Acrylic or PETG tube

_tucker_

_tucker_

_tucker_

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sure it’s been posted 100 times before but most I find are old and I know things change with time so I’m asking again

What do you guys go with acrylic or PETG hard tubing?
I know acrylic is brittle but apparently has a much better finish with lighting and dyes,
Is PETG that much worse that it doesn’t warrant being a close runner up?
Reason is I’m thinking of watercooling my sons new pc as a treat as he loves mine however I’ve never used rigid tube before but always wanted to, it looks fantatstic but there’s just so many for and against each one.
I live in the uk and mainly use the system for gaming with my son for a couple of hours at a time so heat really isn’t an issue in that respect.
Working with the material I’m not to worried about as I’m pretty good with my hands and I’m in the building trade so I’m used to finicky and time consuming tasks however I just want to make the right choice.

If you have any pics of your own pc please feel free to post some so I can get an idea of what the finish looks like as most online don’t state what material tube they used.

Any help would be appreciated
Cheers
 
I'd say PETG is much more popular right now. This is largely because it's easier to work with and much more forgiving in terms of cracking and stress. Looks like the majority of builds I see online use PETG.

I chose to use acrylic myself as I'm familiar with it as a material, and also have plenty of tools/skills. Found some nice frosted acrylic from Alphacool so that kind of made my mind up. I plan to use PETG soon so I can compare. I think the main differences are:

PETG can be cut directly with snips or a pipe cutter whereas acrylic must be sawn and then filed/sanded smooth.

PETG bends easier and at lower temperatures but is more prone to blowouts, whereas acrylic bubbles and can be trickier.

PETG is flexible and easier to get into tight areas after bending, and resistant to shattering. Acrylic can crack but is pretty strong.

PETG will start to deform at 60°C so if your liquid temps reach 60, it can deform and pop out of fittings, causing a leak. That's very high for fluid temperatures though.

PETG can look streaky or not perfectly clear/smooth. Acrylic tends to be optically better.

So YMMV, both are pretty good IMO.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I'd say PETG is much more popular right now. This is largely because it's easier to work with and much more forgiving in terms of cracking and stress. Looks like the majority of builds I see online use PETG.

I chose to use acrylic myself as I'm familiar with it as a material, and also have plenty of tools/skills. Found some nice frosted acrylic from Alphacool so that kind of made my mind up. I plan to use PETG soon so I can compare. I think the main differences are:

PETG can be cut directly with snips or a pipe cutter whereas acrylic must be sawn and then filed/sanded smooth.

PETG bends easier and at lower temperatures but is more prone to blowouts, whereas acrylic bubbles and can be trickier.

PETG is flexible and easier to get into tight areas after bending, and resistant to shattering. Acrylic can crack but is pretty strong.

PETG will start to deform at 60°C so if your liquid temps reach 60, it can deform and pop out of fittings, causing a leak. That's very high for fluid temperatures though.

PETG can look streaky or not perfectly clear/smooth. Acrylic tends to be optically better.

So YMMV, both are pretty good IMO.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the detailed response much appreciated
My water temp is usually around 33c with the heighest temp reaching 40c absolute max and that’s on a very hot day.
My sons case is a little smaller however it’s still having 2 large rads and I’m not cooling the GPUs so I don’t think it will be much different in temps.
I think what I might as well do then is start with PETG and perhaps do 1 section in acrylic, my main concearn is a lot of people say that acrylic is much cleaer so it leads me to believe that the PETG stuff is cloudy?
I’m going to use some bright colours so I want it as vivid as possible but not at the expense of safety to the machine.
Is this stuff fine to leave for years or does it need replacing after a while? Like does it turn brittle after a while?
Cheers
 
_tucker_ said:
Thanks for the detailed response much appreciated
My water temp is usually around 33c with the heighest temp reaching 40c absolute max and that’s on a very hot day.
My sons case is a little smaller however it’s still having 2 large rads and I’m not cooling the GPUs so I don’t think it will be much different in temps.
I think what I might as well do then is start with PETG and perhaps do 1 section in acrylic, my main concearn is a lot of people say that acrylic is much cleaer so it leads me to believe that the PETG stuff is cloudy?
I’m going to use some bright colours so I want it as vivid as possible but not at the expense of safety to the machine.
Is this stuff fine to leave for years or does it need replacing after a while? Like does it turn brittle after a while?
Cheers
Click to expand...

