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Teflon tape for threaded water-cooling fittings?

BonzaiDuck

BonzaiDuck

Lifer
As long as I've been a member here, I'd been an H2O bystander. I would consider the possibility casually, looking at some exotic flavors of the practice. Then I'd retreat to air-cooling as each new heatpipe advance came on the market.

Now I'm looking at H2O in more detail.

I'm also a "constant gardener." With a plot of limited size, I grow my own tomatoes year-round, various other vegetables and so forth. We can our tomatoes, and I make my "special sauce," so I can make my "special spaghetti" and my "special pizza." Doing this sort of thing, I have to maintain a drip irrigation system, and quickly discovered the benefits of keeping a roll of Teflon plumbing tape handy when I replace hose-bibs, spigots, and fittings between the drip lines.

Does anyone use this stuff for threaded fittings in the H2O configuration?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-1-2-in-x-260-in-PTFE-Tape-0178502/202280370
 
The water-cooling fittings I am familiar with all have a rubber O-gasket that ensures the seal, so I don't believe teflon tape is necessary. I've been running a watercooled PC for 8 years without teflon tape and have had 0 leaks.
 
So . . . two very useful and contrary answers! It may be the O-rings are more than sufficient, but Schmuckley is apparently saying that it "does no harm."

I'll file away both observations for further reference.

Not thoroughly committed, I may "get my feet wet" later this year. But it's not a certainty.

The air-heads (like me!) say that heatpipes are "low maintenance" -- good enough. But you need a fan-strategy, and you have to clean out kruft from time to time. Your cooling potential is more limited.

The water-heads swear by lower temperatures. I see some boasting 10C "better." Maybe it's possible to get better than that, I can't say. "Exotic enhancements" could get you to room ambient under load, but a lot of the "water-heads" don't go there. . . . You have to choose the parts, then test them using your PSU unplugged from the mobo with the paper-clip mod. Then you have to fill and bleed it. And every six months, drain and service.

For sure -- I'm going to take a whole year to build my next computer. Not just "a few days or weeks."
 
This is my third water build and I would never use tape...if by chance a small piece came off and got into the pump...game over.

All the current barbs have really nice O-rings that seal with hand tightened pressure only, then you just add an 1/8 of a turn past that and your done...at least in my experience. My current rig has 21 fittings.

I'm surprised aigo hasn't commented yet...
 
Tweakin said:
This is my third water build and I would never use tape...if by chance a small piece came off and got into the pump...game over.

All the current barbs have really nice O-rings that seal with hand tightened pressure only, then you just add an 1/8 of a turn past that and your done...at least in my experience. My current rig has 21 fittings.

I'm surprised aigo hasn't commented yet...
Click to expand...

Maybe he went to lunch . . . or maybe he's weary of my anal-retentive questions. Just as some would have worries about leak-risks, I can see your point about the tape, but I rather doubt that if it's done carefully, such a thing would ever happen.

I'm just collecting information about something I "might" do later this year. I'll still be interested to see comparison reviews of the April release by Noctua of a "double" NH-U14S. While I hold off on everything, I'm continuing to educate myself and weigh my options.
 
Been using teflon tape with no damage since 2001.
I found many tiny things inside the blocks and pumps but never any T tape.
When the fittings are on the loose side I use a drop of a sealer which hardens to a green plastic coating.
60% of my fittings are made of stainless steel and were made for use with chemicals.
 
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I have read those tape will disintegrate and clog your system, so I won't recommend using it.
The fittings can be leak free with just hand tightening force.
 
I have never used teflon tape in any watercooled PC. I've used it around the house a lot though.

The only leaks I've had were from tubing I made an extremely hard turn right after the barb. And, once that was corrected, not a single problem. I don't think it will hurt, but it is hardly necessary.
 
alkaline1986 said:
I have read those tape will disintegrate and clog your system, so I won't recommend using it.
The fittings can be leak free with just hand tightening force.
Click to expand...

Disintegrate? I don't think so. If a part of the tape hung over the edge of a threaded fitting before it was connected, the last thread might tear the tape. But there's nothing in the water that would disintegrate it. Tape carefully applied would only cover the threads, and wouldn't "go anywhere" you don't want it to as you tighten the fittings.

But -- perhaps it's a "concern." It's interesting -- the mixed results to the question. It sounds more and more like an absence of leaky connections when you put the system together would preclude the use of Teflon tape, anyway.
 
No tape unless ur using plastic fittings which do not seal via oring.
Metal barbs on metal threads use oring for seal.
Do not use tape cus the metal on metal will cut up the tape and clog ur injectors or clog a pass in your radiator.
 
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the threads on the fittings are loose and tape is not required ,the 0 ring gets tightly compressed in the grove of the fitting today ,some old fittings do not have the grove and the o ring would pop out when over tighten.

tried the tape once and it turned to strands which I deemed that I did not want running around in my system , could it do that on install or fall in during removal of the fitting and you would never see it.
imo
if any thing for a leak proof fitting - use a drop of wd 40 or water on the o ring , that will lube it so it does not rip ,once the crap wd 40 drys the fitting will be super tight and will not loosen on handling it.
and in most cases wd 40 is required to remove the fitting.

