Water chilling: Does tubing need to be insulated?

[uclajd]

I'm upgrading my watercooler to TECs and going to add a chiller. Obviously the TEC and waterblock need the whole insulation thing.

But since the water could be below ambient, does the Tygon tubing need to be insulated for condensation? What about the plexi resevoir?

[afireinside]

You can build a plexi/lexan res? If thats true you just made making my chiller SO much easier...

[uclajd]

Originally posted by afireinside
You can build a plexi/lexan res? If thats true you just made making my chiller SO much easier... Came with the watercooler.

[saaya]

id say yes you should insulate them if your running the chilled water 24/7

[afireinside]

I mean does lexan withstand freezing temps?

[saaya]

whats lexan? plastic?

[afireinside]

Yea... Just like plexi glass...

[Sick0fthelies]

I had a evaporater from a 4cubic foot minifridge in my res and it made mega condensation on both the top of the waterblock and the tubing. I would assume you would have to do the same with your res.

[vlad]

I wouldnt trust lexan if i were you. if you get it cold enough it will crack. insulating the hose is a good idea. you dont want to lose
temp to the room & if you get cold enough you'll have to double
insulate. i did a single rap on my hose's & they were ok till around
-10c maybe -12c but now @ -20c they sweat bad. make sure the hose youre using is rated for the temp you want to be at. good luck.:thumbsup:

[afireinside]

^^god thats crazy. Whats Tygon good till? Will it be ok at -30 or so?

[vlad]

Originally posted by afireinside
^^god thats crazy. Whats Tygon good till? Will it be ok at -30 or so? i think -25c but im not sure. the hose i use is good to around -30/-35c & is only $.99 cents a foot.

[afireinside]

How flexable is it and where do I get it :D

[vlad]

the brand name is swan therm-o-blue. i get it from a hydralic supplier my company uses. it's some heavy duty stuff but it bends
easy & is good to 300psi. way more then we need. i use 1/2" & it has a bend radius of 5". it's good with antifreeze & alcohol too.

[vlad]

Here's the spec sheet.

[Sick0fthelies]

Where would one be able to buy this tubing?

[vlad]

You'll have to look for a supplier of hydralic & air controls & hoses. it shoudnt be too hard to find.

[KennethChong]

you could just go to d-tek or any of those other wc stores and just get some of the higher quality stuff, i use it in my -60c chiller with no probs. About 15$ for 10 feet if im not mistaken. And yes you have to insulate the lines, just go to home dempot and get some of the pipe insulation, avoid putting tape on it, just makes it that much easier to sweat, you want to leave it just like it is, with some zip ties every so often to secure it.

[Sick0fthelies]

How would duct tape hurt it?

[KennethChong]

Insulation doesnt work like that, you dont want it tight. Ask bowman if you dont think its true, when its tigher it doesnt insulate as well, the cold has a easier time getting to the surface and causeing condensation.

Tight insulation = trouble

[rabeb25]

Originally posted by KennethChong
Insulation doesnt work like that, you dont want it tight. Ask bowman if you dont think its true, when its tigher it doesnt insulate as well, the cold has a easier time getting to the surface and causeing condensation.

Tight insulation = trouble

i'll 2nd that

found out first hand in my r404'd prom

[afireinside]

Would I be better off with Tygon or ClearFlex?

[uclajd]

Originally posted by vlad
the brand name is swan therm-o-blue. i get it from a hydralic supplier my company uses. it's some heavy duty stuff but it bends
easy & is good to 300psi. way more then we need. i use 1/2" & it has a bend radius of 5". it's good with antifreeze & alcohol too. Does this therm-o-blue need to be insulated with neoprene, or is that the point in getting it?

BTW, that therm-o-blue says it's rated down to -20. That's not all that cold for some people on this forum.

Another problem is the OD's on this blue hose - much larger than my waterblock fittings.

[KennethChong]

Originally posted by afireinside
Would I be better off with Tygon or ClearFlex?

Clear fex is just as good as tygon but cheaper, go with the clearflex.

[afireinside]

So I'm safe with that to -30C or so (thats the max temp I'd even think of hitting with the water)? I can't wait to get this thing setup and see what my 1700+ will do with the L12 mod on an NF7-S :banana:

[KennethChong]

im using clear flex with -60c coolant, never had a prob. some of the highest quality tubing you can buy.

You should get a awsome oc with that 1700, wish mine was still alive :(, man there fun.

[afireinside]

Alright thanks. You just saved me like 10 bucks :banana:

[Spec3]

Originally posted by KennethChong
im using clear flex with -60c coolant, never had a prob. some of the highest quality tubing you can buy.

You should get a awsome oc with that 1700, wish mine was still alive :(, man there fun.

How do you get your coolant to -60c? I though I was good at -5C.

[KennethChong]

My chiller is based of an old pharmaceutical fridge, it was rated for -130c when befor the changes i had to make to it.

[vlad]

Originally posted by uclajd
Does this therm-o-blue need to be insulated with neoprene, or is that the point in getting it?

