Rigid Watercooling

[Greebo]

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. You'll definitely require more tubing than you'd think for just this reason. There is a little wiggle room available but not much. You can get bending mandrels to make the bend and help judge the angle. Monsoon also do a measuring kit to help plan the distances and angles. You can also reheat to change the angle a bit but I don't think you get too many goes before it looks naff or has flattened too much.

Yeah buying 5m of tubing. Massive overkill but I know I'll make mistakes and already added the Mandela and measuring kit to my basket to make my like a little simpler.

 

[.:SAmSuNG:.]

To make your life easier I would use the same manufacturer for fittings and tubing as some have slight size differences. I have the monsoon kit and surprisingly it wasn't that helpful. It also had a slightly different sized bending insert so had to get a primochill one.

 

[Greebo]

To make your life easier I would use the same manufacturer for fittings and tubing as some have slight size differences. I have the monsoon kit and surprisingly it wasn't that helpful. It also had a slightly different sized bending insert so had to get a primochill one.

Good idea. Wish everything worked the same, mix and match

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Hope you don't mind if I expand the conversation a little, OP.

Interesting thread, as I'm just about to embark on a hard pipe loop. I've done plenty soft tube loops in the past, so I'm OK with the basics but just wanted to clear a couple of things up.

First, I would prefer to use 13mm pipe as it will be easier to bend in a tighter ITX case. I'm assuming it would have to be a big loop before pipe OD became an issue?

I'll be using this pump with two rads, one cpu and one gpu block.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-xres-140-revo-d5-pwm-incl.-pump-wc-886-ek.html

 

[Greebo]

You should be fine with that pump. I just have the same pump on a cpu, two full GPu blocks and three rads.

And Id shouldn't be an issue, you might lose the odd degree. How many right angled bends in your loop will make a bigger difference.

 

[Cenedd]

All your fittings will have an ID of approximately 10mm anyway so you don't gain a great deal of performance by using tubing with an ID greater than that. It's true that larger bore tubing will present less resistance but you're not really introducing a major new source by staying with 10mm ID throughout.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Cheers. I honestly think thicker tube will look too much in a compact build.

Will get cracking soon.

 

[Greebo]

Right angled bends is the worst thing about rigid tubing Imo. Martins labs did tests once and every right angled bend added a quarter of a degree in temps to your loop. Easy to avoid with flexi tubing but now I'll have something like 8 or 9 on my new loop.

 

[DBT85]

Right angled bends is the worst thing about rigid tubing Imo. Martins labs did tests once and every right angled bend added a quarter of a degree in temps to your loop. Easy to avoid with flexi tubing but now I'll have something like 8 or 9 on my new loop.

That was a test for elbow fittings. If you're bending rigid tubes there will be much less of an issue.

Also from the writeup itself

As the chart shows, it would take almost 30 each 90 degree elbows to add up to 1 degree in CPU temp rise. Half a dozen to get to aesthetic perfection is perfectly fine from an art priority perspective.

 

[Shilz]

This was a brilliant PETG video I watched at the weekend. I've just got into water cooling and went with soft tubing but one day i'll give this a go.

The guy goes through fire and hell to get his build right its great to watch.

https://youtu.be/E5Z4tIB7_v8

 

[Aberfala]

This was a brilliant PETG video I watched at the weekend. I've just got into water cooling and went with soft tubing but one day i'll give this a go.

The guy goes through fire and hell to get his build right its great to watch.

https://youtu.be/E5Z4tIB7_v8

I had a look at his vids, he really did have some issues with his build, the tubing being just part of it.

I've had a fair few problems myself in the past trying to get the temps/noise level I'm aiming for so can totally sympathise with him.

