HAF-X case can damage your motherboard

[Stile]

OK, I wanted to spread the word also on this forum about several issues with CoolerMaster HAF-X case. It seems that HAF-X cases have issue to burn mobo or firewire chip on it. I experienced same issue. Motherboard is Asus P7P55D-E, Corsair 850W TX and HAF-X case and my Firewire chip is burned on second power on. On first power on I didn't connect LED illumination for front vent so LED was turned off. After I turn off PC and connect LED light, on my next power on I have burned VIA Firewire chipset.

Cause of this problem:
I disassemble front panel and it is visible "design flaw" or "assembly flaw" on our HAF-X case. Red wire that goes to LED switch has broken isolation because of sharp pins from front panel motherboard on which front firewire is connected. In other words, when front firewire is connected to mobo and when LED switch is turned on, LED switch wire directly touches one sharp pin from firewire front connector and there we have short circuit causing firewire chipset burnout on mobo.

Those two picture will explain it.

Clearly visible broken isolation on red LED wire:


Visible broken isolation and sharp pin from firewire that touches broken isolation:


The question is now who will be responsible for this? I think nobody, we will isolate this wire with some tape and continue with our business, right? I get NO answer from CoolerMaster customer support for Europe. !!!Shame!!!

 

[leon2006]

Cooler Master should cover the cost of your Motherboard. Thats unfortunate. Cooler Master should replace your Case As well. You should RMA your case as well or else such problem won't reach cooler master.

Is your MOBO under warranty? Get an RMA

Thank you for sharing this potential hazard on HAF-X case.

 

[johnnyq8]

will thanks for your advice
but unfortunatly i was huge fan of cooler master cases now im going to move to thermaltake
my advice is to contact coolermaster to tell them the proplem and they should cover your motherboard damages and give you new case or return your money

 

[Maziar]

Sorry to hear it, never had such a problem with my HAF 932.
I think you can RMA your motherboard,since it should still be under warranty.

 

[Stile]

I will get replacement motherboard thanks to Asus although they are not responsible for damaging. CoolerMaster is responsible. I contacted CM Europe and still 3 days without any response. Shame. I repaired broken wire by myself.

 

[Maziar]

Let us know if they replied back,its interesting to know what they have to say about it

 

[Emperus]

I myself was intending on getting the HAF-X but pulled out after a long thought process (went for the Lian-Li PC A77F instead).. Interestingly though, none of such incidence(s), as mentioned by OP, has been covered in any reviews.. Seems to me like your unit had a manufacturing defect which btw, has to be covered by the manufacturer.. But them not bothering to reply is seriouslly lame.. Kudos to Asus though.. Such fine act on their part really deserves appreciation and consumer loyality..

 

[magicanthony]

I recently bought the HAF X 942 in preparation for building a new computer. After coming across this thread I got worried and remove the front panel to take a look. That have inserted a piece of plastic between the front panel and the wires for the top buttons. So it looks like they discovered this was an issue and have fixed it. Now there is no contact between the LED wire and the front panel pins, as shown in the picture from Stile. I wonder if they had a lot of problems with this and decided to fix it of if Stile's case was just a defect and they forgot to include the separator.

I hope Stile has gotten everything sorted out. As I have not built my computer yet, hopefully there are not short circuits in the case. We will see.

Thank you.

 

[Stile]

Unfortunately, my case was not defect. I spread the word on other forums and I got lot of messages that same issue happened on lot of cases across the Europe and USA. Also Coolermaster contacted me and sent me new front panel fixed with this inserted plastic. Also, they offer me to choose any product from Coolermaster for free. Very fair from them...

 

[magicanthony]

Very sorry it happened to you. Glad you got it sorted out.

 

[boden08]

I glad i didnt go with this case, i saved some money and went with the antec 902 and added more case fans for the extra cost that i would of paid. thanks for letting every one know

 

[Lutfij]

^ cooler masters HAF x is actually not better than the 932...though it looks good with the interior black and the cooling, but most modders and builders alike prefer the HAF 932 over the HAF x both price wise and features.

@ op - you could ask for another case 😛 and have it spared for another build. or maybe a PSU 80+GOLD rated 😛

 

[youssef 2010]

Unfortunately, my case was not defect. I spread the word on other forums and I got lot of messages that same issue happened on lot of cases across the Europe and USA. Also Coolermaster contacted me and sent me new front panel fixed with this inserted plastic. Also, they offer me to choose any product from Coolermaster for free. Very fair from them...

It's the least they can do after damaging your motherboard.If I were you, I'd choose a product that has the same price of my damaged borad.This defect is very unlike cooler master. I don't know what came over them.

 

[pantbuild]

I doubt anyone will see this because this threaed is pretty old...But just in case - I just bought a HAF-X for my first build and got paranoid about the front panel issue so I took it apart. Yes, there IS a piece of hard plastic now between the circuit board and the plugs BUT - I found a messy connection on the pwr on/off switch with some bare wire showing throught the heat sink. I used a little piece of electrical tape and repaired it but I would NOT have found it without reading this thread - THANK YOU!