So I bought an EKWB heatsink for my WD Black NVME SSD 500gb. I need to remove the “warranty void if removed” sticker so I can install the thermal pad on the SSD. My question is, anybody here had the same experience and submitted something for warranty without the sticker? Did WD honor the warranty? Thanks!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaabk/ftc-confirms-warranty-stickers-are-no-good/vp-AAvLMOk
Link to the heatsink: EK-M.2 NVMe Heatsink - Nickel – EK Webshop
Side note: the new NVME SSD that has just been released has an EKWB heatsink as an optional SKU
Hi Bolshite,
I have sent you a personal message about this
Void if removed are no longer valid where I live due to a FTC Ruling, Basically saying you remove a sticker and lose warranty was a cop out for many companies and the FTC agreed. It got pretty bad for a while, everything had if you remove this, you lose all rights to warrant something because we said so? It was a joke. If a sticker is whats keeping a warranty in place to begin with you dont need it.
FTC makes clear 'warranty void if removed ’ stickers are illegal. … Under the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which the commission cited in its letter, companies can’t put repair restrictions on their products unless they provide the parts or services for free or receive a waiver from the FTC .
That’s what I thought when I researched “removing warranty sticker” and came upon the article I linked in my OP and thought I would ask if people have experienced doing a warranty claim without the sticker.
On a side note, a WD staff actually messaged me on what to do about it. Hopefully I don’t lose my warranty on my brandnew NVME SSD. 
Well I can see WD’s view. You install a heat sink on their product which thereby “modifies” it. Now you have violated their warranty policy. Doesn’t matter that your modification might help it last longer, work better or improve performance. You modded it. Now lets say in the process of adding the heat sink you somehow buggered it up and shorted something out destroying it. Would you still expect WD to honor their warranty?
Just sayin’…
First off, and this is the biggest thing here, the FTC says it’s illegal to put those stickers on any merchandise having a value of of 5usd up. It’s unfair to the consumers. 2nd, how is installing a heatsink on an SSD more complicated than installing a custom loop on a processor and the GPU? I’ve build my own PCs. I just decided it’s time to invest on a nice NVME SSD. Lastly, there is really no modification done, it’s a simple heatsink with a thermal pad in b/w. That sticker is not thermally conductive and may actually increase the temps of the ssd thereby shortening its lifespan. My NVME ssd is brand new and it’s hovering at 38-42c in idle and peaks at around 55-62c with a light workload. As a PC builder, I’m not happy with those temps.
Just sayin…
I think me removing the firmware out the box and changing its purchase date and hours on drive is more where the sticker was meant for. I mean I can RMA a drive thats been in use for 5 years (Sparc Solaris) in little under 5 minut3s if I wanted. But I would rather remove the sticker… Just saying
I already filed a complaint at the FTC about this since WD has ignored me for several days now. I submitted a ticket and still nothing. Chushi, the WD staff, is also ignoring me despite several messages asking for update.
Here’s the link to the official FTC ruling about the “warranty void if removed” stickers.
