Compression Fittings vs Straight Barbs?

[soulesschild]

Compressions ftw.

[Zehnsucht]

normal barbs have my vote

better flow, better looks, smaller footprint

7/16" tubing on EK barbs = no clamp required

Hah. Maybe new tubing, but after running a year on EK + 7/16 the tubing is really streched out and slips on and off with no problems at all. Compression OR barbs + clamps/zip FTW.

I just bought a lot of compressions recently, and dayum they are sexy. And BIG. 1/2 3/4 are huge.

[moogle]

compressions are so much nicer. I might consider using DD Fatboys with those koolance clamps though. Doubt i will ever find those Koolance clamps in the UK.

Here

If you look up the model no of them and look on the Koolance site you can see they look different to the actual site picture and I'm guessing they just plonked a stock clamp picture on the product page. Way to get the sales eh

I'm thinking of getting those Koolance clamps but unsure which ones to get. There's 5/8" OD (7/16" ID Tubing's OD) and 3/4" OD (1/2" ID Tubing's OD). I'm going to be using 7/16" tubing on 1/2" OD barbs, so is the 5/8" one right for me?

[IanY]

Compressions don't give me confidence.

[tuanster1119]

Compressions all the way. If a compression is too big to fit on something, then I go with 1/2in barb + 7/16 tubing.

[Brother Esau]

Just buy the compression fittings ....you know you want to <>>I did

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

theres no denying comps look great, if they dont fit I use 45's...

BUT they are not for people on a budget, the fittings in permafrost cost over $285 - not money I would spend every day

[Defratos]

Are these the clamps:

How easy are these clamps to pull apart with your bare fingers? because I've had to deal with the same type clamps in my car and they're a to pull apart

[Brother Esau]

theres no denying comps look great, if they dont fit I use 45's...

BUT they are not for people on a budget, the fittings in permafrost cost over $285 - not money I would spend every day

Yes Price is steep I think it cost me around $210.00 for all fittings in my Dual Triple Rad DD Torture Rack Build

[Gunlance]

straight barbs look better to me. If I ever start thinking that compressions look better, I will just look at the wad of cash I save using straight barbs. That will cheer me up really fast .

[faster3200]

straight barbs look better to me. If I ever start thinking that compressions look better, I will just look at the wad of cash I save using straight barbs. That will cheer me up really fast .

So true. Every time I save up for some I say, "nah, I would rather add another radiator".

[Rise]

compressions don't do it for me... regular barbs don't necessarily do much for me either. i guess it's time to think of something new

[NaeKuh]

How easy are these clamps to pull apart with your bare fingers? because I've had to deal with the same type clamps in my car and they're a to pull apart

i had to use pliers.

[Kaldor]

The Koolance clamps can be bought at any decent autoparts store. And for probably less than $.50 a piece. They just dont say Koolance on them. You can also get plain black ones as well.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#hose-and-tube-clamps/=12khlv <--- cheap! I may try the SS low pressure ones. They are probably more than adequate for PC watercooling.

[Waterlogged]

can someone explain to a noob what exactly are compression fittings and how exactly i'd use them?

i have masterkleer 7/16" ID 5/8" OD tubing... what can i use?

Read the second post here. HTH
Word of warning, imageshack seems to be a bit slow ATM, there should be 6 pics for your viewing pleasure.

[Worthy]

Aren't those little tiny holes that the water goes through, well, ....cute!

You know, I have no issues with water flow at all.
I can watch the water blowing around in my dual bay res in a big way and that's after it passes through my cpu, NB and rad.

The dd laing 3.2 pump I have is definitely a keeper. I am very happy with the performance of my system. I mean, when your cpu block is kind of restrictive, I can't see the larger barbs being of much more benefit. At least not anything of major significance.

I am getting easy 4000+ mhz overclocks rock stable with good temps and that is all I ever wanted.

but yes, I am sure standard barbs will flow a bit better.

[Worthy]

theres no denying comps look great, if they dont fit I use 45's...

BUT they are not for people on a budget, the fittings in permafrost cost over $285 - not money I would spend every day

very true, they are expensive. But I already spent a ton on a rampage extreme, 320 bucks for ballistix tracers, a nice silverstone case etc.
I figured, why not go the extra mile with the comps. They just set off everything so nicely.

I have to admit though that certain barb fittings with no clamps look pretty cool too as long as your hose cuts are clean straight and pushed down all the way.

[Stoner133]

normal barbs have my vote

better flow, better looks, smaller footprint

7/16" tubing on EK barbs = no clamp required

Barbs have better flow over Compression fittings? I didn't know that the outside of the fitting could effect the flow thru the inside of the fitting.

[Jhors2]

Barbs have better flow over Compression fittings? I didn't know that the outside of the fitting could effect the flow thru the inside of the fitting.

The ID of the barbs and fittings on compression fittings does vary ever so slightly by about 1mm or 2.......its such a marginal difference though I would'nt really consider it. I believe that the Bitspower compression fittings are just as wide as the DD Fatboys last time I heard.

[headala]

Well, actually, it's pretty easy (and normal) to use 1/2" barbs with 3/8" ID tubing, but you can't really use 1/2" comp fittings with 3/8" tubing I think. So there is the potential for a good bit of difference in size. That said, I believe that it was proven a while back that 1/2" ID tubing and 3/8" ID tubing didn't have a whole lot of difference in flow and pressure.

[NaeKuh]

yeah but koolance's compressions are shaped inside so you get a better flow though. (martin statement btw).

So you cant really say fatboys are better.

In real life world you wont see jack of a performance difference from either or.

This choice in barbs is purely aesthetics which wont help or hurt your performance.

[headala]

...
In real life world you wont see jack of a performance difference from either or.
...

QFT

[Defratos]

i had to use pliers.

and that makes them a no for me

[MpG]

Well, my dual DDC setup managed to partially blow a piece of tubing out of a BP comp fitting last night while leak testing - thank god I leak test with an external PSU. And I KNOW the tubing was pushed all the way down to start, but there's virtually no barb to speak of on the BP comps, and tightening the collar just causes all kind of sideways torque and upsets the tubing. I once again laugh at people who think clampless can be trusted.

Anyway, last straw, straight fatboys with solid clamps all the way from now on. I think I'm still giving the KL QD's a chance, if only because they actually have real barbs.

[rioja]

i use barbs just becoz they are great for beginners, but later i'll swith to compressions for sure
with comparable reliability fittings look a way beter
although i have several chromed hose clamps and they really look excellent also, other clamps are zink coated and it's boring

just look how beatiful it could be