My Coolit Domino ALC blew up, wanna see pics?

[MagicPants]

Just warning people a few days ago my Coolit Domino ALC liquid cpu cooler went bad. I'd just bought Majesty 2 on steam, after playing for an hour or so I heard a load popping noise and the screen went purple. I turned off the machine as fast as I could and when I opened it up I found the Domino leaked all its coolant on my two gtx 285s, x-fi and psu.

After cleaning it, airing it for a day (with a big fan), and stripping it down the the bare essentials out I can boot to windows, but starting games causes serious issues (crashes or massive video corruption).

If you have one of these in your box I suggest turning it off right now, taking it out and shooting it. Then go get an air cooler.

Anyway here are some pictures,

The first is a shot of the whole system right after I unplugged it you can see some water on the psu:

Here's a close up of the psu:

Here's a shot of ground zero, if you have trouble seeing the fluid look at the edge of the card nearest the camera:

The last shot is the cooler after removal. The blue arrows show where fluid was flowing out:

Coolit has offered to replace the Domino. I said "no thanks".

Since then I've found a bunch of consumer reviews from people who had similar problems:
(27 of 77 reviews I've seen indicated failure, and most of those resulted in damage to other components)

The Amazon reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/CoolIT-DM-1000-Domino-L-C-Cooler/product-reviews/B001LKMU56/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_1?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addOneStar

The Newegg reviews

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835227005

If you happen to be a professional reviewer who's reviewed this product, please update your review and warn your readers.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

That's a real shame.

 

[MagicPants]

Thanks, I've already cried over it, in my own not crying way (crying on the inside). It just makes me upset that the thing won so many awards. I really hope some reviewers go back and re-evaluate their reviews based on all the problems people have had with it.

Also I really wish Coolit would get back to me on whether or not the fluid is dangerous. It semlls liek it mihgt cuase mentel imparement.

 

[Twoboxer]

Send them an official invoice for the cost of repairs.

 

[MagicPants]

I will, but honestly from all the things I've read they're just going to ignore it. With any big company they'll ignore you if it costs more to sue them then you would make on it. Plus they are in Canada.

I was thinking of sending them a free pizza party, but when they open the pizzas they'd all be triple green pepper.

 

[shabaa]

Unfortunately when reviews are done on a product they are done with a new product for a short term. I have seldom seen a "long term use" review of any product. It would be interesting to see these types of reviews as they will give the true worthiness of a good review of a specific product. A kind of consumer reports of computer components. This will probably never happen as components are changing too fast for this kind of review to take place. Who would want to buy a component that has a good long term use review when a newer or better similar product is available? I feel your pain…. That bites.

 

[Shadow703793]

Thank you for posting this. As pro WCers know pre built stuff are cr@p and hence why we recommend higher quality custom loops.

 

[rubix_1011]

Piece of crap...

 

[Shadow703793]

^Me posted it on OCF

edit:
Conumdrum beat me to that post lol.

 

[Conumdrum]

Sorry for your loos, hope it's just one GPU that went bad.

 

[MagicPants]

Here's an update on what's happened:

I posted the same info and pics on Coolit's forum. So far they've made no effort to remove or hide the post. Their RMA guy replied on the fourm and offered to replace or refund only the Domino unit itself. I emailed him and asked them to repair the unit and inform the public.

I googled "coolit domino review" and attempted to contact every reviewer from the first two pages with my story (a few in particular have been very helpful).

Coolit again contacted me with an offer to repair or replace only the Domino which I rejected.

I posted this issue to three major forums(besides the company website), updating it when needed.

In the meantime one reviewer, who has been very helpful, contacted Coolit. He found out there might be an issue with the particular one I have because it was an early unit, but I still don't have all the info on that.

Their sales guy wants to talk to me on the phone, we'll see what happens. I'll post whatever information I can, though I'm not going to do anything that would hurt their company unfairly. Keep in mind this happened on Friday right after work so there was a great deal of time where Coolit wasn't able to address this issue.

