Tube Size, Clamping Methods and Resivour Making, this should be interesting

[Arkangyl]

Well, as time comes near for me to finally commit to buying my Wata stuff I'm left with a few nagging questions;


1. 3/8" ID vs. 1/2" ID; I've heard from people that the larger tubing is only a 1*c improvement at best; and thats with a full WC system... I'd like to know I can get away with a 3/8" ID system using an RBX and Maze4 GPU with a HC rad and either a Hydor L30 or a Danner Mag (now that I know DM = pondmaster I have to re-check my local stores, I think they DID stock pondmaster but since I didn't know...)....

2. Will the tubing I find at Home Depot (assuming I got 3/8" ID) fit over the RBX's 1/2" barbs? I cannot find a 3/8" ID RBX at DangerDen, I think FrozenCPU stocks them but I've heard that shoving the tube over a bigger barb has a better fit and if I can leave myself the option of changing to 1/2" ID later, well, thats a good thing...

3. How do zip ties (used in wire management) the things that have that friction clamp (I think I got the name right but...) come in many colors, cheap how are they as clamps? is is risky or ok?

4. Finally, for making a resiviour should I use homemade Acrylic cement (got a great guide on Pimprig.com, the guide aint up now but I know the guy who knows how to make it and can get the recipe, he has great success with it) or will hot-glue work... I think it would be tight enough but its very HOT and might melt the plexi, trial and error might be a good thing to use here but what the hey, might at well ask..

 

[E-Licious]

4. Finally, for making a resiviour should I use homemade Acrylic cement (got a great guide on Pimprig.com, the guide aint up now but I know the guy who knows how to make it and can get the recipe, he has great success with it) or will hot-glue work... I think it would be tight enough but its very HOT and might melt the plexi, trial and error might be a good thing to use here but what the hey, might at well ask..

You should use what what the aquarium guys use to put together a resivoir. They know what works, they don't want 100 gallons of water on their floor.

 

[repilce]

oh boy let see..

1. i'd say 1/2 because it'll give you more flow rate.. which always = better all round water performance!! and more flow rate = turbulent flow which = better cooling . .. blah blah blah..



2. Depends on the Wall and what type of tubing you use.. I would recommend from home depot thier PVC tubing it's clear but with braids of stuff in it.. kinda looks like braided cable though ,

If you go with 1/2 ID 3/4 OD this = 1/8 wall , which will make tight bends ALOT better, of if you decide for 3/8 ID 5/8 OD for 1/8 wall same attributes. but the 1/8 might not stretch over the 1/2 as well.. but if boiled it first would probably work..


3. Never used zip ties myself.. i use PLASTIC or .. err. what's that word Poly somting.. fittings whenever i can and they usually fit so tight it takes a good pull to get them off so no clamps necassary unless you have a real high pressure system.. which what your planin i wouldnt worry bout that.. but never hurts to be safe i guess. they wouldnt do bad though.. just kinda be tough to cut off when you change something and trying to not cut the tubing as well.

4. .. err. go with T .. you'll jump with glee.

 

[rogerdugans]

See what I can help with here....

1) A few factors to think about:
MAX Performance from the cpu demands the best cooling possible- 1/2" ID tubing at least, and at least a chevette heater core (a bigger one will give you more cooling capacity.) The improvement is mainly noticeable (in my experience) in that you have more room to increase speed and voltage.
If you plan on being more conservative with the overclock, then the convenience of using smaller tube may be worth the slightly higher temps.
Personally, I run things pretty hard and I have never seen the temp difference between 1/2 and 3/8 ID tube that small- usually more like 2 or 3c at low speeds and the 1/2" tube has allowed me to keep temps in the same range while getting considerably higher speeds from the system.

2) I have not used Home Depot tubing. I have used cheap vinyl and don't recommend it: kinks far too easily: I had to use about 40 czble ties to prevent kinks in one test system for a while. Get some clearflex or Tygon with 1/8" walls.

3) I use steel worm-drive clamps for insurance.
I have used cable ties as a temporary measure, but had seepage at times.
I have used nothing but friction and often been ok.....but other times had small leaks which sometimes would only show up as an inability to bleed the system.
Good clamps have never failed me.

