Current WCer, New System and Setup

[Kinyin]

Greetings...

I've had a lot of bad luck with water cooling. My first go resulted in a successful 24 hour leak test that eventually broke down, flooding the bottom of my case after a few months. My second go I felt was my best work yet with water cooling. I absolutely thought it was perfect and the leak test went without a hitch. It's a good thing I was using Fluid XP+ because I checked one day why the reservoir was kinda low and there was a pool of fluid on my video card from the CPU. If you lifted up on the tubes to the CPU, it would start leaking terribly. Never showed up during the leak test. I fixed it by using plumbers tape and silicon, but it isn't how I would want this to work.

I've been reading all the updated that have been made since I last came here for my WC information. I noticed two things that caught my interest. First of all was compression fittings, because they seemed like the best way to not have a leak, though I don't fully understand how it works, so it may not be best to assume that. The second is the 7/16" ID MasterKleer instead of 1/2" ID. I was wondering which of these two would be most secure.

I get rather confused with all of the ID/OD and matching everything up, so I was also wondering if someone could explain how the 7/16" ID is a better choice. Do you just use it on a barb meant for a 1/2" ID, but since it is a bit smaller it makes a tighter fit without messing with the flow rate?

I apologize if the post seems a little mixed up or incoherent in any way.

EDIT: Mainly I just want to know which is safer. Compression fittings or 7/16" ID on a 1/2" barb.

But feel free to respond to the rest of the post like the others!

[kinghong1970]

Kinyin, sorry you're having troubles bro...

i'd like to play with compression fittings but they do scare me...
funny thing, i have 1/2" ID Comp Fittings from Koolance and it fits certain tubes nice and tight, others, just slips off... so i figure it's a matter of finding the right ID AND OD measurements when it comes to Comp Fittings.

honestly, i just use regular barbs... that just seems to work nicely with worm clamps...

as for 7/16" ID tubing, it's a bit smaller than the 1/2" and so some use it over a 1/2" barb w/o clamp for a tighter fit... i like the added security feel of a barb... i dont think it's quite appropriate for comp fittings tho...

maybe your problem was since you used 7/16 tubing, the OD was too small to actually take effect of the compression fitting...


hope it helps...

[Bojamijams]

Posts like these scare me cause my 24 hour leak test also went without a hitch

Did your move your case around? take off the side panel a lot which maybe rubbed some tubing and thus (unwiggled) itself?

Did you ever use any kind of zip ties or worm clamps on your tubing when you did it the first two times?

[SeanB]

my first setup i didnt even leak test, kinda just put everything together and it worked flawlessly..
except the bubbles in the water did last a longass time..
Compression fittings are the way to go nowadays a lot of people are using them, for looks/safety/etc.

[Bojamijams]

Only problem.. at being 3-4x the cost of a regular good hi flow fitting, they're not really a starter item.. unless you got deep pockets.. and I don't :(

[Kinyin]

Just a note. I did not use 7/16" ID on my original setup or compression fittings. I am asking about them... I didn't use them.

As for moving the case around, no. I took the side case off occasionally to check the reservoir, but that didn't even touch anything that dealt with the WC system, so I don't see any way that could have affected it.

I can't remember the ID/OD sizes, but I had them verified at this forum to make sure they matched up with the barb and the fit seemed fine.

This post is about me trying to decide whether to use 7/16" ID or Compression fittings on my next system.

I don't care about bling, as it is going to be a new Lian Li case that has no windows.

But yeah, the leaks started for no reason that I know of.

Also, I used zip ties on the plastic T-Line ( never had issues with plastic barbs ) and the clamps that you screw down on everything else and even used tie wraps on the areas they didn't cover! First time it was a leak from the pump. Second time it was from the CPU block.


Only problem.. at being 3-4x the cost of a regular good hi flow fitting, they're not really a starter item.. unless you got deep pockets.. and I don't :(

When you take into account the cost of the barb and the clamps, it's not that far off for me, so it isn't a big issue money-wise.

Bottom-line is I want what will have a lower probability of leaking.

Thanks everyone!

[Kinyin]

Sorry, but could I grab some help? Forget everything at the top *chuckles*.

Which is safer between the two fittings I listed? Compression or 7/16" on a 1/2" barb? (And could you explain more how compression works? It doesn't look like much of the tube even makes contact with the end of the compression bit before you screw the end on.)

[Eddie3dfx]

If you have leaks, get non reactive coolant and 7/16 tubing

[Kinyin]

If you have leaks, get non reactive coolant and 7/16 tubing

It's a completely new system I will be building. What would you recommend as a good non-reactive coolant? I've been using Fluid XP+.

Also, why not compression fittings? I keep reading both it and 7/16" are the best, but nobody really says why. Both are apparently safe...

[xVeinx]

the 7/16ths is cheaper and works very well. Just warm up the end of the tubing in some hot (not boiling, but well-microwaved distilled) water and your good to go. I did this and along with some worm-drive clamps have had no leaks at all.

[Eddie3dfx]

It's a completely new system I will be building. What would you recommend as a good non-reactive coolant? I've been using Fluid XP+.

Also, why not compression fittings? I keep reading both it and 7/16" are the best, but nobody really says why. Both are apparently safe...

I have compression for 1/4" but not for the larger ones. Hey if you want compression, go for it, it just costs a pretty penny.

Not sure about fluid, since I usually use distilled plus dye.
Where exactly was it leaking? I also hook you used either zip ties or worms

[Kinyin]

Would compression offer a better seal that the 7/16"? I mean, money isn't really an issue on this build for the WC setup.
I just want to know what has the lowest leak %.

Also, what kind of clamp/tie would you recommend with a 7/16" on a 1/2" ?

[Wolf132]

I had to use a razor blade to cut 7/16 masterkleer off bitsmart highflow barbs.

[Eddie3dfx]

Would compression offer a better seal that the 7/16"? I mean, money isn't really an issue on this build for the WC setup.
I just want to know what has the lowest leak %.

Also, what kind of clamp/tie would you recommend with a 7/16" on a 1/2" ?

seriously any zip tie will do.
Compression will be fine too. I personally think compression looks beautiful and if you have the money, it should work properly with no leaks.

[Kinyin]

seriously any zip tie will do.
Compression will be fine too. I personally think compression looks beautiful and if you have the money, it should work properly with no leaks.

Great. Thanks everyone. This pretty much helped me make up my mind.

Compression for cases with windows.
7/16" ID on cases without windows.

Simple :D

[Waterlogged]

Sorry, but could I grab some help? Forget everything at the top *chuckles*.

Which is safer between the two fittings I listed? Compression or 7/16" on a 1/2" barb? (And could you explain more how compression works? It doesn't look like much of the tube even makes contact with the end of the compression bit before you screw the end on.)

Here's a small tut for you I just whipped up.

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4496/25940853rj2.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2295/28583904vh1.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2222/15922228te4.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2181/88137987wo3.jpg

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/6889/65324522aq7.jpg


HTH

[Kinyin]

Thanks a lot for that. I didn't see the inside of the nut, so I never knew quite how it all worked.