You won’t notice it being cloudy at all with bright coolant... it’s like your GPU block, lots of milling marks but put coolant in and looks crystal clear. PETG isn’t anywhere near cloudy so it’s going to look perfect.
 
I use PETG hardline in my case and it doesn't look cloudy at all to me. I use Mayhems X1 Blood Red and to me the tubing looks crystal clear. I have tried to capture it in some pictures for you but unfortunately the close up is slightly blurry and the led's around the inside top of the case are reflected but hopefully they are good enough to give you a idea of what to expect. I found one bad thing about PETG and it is easily scratched and that is what has happened to mine qhile wiping it with a microfibre cloth. It's my own fault for not using something softer and the tubing will be replaced at the next build. It doesn't really show up when the led's are off which is most of the time so I can live with it for now. I have put the pictures in a spoiler.

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7LHuXY6.jpg
 
That looks brilliant it’s nice to see a good clean build well done!
What blood red did you use the pre mix, concentrate or the little dud bottles? I used the little dye bottles but I had to use half the bottle to get anything near a deep red but most say a good few drops is enough?? I might just go premix next time
 
Thank you, that's actually part of my desk. You really don't want to see the mess of cables in the lower deck that houses the psu!!

It's the pre-mix that I used. I buy the 5 litre containers direct from Mayhems as my loop takes just over 2.5 litres because it's a ridiculously long and complex loop. The joys of mounting the rads in a box on a windowsill!!
 
pastymuncher said:
Thank you, that's actually part of my desk. You really don't want to see the mess of cables in the lower deck that houses the psu!!

It's the pre-mix that I used. I buy the 5 litre containers direct from Mayhems as my loop takes just over 2.5 litres because it's a ridiculously long and complex loop. The joys of mounting the rads in a box on a windowsill!!
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Hahah brilliant!
I’m actually going to be starting to build an integrated pc desk as they look fantastic and help clean up the surface area. Would you mind sending a picture of the whole desk please?
I’m really in 2 minds of do I put just my computer in there or do also put my sons in it aswell, I want it to be quite large and fill the whole desk and 2 would do that better. My case is a 900d and it’s rammed to the max with gear so it uses about 1.9ltr so I also buy the large bottles but I didn’t realise they did premix that big!!
I’ll start a new thread with the build in it for inspiration and advice but at the moment I’m just toying with the idea.
 
It's just something I put together myself to fit my tiny room and it's modular being made up of three sections. The computer part is the corner and I have a pair of worktops coming off it in a L shape. The one I sit at has a bedside cabinet to the left of it to provide storage for my paper etc. The one on the other side has a recycled cabinet under it for my printer, folders, junk drawer and things like that. There's nothing special about it apart from maybe the computer unit which got me the layout I wanted and couldn't get anywhere else. Likewise the modular desk. Everything available was either much too big or didn't have what I wanted so I put something together myself. If you really want to see some special desks have a look in the project log section because a couple of members have done some awesome scratch built desks in there.
 
@dingleweed Here you go. I have stuck the pictures in spoilers. The box measures 500mm wide x 365mm high x 160mm deep and is made from 12mm MDF.

