EKWB EK-XLC Predator 360 All-In-One CPU Liquid Cooling Unit Review

EK Predator 360 leak and recall

Now, on the last page, I recommended you test with only a jumper to the power supply. The reason I mention it is for leak testing. If the AIO leaks and there’s no power going to the motherboard, there’s little chance of damage.

Most manufactures that I know of have had at least one product that didn’t function the way it was expected to. In my case, the original revision of the Predator 360 leaked. I test EVERY water cooler for a minimum of 72 hours straight at 100% fan and pump speeds, just in case something lets loose.

Honestly, I’m really not that keen on letting the smoke out of my components. So, during the course of the 72 hour test, I kept an eye on the area around the CPU socket and noticed a bit of liquid near the retention mechanism. I pulled the block off and could see where it was leaking from. My 1st thought was the screws were loose on the bottom of the block. I tightened them down a bit more and ran the test again, but not attached to the motherboard. It still leaked.

I shot an email with the attached images over to EK. Rather quickly I was informed that EK was issuing a recall on both the Predator 240 & 360 and that my replacement unit would be arriving soon.

I have to give kudos to and thank EKWB for not blaming the leak situation on poor customer installation or some other issue and forcing the customer to take the blame. EKWB has admitted this issue is caused by a manufacturing defect in the O-Ring and EK is taking full responsibility and issued a recall. Not only is EK replacing the faulty units, they are working with customers to refund/replace hardware that was damaged by the faulty coolers.

You can find out more information about the recall at https://www.ekwb.com/news/important-notice-from-ekwb-ek-xlc-predator-240-and-360-r1-0-product-recall/.