 

[mighttuss]

WOW that is nuts! I do not see how they won rewards on a product like that.I am glad you posted that.Cause that is the same thing I am installing.And having problem installing in to a NZXT Nemesis Elite case.Think If I send it back they give me my money back?

 

[danf6975]

Here's an update on what's happened:

I posted the same info and pics on Coolit's forum. So far they've made no effort to remove or hide the post. Their RMA guy replied on the fourm and offered to replace or refund only the Domino unit itself. I emailed him and asked them to repair the unit and inform the public.

I googled "coolit domino review" and attempted to contact every reviewer from the first two pages with my story (a few in particular have been very helpful).

Coolit again contacted me with an offer to repair or replace only the Domino which I rejected.

I posted this issue to three major forums(besides the company website), updating it when needed.

In the meantime one reviewer, who has been very helpful, contacted Coolit. He found out there might be an issue with the particular one I have because it was an early unit, but I still don't have all the info on that.

Their sales guy wants to talk to me on the phone, we'll see what happens. I'll post whatever information I can, though I'm not going to do anything that would hurt their company unfairly. Keep in mind this happened on Friday right after work so there was a great deal of time where Coolit wasn't able to address this issue.

unfairly?

You bought that unit based on the 3 things that make a person go with a kit instead of custom.
Ease of use
Simple installation and maintenance
Reliability

Not only did the unit fail but you have been inconvenienced nbot only by damage to your system but time and effort as well.

When you talk to the individual on the phone , don't bend. calmly let them know that you are fair and any fair person would want a complete reimbursement for all damages and shipping because you are an informed individual that was counting on product reliability and customer service and since you are not receiving it to any fair persons standards you have plenty to post about in the multitude of forums and review sites.
it would also help to tape the conversation which is completely legal to do without their notification as long as its not used in court ( you want a record so you can quote their words exactly when making reviews of the product in the future).

 

[MagicPants]

Hey all, I've been in contact with Coolit. I can't go into details but I will say they are treating me fairly and to my satisfaction.

There is some indication that my case involved some isolated circumstances, but use your own best judgment.

 

[Twoboxer]

Very professional and responsible of you to come back and make that post.

Very professional and responsible of Coolit to treat you such that you *could* make that post.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Unlike Apple . I respect what CoolIt is trying to do but I still think they can't come close to the quality of a custom built loop. Then again, that's not what the Domino is meant for is it?

 

[danf6975]

Personally I don't think its professional of coolit.
they recognize that they created a problem and that if they don't make good they will get some huge hits in the form of bad reviews. OTHERWISE they would have made good the first time he posted about it on their website.

Their back is in a corner and they recognize it.

 

[Twoboxer]

Sometimes it takes time to say you're sorry. And make amends.

Hopefully, your own track record is at least as good as this response from Coolit.

 

[M3d]

At one time I really thought about going with a Dimino ALC cooler but decided against it. This is pretty much my worst nightmare. Sorry for your loss and hope Coolit makes it right.

 

[Onus]

No, the vast majority of computer users do not use water. The majority may not even know it is possible to use water, unless they happen to have read an article somewhere about a specialized computer in a lab or an unusual environment that is cooled with "liquid."

 

[leo2kp]

I guess in my own personal view, it's pointless to go with water just because it's a useless overclock that would require it. I believe air can handle any necessary overclock which is why I won't do it, but to each his own

 

[SIRIUSDOG]

Why do they use water...would it be better to use oil so if a failure happens it won't be an issue

 

[JofaMang]

If i had the financial wherewithal to casually absorb expensive lost components (like say, a 285 video card for example ) then I would totally run water. BUT, since my rig has to stay running for some time yet with minimal investment, I'll stick with cooling products that don't risk the rest of my computer.

 

[Shadow703793]

Everyone uses water. Its a lot better then air

Should probably read: "Every one SHOULD use QUALITY Water.

 

[obsidian86]

guess you could call this a domino affect