Thermaltake BigWater Kit - Major Design Flaw Found

[jblaty]

:|

I am installing a Thermaltake BigWater kit, after reading the great reviews on the web. However, I haven't seen this mentioned in any review, and it is a significant design flaw.

The plastic on the BigWater's pump/reservoir unit is too thin and cheap. Thermaltake's instructions say to remove the top 2 black covers on the unit when filling or draining the tank. That includes removing the 2 metal clamps that hold the rubber stoppers on the barbs. However those rubber stoppers are on the barbs REALLY TIGHT. It is impossible to remove them without putting some lateral stress on the barb, and since it's made of cheap plastic, it snaps right off.

I was very dissapointed when the first barb snapped off in my hand, so I tried to be extra cautious with the second barb. It did the same thing -- snapped right off. I have concluded that with the production unit, it is impossible to remove the rubber covers on the barbs without snapping the barb off at the base.

I have sent an RMA request to the place I purchased the unit from, and have sent a complaint e-mail to Thermaltake.

I hope that this post prevents others from experiencing the same issue, and hope that this is reported on the reviews. Thermaltake needs to fix this issue, fast.

 

[jblaty]

I just RMA'd the pump unit with Thermaltake. In all fairness, they were very friendly and courteous. They are cross shipping a new pump to me. Apparently, this is not the first they've heard of the same issue. Hopefully, they will fix this shortly in the next revision of the water pump.

 

[akira34]

I'm glad I've held off on gettting one of those units now... Even if I get one in the future, I might replace the pump and keep the one that comes with it in reserve... Although, if I do that, I might as well just get the hardware from other makers and configure the rig that way. I'm a bit concerned about the small diameter tubing that comes with the big water item....

 

[jblaty]

akira34 - Totally understand. FYI, the tubing is 1/4" ID, which is hard to find in most cooling systems because it's so small. Most of the cooling systems out there are 3/8" or 1/2" tubing.

 

[akira34]

I was originally looking to build up a cooling loop with 3/8" tubing...

 

[Waylay00]

Get a custom watercooling kit from FrozenCPU.com.

 

[HardWarrior]

Why am I not surprised? If TT (not to mention other kit producers) wants to be taken seriously they're going to need to stop looking like they're in it for a quick buck.

 

[jblaty]

I thought I'd write a quick post in the last of the BigWater saga. Unfortunately, it does not have a happy ending.

I received a replacement water pump on Wednesday for the broken one. It was a completely different pump, so they must be changing the design based on the issues they're having. However, when I was preparing to install the new pump, I noticed that the acrylic cover on the ThermalTake CPU water block had cracked. I don't know when this happened, but it was clearly cracked in 2 places. This was probably due to torsion on the retaining clip that ThermalTake provided, hence another design flaw. I decided that with 2 major component failures before I even started the system that this was a very bad sign, and I was not about to risk my motherboard and components to a faulty water cooling system.

I have since requested a complete RMA of all of the water system components, and am returning the lot.

I've ordered a Zalman air cooler to replace them, and I'll hopefully have my system running sometime next week after over a month of delays.

Anyway, you may want to take this into account before you purchase the ThermalTake BigWater cooler. Personally, I don't think the low quality justifies the price. Also, I don't believe that the review sites are reporting these problems, and that is very disconcerting.

 

[jblaty]

I thought I'd write a quick post in the last of the BigWater saga. Unfortunately, it does not have a happy ending.

I received a replacement water pump on Wednesday for the broken one. It was a completely different pump, so they must be changing the design based on the issues they're having. However, when I was preparing to install the new pump, I noticed that the acrylic cover on the ThermalTake CPU water block had cracked. I don't know when this happened, but it was clearly cracked in 2 places. This was probably due to torsion on the retaining clip that ThermalTake provided, hence another design flaw. I decided that with 2 major component failures before I even started the system that this was a very bad sign, and I was not about to risk my motherboard and components to a faulty water cooling system.

I have since requested a complete RMA of all of the water system components, and am returning the lot.

I've ordered a Zalman air cooler to replace them, and I'll hopefully have my system running sometime next week after over a month of delays.

Anyway, you may want to take this into account before you purchase the ThermalTake BigWater cooler. Personally, I don't think the low quality justifies the price. Also, I don't believe that the review sites are reporting these problems, and that is very disconcerting.

 

[HardWarrior]

Well I've heard more than enough about how fragile acrylic\poly tops can be under load. I'll never use one again and I'm glad I switched over during the last refit. I hope it turns out okay for, Joe.