Fittings advice

[Distracted]

Hi all.

I'm building in a pc-o7s and airflow is non existent so I'm trying my first loop. I am having to carefully consider each part due to available size and also aesthetic reasons.

So far I've got the following:

• Bitspower MonoBlock ASR370TC RGB-Nickel Designed For ASROCK Z370 Taichi
• Phanteks Glacier GTX 1080 Ti Aorus GPU full waterblock
• Phanteks R160 or R220 RGB reservoir
• DDC 3.25 PWM
• XSPC TX360 Ultrathin radiator

I'm going to be using Chromed copper pipe for the build.

Probably https://www.screwfix.com/p/wednesbury-chrome-pipe-15mm-x-2m/54679

I will be getting chrome fittings and I don't have a brand preference.

What I would like to know is, what sort of fittings should I be getting?

I assume that I need to get 15mm fittings for hardline tubing to match the dimensions of the pipe I've selected, but how do the fittings then connect to the various blocks / rad / res?

Is there a standard size screw fit for all those parts that every fitting has?

Thanks!

 

[Distracted]

Looks like I'm going to have to check the size of each port on my water blocks and res / rad and then get threaded fittings of that size which also match the tubing I am using.

And 15mm isn't a size of tube that I can find fittings for so I'm going to have to keep searching for tube / fittings.

 

[Space Monkey]

OCUK sell metal pipe made especially for water cooling, any good?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xspc-rigid-brass-tubing-14mm-0.5m-black-chrome-wc-44s-xs.html

 

[Distracted]

OCUK sell metal pipe made especially for water cooling, any good?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xspc-rigid-brass-tubing-14mm-0.5m-black-chrome-wc-44s-xs.html

Thank you. I was looking at this and the other hard tubing they sell. I think it is what I'll end up buying.

I still have to figure out the fittings, but my waterblocks and other bits shsould arrive tomorrow so I'm hoping seeing them in person will help me with that.

 

[Space Monkey]

The blocks and Res will all have a G1/4" threaded hole, so as long as you match the tube fittings with the tubing you'll be golden

 

[Smffy]

I have some pretty extensive experience with copper hardline, there are no fittings available retail for the 15mm copper you will find on the shelves in the U.K.

You can find 16mm copper, it’s rare but you can and in fact I’ve got some at home spare. This will not come chromed, so your options are:

1. Get 16mm copper and once all cuts are made get it Nickel plated (lots of people offer this)

2. Get the tubing mentioned above, this is Brass plated with Chrome

3. Get some Brass tubing in 16mm, I never really looked at this but viable...

4. 12mm copper, again eBay for this

Drop me a message if you need more info, been using copper hardline for a fair while now.

 

[LuckyBenski]

As mentioned by others, 15mm is a tricky size and tubing size matching fittings is difficult at best of times. Usual advice is to buy the same brand tubing as your fittings, but that might not work so well for copper.

@Smffy I'd love to see some copper hardline builds, got a thread?

 

[Smffy]

@Smffy I'd love to see some copper hardline builds, got a thread?

I’m away at the mo so these are the only ones I can find links to, it’s currently single GPU (have two 2080ti’s on order):



More complete build from previous Ryzen iteration:



The joints are copper welds for a bit of an industrial look, fittings are the 16mm Evo 2 monsoon - they are crap quality but look nice. Not recommended.

I am about to order a 1000d to replace this monster and at which point I will be swapping to the XSPC brass chrome for a bit of a change... I have a build log of the above somewhere and will post up a new one!

 

[LePhuronn]

As said above, you won't get hardline fittings for 15mm OD tube. Since 16mm OD tube is hard to come by, I'd suggest changing to 12mm OD copper tube instead since there are many hardline fittings available for the size.

Using the 14mm tube Space Monkey suggested would lock you in to XSPC's fittings since I've not seen anybody else do 14mm hardline fittings. Also I don't know if their brass tube is "half hard", which will determine if you can actually bend it or not. If it's not "half hard" then you will have to use adapters to make your bends.

@Smffy : I have tentative plans for a 12mm copper loop in the future, I'd be interested in your information to sanity check my own cack-handed research

 

[Smffy]

As said above, you won't get hardline fittings for 15mm OD tube. Since 16mm OD tube is hard to come by, I'd suggest changing to 12mm OD copper tube instead since there are many hardline fittings available for the size.

Using the 14mm tube Space Monkey suggested would lock you in to XSPC's fittings since I've not seen anybody else do 14mm hardline fittings. Also I don't know if their brass tube is "half hard", which will determine if you can actually bend it or not. If it's not "half hard" then you will have to use adapters to make your bends.

@Smffy : I have tentative plans for a 12mm copper loop in the future, I'd be interested in your information to sanity check my own cack-handed research

XSPC said you probably cannot bend it - the issue with coating before bending is the surface metal can crack... that said I’m gonna try it .

I think it’s more beneficial to bend first then get it coated but that’s more expense.

Although you get locked in to them for fittings they are one of the few I’ve seen with captive 90s/rotary so should be nice. Also having come from the EV2s the triple sea will be VERY good for metal tube, double was really solid and you get a much straighter fit vs what you can get away with on plastic tube.

Drop me a trust if you want to ask anything!

 

[LePhuronn]

Drop me a trust if you want to ask anything!

Will do! Project Anesidora is very much a pipe dream (no pun) right now, but it doesn't stop me researching, planning and pining

 

[Distracted]

Thanks everyone!

Smffy that copper looks very nice.

 

[Mysterae_]

Copper is my favourite type of tubing .

I prefer the 10mm tubing and fittings and buy it pre-chromed from ebay in coils. The copper tubing in coils is pliable enough to straighten and bend effectively with the right tools:

Don't waste your time and money trying to bend copper tubing that comes in straight lengths - the bends will collapse if not crack completely, the finish will be terrible and the inner radius will warp. If you need to use straight lengths of copper then use fittings to achieve your bends but it can look untidy (unlike smffy's which looks great).

If you are doing anything complicated with copper tubing then buy a lot of it, unchromed to practice with - you'll go through a lot of it to get the perfect fit! Once you have your precise tubes copy them in the chromed stuff.

 

[LePhuronn]

Don't waste your time and money trying to bend copper tubing that comes in straight lengths - the bends will collapse if not crack completely, the finish will be terrible and the inner radius will warp

Then you're doing it wrong.

"Half-hard" copper tube can be bent perfectly fine with a correctly-sized bender without issue. Cost-wise, you can get cheaper 12mm coils and then use an expensive tool to straighten them, or buy more expensive straight runs of 12mm tube from the outset. Works out the same, more or less.

As for bending, the correct size bending jig or correctly-size inner or outer bending springs will keep the tube intact.

The only time you risk damaging the finish is if you have pre-chromed tube that doesn't take to bending, but even then you can source pre-plated tube that is designed to be bent and not lose its finish.