Ok, I think there's a clear gasket, but now I'm stuck at trying to get the damn frosted block in the ports out so I can separate the acrylic from the block. Instead of screwing it to either the block or the acrylic, they seem to have attached it to both. It's like someone was trying to figure out how to make it as difficult as possible to disassemble. My old heatkiller IV took all of 10 minutes to open up. Thought I'd save 100 bucks by buying a waterblock straight from EVGA, but this is ridiculous. I don't know whats worse, the PITA opening up an EVGA block or the PITA removing an air-cooler to install an aftermarket block.

Yup, got it open. Clear/white gasket. Also to get the frosted block out you need to make slack in the RGB cable which they GLUE to the acrylic. Luckily it's a very weak glue but you need to run something thin and firm to release it.
 
I wish they had cut the channels from the ports though the metal block instead of the acrylic and just screwed into the block. Obviously you want a really secure mount there, but the metal should be more than strong enough alone. If I didn't need to remove the ports to separate the block it would have saved at minimum 30 minutes.

buy one of the "air pumps" sold by many different companies to "pressure test your loop"
 
 EK-Leak Tester - EK Webshop - ekwb.com - new version
 
read the directions, you do not Max the pressure on Most items

ty_ger07
That block is trashed. What did you use for coolant? Whatever you used, don't use it again. You have missing plating and corrosion after only a few months?
This is what I use:


I don't trust "flush" products. They are often harsh and lead to corrosion issues.

Yes there was a problem with the loop, hence why I'm fixing it. That "corrosion" is just bad plating. I've run a nickle plated Heatkiller IV for 5 years, and the other components (including nickle plated) from this same system are pristine. And by trashed I think you mean, not perfect. You will never even be able to see a single one of those defects in an operating system. It makes absolutely no difference to the performance of the block. Not to mention most of what you are looking at wipes off or is a reflection of the "warm" lighting in the background. And there is a ton of exposed copper OUTSIDE the loop, where water has never once touched it.
 
If I had a choice I'd get copper or brass everything. Nickel is just for looks and mostly just an extra risk of defective parts. I have 12 nickel plated thumb-nuts, and 3 of them look like crap due to poor plating.

Block is cleaned and reassembled.
 

Installing third party cooling solutions does not void warranty on our products. Just be sure to keep the original cooling solution as it will have to be on the card if it is ever sent in for RMA. Any physical damage such as burn marks, water residue or damage, or any damage to the PCB will void ALL warranties.

 
What are you talking about? The warranty on the GPU isn't void because the block has been opened. You can literally convert any EVGA GPU from air cooled to a water block and they still honor warranties. You could disassemble whatever card you have and so long as you don't cause physical damage it doesn't matter. They won't cover water damage though, but that's not an issue. Just like with EK blocks, they are leak tested but if you open it it's not longer guarantied. It doesn't mean they aren't going to cover the RGB lights if they die.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if half of all 30 series hydrocopper blocks have exposed copper in them after 6 months, but nobody cares because nobody can see it. I'll still be enjoying this "trashed" GPU in 5 years just like I did with my old 1080.

Again, multiple nickel components of various quality in the same system for the same time all looking the same as new, only the hydrocopper has any exposed copper. Brass looking great, copper looking great, stainless steel looking great. There were no chemicals used to flush, the problem was biological.
 
My old Heaterkiller had 5 years of service. Because it’s retired and I was curious, I flushed it with 10% citric acid for 2 hours and 10% acetic acid for an hour before I opened it up to clean it. It literally looks as good as the day I got it, even under the jet plate. Even though it was safe for that block, I decided not to do it with the hydrocopper because I know not all nickel plating is the same. But I bet I could do the same to this block and there would barely be any change. The plating probably already failed where it’s going to fail. Heck it might have already had those spots from the factory, but you can’t see it without some disassembly. There is exposed copper outside the block too.
 
They literally got rid of the “warranty void if removed” stickers FYI. Given that you don’t work for EVGA and I’ve seen nothing that supports your claim, I think it’s a little misleading to suggest to people that cleaning a block or some discolouration means your SOOL if there’s a problem with the PCB. Heck the thermal pads and paste hasn’t even been touched, yet EVGA would have no problem with someone RMAing a card with non-original pads. The only thing they won’t cover is water damage as they couldn’t know if it was reassembled properly.
 
It was much more than 3 months, but regardless yes I’m being particularly careful to avoid the same problem and have a much better way to thoroughly flush the system.

ty_ger07
It is extremely obvious to anyone with education on corrosion that the block has corroded. The warranty is void.
That is not normal. That is not fine. That is not how it was manufactured.

Corroded in some way - maybe. Warranty void - no, that would be up to EVGA to decide, not you, lol.