Anyone else use EK fittings and notice they slice into the tubing ?

[Cnaydmancangt]

I have mostly all EK fittings on my loop and i noticed the end you tighten around the hose slices into the tubing.. even if you dont tighten it too much, when you take it off like 1/3 of the tubing is sliced into.. i can imagine taking the tubing off many times it will eventually cut into it too much and cause issues like leaks and hoses blowing off by being cut too much specially when tubing length is short..

I have two Bitspower fittings since microcenter ran out of the singles for EK, and the bitspower doesnt cut into them. If you feel the ring inside its smooth and rounded, the EK is sharp as hell. Kinda sucks if you think about it, as these fittings are overpriced and expensive to be cutting into your tubing rendering it useless over time.. Anyone else have EK and notice the same thing ? Even the barbed end where the hose pushes onto is sharp and cuts the tubing inside...

 

[Blaylock]

Sorry I've used all Bitspower and Enzotek so I have no experience with the EK fittings. Are the EK fittings you have made for soft tubing or hard tubing? Maybe a few pics would help?

 

[Cnaydmancangt]

Soft yea lemme snap a pic


Edit: Here are three pics.. Notice pic 3 the slice closer to the end is the barbed fitting see how it sliced right into the hose ? Then the outside of the hose is shredded if you look close. If i bend the end i can see it dug deep into the hose. And the hose is a 3/8 5/8 hose and the fittings are 10/16 aka 3/8 5/8. What your seeing is it the fitting put on one time, i have others "on the loop" that have beebn removed 3 times and they are worse.. Ill eventually have to cutr the ends off and start fresh.. The bitspower al lit does it leave indentions of the barbed end thats it. I wonder if i should mention this to EKWB

 

[EarthDog]

Wow...i have used those in the past and didnt see that. Actually i have them on currently and at my last cleaning, nothing like that.

I have no idea how a barb could tear the END of a tube... the surface it mates with is flat. Looks like that wasnt cut flush. Like a chunk is missing. How can a fitting do that?

 

[Cnaydmancangt]

All of them are doing it too, i have like 8 of em. And when you feel the ring you tighten over the hose inside with your finger its sharp as hell and the barbed end is sharp too

 

[EarthDog]

So........what took out that chunk at the end of the tubing in pic 3?

Which fittings do you have, exactly? Can you link them?

 

[Blaylock]

I think I would contact EK and get their opinion on that. It definitely doesn't look right.

 

[wagex]

barbs are supposed to be sharp, they bite into the hose to keep it from sliding off and the digging into the hose helps seal it, are your hoses cold when you are taking them off? what kind of tubing is it cheap soft tubing? good tubing? like other said what hardware speficically are you using?

 

[Cnaydmancangt]

primochill LXT 30$ tubing so it better not be cheap lol.

Im not talking about the very end end.. Im talking about the cuts inside and outside the tubing. The rings im talking about they are all sliced deep into the vinyl tubing. Ive been watercooling 17 years.. ive never seen barbed ends that are sharp before. And it isnt just the end either. You know how modern fittings have those metal rings you slide on the tube.. Then put the tube on the barbed end then you put the ring on and screw it down to act as a clamp ? The bitspower clamp is rounded and just clamps down to hold the hose. The EK clamp ring is sharp as heck and cuts into the tubing as its holding it down. Evebtually multiple cuts from being removed makes 1.3rd of the tubing unusable or unsafe so i have to cut that off shrinking the length of the tubing.

I hope im making sense. ? When i get my reservoir today and drain the system Ill take a EK fitting off and a Bits power fitting off and ill try to take pictures of the inside of the clamp rings to show you guys but pics may not show the shsrpness its something you have to feel with your fingers The ek is so sharp it feel like a razorblade inside .

 

[EarthDog]

Once you take them off and get some pics, reach out to EK and see what they have to say about it. As I said, I have a couple of fittings currently in use and they didn't do that to any of my tubing luckily.

EDIT: As far as the very end, I am not entirely sure how much of a difference it makes, but, I'd certainly want the end of my tubing to be flush with the base of the barb. The ends are pretty jagged.

 

[Cnaydmancangt]

Yea you have a bitspower right ? Thats the same ones i got the other day and i like thrm so much better.. I wish i could retutn these EK fittings considering there like 34$ for just 4 of em and tubing at cheap. Ill take pics though of the sharp ring.clamp and post em back here.. Thrn ill contact ek.

Im sure they will say the ends are suppose to be sharp to cut into and hold the tubing.. But its my understanding the ring.clamps are ment to be clamps only you tighten them on the barbed end.. the clamp down.. Not hold onto the hose using teeth LOL

 

[EarthDog]

I have both (EK/bitsp) in my loop (mentioned I had EK earlier, but said nothing else). Neither are showing what you have, thankfully.

Looking forward to the pics and seeing what EK has to say about it.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

Either the tubing or the fittings might be out of spec.

I should also note, that can happen to my Bitspower and Primo tubing ( 1/2 x 3/4 ) if I were to tighten the fittings all the way but they are never tightened that much cause they don't need it and you can barely twist it tight anymore at that point.

 

[EarthDog]

Mine are barely hand tightened. I can still get a 1/4 to 1/2 turn without a huge amount of effort.

 

[Alaric]

Either the tubing or the fittings might be out of spec.

I should also note, that can happen to my Bitspower and Primo tubing ( 1/2 x 3/4 ) if I were to tighten the fittings all the way but they are never tightened that much cause they don't need it and you can barely twist it tight anymore at that point.

Mine are barely hand tightened. I can still get a 1/4 to 1/2 turn without a huge amount of effort.

As someone whose previous fluid containment experience was in transportation, this is important stuff to know. My first instinct would be tighten it until it (the fitting) until it bottoms, then add the appropriate in./lbs. to secure it.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

I've always hand tightened mine until I barely have skin left and have resorted to using white cloth gloves. It got too painful to the point I couldn't finish my loop after a couple of hours. I've used a tool once or twice to twist a stubborn fitting tight that I knew I had room to go on and had lost hand strength.

Regardless, none of my tubing has ever looked like what the OP has shown. I would look around for the same comp of fittings and tubing and see what other's have said from their experiences.