anamaroth Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) I have H100i RGB PLATINUM SE. Screws on both sides of the radiator do not go in their respective sockets, because they are blocked by the actual radiator grid on the other side of the screw holes. I have found a few people discussing this issue on 3rd party websites (https://pcpartpicker.com/forums/topic/321890-h100i-supplied-screws-too-long) and it seems that I am supposed to just force the screws in, deforming the radiator (which I understand does not impact its performance), however, when i tried to do this it seemed like I needed a lot of force to do this, which made me concerned for the structural integrity of the screws and the threads. So what should I do? Edit: I just realized that the screws barely go in the holes at all. Maybe half a rotation, which means the issue is with the threads in the radiator. Edit2: all the pics: https://imgur.com/a/oKLJ1al Edit3: (At a closer inspection it really looke like there's too much paint on the radiator, which is preventing the screws from going in) - incorrect Edit4: It seems they put the wrong screws in the package. AMD screw clips can be screwed in with ease, and they are about 1mm thinner than all the other screws in the package. Edited September 14, 2019 by anamaroth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-attack Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 Uh no. Stop. Screws do not go through the radiator. If you are mounting fans to it, you use the longer 27-30mm 6-32 machine screws. If you are mounting the radiator to case, you only need the very short 6-32 machine screws. At no time do you pierce the radiator with the long screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anamaroth Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) Uh no. Stop. Screws do not go through the radiator. If you are mounting fans to it, you use the longer 27-30mm 6-32 machine screws. If you are mounting the radiator to case, you only need the very short 6-32 machine screws. At no time do you pierce the radiator with the long screws. https://imgur.com/a/QIJwiZZ here's a picture. This is the long screw came with the cooler. It does not go in any further. Same situation for the shorter screws for the radiator mounting. Are the threads on the radiator defective? Edited September 13, 2019 by anamaroth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anamaroth Posted September 13, 2019 Author Share Posted September 13, 2019 (edited) Found some other people discussing the topic here: The problem is that they still suggest to just apply an amount of force that "doesn't feel right", which I won't do (because im afraid of damaging the threads) until I get some confirmation from this forum (or the ticket that I have submitted). Edited September 13, 2019 by anamaroth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-attack Posted September 13, 2019 Share Posted September 13, 2019 I think the relevant shot would be of the radiator screw hole itself and whether one of the short screws will thread at all. It's hard for us to see or do much on this end, but this is the first report of this I have seen for the Platinum coolers in this forum. Bad drilling on the assembly line? Wrong screws included? Something else? It's hard to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anamaroth Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 I think the relevant shot would be of the radiator screw hole itself and whether one of the short screws will thread at all. It's hard for us to see or do much on this end, but this is the first report of this I have seen for the Platinum coolers in this forum. Bad drilling on the assembly line? Wrong screws included? Something else? It's hard to say. https://imgur.com/a/oKLJ1al Some more pics. All the screws on the pictures are either fan screws or radiator screws that came with the cooling system. They are screwed in as far as I could screw them, which is about half a rotation. Trying to apply more force makes the screwdriver pop out of the socket on the screw's head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-attack Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 I am open to second opinions, but those all look like #8 screws to me. A standard short stubby fan screw that comes in with your average fan is #8 and those are also used for some custom cooling radiators, like Hardware Labs and Corsair's Hydro X line. However, most AIO radiators are #6-32 machine. When you put a #6 screw through the fan hole, there should be plenty of daylight around the shaft. A #8 screw has less than a millimeter and is as big as can go through the fan. I am not sure if the wrong screws were included in the Platinum cooler's kit or if they came from somewhere else, but don't using the the #8 will permanently alter the radiator mounting holes. 6-32 machine screws can be found everywhere, including at your local hardware store. They don't have to be specialty "PC screws". However, if you want black you likely need to order them from a PC supplier, Corsair, or see if they are hiding in the box somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anamaroth Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) I am open to second opinions, but those all look like #8 screws to me. A standard short stubby fan screw that comes in with your average fan is #8 and those are also used for some custom cooling radiators, like Hardware Labs and Corsair's Hydro X line. However, most AIO radiators are #6-32 machine. When you put a #6 screw through the fan hole, there should be plenty of daylight around the shaft. A #8 screw has less than a millimeter and is as big as can go through the fan. I am not sure if the wrong screws were included in the Platinum cooler's kit or if they came from somewhere else, but don't using the the #8 will permanently alter the radiator mounting holes. 