This is the box from the inside. Top rad is a Coolgate G2 360mm, bottom is a Coolgate CG360. Both are 60mm thick.
gxfgR90.jpg

I had to lean out the window to take this shot so apologies if it's a bit out of focus. Fans are 12x BeQuiet Purewings 2 running in push/pull at a more or less silent 750rpm. The outlet from the pc comes into the box and then goes through a Y splitter so a tube goes to the lower inlet on each rad, through the rad and out the top outlets before going through another Y piece to go into a single tube for the pc return line. Previously I had the tubing going into the inlet on the bottom of the lower rad, out the top and into the bottom inlet on the top rad before exiting the top outlet of the upper rad and going back to the pc. I found that setup to be a nightmare to bleed and cooling isn't as good as it is with the current setup. Excuse the state of the outside of the box, it's on it's 3rd or 4th "improvement" now and is looking tired. The staples were just a quick fix to test the mesh out to see how well it filters. I will be making a new rear panel with some way to easily change the mesh in the summer.
CU71FRg.jpg

Just a overall view of the pc with the main room light out.
jfvJSdy.jpg

Close up of the XSPC Photon 270 res and water temp display. A couple of weeks ago that was showing low single digit temps!! No I don't get any condensation.
dkeYOyH.jpg

Fan control housing I made. Top controller is a Zalman Zm-MFC2 which controls the 4x 200mm case fans and displays temps for rear and to motherboard vrms and both NVME drives as well as displaying live power draw. Bottom controller is a Lamptron FC2. I have used Y splitters so each channel controls a push and a pull fan on the rads.
29TV7y0.jpg
 
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There's always borosilicate glass tubing if you want it to really pop. It definitely looks the best. You can't bend glass tubing of course, although you can buy pre-bent 90 degree tubes. Keep in mind that heat bending PETG/acrylic can be a REAL headache for some. Depends how much of a perfectionist you are, but I've seen it reduce grown men to tears lol! :D
 
pastymuncher said:
@dingleweed Here you go. I have stuck the pictures in spoilers. The box measures 500mm wide x 365mm high x 160mm deep and is made from 12mm MDF.

This is the box from the inside. Top rad is a Coolgate G2 360mm, bottom is a Coolgate CG360. Both are 60mm thick.
gxfgR90.jpg

I had to lean out the window to take this shot so apologies if it's a bit out of focus. Fans are 12x BeQuiet Purewings 2 running in push/pull at a more or less silent 750rpm. The outlet from the pc comes into the box and then goes through a Y splitter so a tube goes to the lower inlet on each rad, through the rad and out the top outlets before going through another Y piece to go into a single tube for the pc return line. Previously I had the tubing going into the inlet on the bottom of the lower rad, out the top and into the bottom inlet on the top rad before exiting the top outlet of the upper rad and going back to the pc. I found that setup to be a nightmare to bleed and cooling isn't as good as it is with the current setup. Excuse the state of the outside of the box, it's on it's 3rd or 4th "improvement" now and is looking tired. The staples were just a quick fix to test the mesh out to see how well it filters. I will be making a new rear panel with some way to easily change the mesh in the summer.
CU71FRg.jpg

Just a overall view of the pc with the main room light out.
jfvJSdy.jpg

Close up of the XSPC Photon 270 res and water temp display. A couple of weeks ago that was showing low single digit temps!! No I don't get any condensation.
dkeYOyH.jpg

Fan control housing I made. Top controller is a Zalman Zm-MFC2 which controls the 4x 200mm case fans and displays temps for rear and to motherboard vrms and both NVME drives as well as displaying live power draw. Bottom controller is a Lamptron FC2. I have used Y splitters so each channel controls a push and a pull fan on the rads.
29TV7y0.jpg
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Looks real good buddy well done, can’t wait to start building my desk I’ve got a few bits ready for the weekend to start.

Legend said:
There's always borosilicate glass tubing if you want it to really pop. It definitely looks the best. You can't bend glass tubing of course, although you can buy pre-bent 90 degree tubes. Keep in mind that heat bending PETG/acrylic can be a REAL headache for some. Depends how much of a perfectionist you are, but I've seen it reduce grown men to tears lol! :D
Click to expand...
I accept the challenge with tissues in one hand and a pipe bender in the other haha
 
_tucker_ said:
I accept the challenge with tissues in one hand and a pipe bender in the other haha
Click to expand...


