Cooling whose ********* bright idea WAS tygon?

I'm running hoses, and I finally said screw it and went back to vinyl. The in;y benefit I've sen thus far is tygon fits over much less OD stuff...

no, wait...

It kinks really easily...

no...

um, it has cool lettering? that's it.

Am I doing something wrong? Bad barbs or something? Isn't this supposed to pwn vinyl?

 

er, you sure you didnt just get ripped off and it is actually tygon you are using?

did you get the right size?

im using 1/2" ID tyogon and ive not had any problems fitting it over any barbs, or any problems with kinking, at all

 

If it wasn't marked, I'd swear I had R-1000.

R-3603, bought from US Plastics in person, as it's in my town, right next to my old job.

Went and talked to Digital-World of PR tonight, as he's a good friend, and he suggested ditching the polybutyl barbs for more USP stuff. I'm gonna head out tomorrow for it.

I was both right and wrong-my tubing routing is a nightmare. Nightmare by design, actually. So I can't really complain. But it will take more than 10 ft of tubing to route it all. PITA.

Oh well. I think I'm just used to vinyl.

 

could just be the barbs you are using, tygon kind of "sticks" to some plastics (and sticks to itself like a git, which could be causing you problems if the tubing is all over the place like you say)

im using brass barbs on the pump and rad, and DD high-flow chrome barbs on everything else

 

I'm using 3/8" ID tygon with 1/2" barbs and never had a problem, other than getting over the barbs to start with, it may kink but then again its loads more flexible than the 1/2" clearflex I tried - bit of a catch 22 - flexible and kinks or not flexible and leaving you unable to connect your components in they way you want or need.

does your's have TYGON written all over it?

 

That's not tygon you're using then. We use tygon in the lab all the time and it does-not-kink unless you REALLY REALLY force it.

 

It is also important to know that there are two different flavours of R-3603 tygon: a 1.5mm wall thickness variety, and a 3mm wall thinkness variety. Most people go for the 3mm wall thickness and most modding shops sell that one as well (but US Plastics sells both). Thicker walls means less kinking.

Personally, as others are saying here, I've had no problems with my 3/8" ID, 3mm wall-thickness R-3603Tygon whatsoever. 3/8" ID will fit over 1/2" barbs if you warm the ends up in hot water first --it is remarkably tough and flexible.

However if you have to bend your tubing to the extent that it risks kinking, you have a poorly designed circuit in the first place. You need to avoid sharp bends as these reduce flow rates. I'd say: go back to the drawing board and re-design your circuit. Shuffle some components about. BTW, you can have the GPU or NB block before the CPU block in a circuit.

 

I have 1/2 ID, 1/8 thick ClearFlex 60, which is the same formula as Tygon (it tends to fog up where Tygon doesn't however). It kinks, but not unless you force it past the bend radius. And if you get nylon reenforced Tygon or ClearFlex...oh man, it's impossible to kink, even squeezing it tight together it won't kink. Same with reenforce vinyl, but that's just stiff and nasty. The reenforced stuff is ugly anyway, when it's clear at least.

 

My problem was the thin wall stuff. That and crappy barbs.

When I post pics of this setup, you'll know why I can't just arbitrarily move stuff.

Yeah, mine has tygon written all over it. I'm off for fittings ATM, I'll be back.

 

Yeah, avoid the thin walled stuff. Go for 3mm thickness, always.

A ubiquitous problem. Still, with a bit of clever planning it can be done.

In order to plan the perfect watercooling circuit, young Padwan, you need to attain a state of mental clarity and lateral thinking:
1. Open your case. Look at it for a long time.

2. Then spend some hours meditating. Clear your mind. Do some Buddhist chanting. Drink some green tea. Stand on one leg in the garden at dawn, arms in the air ("the Crane"), while listening to the mysterious Japanese flute music that is usually playing in the background at times like this.

3. Look at your case again. Look at it upside-down. Clear your mind. Don't visualise the blocks, radiator and pump in a fixed location. Defy convention. In your mind, allow components to wander around the case freely.

4. Become one with the watercooling circuit. Be the watercooling circuit. Feel the Flow of the Water. Feel the resistance of the blocks, and the temperature fluctuations. Imagine how the pump pushes the water around the circuit. Where it builds up pressure, where it releases. Feel the components slowly settle where they want to be positioned. Don't worry yet about how you are going to fit them in or fasten them to the case.

5. Now imagine the Way of the Airflow. Sense the breeze: how it enters the case, passes through the radiator, feels its way along the internals of the case and finds its exit. Visualise how it absorbs the heat from various components and carries it off. Does this stir the watercooling components from their preferred nests?

6. When everything is settled in their preferred location, visualise the shortest, most elegant Path of the Tubing.

7. Finally, look at each component in turn and how they could be secured to the case. Again, defy convention. Think laterally. Design your own parts if necessary. Aluminium and perspex are your friend.

And that's it --your path to Watercooling Satori. (OK, you can skip step 2 if you want). Good watercooling is like Dao --The Way. It is harmonious. Simple. Pragmatic. Effective. Unencumbered by the shackles of dogmatic thinking about how things "should" be. If there is a problem, you just find a simple solution (GPU bracket, anyone?) It is about personal fulfillment and finding the best system for you, in your case.

 

Water flows in the tubes as we speak.

You're gonna love this, I swear. I've got to drain her tonight after the leak tests are done, and it gets the real coolant, and I'll get some pics sometime.

It had to do with replacing the pump's outlet barb. THat solved four kinks right there.

Not a WC n00b at all-but all the same, some problems are just difficult.

Thanks again.

 

Nexxo, you're an eastern guru genius

 

I fabbed the whole case. I get the Dao.

The holes in the side of the case, replete with the passthroughs, were one of the worst problems. That took a marine solution.

I'm to the point of flushing the junk out of the system, now.

And when the parts are often riveted in place in the only place they'll physically fit, they dictate the loop. However, I think I got it ok for my Maze4's flow-the pump is almost touching the block... close enough to keep a lot of flow. We'll be good there.

 

"You're learning, grasshopper." Sounds good. Don't forget to post pictures of your rig.