EVGA X99 5VSB -MY LOOP FROM HELL

[maxfly]

you all are going to love this one ;D First headache was of my own doing. i didnt order enough rotary 90s to finish plumbing everything. so i had to reorder more. only took a few days to get more in. then one of these lovely xspc rotary 90s started to leak from the one attached to the bottom of my res. thankfully it was in a position so as it didnt leak on anything but the case. if your wondering where the leak was exactly it was where the rotary section is. it didnt always leak but if you moved the rotary around it would start to leak. i bought extra 90s just in case. so i drain the loop and refit new 90. woot woot lets get it runnin. reconnect everything. refill and leak test , everything is golden. then comes the much loved headache of connecting all of the components and hiding wires blah blah blah. couple of hours later everything is truly ready to go! hit the power button and NADA. motherboards onboard power button is flashing lightly green, 5vsb(white) and bios chip(red light) are blinking but ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE is coming on. so i suck it up and call tech support. within 5 minutes ive got an rma number in hand. ty evga.
yesterday i was going thru the x99 classified section at evga and what do ya know, theres a thread chock full of people that have had similiar issues! annnnd theres a quick fix! apparently the io shield has longer than usual tabs that sometimes get pushed into the usb and network slots. if you pull the io shield you should be good to go according to those that have tried it, yes!. so i unpack the mobo pull the io shield and reinstall the mb... yeah you guessed it, no love. no change at all. oh well.
i was able to get the mb pulled and reinstalled without draining the loop. so again i pull the mb to find that my hand is getting wet! ANOTHER rotary 90 is leaking! holler for the gf to grab me some towels ahhhh! quickly wrap the cpu block up in a handtowel and finish pulling the mb out. i go back to the rotary and it looks like its actually leaking where the cpu block and barb meet. being absolutely pist off at this point. i make an ignorant mistake and snatch up a pair of needle nose pliers and begin reefing on the fitting to tighten it up and POP! the block cracks. happy happy joy joy. it WAS in fact the rotary that was leaking after all btw. anyone need the base to a ek supremacy? so here i am with a dead rig needing a new mb ANNNDDDD a new cpu block. kind of wish i was still a drinker cuz ah sure could use one nah. hahaha
good thing tomorrow is monday i guess, i can order a new block and get the rma shipped off and try try try to put this horror behind me!

 

[||Console||]

Sorry to hear your Issues . ]
It is once of the reasons I have never used anything besides strait fittings . I have seen to many posts/vids of ppl having 90/45 deg fittings leak on them ( right away and some over time ) . I would rather have some extra tubing making a bigger sweap .

It sounds like you didnt leak test or you will never have killed your Mb . Leak test is the most important part of setting up a new loop . The only time in 13+ years water cooling that I didn't leak test for a few hours resulted in my only dead part in water cooling my MB just like you .

Trust me you will NEVER make it mistake again . I dont do 24 hours like some ppl but 2-3 hours is a min for me now . The leak I had passed my 10 min leak test but failed once a load was on the CPU.

 

[batboy]

If it weren't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all. Whatever brand 90 you got, never use them again. I agree with Console, it's best to not use the fittings that swivel, if possible. That said, I have two on my loop. I have a radiator mounted on the back of the case, so with how I have the hoses routed, the swivel 90s made sense. However, since they're on the outside of the case, if they ever leak it'll only get the radiator wet and then drip down to the desk. I've had them on for two years now, no issues (XSPC brand).

 

[habbajabba]

Is there not a better way to fit the cooling system? You should definitely prep a fitting pressure leak test into your test bench rig. What are the specs and how much can you go beyond? Put the extras to good use lol.

 

[Tír na nÓg]

Fittings? Compressions? Barbs? Zip ties all the way!

 

[batboy]

I still prefer the old fashion method of using barbs and flex hose. Less chance of leaks, way easier to work on and swap components in and out.

LOL, I didn't see what brand of 90 he was using the first time I read it. I advised in my last post to never use that brand again. It's XSPC, the same brand I'm using. Great, now I'll be checking my fittings everyday. But, as I said in the other post, if my swivel fittings leak, the only thing that will get wet is the radiator and the top of my desk (and maybe the carpet when the puddle gets big enough to run off the desk).

