Reduce wall thickness of 3/8-5/8 tubing to fit in 3/8-1/2 compressions

C

cennis

Limp Gawd
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Hi [H],

I have some good primochill advanced LRT tubing of 3/8 ID 5/8 OD.

However all my compressions are 3/8 ID 1/2 OD (more specifically 10mm/13mm)

What is the best way to thin down the outer walls at the end of the tubing (to 1/2) so they can fit into the compression fittings? I have access to my university's machine shop, and read somewhere that a machine lathe could work for pvc pipes in other applications.


From what I read, these tubes are tight over the barbs of the compression fitting so I dont thinking it would have alot of leaking issues.

I am doing this because i don't need that much length of tubing and shipping from USA or 10ft pack for this tubing here in Canada is expensive. Also if I do it well, the tubing will look flush to the compressions, instead of compression being chunky at the end of the tubes.
 
A silicon tube is fundamentally different from a PVC pipe in that it's not rigid, so there's a whole set of complexity issues from that alone. That said, depending on the lathe setup, all you would need is a short metal pipe of 3/8" OD, stick it into the tubing at the end, then run it on the lathe. The pipe should provide the support it needs to keep it from collapsing.
 
This sounds like a horrible idea to save $25. You can find tubing for $2-3 a foot and $10 post office shipping to canada and get it in 4-5 days. Ebay might have what you are looking for, and cheap shipping also.

And if you were to go threw with the above and have access to a machine shop, you would be much better off machining the inside of the compression lip that catches the tubing when you screw it down. That would allow the tubing to be thicker.
 
sok0 said:
This sounds like a horrible idea to save $25. You can find tubing for $2-3 a foot and $10 post office shipping to canada and get it in 4-5 days. Ebay might have what you are looking for, and cheap shipping also.

And if you were to go threw with the above and have access to a machine shop, you would be much better off machining the inside of the compression lip that catches the tubing when you screw it down. That would allow the tubing to be thicker.
Click to expand...

thx for the suggestion, can you expand on what tools to use to grind down the lip?
 
He is saying re-drill your fittings

However, dont re-invent the wheel, just go to home depot and buy tubing there (Its the same stuff....just not as pretty colours). If your hurting that bad to not buy new tubing. Or check out NCIX they are canadian and carry water cooling materials last I saw?
 
NCIX is where im refering to for the 25$ primochill LRT.

I am only considering that tubing because its plasticizer free, cheapo home depot tubing leaves thick layer of plastic in all parts of the loop that I don't want.

Im not a big fan of colors, just clear tubing is good for me
 
Spend the extra money, no need to modify your fittings, to possible failure, when not needed just to save a few bucks. Use the parts as intended.....i'd be wary of leaks on a compression fitting if you modify your tubes / fittings in any way.
 
I highly recommend that you just buy the correct tubing.

However, if you are dead set on trying to reduce your tubing thickness this is what I would suggest. Get some sort of 3/8" OD dowel or wooden rod that fits securely into your tubing and allows you to put it onto a lathe. Then use some sand paper to sand down the outside of the tubing to your desired thickness. You could also just sand the tubing down manually without the lathe but it would take much longer. Reasons I don't recommend this is you have no idea what potential leaks you are opening yourself up to by damaging the integrity of the tubing like this.

Again, I highly recommend you spend the 25$ on just getting the right tubing.
 
I would try as is... but if you are dead set on fucking it up I can't help you...
Buy the right parts... if $25 is going to break you... you probably shouldn't be watercooling in the first place imo. A leak will be far more costly...
 
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