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Best Tubing for Watercooling

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wfarid

Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2004
Location
NJ
What is better tubing Masterkleer General Purpose Clear PVC Tubing orr Tygon 360 tubing or Clearflex 60 from a total performance standpoint, disregarding cost... Also which one bends the best? Thanks!

I searched for this thread and none existed, so plz dont honk on me for not using the search button... i did!
 
i just bought 10 foot of tygon and im pretty happy with it. btw where do u live in edison, new jersey... lol i live in north edison off of grove.
 
Just recieved 10' of Tygon in the mail from DD. The quality is... staggering. Talk about an OVER-engineered product.

Anyway, for tygon dont buy from mcmaster, its actually cheapest at DD.
 
are you sure cuz i saw it at mcmaster for really cheap, was i looking it at the right one? 5231K185 PVC Tubing Chemical, 3/8" ID, 1/2" OD, 1/16" Wall, Clear, is this the one i want? It's tygon 360...
 
What we look for is Tygon R-3603. What you are looking for specifically is MCMaster # 5103K16 . But you are right, and I misspoke. 1/2" Tygon is cheaper at DD, but the 3/8" Tygon is cheaper at McMaster.

Go get it :cool:
 
i actually wanted the 1/2" tubing since all my system is 1/2"... What are the exact specs for tygon R-3603 1/2" tubing... Cuz it seems to be cheaper at mcmaster...

is this the one i want

5554K18
Tygon Chemical/Laboratory PVC Tubing 1/2" ID, 5/8" OD, 1/16" Wall, Clear

cuz if it is its only 2 dollars a foot...
 
I just picked up 10 ft of Tygon...cant wait
isnt there a diffrence between DDs and mcmasters ?
I thought one wass more transparent than the other?
 
cool just a quick question are 90 degree elbows bad for ur system... cuz i was thinkin i might have some sharp bends... should i just bend the tygon or should i get the elbowS?
 
The best tubing, flexibility-wise, I have ever used is 1/2" ID, 1/16" wall (5/8" OD) Clearflex60, with those Swiftech 'Coolsleeves' wrapped around it.

It flexes much better than 1/2" ID, 1/8" wall (3/4" OD) Tygon does, and looks a lot cooler as well, because the sleeving coil glows under UV ;).

The end result is also *signifigantly* cheaper than Tygon, as you can get your 1/2" ID, 1/16" wall Clearflex60 from McMaster for pennies a foot.
 
I would avoid elbows like the plague if I were you. The tygon will be able to hold without kinking on evtreme bends, and even better, you could use the Tygon WITH coolsleeves if incredibly severe. If all else fails it is a better idea just to use a longer strip of tubing between two components than have an elbow.
 
I used to use R-3603 exclusively... then I tried Tygon R-1000, this is the softest, stickiest most flexible tubing EVER. However, if you have a very high pressure pump (I run 3x D4's in series) the tubing will begin to collapse on itself, that is how soft it is, much like silicone. I had to change the tubing and decided to give Clearflex a try. Clearflex 60 is every bit as good as R-3603 IMO, and it is only $.65/foot. Only use 1/8" walled tubing unless you are going to use coolsleeves as the tubing will kink, and no, coolsleeves do NOT hinder flow.
 
As for elbows...if you're using small ones, I would avoid them. I do use a couple of elbows in my system, but they're designed for 3/4" tubing and the ID is 5/8", I think. Those work just fine.
 
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