 

[maxfly]

i should have clarified, the mb actually died because of the long io shield tabs. one of the tabs was pushed into the network cable slot and shorted the mb out. it happened after i pulled the loop apart for the second time. believe me i leak test everytime i refill my loop. ive had leaks before but nothing like these things. they were fine during the first fill but i must have moved them around more than they like.
i hear ya, i have never been a big fan of compression fittings but i figured it was time to give them a try. if i hadnt already invested so much in compression fittings i would definitely go back to barbs and clamps. at this point i am determined to make them work so ill be switching to ek rotaries where needed and continue to use the rest of the xspc compressions.
@ batboy, lol bad luck is now my middle name! if you just dont move the rotaries very much you should be fine. i think the reason the two i had leaked was because i was installing and pulling the mb so much which meant i had to twist and turn them while doing it. they both leaked at the rotary section of the barb(you could see the gap was MUCH bigger). something else to keep an eye on with them is the part that screws into the rotary fitting, the part that the hose actually gets attached to. they both seemed awfully loose when i disassemled them. i KNOW i tightened them down as tight as possible.

EDIT: if i can find my camera i will take some pics of the rotaries.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I've heard of these issues before with EVGA's shield on the X99 series. I also use a X99 from them and had a nasty blowout years ago that took out my MB, GPU, Corsair Link and something else iirc. Long story short, I felt it was the PSU that took everything out because by default from system startup, it didn't have OCP enabled and would only be enabled once its OS software is running. The fact that some had very similar issues happen to them also made me believe it was the PSU since those that had issues had the same PSU from that older batch. And to add more to this, I can't use my USB headphones in the rear I/O panel since I get lots of static and my mic would go bonkers or not work at all. I'm not going to keep testing it to risk a $250+ Sennheiser headset either.

Now I'm wondering if this design flaw of a shield was the culprit. Interesting to say the least but all has been well since. (Knocks on wood)

 

[maxfly]

ugh thats alot of gear to lose all at once!

https://forums.evga.com/X99-Micro2-Issue-5VSB-LED-flashing-m2408857.aspx#2722650 thats the thread that showed me what was causing the issue with mine. after reading that i remembered that the network cable was really hard to get in and that led me to seeing one of the io shield prongs was pushed into the network port. it was pushed straight while none of the other prongs were pushed inside. i had hoped that by removing it i would be able to boot but no luck the mb is dead. even after pulling the shield i couldnt boot. just the aggravating lights blinking. i never would have considered that being the issue without that thread.

i found my camera but the batteries leaked all over so yeah, no pics. ill try to find another camera.

 

[maxfly]

this is what happens when you overtighten your barbs on a ek supremacy evo. the one barb i saved from the trash SNAPPED back into its original position and i cant get it to open back up so no point in taking a picture.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

This is why I stick with acetal blocks.

 

[maxfly]

i hear ya. this is the first time i havent gone with acetal or metal. tbh this is the first loop ive built that wasnt copper/acetal everything but it was impossible to find copper gpu blocks of any kind. everything was nickel plexi/acetal/silver.
i just heard back from EK with good news!

Thank you for contacting us.
We are sorry to hear about the reported problem. The new replacement TOP would cost you 10 EUR + shipping costs.
If you give us your full name and address, we can give you a quote for the shipping costs, and you can then decide if you will take it or not.

Best regards, Ales

im still torn between going with the original blue top or going with a dif block altogether. eh nvm i forgot i have two ek dual leds for the block. itd be a waste not to use them. blue top it is. cant beat that price either!

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Glad to see EK came to the rescue.

Keep us up to speed.

 

[maxfly]

well evga has already shipped out the replacement board! they emailed me and basically had the mb in the mail when they emailed me. its supposed to be here saturday. evgas ts and cs is as solid as they come! so just have to get the top ordered and ill be good to go. i have been using my back up rig for so long i cant remember what its like to use a real computer hahaha.