copper pipes instead of tygon tubing?

A

AP2

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 25, 2007
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is there any downside to using copper pipes instead of tygon tubing?

my current setup is
aquacomputer copper modularity rad w/ d5 pump
aquacomputer kryos copper cpu block
aquacomputer copper microdrive (harddrive block)
alphacool copper compression fittings
 
AP2 said:
is there any downside to using copper pipes instead of tygon tubing?

my current setup is
aquacomputer copper modularity rad w/ d5 pump
aquacomputer kryos copper cpu block
aquacomputer copper microdrive (harddrive block)
alphacool copper compression fittings
Click to expand...



harder to bend?

harder to cut?

More expensive?

Harder to clean?
 
Use soft copper tubing and a pipe cutter. Measure 6 times, cut once. Don't change anything ever (get that thermal paste right the first time), and you're GTG.
 
u3b3rg33k said:
Use soft copper tubing and a pipe cutter. Measure 6 times, cut once. Don't change anything ever (get that thermal paste right the first time), and you're GTG.
Click to expand...

OK, so I (who is not the OP) checked some websites and indeed there is soft copper pipe. Reading some "how to" web pages, it seems that working with copper is a lot harder than working with plastic tubing.

So, even if it is technically possible to use soft copper tubing, what is the benefit?
 
The benefit of using soft copper over hard copper is it won't snap when you bend it.

Does your computer benefit? No. It'd be strictly for looks. it's also much harder to work with than plastic tubing. Bending metal stretches it. you have to do it right the first time or it'll look wavy.
 
the only benefit is looks. DO NOT do this unless you are very serious about it and are very dedicated to following through with a huge pain in the ass project.
 
if you made you own solid cooper block and brazed it all together you would never have to worry about leeks that's about the only thing i could think of
 
I would think copper piping would be detrimental to cooling at least for the delivery loop. You don't want the cooled liquid changing temps because the pipe to your CPU is warmed. Rubber tubes act as an insulator.

Return loop probably wouldn't matter, I guess.
 
i know ive seen a pc with copper tubes used for water cooling before but i can't seem to find it :(
 
I don't know anything about water cooling but it would seem to me that copper tubes would allow for condensation(???) which wouldn't be good thing i'd think.
 
JarJarBinks said:
I don't know anything about water cooling but it would seem to me that copper tubes would allow for condensation(???) which wouldn't be good thing i'd think.
Click to expand...

Condensation only starts to form when you go below the ambient temperatures and/or hit the dew point of your environment. Unless you're doing chilling or thermoelectric (peltier) fun-ness, you shouldn't have this issue with water cooling.
 
Brak710 said:
Condensation only starts to form when you go below the ambient temperatures and/or hit the dew point of your environment. Unless you're doing chilling or thermoelectric (peltier) fun-ness, you shouldn't have this issue with water cooling.
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That makes sense.

However "shouldn't" wouldn't calm my fears if my PC was worth a few thousand dollars.

How unlikely is "shouldn't" really?

What about in high humidity areas, do that increase the likelihood?

Is condensation ever a risk with the plastic tubing, if so how much less then copper?


Sorry if that is a lot I've always been interested in maybe playing with a real water cooling solution. I was quick too jump on the seal water coolers like the H100 though, no problems with those so far but I live in the desert.
 
JarJarBinks said:
That makes sense.

However "shouldn't" wouldn't calm my fears if my PC was worth a few thousand dollars.

How unlikely is "shouldn't" really?

What about in high humidity areas, do that increase the likelihood?

Is condensation ever a risk with the plastic tubing, if so how much less then copper?


Sorry if that is a lot I've always been interested in maybe playing with a real water cooling solution. I was quick too jump on the seal water coolers like the H100 though, no problems with those so far but I live in the desert.
Click to expand...

do you ever get fog in your area??? have you ever seen fog in your house? if you dont get fog in your house, you wont get condensation on copper tubes...

the exception here is people that hang there rad out of a window during the winter time, but, if condensation can form on copper, it can form on any surface. you can have all plastic tubing, and a copper block, if dew point is reached, it will still condensate on the block, if it gets cold enough it will on the tubing as well.

the heat from a pump that runs 24/7 will keep every thing above DP on a pure indoor loop.

same cant be said for a basement system that gets shut down.

this even goes for the sealed systems like the h50/80/100 etc.
 
