I'm planning to build a watercooled system soon. I was thinking about using all copper tubing instead of plastic hose. I have noticed that nobody has mentioned doing anything like that. Is there anything I should know about this before doing it? I plan to cool the inside of the case, and insulate it, the tubing would run from the proccesor to the radiator and back, all inside the insulated area. The power supply would not be in the insulated area. The temps. inside the insulated part of the case would stay below ambient.
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Copper tubing
- Thread starter NightFire
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2001
- Location
- Bolton, UK
Tubing is just a lot easier and flexable in case you change the setup, but if you want it set in stone then go for it and write and article on it,
and just cos the piping is called self soldering don't beleive it does, my gas engineer(?) uncle did and he had water spraying all over his bathroom
and just cos the piping is called self soldering don't beleive it does, my gas engineer(?) uncle did and he had water spraying all over his bathroom
- Thread Starter
- #4
One other question. I have seen some of the posts where people talk about not mixing copper and aluminum. Since the radiator I want to use only comes in aluminum, and everything else will be copper, I was wondering what problems I would need to know about, or if there actually are any. I can create a copper radiator similar to the aluminum one I want, but that would take a LONG time (me being the impatient person that I am ).
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- Joined
- Dec 20, 2000
- Location
- Albany, NY
The first time you have to take anything apart, you'll regret not using tubing. It is a hell of a lot easier to loosen a couple of clamps than it is to wrench apart compression fittings inside your case, and as surlyjoe mentioned correctly seating your block can be a pain. Mixing copper and aluminum will, over time cause a reaction that will lead to corrosion. In my system, though it is all copper with plastic tubing, I am using a pump lubricant that contains antirust and anticorrosive properties.
AnonymousDude
Disabled
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2000
Why not use both? make the majority of it in copper. Than put about 20cm of vinyl tubing on the end of it going to the waterblock so it's easier to install?
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2000
- Location
- hamilton, ontario, canada
Or you could use some (a small amount) anti-freeze, the stuff you use in your car, to prevent corrosion from forming.
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2001
- Location
- Northern VA
My two cents:
Would copper tubing be kinda fragile? Copper tubing is easy to bend where you want it, and if your not careful will also crease. While that doesn't make a problem for installation and construction, what if you drop something on a line or move your case and pinch one?
Mike
Would copper tubing be kinda fragile? Copper tubing is easy to bend where you want it, and if your not careful will also crease. While that doesn't make a problem for installation and construction, what if you drop something on a line or move your case and pinch one?
Mike
- Thread Starter
- #10
I had not thought about the difficulty in seating the water block, but I had planned on using some hose type tubing to make it easier to adjust things inside. I plan on the tubing to be mounted to the inside of the case. As for creasing the tubing, I have fabricating tools from when I did the engine compartment of my car, they make it much easier to bend and flare the tubing. Besides, you can get something like 20' of 3/4" copper tubing for $20.00 from Home Depot. Smaller tubing is much less expensive.
W
William
Guest
yes it is, especially the flexible stuff. I think spodes idea of mixing it somewhat is a great alternative. I like the copper idea because it vastly increases your radiators surface area as all the copper tubing will act as a basic radiator. As a consequence though, you may raise your ambient some so make sure you have great airflow in the case. And make sure to use plumbers tape on the joints!
why would you want to use copper tubing instead of vynil tubing? It'll be a hell of a lot easier to replace(if the need arose), attatch, and cut to size than copper tubing. It's also flexible, so if you install a new card that's a little longer than the old one, you just push the vynil tubing out of the way. If you're using copper tubing, what do you do? You swear a whole lot, then you rip the whole system apart, and properly/carefully bend the pipe around a bit, then put it back in
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- Joined
- May 11, 2001
I found this on the swiftnets website....now that im looking at it it seems like a half way good idea
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