HYTE today announced that its THICC Q80 Trio AIO liquid CPU cooler that the company launched in January 2025, has a manufacturing defect that causes coolant leaks. This came to the company's attention as end-users reported coolant leakages in the product pages of the coolers upon delivery. Products returned from these end-users were forwarded by HYTE to its OEM manufacturing these coolers for failure analysis, which uncovered a fragile internal component that's susceptible to damage during transport. The company hasn't been able to determine the exact number of units affected by this manufacturing defect, and hence instituted a product recall from all users of the cooler. HYTE says it is important to note that this issue doesn't affect the THICC Q60, which uses a different design of the affected internal component.

As part of the recall notice, HYTE is directing all users of the THICC Q80 Trio to uninstall the cooler from their systems immediately. Those who purchased the cooler directly from HYTE's website will receive full refunds along with instructions on how to safely dispose of the cooler. Those who purchased the cooler through authorized resellers will hear from the resellers for the next steps.The full statement from HYTE follows.

Following the launch of HYTE's THICC Q80 Trio liquid cooler, we received user reports of coolant leakage in some units' packaging upon delivery. The affected products were promptly secured and sent to our manufacturer for failure analysis.

The report identified a fragile internal component that is susceptible to damage during transport. The number of impacted units is presently unknown. The damage to these coolers is internal and invisible to the end user, but may cause these liquid coolers not to function or to fail. This issue does not affect the previously released THICC Q60, which uses a different design.

Effective immediately, HYTE is directing all users to cease using the THICC Q80 Trio AIO, and to remove the cooler from their system immediately. Distributors and resellers have been notified to cease using and selling the Q80. Customers who purchased directly from HYTE.com will receive full refunds and instructions on how to safely dispose of the AIO soon. We will also notify authorized resellers to reach out to customers who have purchased this product on next steps.

The HYTE team would also like to apologize for any issues and complications caused by the latest development on the THICC Q80 Trio AIO. We are working to make this right with the community, and will be in touch with impacted customers on next steps as soon as possible.