4) Can't help here- I don't use reservoirs.

 

[SK8]

I use zipties on my outlets of my rbx, no leaks so far....
Also i would go 1/2 b/c if you go 3/8 then your are going to have alot more restriction then you want to, if you upgrade and ad more blocks then you would really be screwed b/c of the tube id.
Just order some clearflex of mcmaster 65cents a foot, thats what i got

 

[eXCeSS]

i have all 1/2" fittings and use 3/8 tubes, just put the end of the tubes in boiling water, and itll stretch over real nicley.

 

[AngryAlpaca]

That one degree costs you nothing. Use 1/2" ID. The 1/2" RBX fittings are OD, not ID, I believe. Also, wider fittings are ALWAYS good. They cost nothing, and cause no difficulties. 3/8" ID can be stretched over 1/2" OD, but once again, I would say that you should simply buy 1/2" ID tubing. Steel worm drive clamps (Make sure the ones you buy are well formed, I had one with a kink, and, let's just say that when fully tightened, bad things happened) are the best clamps available, and zip ties are good for dealing with kinks. Hot glue sucks for holding stuff like that together. Acrylic cement is what you should use.

 

[felinusz]

With the 1/2" ID tubing - use it instead of smaller stuff - why? Look at it this way, maybe it is only a 1 degree celcius temperature difference at idle, on a light overclock. But when you decide to go further with your processor, your system will be able to handle more heat.

Being able to *handle* more heat also gives you the option of adding more waterblocks, adding nice looking junk that raises temperatures slightly (lights, noise damper insulation, other junk), and lets you rest at ease knowing that your near-silent system can run a light overclock at sub-30 degree celcius load temperatures if you want it to.

2. As one who is currently using cheap, vinyl tubing, and as one who is presently about to switch, I can tell you from experience that this stuff is a royal pain. It kinks like crazy, and you need to cut longer lengths then you need in order to account for the crummy flex radius. It also is rubbery, and splits easily. Go with Clearflex60 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD tubing - only 65 cents a foot at www.mcmaster.com - it is on catalogue page 85, under "chemical tubing".

3. Use hose clamps - leaks *will* occur eventually if you don't. Use the metal ones if you can get them ("worm drive" - and the ones with thumbscrews are nice looking too), they are also conveniently available from www.mcmaster.com . Zip ties will work, but will be hard to remove, and may still let seepage through.

4. Use a cylindrical reservoir if you really want one, or better yet use a Tee-Line. A Reservoir looks really cool, but is a waste of space in a cramped case, and a T line is much cheaper, and more user-friendly (cheaper being the important, and unopinionated part).

 

[FizzledFiend]

Re: Re: Tube Size, Clamping Methods and Resivour Making, this should be interesting

You should use what what the aquarium guys use to put together a resivoir. They know what works, they don't want 100 gallons of water on their floor.

we use everyday common clear silicon...the silicone is not what makes a good seal thought...thats the 2 surfaces mating up that makes your seal the silicone is used to hold them together and silicone doesn't disolve or breakdown in sal****er.

Use silicone for your rest use it on the INSIDE of your container it will hold plexi glass and/or lexand glass. you can trim the "squeeze outs" on the outside of your res with a razor blad after aprox 24 hours cure time.

 

[SK8]

for my sys, on some of my fittings i just used sch80 pvc fittings that are barbed , these are the grey barbs with threads. I used 5/8 od and clearflex stretches over it without boiling, but on the other hand with my caprice core i boiled the tube that goes to t-line then to pump so it can fit. USE 1/2 , 3/8 may save some money but i really dont think its worth it, since im adding more blocks to my sys and i want more flow

 

[pelikan]

I made the mistake of buying 1/2" i.d. 3/4" o.d. braided tubing from Home Depot. It doesn't bend for **** and its ugly. I won't make that mistake again.

 

[Arkangyl]

Ok...

at my local Home Depot there's the tubing that looks like the silver braided cables and some clear stuff thats $3.68 for 10'... I played with it a little and it is REALLY tough stuff, doesn't bend easy; I don't know if thats good or not, tell me please I believe it was vinal tubing, had pretty thick walls but it WOULD NOT KINK no matter how hard I tried...

