14 DAY TRIAL // Water cooling expert EK has just announced that it has started to improve the quality of the nickel-plating used for covering its water blocks as a response to all the corrosion claims that have reached the company in mid-June.
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, back in June, some users have found that the plating applied by EK could fail under some particular circumstances, revealing the copper found underneath and exposing it to corrosion.
According to EK, these problems were caused by the mixing of certain types of coolant, silver coils and copper sulphate-based additives.
“Due to the high complexity of the coolants and coolant additives used in water cooling systems, and the possible consequences of galvanic corrosion, EK has been working 24/7 to find a solution to increase corrosion resistance of nickel plating against aggressive additives.
"After much testing and research, EK has come to the conclusion that it offers its customers the finest and the most expensive nickel plating technique available in the industry – Electroless Nickel Plating (EN),” reads the press release that announces this new plating method.
According to the company, this process is about five times more expensive than standard electroplating, but EN offers a series of advantages over the method used before including improved resistance to corrosion.
In addition, this new plating is also highly adhesive and solderable, while being just as hard as chrome.
The first EN nickel plated products are already manufactured and available for purchase. These are differentiated from the rest of the water blocks via a silver sticker which is located in front of the box.
Prices of EN nickel-plated EK products will be higher than that of “old” nickel-plated products, ranging from 3€ for the CPU blocks to about 10€ for the EK-FC590 GTX blocks.
The regular standard electroplated water block will continue to be sold, but these will now come with an advisory which explains which coolants and additives should be used to avoid corrosion issues. (via bit-tech)