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Okay to use PVC tubing for watercooling loop?

When I saw the title for this thread I first thought the OP was asking about using hard pvc tubing. Good thing the OP specified the soft Clearflex in his post.
 
It is probably usable but the unknown factor is how bendable is the tubing, the variation being the amount of plasticizer in the mix of the tubing material. Food grade tubing is good as it is resistant to plasticizer leeching but at the same time it is more rigid which makes it difficult to make it straight or bend without kinking.
 
I've used that stuff before. It works OK, but it tends to kink over time and is just not as bendable to start with.

Since you generally need such low qty for a computer it's not worth bothering with IMO, unless you're in a pinch for whatever reason.
 
ghost03 said:
I've used that stuff before. It works OK, but it tends to kink over time and is just not as bendable to start with.

Since you generally need such low qty for a computer it's not worth bothering with IMO, unless you're in a pinch for whatever reason.
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And heatsink fans wear out over time too. What's your point? Never buy anything if it eventually wears out? Heck, it's just some flex tube for water to run through, not a pacemaker battery.
 
the tube walls with that is kinda thin, around 1/16 in. thick, it may collapse if you have any of the pumps common in water cooling and a restrictive block. I'm talking from experience. if you want 3/8ID you will want 5/8OD and not 1/2OD.
 
dawp said:
the tube walls with that is kinda thin, around 1/16 in. thick, it may collapse if you have any of the pumps common in water cooling and a restrictive block. I'm talking from experience. if you want 3/8ID you will want 5/8OD and not 1/2OD.
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Real men use 1/2ID 3/4OD tubing. >_>
 
smackababy said:
Real men use 1/2ID 3/4OD tubing. >_>
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I have always had problems with 1/2" tubing. When I use it on 1/2" barbs its really easy to get it to leak, it just isn't tight enough. I prefer to use 7/16" on 1/2" barbs and that produces a nice stable fit that when combined with clips gives a great seal that never leaks regardless of the amount of forcing there might be pushing it sidewards or pulling it away (like with a tight bend).

The one argument I have against it however is I have had a lot of difficulty getting 7/16" tubing off again. This difficulty means in the past I bricked a GPU and that is quite an expensive mistake to make. Neitherless I have not had a leak problem on 7/16", only on 1/2" tubing.
 
I have taken to using compression fittings. I dislike how the barbs look with any kind of clamps, and I like the security of some kind of locking mechanism.

I also have never had a leak in "production" as I like to call it. I always leak test with all the hardware without power.
 
BrightCandle said:
I have always had problems with 1/2" tubing. When I use it on 1/2" barbs its really easy to get it to leak, it just isn't tight enough. I prefer to use 7/16" on 1/2" barbs and that produces a nice stable fit that when combined with clips gives a great seal that never leaks regardless of the amount of forcing there might be pushing it sidewards or pulling it away (like with a tight bend).

The one argument I have against it however is I have had a lot of difficulty getting 7/16" tubing off again. This difficulty means in the past I bricked a GPU and that is quite an expensive mistake to make. Neitherless I have not had a leak problem on 7/16", only on 1/2" tubing.
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the only time I had trouble with leaks is with 1/2 x 5/8 or additives to the water which caused cracks in an acrylic res.
 
2timer said:
And heatsink fans wear out over time too. What's your point? Never buy anything if it eventually wears out? Heck, it's just some flex tube for water to run through, not a pacemaker battery.
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Well sure, everything wears out, it's a fundamental physical law. My point, is that for this application, my experience is that it's worth the marginal incremental cost to save hassle.
 
So I made the loop and everything seems okay...the bend radius is not too bad actually. I use zip ties on all the connections and knock on wood have not had any catastrophic leaks.
 
id be more worried about the plasticer leech.

its really bad stuff... it makes it look like your tubing is shedding internally.
the lose leech can also get stuck inside blocks.

but yes its doable... but it will cloud and look nasty in 2-3 months.
 
It really depends on the fluid he uses as well. I've been using Tygon 3036 for a year without issue. I just recently tore it down to check everything. I heard "horror" stories from others when I first made the purchase. Most of the plasticizer problems I've seen have been from funky fluids. I've also noticed Kill Coils seem to react right away.

Something to think about though. They sell plasticizer free tubing.

aigomorla said:
id be more worried about the plasticer leech.

its really bad stuff... it makes it look like your tubing is shedding internally.
the lose leech can also get stuck inside blocks.

but yes its doable... but it will cloud and look nasty in 2-3 months.
Click to expand...
 
Subyman said:
It really depends on the fluid he uses as well. I've been using Tygon 3036 for a year without issue. I just recently tore it down to check everything. I heard "horror" stories from others when I first made the purchase. Most of the plasticizer problems I've seen have been from funky fluids. I've also noticed Kill Coils seem to react right away.

Something to think about though. They sell plasticizer free tubing.
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no it doesnt.

the fluids one use can make things worse.

Example.. glycol naturally leaves a jelly like deposit over time as its forced though block injectors.

its like filtering water, leaving the bigger particles which should be mixed to be separated inside the pins.

PL (plasticizer) is the same.... over time it will break down.
Tygon is notorious for doing this... this is why most of us demanded tubing for our hobby, and got it.

Primochill tubing has always been my forte.. never had issues with them, doesnt contain leech, unless they changed it.
But its pricey... id say probably 2nd to the premium tygon tubing one can get.
 
aigomorla said:
Primochill tubing has always been my forte.. never had issues with them, doesnt contain leech, unless they changed it.
But its pricey... id say probably 2nd to the premium tygon tubing one can get.
Click to expand...

I never understood people skimping and buying cheap tubing. Even if you buy the most expensive tubing, chances are you're spending less than $50 for it all. And the thought of "Oh I should buy this cheap stuff and save $20, because that matters when I'm spending $500 on blocks, pumps, res, fittings, rads, fans AND another $1500 on hardware to cool."
 
I just switched over to the older primochill pro lrt tubing after using clearflex for over a year. once the PL came out I cleaned it out with alcohol and that seemed to take care of the cloudiness until it started to turn yellow.

I also replaced my pump with a swiftech mpc35x 'cause I wanted the pwm control. old one was a jingway dp-1200, same as danger den CPX-Pro
 
smackababy said:
I never understood people skimping and buying cheap tubing. Even if you buy the most expensive tubing, chances are you're spending less than $50 for it all. And the thought of "Oh I should buy this cheap stuff and save $20, because that matters when I'm spending $500 on blocks, pumps, res, fittings, rads, fans AND another $1500 on hardware to cool."
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if u think that is bad imagine what i went though trying to convince the general people that we NEED silver.
When i started back in the days the only silver u can get was a waterblock that costed well over 200 dollars.
The funny thing tho, these silver blocks went after performance... the side benifit people started noticing was the antimicrob.
Its kinda like Viagra... originally a heart medication.. yet... the side effects is what gave pfizer profit.. 😛

When i proposed the idea to iandh, the guy who iasked to create the kill coil, he seriously thought i was going after the bling.
After a loooooooooooooooooooong biology talk with iandh and guys on XS, he told me he could get pure silver and cut them up into kill coils and try them out.

Well, guess what happened after that? ^_^
 
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