(Background: I am building my first custom water loop.) My question is how tight should I tighten the compression fittings. I am using XSPC fittings listed below. I have read in various places on the net "finger tight" but what exactly does that mean? I can keep tightening the compression fittings until the outer ring reaches the surface that the compression barb is mounted on. (Maybe I have strong fingers?) The other thing is that tightening the compression fittings this much tends to make the tube twist around a little and if I have laid out the curves in the tubing then once I tighten the compression fittings the tubing twists around and is much more likely to get kinks in it... I have resorted to pre twisting the tubing by about 45-60 degrees and then tightening the compression fittings as much as I can by hand. Am I doing something wrong? I am still in the leak testing phase and since I am in no massive rush to get this going I am taking my time to make sure I get this correct. If it helps here are the components I am using: Fittings: XSPC G1/4" to 7/16" ID, 5/8" OD Compression Fitting Tubbing: PrimoFlex Pro LRT UV Blue Tubing Res: XSPC D5 Dual Bay Reservoir (XSPC-D5-DBRES) Pump: Koolance PMP-450 High-flow Pump (PMP-450) Radiator: Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 360mm Fans: 3 X Scythe Gentle Typhoon Fan 1850 rpm ( 120x120x25mm ) CPU Waterblock: XSPC Raystorm CPU Waterblock - Intel (XSPC-RAYSTORM-INTEL) Motherboard Block: XSPC X79 Rampage IV WaterBlock Set - Copper Block (XSPC-RAM-IV-WATERBLOCK-SET) (I am not over clocking the graphics card since the CPU over clock is more important for me. Faster compiles and simulations, and the simulations are difficult to do in GPGPU coding etc.)
In reply to my own comment. I saw the following anti-twist adaptors: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bishsig14ana.html http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product...ce-adaptor-revolvable-G1-4-AG-to-G1-4-IG.html http://www.aquatuning.co.uk/product...-G3-8-to-G1-4-revolvable---silver-nickel.html Do people tend to use these a lot? Or is it just me? Do they solve the tube twisting problem some other way?
I just twist them up until they are nice and tight and i cant really do them up anymore. No exact science about it, just dont over tighten them. To avoid the tube twisting fit the fitting to the block/rad/res/whatever first, then push the tubing on and tighten the coller. Job done!! Im currently re working the rig in my signature and i wish i was at the tubing up stage! Much left to do
Thanks. I actually posted a very similar question on overclock.net and the question got a bit more traffic there. In the end I took some pretty pictures showing just how "tight" I was tightening the compression fittings: http://www.overclock.net/t/1272889/compression-fittings-tightness#post_17535737 In the end the best advice was not so tight that you are cutting into the cables, and that I can see by experimenting outside case on a test piece of cable.
