PETG vs ACRYLIC vs COPPER

Acrylic - clearer, less likely to stain or cloud up.

Brittle, can break easy and leak

Petg - much easier to bend over acrylic, more flex so easier to build loop as adjustment for connections. Can be hit with a hammer

Can stain and cloud up and is less clear than acrylic.

Copper - solid

Harder to bend, need pipe blenders or more joints. You can't see your fluid.
 
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Greebo, thanks!

I'm ruling out acrylic then. Some more questions, if you have time to respond.

  1. Does PETG leech anything? Only negative thing I have heard is water can evaporate though 'nanopores'!?
  2. Max size of PETG is 12/16mm? ID 12mm obviously.
  3. Max diameter of copper for standard fittings is 12mm? 12mm copper tube has a 0.8mm thick wall. ID therefore 11.2mm.
  4. Are there any issues with oxidation of copper tube?
Thoughts...

  • Not much difference between ID of 12mm copper at 12/16mm PETG.
  • Not seeing the fluid is not a con for me
  • Any issues with fittings coming loose?
  • What are the best fittings to use?
I'm leaning towards copper, depending on the response to the above.
 
Copper has been used to supply all our water in our houses for years so as long as you fit the fittings correctly they won't leak any more than any other pipe.

Obviously there is issue about mixing metals in loops but you have to be aware of that when you use copper water blocks or rads. Eh don't mix copper pipe with aluminium blocks or rads.
 
I'm leaning towards copper, depending on the response to the above.


PTEG:

1. Mine has been in ages, i've got no issues with it...
2. Yes max size is 16/12
3. Copper is complicated as the sizes you need for water cooling a PC are not really standard sizes for plumbing. So you either get a special size, or pay a little over the odds vs. a hardware store to get specific water cooling stuff. (its the same)
"Common sizes are 15 mm and 22 mm. Larger sizes are 28 mm, 35 mm, 42 mm and 54 mm"

Copper:

Main issues are:

1. Bending is tricky and can be less adaptive to some bends
2. Size is not a standard size i.e. the usual pipe for plumbing at home is not in the right size typically
3. Fittings are not necessarily guaranteed, if you get metric fittings (mm not inches) should be good if the OD is right but again nobody will guarantee you that

That said I recently saw some chrome plated copper tube and it looks amazing. Very pricey though...

People tend to disagree a lot with the material but I can honestly say PETG has been great for me. Up to you mate, Greebo might add some more or disagree as he is currently plumbing in a million rads to cool his new kit.

Hope it helps.
 
Thank you again Greebo. And thank you Smffy. I really appreciate the knowledge input.

I can get 12mm copper pipe from my hardware store and EKWB sell 12mm OD hard tube fittings which they advertise for use with copper tubing.

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-12mm-g1-4-nickel

All of my blocks and rads are copper. Who uses aluminium anyway!?

Copper it is then :)
 
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Thank you again Greebo. And thank you Smffy. I really appreciate the knowledge input.

I can get 12mm copper pipe from my hardware store and EKWB sell 12mm OD hard tube fittings which they advertise for use with copper tubing.

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-12mm-g1-4-nickel

All of my blocks and rads are copper. Who uses aluminium anyway!?

Copper it is then :)

Nice, its going to be quite unique - make sure you get some copper polish and finishing paper to shine up the cut tubes... Also check this out in the build logs if you want to feel bad about yours while you do it :D

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18736610

Some real inspiration for the other fittings look and feel there...
 
I've seen Project Evie. It's amazing in every way and I have a lot of respect for the time and effort put into creating something so unique.

Personally, I prefer something with a more discrete appearance.

I have started a build/project log but will be collecting parts for the next two months before I start putting things together. There's not much in the log so far but I have ordered the case and delivery is expected soon.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18746259

I'm going to get some quotes for chrome plating the copper once I get to that stage of the build.
 
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Thank you again Greebo. And thank you Smffy. I really appreciate the knowledge input.

I can get 12mm copper pipe from my hardware store and EKWB sell 12mm OD hard tube fittings which they advertise for use with copper tubing.

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-12mm-g1-4-nickel

All of my blocks and rads are copper. Who uses aluminium anyway!?

Copper it is then :)

Can't remember who it is, MSI or corsair I think and they have just released a waterblock for the 1080 carved out of a solid lump of aluminium............. thats not going to go well is some peoples water loop.

Plus its amazing how many rads are aluminium and not copper.
 
I went PETG as acryllic being brittle annoys the hell out of me and PETG was so much easier to work with.

Okay it might end up being stained red in 12 months. Don't care, its cheap enough Ill just swap it if that happens.

The chromed copper pipe I was tempted with though, looks amazing.
 
Chromed copper in a caselabs case will be part of my next build.

It's all preference really, pros and cons have been listed above. I went with acrylic and it's been fine so far.
 
Can't remember who it is, MSI or corsair I think and they have just released a waterblock for the 1080 carved out of a solid lump of aluminium............. thats not going to go well is some peoples water loop.

Plus its amazing how many rads are aluminium and not copper.

Zotac hybrid card I believe ;)

How bad is the staining and clouding with PETG? Is it very obvious or is it a non-issue?

Mines been in coming up to about 10 months and its totally fine... With EK UV Blue coolant
 
How bad is the staining and clouding with PETG? Is it very obvious or is it a non-issue?

I did a cleanout of my loop after 2 years a little while ago. The tubing (primochill) was stained but it was really only visible once the loop was drained. I think staining is a non-issue unless you want to change coolant colour or use cheap tubing. You should treat tubing as a consumable anyway - I re-did the loop after the cleaning.

I use mayhems pastel orange which is opaque so can't comment on clouding.
 
I have E22 acrylic and found it difficult to bend. Took lots of goes to get right. When I come to a change over, I think I will use PETG due to so many people saying how forgiving it is when bending.
 
Always wanted to do copper. I just think it looks so amazing but must be a complete PITA whenever you want to do any kind of maintenance.
 
Always wanted to do copper. I just think it looks so amazing but must be a complete PITA whenever you want to do any kind of maintenance.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing, really careful planning required... What would make me nervous is not being able to see if there is any fluid left in the tube before disconnecting it ;)
 
I plan on installing a drain port at the lowest point in my system and using non-conductive coolant. Can always clean off a little spillage and wipe with isopropyl.
 
I don't know if it's because I have nothing to compare it with but I found the bending of the acrylic pretty easy.
 
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