 

[UberBlue]

4. Finally, for making a resiviour should I use homemade Acrylic cement (got a great guide on Pimprig.com, the guide aint up now but I know the guy who knows how to make it and can get the recipe, he has great success with it) or will hot-glue work... I think it would be tight enough but its very HOT and might melt the plexi, trial and error might be a good thing to use here but what the hey, might at well ask..

Do not use that crap-tastic stuff. It looks bad and will give you inferior weld strength.

Hot glue will NOT work.

Call around to your local glass shops and see if they carry acrylic (Plexi glass, lucite, other brand names). If they do it's a good bet they also carry the proper solvent cement. All the shops in my area carry IPS Weld-On 3 and 4. the only difference between 3 and 4 is the viscosity (3 is super insane thin). A 3oz can runs about $8, but goes along ways.

 

[UberBlue]

Re: Re: Tube Size, Clamping Methods and Resivour Making, this should be interesting

You should use what what the aquarium guys use to put together a resivoir. They know what works, they don't want 100 gallons of water on their floor.

we use everyday common clear silicon...the silicone is not what makes a good seal thought...thats the 2 surfaces mating up that makes your seal the silicone is used to hold them together and silicone doesn't disolve or breakdown in sal****er.

Use silicone for your rest use it on the INSIDE of your container it will hold plexi glass and/or lexand glass. you can trim the "squeeze outs" on the outside of your res with a razor blad after aprox 24 hours cure time.

Glass aquariums are physicly held together at the top and bottom by those molded plastic rings. All the silicone does is keep the water in and it doesn't add any appreciable strength. How i know this... I once made the mistake of filling a 50 gallon tank without the top ring one time. It was almost full when all four sides, in a spectacular cartoon way, folded outwards and instantly emptied said 50 gallons of water on the floor. Silicone is not what holds aquariums together.

If the res is going to be made out of acrylic, silicone is as useless as hot-glue.

 

[E-Licious]

Re: Re: Re: Tube Size, Clamping Methods and Resivour Making, this should be interesting

Glass aquariums are physicly held together at the top and bottom by those molded plastic rings. All the silicone does is keep the water in and it doesn't add any appreciable strength. How i know this... I once made the mistake of filling a 50 gallon tank without the top ring one time. It was almost full when all four sides, in a spectacular cartoon way, folded outwards and instantly emptied said 50 gallons of water on the floor. Silicone is not what holds aquariums together.

If the res is going to be made out of acrylic, silicone is as useless as hot-glue.

I would like to have seen that

 

[Arkangyl]

I said ACRYLIC cement, not sillicon..

I'm going that route anyhow, the stuff I can make for $2 cost $20 and it prof. acrylic cement.


The real question is; how safe are zip ties? I've heard that they leave a little opening where the connection is; would putting on 2 ties per solve this (connectors on opp. sides to even it out) or should I get the plasic clamps online...

Also whatcha think about the homedepot tubing I described? pretty stuff and clear

 

[squeakygeek]

I said ACRYLIC cement, not sillicon..

I'm going that route anyhow, the stuff I can make for $2 cost $20 and it prof. acrylic cement.


The real question is; how safe are zip ties? I've heard that they leave a little opening where the connection is; would putting on 2 ties per solve this (connectors on opp. sides to even it out) or should I get the plasic clamps online...

Also whatcha think about the homedepot tubing I described? pretty stuff and clear

I would reccomend using the metal tubing clamps, the kind that tighten when you tighten the screw. Plastic clamps, I'm not sure, but I would definately not reccomend using zip ties. Zip ties were made for holding wires, not for clamping tubes. It amazes me that people use these.

 

[{BC}Helix]

zip ties have worked great for me in the past, havn't had one connection leak that had them on. cheap and effective

 

[pelikan]

Also whatcha think about the homedepot tubing I described? pretty stuff and clear

It will work. The problem with it is that its hard to bend. So what happens is the tension on the tube pushes on your waterblock, making it very difficult to get the block seated correctly. I think its definately worth it to either order the clearflex or find a local place that sells it.

 

[squeakygeek]

zip ties have worked great for me in the past, havn't had one connection leak that had them on. cheap and effective

The question is, would you have gotten a leak if you didn't use zip ties or clamps?