Tygon tubing turning yellow

[adairusmc]

About six weeks ago or so I upgraded my case and water cooling loop with a new reservoir/tubing. I noticed today that the tubing I am using, clear tygon tubing (bought from frozencpu), is starting to turn yellow.

I am using a silver killcoil and a couple of drops of dead-water in the loop (distilled water of course), and the reservoir looks perfectly clean with no signs of any discoloration or issue with the water.

Is this something I should worry about, and get new tubing for?

Thanks for any input.

 

[stahlhart]

UV exposure?

 

[adairusmc]

UV exposure?

Well, I had a UV lamp with my old case, but when I moved to the new case and replaced the tubing with the new tygon stuff, I took that out. There are 3 120mm red LED fans on the radiator inside the case, a 140mm red led fan on the back of the case for exhaust, and two red leds stuck in my bay reservoir. Think those LEDs could be doing it?

 

[stahlhart]

I doubt that they would be enough to cause it -- I was thinking more like UV-reactive lighting in the case, or an open case that is exposed to sunlight. There might be a flame-retardant compound in the tubing polymer that is breaking down.

How thick is the tubing? Could you cut a small cross-section of it off to see if the discoloration permeates the full thickness of the tubing wall, or is just on the inner or outer surface? My guess would be that if it were the coolant, it would be the inner tubing surface, but if it were a light exposure problem, it would be either the outer wall or all the way through.

 

[adairusmc]

I doubt that they would be enough to cause it -- I was thinking more like UV-reactive lighting in the case, or an open case that is exposed to sunlight. There might be a flame-retardant compound in the tubing polymer that is breaking down.

How thick is the tubing? Could you cut a small cross-section of it off to see if the discoloration permeates the full thickness of the tubing wall, or is just on the inner or outer surface? My guess would be that if it were the coolant, it would be the inner tubing surface, but if it were a light exposure problem, it would be either the outer wall or all the way through.

I will try to get part of the loop removed and cut a piece of it off. I would think if it was the coolant that it would show in the clear acryllic walls of the reservoir as well.

I will try and get that piece cut off soon so see where the issue is. If it is just on the outside I am more inclined to just let the loop be and replace the tubing sometime soon.

 

[stahlhart]

Some additional thought: if the tubing clamps over a fitting at one end, that portion of the tubing over the fitting wouldn't be exposed to the coolant, so you could just pull that end free and compare the condition of it to the part of the tubing that does come into contact with the coolant. You might not have to do any cutting that way.

 

[adairusmc]

Well, I cut some tubing off and started seeing why it is yellow. It is definitely not a film or deposit on the inside, I have scrubbed a little 4 inch section of it over and over with different cleaners to test and it is still yellow. It is not yellow on the parts over the fittings however, it is still clear there.

The only thing I can think of is that the drops of dead water caused some reaction in the tubing to cause it to go yellow. I even cut the little piece I had lengthwise and tried shaving some off of the inside, still yellow. I think I am going to replace a small section of tubing with some spare tubing I have that is still new, and run it without the dead water and just the silver killcoil for a while and see if that section turns yellow as well.

I did hook the loop back up and ran a vinegar/distilled water solution through it for about 4 hours tonight, and the tubing is no clearer than before.

Thank you for the input stahlhart

 

[stahlhart]

I think you're right -- it's probably permeated through the surface some.

Just a hunch -- have you tried hydrogen peroxide? You can get a stronger concentration of it at a beauty supply store, "40 volume", that's much more concentrated than the first aid stuff at the drug store. I'm wondering if that might reverse the yellowing. You could stick one end of the tubing into a container of it and let it sit for a while.

I've done some restoration of old computer cases with this stuff, made up into a mix with a couple of other things:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retr0bright

I'm wondering if you're having a similar issue -- mabye there's a flame retardant mixed in the tubing polymer, and your coolant is reacting with it in much the same way as old computer case parts discolor from UV exposure.

 

[nitromullet]

Could be plasticiser leech. I had some some Clearflex tubing that would discolor in about a week, and I know that Tygon R3603 does this as well.

Just google "plasticiser leech" and you'll find threads at XS, RRTech, etc on this.

 

[stahlhart]

I like that explanation a lot better.

 

[adairusmc]

That sounds like a good explanation to me, the plasticiser leech. I am using Tygon R3603 as well.

 

[miraxi]

I have exact same "tubing went yellowish" thing going on.

It is discussed at Overclockers forum. From there you find details of my loop etc.

Clear Tygon R3603 :



After 2 months:

 

[Meghan54]

The problems with Tygon 3603 is a long standing, well known set of problems.....clouding, turning yellow, picking up color. While it's easy to work with, it ends up looking like hell after a few months.

That's why a lot of people migrated to Primochill Pro LRT tubing.....works as well as the Tygon but doesn't cloud, turn yellow, etc.