6-32 machine screws can be found everywhere, including at your local hardware store. They don't have to be specialty "PC screws". However, if you want black you likely need to order them from a PC supplier, Corsair, or see if they are hiding in the box somewhere. Here's what I found: the "AMD Screw clip" can be screwed into the radiator with ease. And it seems to be 1mm thinner in diameter than the screws that came with the radiator. Added 3 more pics at the end: https://imgur.com/a/oKLJ1al Guess they put the wrong screws in the package. Can I demand the proper screws from Corsair? thanks for the help, c-attack Edited September 14, 2019 by anamaroth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c-attack Posted September 14, 2019 Share Posted September 14, 2019 The "on the table shot" is almost 1:1 on my monitor and I am holding a long ~30mm 6-32 next to it. It looks really close to being right. However, when I scan your short screws, it looks like there is a mix of #6 and #8. In the on the table shot, the short screw just above the AMD key is a #6. The next one above it is a #8. Could there be both sizes mixed in for short and long? Yes, you could contact Corsair Tech Support through the ticket system and ask for help. whether that is screws or something else. However, that may not be an expedient solution. Depending on where you purchased, a return may be faster or certainly picking up screws locally. At this point, I would want to try a #6 screw of any length to make sure the threads are still capable of supporting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anamaroth Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 The "on the table shot" is almost 1:1 on my monitor and I am holding a long ~30mm 6-32 next to it. It looks really close to being right. However, when I scan your short screws, it looks like there is a mix of #6 and #8. In the on the table shot, the short screw just above the AMD key is a #6. The next one above it is a #8. Could there be both sizes mixed in for short and long? Yes, you could contact Corsair Tech Support through the ticket system and ask for help. whether that is screws or something else. However, that may not be an expedient solution. Depending on where you purchased, a return may be faster or certainly picking up screws locally. At this point, I would want to try a #6 screw of any length to make sure the threads are still capable of supporting it. I bought some screws from the local hardware store, which are of the same thickness as the Amd pin, and have successfully installed the cooling system with them. These hardware-store-screws also came with nuts, which I used to test all the came-with-the-cooler-screws, and all the came-with-the-cooler-screws are too big for the nuts. I am just disappointed I had to spend extra 7 EUR (and a lot of weekend time) to install a 155 EUR cooling system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow85 Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 I have same issue with h115i Platinum cooler. The long fan screws do not go all the win and leaves the fan dangling from the radiator. I am top mounting the rad so that means the fans will fall onto the screw head leaving a gap between the rad and the fans and surely that can't be ideal for performance. Am I suppose to force tighten the fans and rad close with these long screws? Why arn't they the correct length. This is unacceptable for such expensive hardware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardy940 Posted September 15, 2019 Share Posted September 15, 2019 I've just done a build with h100i Platinum SE and I had the same problem. I'm not at all happy with the quality of this cooler. Because I'd already damaged the fins underneath one of the holes, I figured I'd not get a refund and I just went for it. I forced the screws in carefully, making sure they went nowhere near the cooling channels and just left it out for an hour to make sure there was no leaking. It's worked fine. I just figured that the holes weren't drilled properly. But I would recommend finding new screws or at least grinding a few mil of the screws included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anamaroth Posted September 16, 2019 Author Share Posted September 16, 2019 I have same issue with h115i Platinum cooler. The long fan screws do not go all the win and leaves the fan dangling from the radiator. I am top mounting the rad so that means the fans will fall onto the screw head leaving a gap between the rad and the fans and surely that can't be ideal for performance. Am I suppose to force tighten the fans and rad close with these long screws? Why arn't they the correct length. This is unacceptable for such expensive hardware. I've just done a build with h100i Platinum SE and I had the same problem. I'm not at all happy with the quality of this cooler. Because I'd already damaged the fins underneath one of the holes, I figured I'd not get a refund and I just went for it. I forced the screws in carefully, making sure they went nowhere near the cooling channels and just left it out for an hour to make sure there was no leaking. It's worked fine. I just figured that the holes weren't drilled properly. But I would recommend finding new screws or at least grinding a few mil of the screws included. In my case the issue wasn't the length of the screws, but their thickness. Corsair has supplied screws with the wrong diameter. Check if AMD Pins that came with your cooling system can be screwed in with ease. If they can be: go to your local hardware store and buy all the other screws (short case mount screws and long fan mount screws) with the same diameter and they should go in easily. But yeah, supplying wrong screws is completely unacceptable for such an expensive cooling system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow85 Posted September 16, 2019 Share Posted September 16, 2019 anyways, I left it as is and tested my 9900K @ 5GHz -> 4.6GHz and it seemed to have hit a max temp of 70°C so I assume it is working OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xMacias Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 I just drive the long fan screw in far enough to hold the fan in place. Damaging the fins a tiny amount doesn't really matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgray318 Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 I think it is because both the radiator and screws are painted without any consideration for the extra thickness that will cause the screws to become and how much narrower the screw holes will become. Remove the paint from the surfaces and I bet they fit perfectly. This is indeed unacceptable practice. They should have protected the threads before painting them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fakedevil Posted November 30, 2019 Share Posted November 30, 2019 Yea the screws needed a bit of force to go in for hte short ones that attaches the rad to the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgray318 Posted December 1, 2019 Share Posted December 1, 2019 Yea the screws needed a bit of force to go in for hte short ones that attaches the rad to the case. Yeah I just experienced this myself today and it just felt so wrong with how much force I had to use. I hate using that much force when working on someone else's computer, lol. Next time I am recommending a large air cooler instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
futsolejier Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 I have the same issue. What screws did you use? I'll go buy some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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