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How often should you get new tubing?

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As far as I have read, you should be able to clean the cloudiness out of the tubing by washing it. I am sure someone will be around shortly to give a better answer, since I am new to WC, and don't even have all of my parts yet.
 
I was thinking something like typical warm dishwater and pipe cleaners, but I wonder if the chemicals in the dish detergent would be too harsh for the tubing. I have heard of people putting their tubing in the dishwasher without any detergent as well.
 
i used pipe cleaners and it worked about 90%. it was never as clear as it was when i got it. that was with clearflex 60. it took about 3 months to cloud, then 1-2 months later it clouded again. I switched to masterkleer and it's still clear 1 year later.

also for 10 feet it's 4.99 at jabtech :)
 
depends if its coolant or plasticizer leeching. had some tubing turn after a couple of month.

you can get some good extra length or wired bottle brushes from aquarium shops (used for cleaning external filter tubing)

but after spending a small fortune on WC`ing I just buy replacement tubing :shrug:
 
If the cloudiness bothers you it's best to accept buying new tubing. IF your running a good distilled water/biocide or silver loop, the cloudiness can be two things.

For example the older Thermochill rads had a LOT of water soluble flux in the rad. It's a biatch to get it all out. It will cloud the water and some will stick to the tubing. It's less of an issue now, but all new rads should be thourouly cleaned first.

The second cloudiness issue is the plasticizer leaching out of the tubing. It's what makes the tubing soft. It leaches out and builds in stength till enough to collect on the inner walls. It can be partially prevented by draining and refilling the 1,2, 3rd week and monthly. The plasticizer won't have time to reach the concentration to build up on the tubes. Still, it will build in time.

Some tubing is better than others. My Primochill LRT (red/blue) is ohh 7 months old with distilled and PHN nuke and with a flashlight it looks xtal clear inside, as in the res. I haven't drained/refilled yet on my CPU loop, GPU loop was changed with a GPU added for SLI.

In time, your tubing will get stiffer and can possibly be harder to bend and seal. Replace when you need to is all I can say.

Cleaning? Dishsoap, bent clothes hanger, rag. Hot water, rinse well. Not much else you can do methinks.
 
Never happen with this kind of tubing ;) But my RES is 100% clear after 1+year of Distilled and PTnuke. Washed once.


DSCF0721.jpg
 
Since I seem to change setups about once a year, that is when I change tubing as well. Tubing cloudiness is just a result of plasticizer in the tubing. You can wash it out with a small piece of rad and dishsoap and a coathanger or the like to stuff the bit of rag through the tube. The clouding is more of a nuisance than anything. Clearflex is one of the worst when it comes to clouding up quickly.
 
The second cloudiness issue is the plasticizer leaching out of the tubing. It's what makes the tubing soft. It leaches out and builds in stength till enough to collect on the inner walls. It can be partially prevented by draining and refilling the 1,2, 3rd week and monthly. The plasticizer won't have time to reach the concentration to build up on the tubes. Still, it will build in time.

Does it look something like this? I have some cheap tubing that's not really meant for water cooling. Been running that loop for about 2 months or so.
 
No way does plasticizer in a well function loop look like that. That is not good whatever it is. More like growth. Whats your liquid your using?

Battery water, think it's only been ionized or something.
I've bought some distilled water a few days ago, but waiting on a gpu block before I change tubing and such. Will have to do lots of cleaning in the rad I guess. :(

Do you have any pics of growth in tubing or plasticizer? Never seen something to compare with.
 
Are you using any biocide at all? In the UK and other EU places deionized is plenty fine.

Might want to read the cleaning the loop aprt of this sticky.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/253958-29-watercooling-guide

Well, I'm not 100% sure tbh, I bought some Feser base and the shop told me it preventer both corrosion and growth, but I'm starting too wonder. The Feser web site only states Corrosion blocker. The ratio is correct tho, so if it does prevent growth, it should. :(
This is the second time my tubing has started to look green, hence why I've gotten some distilled water and waiting on some biocide stuff too add in.
 
Well, I'm not 100% sure tbh, I bought some Feser base and the shop told me it preventer both corrosion and growth, but I'm starting too wonder. The Feser web site only states Corrosion blocker. The ratio is correct tho, so if it does prevent growth, it should. :(
This is the second time my tubing has started to look green, hence why I've gotten some distilled water and waiting on some biocide stuff too add in.

PLEASE tear it ALL down to the tiniest piece before putting it back together. Wonder what the inside of the CPU block looks like. Post pics if you want to.

What biocide are you going to use?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3837299 Why we use distilled water. Or de-ionized in the UK because distilled ain’t available unless your rich.
 
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