Acrylic Tube

JamesM

JamesM

JamesM

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Any do's and do nots regarding this stuff?

I've got a new motherboard on the way and I can't seem to find a proper bridge to connect them together (too far apart) so was just going to use tubing instead.

Size wise, I currently have 7/16 tubing on the rest of my system. I presume 16mm acrylic tubing would be the way to go?

Any tips on cutting it to the right lengths etc. Masking tape to help neaten cuts?

Also if I went with Monsoon tubing, do I have to use Monsoon fittings or would EK ones be ok?

:)
 
Basically the trick with acrylic tubing is to measure... measure & measure again! When heating make sure you get it nice & warm (e.g. don't try to force a bend) I cut my hands a few times trying to force a bend resulting in the tube snapping.

Buy more tubing than you think you will need, chances are you will waste a fair amount when you first start

Acrylic is obviously a lot less flexible than normal rubber tubing, so this gives you very little room for errors (however feels very rewarding when done)

Cutting wise I just used a junior hacksaw with a very high TPI blade, then I used a scapel & some fine grit sandpaper, to tidy up the edges (ideally chamfer the edges to prevent any damage to the o-rings within the fitting)

Fittings wise, just make sure that the OD is correct for the tubing you're using.. I used the EK fittings, they worked fine
 
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BattFink said:
Basically the trick with acrylic tubing is to measure... measure & measure again!

Acrylic is obviously a lot less flexible than normal rubber tubing, so this gives you very little room for errors (however feels very rewarding when done)

Cutting wise I just used a junior hacksaw with a very high TPI blade, then I used a scapel & some fine grit sandpaper, to tidy up the edges (ideally chamfer the edges to prevent any damage to the o-rings within the fitting)

Fittings wise, just make sure that the OD is correct for the tubing you're using.. I used the EK fittings, they worked fine
Click to expand...

Perfect, just what I was after, thank you.
 
The benefit with EKhd fittings would be that they would work with any set of GPU blocks, while many bridges need specific brand/series of blocks to use.

Apart from that its all aesthetic. Though i suppose you could find more uses for the fittings if you were to change from Crossfire/SLI to a faster single card, while the bridge would just be a plastic brick.
 
If your using Monsoon Fittings with hardline tubing make sure to buy the hardline fittings as these come with a little plastic gromet that fits to the end of the tubing which has to be glued in to lock it in place, this makes the connection more secure.

Monsoon also do a little mandrel toolkit for making your bends and measuring etc to make sure you right angles are perfect every time it also has a mitre block in there to ensure perfect straight cuts. Think it retails for about 30 quid.

There is a video on youtube which shows these off a quick search of monsoon watercooling will give you the results.

They also sell them here which i hadn't realised http://www.overclockers.co.uk/search_results.php?keywords=monsoon+tool&_=1398853672786
 
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I'd only be using it for the GPU and to connect two 360 radiators together which are opposite each other.

At the moment I have some tubing between them but it sags a bit and i'd prefer it to be straight line. Will take a picture later to show you what I mean
 
CHVF-Z is a pretty nice board for acrylic tubing. 10mm extender levels the mb block with the CPU block and the nb fitting on the mb block lines up perfectly with a EK GPU block with a 10mm fitting and a 90 degree rotary fitting.

*Edit* realized how hard my reply is to read, so here's a picture instead!

1467277_10152168653103072_1412704948_n.jpg



Acrylic set up like this offers more support to your heavy GPU blocks than anything else!
 
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Now that looks rather nice.

I did think I would leave the motherboard block but I may get it now!
 
Acrylic tubing looks the job and that bit of advice from Batfink "is to measure... measure & measure again!" is a good tip.

Or measure twice and them cut thats a tip l got from a forum member when l was asking advice about a custom loop.

Might have a go me self when l service my loop.
 
I tend to measure so its a little too long and then sand it down to my needs, cant go wrong that way!

Give it a go, actually really easy and once its all in place, feels more secure than normal tubing.
 
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