Can anyone shed on the details (or pictures would be nice) of metal hose clamps that aren't too tight or too loose? I'm having trouble with my setup where it will leak, and i'm afraid it's too loose or too tight; i'm not sure either way. Luckily, mine leaks to the side and bottom of the case, avoiding (at least i hope it is) the electronic components.
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Perfect tightness of metal hoseclamps:
- Thread starter Strogg
- Start date
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Location
- West Coast
Sorry I tried to post pics but my picture hosting site is tripping right now 
. If your hoses are leaking and you have clamps on them either your hoses are not on correctly, the connection edges are warped, or your hoses are too big. Your hoses should not leak even if there are no clamps on them. The clamps are to prevent accidental slippage. The hoses should be so tight around your fittings that there is no room for air or water to get in our out. Post pics of your setup so we can give more advise (er' guesses) as to what your problem might be.
. If your hoses are leaking and you have clamps on them either your hoses are not on correctly, the connection edges are warped, or your hoses are too big. Your hoses should not leak even if there are no clamps on them. The clamps are to prevent accidental slippage. The hoses should be so tight around your fittings that there is no room for air or water to get in our out. Post pics of your setup so we can give more advise (er' guesses) as to what your problem might be.
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2002
- Location
- California, US
My clamps are almost as tight as can be without breaking the plastic/metal barbs. After I remove them, you can see an imprint of the clamps on the tubing. Make sure you get the right size clamps.
- Joined
- May 15, 2004
- Location
- Arundel, Maine
Make sure you are using the right size clamps. They should be within half an inch of the OD. Also a nut driver is the easiest tool for hose clamps. I always tighten plumbing as tight as it can be without breaking the fitting or the clamp.
- Thread Starter
- #5
http://www.fiberpi.com/001.jpg
http://www.fiberpi.com/002.jpg
for picture 1, the waterblock is the dangerden RBX (if it's not immediately recognizable for some reason), and the green circle signifies where i find the water dripping. i'm not exactly sure which of the three is the culprit, but i'm assuming the green one, which is on the bottom, since it tends to be the only one that gets wet.
now, i've tried overclamping and underclamping them, but they tend to keep leaking. luckily, the video card underneath is fine, despite the drenchness
Could it be the waterblock leaking or do you think it's a clamping issue?
oh, and the clamps are rated at 9/16" to 1 1/4"
http://www.fiberpi.com/002.jpg
for picture 1, the waterblock is the dangerden RBX (if it's not immediately recognizable for some reason), and the green circle signifies where i find the water dripping. i'm not exactly sure which of the three is the culprit, but i'm assuming the green one, which is on the bottom, since it tends to be the only one that gets wet.
now, i've tried overclamping and underclamping them, but they tend to keep leaking. luckily, the video card underneath is fine, despite the drenchness
Could it be the waterblock leaking or do you think it's a clamping issue?oh, and the clamps are rated at 9/16" to 1 1/4"
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2002
- Location
- California, US
Well poly does tend to crack over time(Weakening from the threads). since those are metal barbs you can probably tighten as much as you can(by hand).
Its really hard to tell... I had a leak from one of my barbs on my HC.. but turns out it was from not tightening the metal clamp enough.
Its really hard to tell... I had a leak from one of my barbs on my HC.. but turns out it was from not tightening the metal clamp enough.
- Joined
- May 15, 2004
- Location
- Arundel, Maine
It looks like the middle clamp is loose and make sure you have tubing on both sides of the clamp and its just past the rib on the fitting.
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2004
- Location
- Pyeongtaek, South Korea
coolroyboy2 said:
Aren't you worried about ripping up the tubing? I mean, I know the clamps won't be moving around, but they still kind of cut up the tubing a bit you know? Maybe I'm just paranoid...as I am known to be!
- Joined
- May 11, 2004
- Location
- West Coast
My advice is that you replace all three hoses. If water still continues to leak then get a refund on the water block. I can understand the pain of draining the system, pulling and replacing the hoses, and resetting the cpu and water block, but water dripping into a computer system is a serious offence which calls for drastic measures.
- Thread Starter
- #11
well, i reseated the middle clamp (i moved it purposely after i noticed the leak to give me a better view of the bottom one) and tightened it down as much as i allowed myself to before my paranoia of any type of breakage occurs. so far, nothing is leaking, but i'm going to run a >24 hr leak test to make sure first before i take the drip container from the computer and turn on the system.
btw, the tubing is clearflex 60, which seems overly strong and able to take a lot of abuse.
thanks a lot for the help so far, but i'm still interested about how tight the hoseclamps should be in any connection. it'll surely help any n00b (such as i) in watercooling who's looking through these forums.
btw, the tubing is clearflex 60, which seems overly strong and able to take a lot of abuse.
thanks a lot for the help so far, but i'm still interested about how tight the hoseclamps should be in any connection. it'll surely help any n00b (such as i) in watercooling who's looking through these forums.
Strogg said:
clearflex shouldn't leak even with no clamps - the clearflex I have grabs the hell out of the brass barbs in my system...and my block is a jet impingement design with a pump that is pushing over 1000gph thru the loop.
anyway, metal clamps should be tightened down to where the outer edge of the clamp's band is parallel with or slightly below the level of the hose it is clamped onto.
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