BTW, that therm-o-blue says it's rated down to -20. That's not all that cold for some people on this forum.

Another problem is the OD's on this blue hose - much larger than my waterblock fittings.
IF you look it says -20F. do the math. 0 degrees c = =32f.;)

[saaya]

thx for the info vlad, ill keep my eyes open for those hoses :toast:

[Sick0fthelies]

I dont use duct tape to make it tight, though. I just use it to keep the ends from peeling off of the tube.

[chris4521]

i got the home depot tubing to -20c without a problem. i didn't bend it or anything, but im sure it's pretty fragile at that temp. better not screw around at such low temps, dont skimp on the tubing imo

[uclajd]

Originally posted by vlad
IF you look it says -20F. do the math. 0 degrees c = =32f.;) Doing the math, that's -28.88° C.

Still seems a little short of some of the temps being reported by the phase-change people.

***

I think it's curious when some people say "tubing X is as good as Tygon," when there are 10 or more models of clear Tygon tubing. They are all rated with different specs, different prices, different uses. They can't all be the same, so unless someone has compared all the models, I think generalizations are fallacious. The following review makes some distinctions between 3603 and ClearFlex 60:
Tygon vs. ClearFLEX (http://www.wc101.com/reviews/tygon/)FWIW, 3603 Remains flexible at -45°F (-43°C), according to the specs (http://www.tygon.com/Data/Element/Node/ProductLine/product_line_edit.asp?ele_ch_id=L00000000000000014 95).

Another distinction, some models of the Tygon (http://www.tygon.com/Data/Element/Node/Category/Category_edit.asp?ele_ch_id=C0000000000000001208) are rated down to -100°. Surely a model of Tygon that is rated -100° isn't equal to a hose rated at -50°?

I already got some of the 3603 from Dangerden, but I would like to try some of the other varieties from McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/asp/framework.asp?ReqTyp=CATALOG&CtlgPgNbr=81&CtlgEdition=&RelatedCtlgPgs=81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92 ,93,94,95,96): Tygon Ultra-Soft PVC Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: R-1000
• Temperature Range: -103° to +125° F

Tygon Ultra-Smooth Bore PVC Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: S-50-HL
• Temperature Range: -55° to +165° F
• Color: Clear

Tygon Super-Soft High Purity Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: 2001
• Temp. Range: —108° to +160° F
• Color: Clear

Tygon Smooth Bore High Purity Tubing
• Tygon Formulation:
Standard, 2275;
Braid Reinforced, 2275 I.B.
• Temp. Range: -108° to +125° F
• Color: Clear

Tygon High Purity Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: 2075
• Temperature Range: —108° to +125° F
• Color: Clear

Ester-Based Polyurethane Tubing
General Purpose Tygothane
• Tygon Formulation: C-210-A
• Color: Clear
• Temp. Range: -100° to +175° F

Tygon Super-Soft High Purity Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: 2001
• Temp. Range: —108° to +160° F
• Color: Clear

Tygon Smooth Bore High Purity Tubing
• Tygon Formulation:
Standard, 2275;
Braid Reinforced, 2275 I.B.
• Temp. Range: -108° to +125° F
• Color: Clear

Tygon High Purity Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: 2075
• Temperature Range: —108° to +125° F
• Color: Clear

Tygon Ultra-Chemical PVC Tubing
• Tygon Formulation: SE-200
• Temperature Range: -40° to +170° F
• Color: Clear
Non-Tygon that looks interesting:Ultra Clear PFA Tubing
• Temp. Range: -400° to +450° F
• Color: Clear
• Also known as Chemfluor 367

Extreme-Temperature Polyimide Tubing
• Temp. Range: -452° to +752° F (JD - 7°F above absolute zero? Yikes!)
• Color: Clear (transparent) amber FWIW -

:2cents:
JD

[IamAnoobieCheez]

don't get too horny with the tubing. What are you gonna do.. moving the tubing all day while it's running chilled water?? Leave those tubings alone. ;) You don't need to be messin' around with those.

You know some about the antifree fluids and you ask about whether the waterchilling needs insulation for the block and the peltier??? What is this.... joke? Something doesn't add up here.

Oh yeah... here's an avatar for you. I made that just for you. :ROTF:

[uclajd]

Originally posted by IamAnoobieCheez
Oh yeah... here's an avatar for you. I made that just for you. :ROTF: Very nice - you risked methanol toxicity for a 13K 3DMark. Congrats! :stick:

I prefer my avatar, thanks.

JD

[IamAnoobieCheez]

Originally posted by uclajd
Very nice - you risked methanol toxicity for a 13K 3DMark. Congrats! :stick:

I prefer my avatar, thanks.

JD
ROFLMAO!!!!! :ROTF: that is the most lame pic I've seen in a while. :ROTF:

[KennethChong]

As i said in another post, ive used both kinds of tubing, with tygon and -60c temps it split at the bottom connection with very little force aplied to it, guess what that means, it still breaks.