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Watercooling 3/8 ID clear tubing that doesnt kink easily

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by bdigital, 22 Sep 2013.

  1. bdigital

    bdigital Is re-building his PC again

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    Hi all,

    I would like to hear from any of you that use clear 3/8 ID 1/2 OD tubing that doesn't kink too easily.

    If you check out my sig rig, you will see that from the CPU to the mosfet the tubing is quite a tight turn, and any tubing I have tried so far kinks.

    The stuff ive got right now is 1/2 ID and I thought downsizing it would solve the problem, but so far all the 3/8 ID stuff ive bought has kinked just the same.

    So im on the lookout for 3/8 ID 1/2 OD tubing that will go from my CPU to Mosfet without kinking.

    Thank you! :thumb:
     
  2. Big Elf

    Big Elf Oh no! Not another f----ing elf!

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    I don't think you'll find any tubing (well, maybe not copper :) ) in that size that doesn't kink with sharp bends. After saying that you seem to have done a good job with what you have already. You'll get the best results with 3/8"ID, 5/8"OD both for bend radius and kink reduction.

    One way to help reduce kinking is to pre-bend the tubing in hot water immediately putting it into ice cold water. You may need to do this a few times for the bend to 'take'. Use silicon cord (used for o rings) about 1mm narrower diameter than the tubing ID inside the tubing. I pre-bend all my short pieces of bent tubing before fitting.

    Note that the diameter of both the tubing and the silicon cord may not match their advertised specs so you may need to sand down the cord to get it to easily fit.
     
  3. bdigital

    bdigital Is re-building his PC again

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    Thanks Big Elf, I was hoping you would see this thread! I have some white tubing which takes the bend perfectly, but clear my clear tubing doesn't seem to do the job!!

    I will try the pre bending using hot and cold water with the clear stuff I have now. Lets see if that makes a dfference.

    While your here..... I am ok to use two different tubing sizes in the same loop arnt I? Don't see why it would cause a problem, but im going to switch just that short piece to 3/8 ID to help with the bend.
     
  4. Big Elf

    Big Elf Oh no! Not another f----ing elf!

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    Much as I like Primochill I find that TFC (Feser) bends just a little bit better in the 3/8"ID, 1/2"OD size.

    Because the lighting in Alpine White is so good I think that a single larger diameter piece of tubing would stand out although that's the only reason for not using it.
     
  5. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    I can't imagine being able to find some stuff that won't kink. I had some Tygon which collapsed in on itself after being left for a couple of months, most disappointing! Back to 3/8-9/16" for me!
     

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