Tygon roundup

I am back from the dead, now that I once again am planning out a rig. One of the issues I plan to improve upon this time is the tubing used, and if I don't replace good ole R-3603 with something else, then I at least want to confirm its place as the premier watercooling tubing solution. I've been reading up the past few days to catch up on the last 2 years of progress, and tygon models 2075 and 2275 have been suggested, which are reportedly stiffer and more resistant to discoloration. I haven't been able to find examples of much use by enthusiasts, with the exception of some passing references to parts of loops using the stiffer tubing.

One of the issues I have seen in my current loop over the past two years is the degradation of R-3603. It holds up remarkably well, and I would not say that it is a bad choice, but it is considerably saggier, its cross-section is warped into oval shapes in places, and most noticeably, it is now stained pentosin-blue. So before I launch into another loop's construction, I'm going to see about these other two.

I am fortunate to live about 20 miles away from a huge McMaster distribution center, and I've called ahead ordering one foot of 3603, one foot of 2075, and one foot of 2275. Later on today I'll pick those up and play around with them. Pics to follow as well as my impressions.

I've been using this stuff from McMaster called "High-Flex White PVC Tubing." Part number 5229K72. It's only $2.06 per foot for 1/2" with 1/8" wall. It's not clear, but semi transparent blue. I like the way it looks. The bend radius is very good. I have been running the 3/8" version of this tubing for about a year, and it looks as good as new except where it's slightly deformed where I've stretched it over 1/2" fittings. I'm going to need a bit more tubing soon, and I like this enough that I've ordered 10ft of the 1/2" stuff to replace all my lines.

If you want to, it'd be interesting to see you compare this to the more expensive tygon branded tubing.

I would like to see more people use silver...

I wonder if the warping of the R-3603 over time has anything to do with the plasticizer being leached out of the tubing (perhaps unevenly) or if it's purely mechanical.

Tygon also make tubes for beverage companies that dont leach anything...

Mycobacteria said:

I would like to see more people use silver...

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Your wish is my command

I ordered some tygon silver antimicrobial from petra's for my new loop. I'll post up about it once I receive it, hopefully.

Mycobacteria said:

I would like to see more people use silver...

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Silver Tygon or silver in your loop?

Well I got them and it was pretty anticlimactic, they are visually nearly identical, being close cousins. 3603 is definitely the most pliable of the three, compared to the other two it almost feels liquid. The scuttlebutt on forums has been that the 2xxx variants are more stain resistant, but it doesn't really matter that much, because as you progress from 3603 to 2075 to 2275, the tubing becomes less and less clear. (And in that order, it really seems like a progression, a linear progression from most pliable to least, most transparent to most opaque, and unfortunately, most kink-resistant to least.)

But this is all so much rhetoric, here are the handful of pictures to show you what I mean:

The three samples of tubing, 3603 in back, 2075 in middle, and 2275 up front. You see what I mean by natural opacity. 2075 and 2275 might discolor less, but after 2 years my 3603 is just about as cloudy as 2075, with a pentosin tint. Not really an improvement there, I'm afraid.



And theres just more bad news coming, I tested each to see how well it would perform on the curves. As would be expected 3603 is a lot more flexible and workable, its one downside is that the reduction in flow is directly proportional to the angle of the bend. That is to say, the more you bend it, the smaller the aperture becomes at the apex of the curve. This can most likely account for a good amount of flow loss in the long run, even in a well plumbed loop. The 2075 and 2275 however are much hardier, and as you bend them, a reduction or warping of the inner diameter is barely present. It is only when you get to insane angles that these two become useless, as they kink completely:

3603


2075


2275



So... conclusions. 3603 is indeed the most versatile tubing type, and in my loops, any segment that requires finesse ( CPU block to ceiling rad, cpu to gpu, etc) will be 3603. However I do believe there is a place for 2075 on the straightaways where you want a more robust, firm tubing to keep the alignment of your choice stable, rather than having the loop flop around every time you shift the case, or as 3603 is wont to do over time, droop and becoming even more supple. I do not believe therefore that 2275 has a place. When I was looking at the inner diameter warp on bends with 2075 and 2275, they both were about the same at preserving a nice circular flowpath, essentially they perform similarly, but 2075, while firm and stable, is not stiff and cumbersome. Additionally in terms of cloudiness, 3603 is completely translucent, and 2075 is just a tad whitish, whereas 2275 is quite cloudy indeed.

How will I proceed with my new rig after having tested these? My environment is a PC-G70 with a roof mounted 3x120 HC, cpu block and gpu block. Given that, I would like to see 2075 between pump outlet and HC inlet, 3603 between HC outlet and cpu inlet, 3603 between cpu outlet and gpu inlet, 3603 between gpu outlet and T, and finally 2075 between T and pump inlet. That might be going a little far into the obsessive compulsive, and for many of you I would think ordering two different types would be a pain, especially with mcmaster's minimums on tubing feet, but as I can just drive over and grab some off the shelf, theres no reason not to be compulsive and weird.


P.S I had to biopsy part of my current loop, as the vertical outlet plastic barb on my pump actually tore itself in half due to SHEARING FORCE over the span of two years of fiddling. Scared me half to death, but as I was replacing it with a shiny new brass barb (Never using plastic connections in any of my loops ever again.) I went ahead and cut a hunk out. Here for your viewing pleasure is what the manufacturer's of Tygon mean by, "R-3603 takes on a cloudy appearance because it slowly absorbs water; and with the presence of glycols this condition is probably made worse." Note that I cleaned the hell out of this little chunk before the picture, so its definitely IN THERE.

Yeah R3603 seems to be the "standard"

When I say silver I mean the silver tubes not the metal.

Great survey, jackrungh. Perhaps you could post a summary in the "Tubing Tubing Tubing" sticky. Anybody who reads the quotes from Saint Gobain there should also see read what you have to say.