PC cooling manufacturer Arctic has found a potential issue with the gaskets in its Liquid Freezer 2 AIO coolers manufactured between May of 2021 and March of 2022. The issue can lead to reduced cooling performance and a potential loss of cooling liquid in the loop. To fix this, Arctic has issued a self-repair service kit, enabling users to fix the problem themselves to keep system downtime low.
The issue in question is a chemical reaction between the gasket and the copper cold plate. This is due to the rubber gasket not being sufficiently vulcanized causing a reaction that can introduce sulphur residue and copper plate deposits. This can eventually lead to a reduction in cooling performance, and liquid loss.
Thankfully the issue is not too severe, Arctic says the gasket degradation can occur within the six-year warranty period. So you won't find your AIO all of a sudden leaking fluid everywhere at a moments notice, or cease to function instantaneously.
Nonetheless, coolant loss and reduced performance can become a issue after a long enough duration, so Arctic does recommend a gasket replacement with its service kit as soon as possible.
The gasket is user serviceable, and will take you less than a few minutes to complete if you have any PC building experience. The service kit has all the equipment you'll need including a new copper cold plate, brand new gasket and MX-5 thermal paste. You also get additional coolant and screws.
All users need to do is remove the copper cold plate and its associated four screws, swap the old rubber gasket with the new, and finally replace the copper cold plate. Then if necessary, users can refill their loop if their AIO lost a substantial amount of liquid.
If user repair isn't an option, you still have the ability to send in the product for service, where Arctic technicians will do the repair job for you. But, beware, this method will take up to two weeks to accomplish due to shipping constraints.
If you have an affected unit, go to Arctic's support page here to request a free service kit. Thankfully the six year warrant will remain intact even if you do the repair job yourself, so there's nothing to worry about.
