WC overhaul with acrylic tubing

famas · 24 Oct 2015 at 10:26

Hey all,

Some of you may remember my first water cooled build from a couple of years ago, I got a lot of help from this forum.

Been really happy with the build its be faultless and always consistent temps.

It's been untouched for almost 2 years now and I'm thinking it could do with a fluid refresh and dust out, then I thought while I'm at it I'd like to give it a new look so am thinking of changing over to acrylic tubing.

Current tubing is 16mm OD and I was thinking of changing to 12mm acrylic for looks but also cost saving as it seems 16mm fittings are much more expensive.

Question is what sort of difference in temps would I get changing to 12mm tube?

Also am I right in saying I'd just need these adapters for the majority of the build, rads, water blocks etc?

cheers.

Disco_P · 24 Oct 2015 at 14:01

There will probably be no change in temps. At least nothing significant.

I'm trying to work out your loop. Looks like spaghetti junction!

You just need fittings and the tubing, are you bending or using angled fittings?

famas · 24 Oct 2015 at 15:42

Loop is probably upside down and backwards but it seems to work

Goes, reservoir > pump > right hand radiator > GFX > CPU > top radiator > left hand radiator > reservoir.

Was going to have a go at bending the tubing.

Greebo · 25 Oct 2015 at 09:33

Doesn't matter which order anything is in your loop apart from its always res to pump.

Your water temp reaches an equilibrium very quickly.

So you always do you loop with the shortest tubing and least bends. From memory each bend adds 0.1 degree to your water temps.

khemist · 25 Oct 2015 at 19:21

Stay away from 16mm stuff i would say for rigid tubing, most people don't use it .... i bought some 16mm glass tubing and fittings but i have since went 12mm since there are a lot more fittings in that diameter.

famas · 25 Oct 2015 at 20:16

Ah cool 12mm it it.

Just got to decide on a new colour..... If I can be bothered to re-braid all my cables

Avenged7Fold · 27 Oct 2015 at 09:27

12mm is easier to bend without cracking/breaking or kinking.

It is surprisingly easy, good luck!

famas · 7 Nov 2015 at 12:22

Just looking at pricing for what I'd need and its all adding up!

To try and keep costs down a bit I was looking at the EK-HD Adapters 10/12mm

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-hd-adapter-10-12mm-black-wc-418-ek.html

But since noticed they are only a push fit connection and not a compression fitting.

Has any one used them, how secure are they?
I'm a little concerned they would not be suitable for my top rad?

Would I be ok to use a mixture of the EK-HD adapters and the better EK-HDC compression fittings to help reduce costs.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ek-water-blocks-ek-hdc-fitting-12mm-g1-4-nickel-wc-586-ek.html

Doing a quick count up I'd need at least 18 fittings which is a big chunk of my budget.

ahasnaini · 9 Nov 2015 at 22:16

if you are doing it for the first time this might be useful https://www.overclockers.co.uk/mons...it-1-2-x-5-8-16mm-value-bundle-bu-001-mo.html

NoobCannon · 9 Nov 2015 at 22:22

make sure you order more tubing than you think you need . bound to **** it up somewhere and guaranteed to be the last one you need to finish the build!

regarding push fittings they should be fine just leak test first :0

savagesam117 · 9 Nov 2015 at 22:24

I'm doing this change now, just waiting on my bendy kit.

I've ordered loads of tube, I think I got 5 packs of the monsoon stuff!

Them push fittings scare me personally!

NoobCannon · 9 Nov 2015 at 22:38

savagesam117 said:
I'm doing this change now, just waiting on my bendy kit.

I've ordered loads of tube, I think I got 5 packs of the monsoon stuff!

Them push fittings scare me personally!

I bet they are all over your house and you don't realise it

.

for example my water softner runs at 100psi [a lot] and the hoses are connected with push fittings.

same with all my radiators in my house copper - push fittings on rads

famas · 10 Nov 2015 at 17:51

cheers for the input guys.

I did a bit of research and the EK push fittings got some good reviews so I went with them.

They seem to be a very tight fit around the EK tube, I bet its going to be a bugger fitting it all

Guessing compression fittings are much easier to use hence they are more popular?

I also got some bitspower crystal link tube which is fractionally smaller in diameter than the EK tube but still a tight fit on the fitting, so hopefully I can use it and it wont leak?

I ordered 2 meters of hose and quickly realized its no where near enough!

famas · 23 Dec 2015 at 17:35

So the Winter holiday is upon us and finally I can start the revamp!

I think I have all the fittings I need, been busy braiding new extension cables, got new led lights and spent a small fortune on tubing.....so hopefully got enough!

All i need to do now is pick a day to start and re bump this thread in search of any last minute hints and tips to see me through to the finish.

cheers all and wish me luck

.:SAmSuNG:. · 24 Dec 2015 at 15:29

Like the effort but really not sure on the threading to keep the cables neat.

famas · 24 Dec 2015 at 15:41

Think its a Marmite thing. I like it

Hopefully it will look good once in the case.

koolpc · 24 Dec 2015 at 15:53

Nice work so far

Rob_F · 27 Dec 2015 at 02:16

Looks like great work, the cables look a bit 'strangled' but it's definitely neat!

Rammix · 30 Dec 2015 at 10:23

I really like what you've done with them cables.

famas · 5 Jan 2016 at 17:51

Well that was an experience i don't want to repeat any time soon.

It was a lot harder than I was anticipating, in fact it was a total nightmare!

The idea of having nice straight lines went straight out the window. I think my loop and set up is far to complex for it with out spending a small fortune on angled fittings.

It was a tall order doing a loop this large for a first go and my patience isn't what it was.
Bending acrylic perfectly is also a lot harder than people make it look though i was getting the hang of it towards the end.
I found free hand bending on a flat surface better than using the mandrels.

In hindsight I wish I'd spent a bit more money and got the compression fittings.
Not that I think the push fittings aren't up to the job, form the fitting point of view I think they were the biggest cause of my problems.

Getting the tubes in place was the main problem as they had to be longer than the distance between fittings to allow enough length to reach the inner seals in the fitting.

A number of times I had to bend components (gfx card, mobo, radiators, case etc) the length of the fitting to get the tube in place. Obviously not ideal, I think It would have been much easier with compression fittings.

So, While I'm fairly pleased with the out come it's not quite what I had in mind.

I've still got to tidy the cables and a few other bits but its mostly done.