Well there's a lot more finesse to it than just the bending... it's the precise measurements required, particularly if you have more than one bend in a tube. Even a couple mm out and everything starts to look janky and off angle. The entire point of hard tubing is for the aesthetic, there's no other reason to do it. If that's not a consideration, than you might as well go with flexible tubing, which is FAR easier to work with.
 
Legend said:
Well there's a lot more finesse to it than just the bending... it's the precise measurements required, particularly if you have more than one bend in a tube. Even a couple mm out and everything starts to look janky and off angle. The entire point of hard tubing is for the aesthetic, there's no other reason to do it. If that's not a consideration, than you might as well go with flexible tubing, which is FAR easier to work with.
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I’m a carpenter by trade so I’m used to working even down to the half a mm or Nat’s ***k as we call it.
I’ve been a good few pcs in the past and this time I’m looking to go all out that’s why I’m using rigid tube, I’m building a 1.6m desk with 2 pcs integrated into it so I’ll be going the extra mile with every part. I want to have bends in the pipe as I feel this will look the best and save a few bob on fittings, I’ll just have a few practice runs before I make the final pieces.
Just couldn’t decide what would be better, I want the best stuff but if it means too much risk To the integrity of the build ie. risking a crack and leak with acrylic then I’ll go with what’s best for my capability. I suppose it would be ideal to get a length of each to begin with and have a few practice runs
The case will have about assignable LEDs in so I’m sure that will light that tube up like a Christmas tree
 
_tucker_ said:
I’m a carpenter by trade so I’m used to working even down to the half a mm or Nat’s ***k as we call it.
I’ve been a good few pcs in the past and this time I’m looking to go all out that’s why I’m using rigid tube, I’m building a 1.6m desk with 2 pcs integrated into it so I’ll be going the extra mile with every part. I want to have bends in the pipe as I feel this will look the best and save a few bob on fittings, I’ll just have a few practice runs before I make the final pieces.
Just couldn’t decide what would be better, I want the best stuff but if it means too much risk To the integrity of the build ie. risking a crack and leak with acrylic then I’ll go with what’s best for my capability. I suppose it would be ideal to get a length of each to begin with and have a few practice runs
The case will have about assignable LEDs in so I’m sure that will light that tube up like a Christmas tree
Click to expand...


Having tried both myself, PETG is definitely easier to work with. Visually, once filled, you will be hard pressed to notice the difference. In terms of the naked tube, acrylic does look a bit clearer, but it's not something that is very easy to notice in a running build. Plus the upsides of PETG when it comes to working with it far outweigh acrylic in my experience.
 
A
Legend said:
Having tried both myself, PETG is definitely easier to work with. Visually, once filled, you will be hard pressed to notice the difference. In terms of the naked tube, acrylic does look a bit clearer, but it's not something that is very easy to notice in a running build. Plus the upsides of PETG when it comes to working with it far outweigh acrylic in my experience.
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What fittings did you use? I’ve ordered some compression ones, I didn’t like the idea of just push fit as I do sometimes move my pc, not far or much but it does often get shoved to access ports, when I build a desk soon I won’t have that issue but I though compression sounded a tad safer
 
_tucker_ said:
A

What fittings did you use? I’ve ordered some compression ones, I didn’t like the idea of just push fit as I do sometimes move my pc, not far or much but it does often get shoved to access ports, when I build a desk soon I won’t have that issue but I though compression sounded a tad safer
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Compression fittings are for soft tubing only, push fit are for hard tube. If the fittings list an inside dimension for the tubing, that will be for soft tubing (the hard stuff's inside diameter doesn't affect anything as it normally doesn't have to fit over anything).

Hard tube fittings still have screw down collars to tighten up the fit.
 
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