Spent all day today trying to get a nice shiny (well matt black actually) set of Enzotech fittings. UK is crap for anythign BP/Enzo. Trawled some of the European sites and the exchange rate on the Euro makes them expensive as my misses. So have come to the conclusion that the only option is to get them from the States. Priced up at Peformance PC's and seemed to be going nicely until BAM - postage - $48. Frozen CPU didnt have one of the fittings I need but basically all came in around the same price (Sidewinder too). With import duty etc the whole lot weighs in at around $157 and after import tax etc its about £125. It is my only option, but these manufacturers need to pull their finger out in the UK - or is it the resellers just cant be arsed to get stock of this stuff? Like rockin horse doodah. /rant over
Ask Mick at C&C if he can get them for you. I don't know what's happened at Performance PCs but they put their shipping costs up massively in the New Year. I've been using them occasionally and they had reasonable charges but they've more than doubled or tripled now. Edit: Have you used Enzotech fittings before? I wasn't impressed with the finish on some I bought.
Good idea, I actually know Mick, he is only round the corner (couple of miles) from where I work, we had a covert meeting when I needed some bits urgently so he met me at the motorway junction on a Friday night so I could get leak tested over that weekend. Top bloke for that. Not used Enzo's before no, but really want some 30 and 60 degree to get this build spot on and BP dont do them. Heard that the Enzo's are highly rated and do all the bits I need in the size I need. Wouldn't be wanting any dodgy finishes when you pay a premium for them though...
I would really check a sample of them before committing to that kind of spend. I rate them slightly above Phobya. However I've only had the nickel finish ones, not the black. I think I sold mine recently but I'll have a look and if I've got one left I'll post it on to you.
Will give Mick a bell tomorrow and see what he says, would be ideal if I could get a look at some first and at least satisfy myself of the quality. Not in any great rush for them as I wont be going back underwater until a) my mod is done and finished and b) have a kepler and block for the loop. Im like a kid in a candy store though, once I've decided, I must have
I am totally with you on this Fanatic, as you can read about here. I mean, if Nitrix doesn't want to stock Bitspower fittings, that's fine. I have no problem with that, it's their decision. But none of the UK suppliers stocking the full range of their fittings is starting to piss me off. I keep having to buy all my fittings from PPCs, Frozen CPU or Sidewinder, and it's costing a bloody fortune. I just bought £150 worth of shiny silver BP 7/16 compression fittings for a new build from PPCs last week, which would have cost a fraction of that had I been able to buy them within the UK. If I had the capital to do so, I would start an online watercooling shop myself to stock the higher end components that current UK suppliers don't seem to want to know about. I think it must have something to do with the cost of stocking a lot of high end fittings. BP fittings aren't cheap, and maybe there isn't as big a market for them here as is required for the likes of Aquatuning to keep a large supply of them in stock. I also had to buy my own Monsoon Free Center fittings from PPCs a while back. I had absolutely no chance of finding them in the UK
Sorry this line made me laugh so much /Ontopic Have you checked the US sites, it may be cheaper to ship them over from there (no it doesn't make sense)
A decent amount of the problem (with BP at least) is the resellers not being able to get the stock in the first place. I know that when I asked about a couple of things from the guys at ST they got back to me - supplier out of stock, awaiting manufacture and delivery. And since these (I believe it was 8/10 45degree compressions) were out of stock everywhere else (except -of course- in the USA) I have no reason to doubt them on this.
Hehe, pleased to make someone smile Yeah I've priced them up in the States, even with nearly $50 delivery they are cheaper than buying within Europe (see OP). Big Elf's comments on quality issues have me thinking I may buy one or two Enzo fittings before placing a big order for them so will see if Mick at C&C can get me anything.
I've found one of the Enzotech nickel plated compression fittings. If you want it to check it out send me a pm with your details. The problem with buying from the US is that although they're a lot cheaper over there if the value is more than £15 you'll get hit with import VAT and a small brokerage fee (£12ish) from whoever handles the shipping in the UK. Although in the past you'd probably get away with not paying on about 90% of small imports they seem to have tightened up the procedure and they don't seem to miss many.
FTFY. Yeah, I get charged import duty on all of the stuff I buy from sites like FCPU, PPCs and Sidewinder. I've even started getting charged import for torches and the occasional knife from US members of candlepower forums, which is crazy because they send them as "gift". So I'm paying duty on gifts I can't say I know anything about Enzotech fittings. I have thoroughly tested and can vouch for Koolance, EK, Bitspower and DangerDen fittings.
I don't really understand how some of these fittings can cost so much, when they look almost identical to any other fitting. Just what makes BP fittings the most sought after?
I use 'nickel' finish fittings and use a mix of Feser and Bitspower. The Feser are about 1/2 the price of the Bitspower ones. Both have a layer of chrome in them on top of the layers of nickel, copper and steel on top of the brass which gives them a shiny finish that many other manufacturers don't do. However if you look at the finish of the brass underneath the chrome/nickel/copper/steel layers you can see that Bitspowers are perfectly smooth whereas the Fesers are rough in places and I'm guessing that you pay extra for this attention to detail and the effort in creating this better finish. Most people wouldn't notice this unless they look close but these days a lot of us like the bling of the loop as well as the performance.
Hey Big Elf - thanks for the offer mate - will drop you a PM about that. Mick at C&C rates them big time and if I get a list over he will see what he can do. No promises though. I'm after the 1/2" matt black and will be using barbs - looking to go clampless with 3/8" white primochill over 1/2". We'll see though, will make a decision on the clamps after seeing how tight the fit is.
It sounds like it might be worth me contacting BP to talk about becoming their UK distributor Not sure that I can easily afford to stock a full range if I have to pay up front though, I'll have to look into that
Do you know anyone who works for a company that operates in the states? I can just get equipment in the it guys name shipped to the American office, and they automatically send it over