Way to hard vs the aesthetic look. here's what I say you do:
Route all your regular plastic/Tygon tubing with plenty extra so that you can make them have bends that are similar to what you would do with copper, then bend the copper tubing and use it as insulation around the regular tubing and fittings. Much less worry about getting it right because the liquid will be running through the regular style tubing with the copper tubes just for aesthetics.

It would still be a massive pain though.
 
Brak710 said:
I would think copper piping would be detrimental to cooling at least for the delivery loop. You don't want the cooled liquid changing temps because the pipe to your CPU is warmed. Rubber tubes act as an insulator.
Click to expand...

Irrelevant. A garden hose in the sun gets hot, too, and that's rubber.

JarJarBinks said:
That makes sense.

However "shouldn't" wouldn't calm my fears if my PC was worth a few thousand dollars.

How unlikely is "shouldn't" really?
Click to expand...
As was said before, if you're not actively chilling the loop, it's not a problem. how often do you see condensation on your water heater?

Thor said:
have you ever seen fog in your house? if you dont get fog in your house, you wont get condensation on copper tubes...

*snip*
the heat from a pump that runs 24/7 will keep every thing above DP on a pure indoor loop.

same cant be said for a basement system that gets shut down.
Click to expand...
Listen to this guy, but don't worry about basement temps unless your basement swings up and down in temp - which it probably doesn't, 'cause it's a basement.

Your risk of condensation in a non-chilled water loop is the same as it is in a regular case - if you won't have condensation forming on your case, heatsink, and harddrive, then it won't form on the water loop.
 
Copper pipes are more expensive than tygon tubing. At the same time, it is harder to cut and to bend. The only advantage of copper pipe is its appearance.
_________________________________________
plumbing
 
You would need G 1/4 compression fittings to have any flexibility as you built the loop. If your were really handy with a micro torch you could you solder fittings, but your loop would be pretty much locked in place, you would have to cut the tubing each time you removed a component.

There was a mod a few years ago where the builder did the whole loop in sweated copper (or brass?) it looked amazing, but was pretty much a one shot deal. I think it was on Bit-tech.
 
SDC10513-1.jpg


This is the build that inspired me to want to use copper pipes, Project White.

But you have to wonder if you use compression fittings, if it will be as leak proof as normal tubing. Normal tubing is soft, and gives way to the pressure of the compression fittings, creating a seal with pressure the more you tighten them up. I just can't understand how the seal is created with harder copper pipes. Even if copper is a soft metal, it is not as soft as the tubing.
 
I actually ended using 12mm OD copper hard pipe an used a Rigid pipe bender to make my loop. Use Bitspower multi link adapters for the connections.
 
"You want the Sli BP fittings or the Phobya Sli fittings for 12mm,Koolance do a traditional olive type compression in 12mm and 10mm"

A quote from The Pipe Bending 101 Thread:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1280153/pipe-bending-101

Quite a bit more to it than I imaged at first. Seems like a bit of work.

Plus I want to see the water. So I might try this instead, Clear Acrylic Tube Bending (less tools involved too):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB1J3O7-rNM&feature=player_embedded#

I like it!! Or this:

"It's a piece of silicon tube, it's flexible, doesn't stick to plastic, and keeps its roundness when (heated and) bent."
 
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Neo Zuko said:
But you have to wonder if you use compression fittings, if it will be as leak proof as normal tubing. Normal tubing is soft, and gives way to the pressure of the compression fittings, creating a seal with pressure the more you tighten them up. I just can't understand how the seal is created with harder copper pipes. Even if copper is a soft metal, it is not as soft as the tubing.
Click to expand...
it's done all the time at much higher pressures than you see in PC watercooling:
gasfit-3.jpg

comp_fitting.jpg


soft copper is soft relatively speaking (compared to yellow brass).
 
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