-love on some wc sites people rate compression fitting by how much shin they lose when installing the tube , a drop of wd 40 and they go on with no effort and you need to use it to remove the ring.
-warm/hotish water works great also softens tube and lubes ,but to get it off I use wd 40. but hard to get a cup of water to all tube ends.

one other redundant thing I do is to use wd 40 on the joints of any fittings that rotate to lube the o ring inside - if they leak at least it wasn't me spinning it.
 
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When I first watercooled my machine I didn't use any, and I had various minor leak problems. In the end I redid the loop using PTFE tape and I have been using it ever since. I have tried push fittings and found them to leak so nowadays I just use good olde fashioned barbs and PTFE tape and I just don't get leaks or even the chance of leaks anymore after a build.
 
aigomorla said:
No tape unless ur using plastic fittings which do not seal via oring.
Metal barbs on metal threads use oring for seal.
Do not use tape cus the metal on metal will cut up the tape and clog ur injectors or clog a pass in your radiator.
Click to expand...

Pretty much all instances where I've used teflon tape was on metal to metal and I never had a problem. Granted, I didn't use it in a watercooling loop.

I think the real issue is whether the threads on the barbs are parallel or tapered. If they are tapered, the tape can help provide a seal; if they are parallel, the gasket is what provides the seal an the tape is essentially worthless.

Also, despite it being called teflon tape, DuPont (the company that owns the trademark for Teflon) doesn't actually manufacture any PTFE tape. I know this, yet, I still refer to it as teflon tape.
 
smackababy said:
Pretty much all instances where I've used teflon tape was on metal to metal and I never had a problem. Granted, I didn't use it in a watercooling loop.

I think the real issue is whether the threads on the barbs are parallel or tapered. If they are tapered, the tape can help provide a seal; if they are parallel, the gasket is what provides the seal an the tape is essentially worthless.

Also, despite it being called teflon tape, DuPont (the company that owns the trademark for Teflon) doesn't actually manufacture any PTFE tape. I know this, yet, I still refer to it as teflon tape.
Click to expand...

Well, it was just a question I thought I'd throw out there, to see if it's a useful material for water cooling. Frankly, I cannot imagine using it on either type of hose barb, but only on threaded fittings. It's true that the threads will cut into the tape, but the tape shouldn't get into the water loop if you're careful to clean off the old tape and add new when you take the fitting apart.
 
I have used Teflon tape in or on hundreds of small chemical dispensers and never clogged or damaged any dispenser from T tape.
I have also resealed a few hundred water pumps and used T tape and a new seal and never ever found T tape in the impellers.
What I would like to locate is a filter that can be used in a pc cooling loop to catch garbage.
 
john3850 said:
I have used Teflon tape in or on hundreds of small chemical dispensers and never clogged or damaged any dispenser from T tape.
I have also resealed a few hundred water pumps and used T tape and a new seal and never ever found T tape in the impellers.
What I would like to locate is a filter that can be used in a pc cooling loop to catch garbage.
Click to expand...

Perhaps we could draw Aigo into a prospective enterprise, figure a way to manufacture it and make some money?:awe:

Or maybe there really is something "out there" and available.

Your interest in a filter dovetails with a thread I'd started on "bong coolers." Any bong cooler made to be efficient and effective is going to have contamination issues. So . . . . maybe if you find such an item -- you could inform us?
 
BonzaiDuck said:
Well, it was just a question I thought I'd throw out there, to see if it's a useful material for water cooling. Frankly, I cannot imagine using it on either type of hose barb, but only on threaded fittings. It's true that the threads will cut into the tape, but the tape shouldn't get into the water loop if you're careful to clean off the old tape and add new when you take the fitting apart.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone suggested using it on the barb and hose, but on the threads for the barb and something such as a waterblock or a radiator. And, properly applies plumbers tape would not be more than 3 wraps and not extend past the threads. This let's it act as a point of lower friction allowing threads to be tightened to the point of deformation, creating a seal. The tape itself doesn't create the seal, which is why in the parallel threads don't do anything with plumber tape and require a gasket (which, and I'm only guessing on this, are the kind of threads on barbs).

As far as a filter is concerned, most PC loops are closed systems, so with a proper biocide you shouldn't have "garbage" in the loop, as it wouldn't be introduced to begin with. Other than that, I'd imagine any fine mesh would work, as you'd be catching any debris from whatever, and able to remove it (or, at least, confine it). It shouldn't be anything that requires some kind of filtration for bacteria and such.
 
I also agree that you should not use tape on any fittings that have an O-ring. most parts of the water loop can pass small contaminants but the modern CPU blocks have tight restrictions that can be totally obstructed by the smallest contaminants. Something like shredded teflon take could completely obstruct coolant flow. This is not a guess, I have seen it happen before.
 
Loop filter
Because I used free water line and stainless fittings from work I never washed them and I trusted them to be clean first mistake.
I would take a funnel to add water and not rinse it.
I used two cheap Apogee XT's blocks and never checked the size of the pin micro structures inside the blocks that can collect debree lint very fast.
This is why I would like to find a filter that can be used in a loop.
 
john3850 said:
Loop filter
Because I used free water line and stainless fittings from work I never washed them and I trusted them to be clean first mistake.
I would take a funnel to add water and not rinse it.
I used two cheap Apogee XT's blocks and never checked the size of the pin micro structures inside the blocks that can collect debree lint very fast.
This is why I would like to find a filter that can be used in a loop.
Click to expand...

Don't they make small filters for fish tanks? It would also have to be able to flow at least 1gph?
 
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