 

[Greebo]

Cant find anywhere which has stock of the inserts for the EK 16/12 hard tubing for bending unless i buy a full tool kit

 

[Smffy]

Cant find anywhere which has stock of the inserts for the EK 16/12 hard tubing for bending unless i buy a full tool kit

Because its actually listed as 13mm in most places... Can't give you the link but there is a place selling it for £4 right now. If you Google:

Monsoon Silicon Bending Insert Red For 1/2" / 13mm ID Hose

Sure you'll find it. 13mm is good, allows for variance and if you lube it up (I used olive oil) it works a charm - tighter is better for the bends. I used this on my 16mm EK tubing... If its really too tight you can sand it down.

 

[Greebo]

Thanks

 

[Greebo]

Well ordered the following last night.

1 x Black Ice Nemesis GTX 420 Radiator - Black
1 x Black Ice Nemesis Radiator GTS 240 - Black
1 x Black Ice Nemesis Radiator GTS 280 - Black
1 x Aquacomputer flow rate sensor mps flow 400, G1/4
1 x XSPC PETG Chamfer Tool (Deburring tool) for Acrylic/PETG Tube (XS-PETG-CHAM)
1 x Aquacomputer aqualis XT with fill level measurement and lighting option, G1/4
1 x Alphacool Eiszapfen screw plug G1/4 - deep black
1 x Alphacool 2-way ball valve G1/4 - Black Nickel
1 x Monsoon Hardline Pro Measuring Kit
1 x Alphacool connection terminal TEE T-piece round, G1/4 - deep black
3 x Alphacool Eisrohr 16/12mm PETG HardTube 80cm - 4pcs
1 x Alphacool Silicon Bending Insert 100cm for ID 1/2" / 12mm hard tubes - blue
1 x Monsoon Hardline Pro Mandrel Kit 16/12mm (ID 1/2" OD 5/8")
22 x Alphacool Eiszapfen 16mm HardTube compression fitting G1/4 for plexi- brass tubes (rigid or hard tubes) - knurled - deep black
1 x Aquaero 6 XT
1 x D5 Pump Motor with USB and Aquabus Interface

Total cost circa £700 :O

Have I missed anything?

Oh yeah I got 5 Varder 140 ER fans and 2 120mm ones as well That was another £60

 

[Cenedd]

Total cost circa £700 :O
Have I missed anything?

A new mortgage?

PWM hub for the Varders?

You might want to consider a 4-pin Aquabus cable (same ends as a PWM cable). The extra pin carries power and it would let you connect the flow meter to the Aquaero and power it at the same time. Otherwise you'd have to have the USB plugged in too - which isn't a problem but means extra wires to look untidy.
You could do the same with the res but you need the USB connection to calibrate the fill level sensor - although you could connect it only when you need, it's a bit awkward.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Greebo, could you post some pictures when done?

Enjoy the build!

 

[Greebo]

A new mortgage?

PWM hub for the Varders?

You might want to consider a 4-pin Aquabus cable (same ends as a PWM cable). The extra pin carries power and it would let you connect the flow meter to the Aquaero and power it at the same time. Otherwise you'd have to have the USB plugged in too - which isn't a problem but means extra wires to look untidy.
You could do the same with the res but you need the USB connection to calibrate the fill level sensor - although you could connect it only when you need, it's a bit awkward.

I (think) my Primoo Enthoo Case comes with a PWM hub (I hope)

Good call on the on the 4-pin cable though. Although I am hoping to be able to fit the flow meter behind the back of the case out of sight.

I am sure I will find loads of bits im missing but the build starts this weekend and will take me a while and I have enough to start putting it together and see what else i need

Can't believe I have just spent over £700 on watercooling bits. Worse than my last build.

Before I clicked buy I hesitated as I have 3 rads now and flexi tubing and all the bitspower fittings needed, reservoir and a d5 pump plus 2 fan controllers but it just wouldnt do the new case justice. I could have just lifted it all across but I really fancy jumping into the Aquaero system and none of my fans are pwm etc.

 

[Greebo]

Greebo, could you post some pictures when done?

Enjoy the build!

Will do. Might even do a blog as I do it.

 

[Maverick2332]

These are great for cutting PETG if you need them.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xspc-heavy-duty-hose-cutter-0-25mm-wc-341-xs.html