Copper tubing -- all opinions wanted
 

Hi all!
Anybody have thoughts about using copper pipes/tubing for your watercoold machine? It's just a thought I was kicking around. Thanks!

Yeah I think it would be a pain in the butt. You would have to measure everything exactly right for all the stuff to fit together. If you decide to change the case, you would probably have to redo the whole thing since the stuff would be in a different spot. Lastly it the pipes with get in the way when you are working on the computer. That my two cents!

Copper is nice because you can solder it and then its done-nothing is going to make it leak.

I would consider it for a res or some fancy tap/fill system, but not the whole thing. Not wonly would it be amazingly hard to measure and fit around a case, but it would be heavy and potientially loosen parts becuase its not flexible. I don't used reinforced tubing becuase its so rigid, copper would be 10 times worse.

I think its a good idea, it can be routed very well, yes measuring and bending might take several attempts. The ability to get the pipes routed out of the way of things makes it worth the effort. I would not entirely eliminate hoses, I would have a 2 or 3" section of hose to help eliminate vibration and allow for minor final adjustments in positioning. One more thing, on a normal brass or nylon fitting you lose 1/2 the id cross-sectional area because of the thickness required to support the threads, by soldering in the copper tubing you gain a lot of flow area. If you decide to attempt it please take pictures and post them

Grep

I really wouldn't bother, you aren't going to get better temps which is what watercooling is all about.

In the time it takes to do it all, you could probably build a new waterblock

I dunno, it would look rather neat and organized, no loopy tubes all over the place :D

which is why you use zip ties to hold them back

You know what, brad, you're not alwasy right...

I know, but I am saying that the tidyness thing isn't a reason to switch to copper.

it is a much more permanent solution, which can be good and bad, depending on your operating conditions

personally I think tidyness is an excellent reason, but if its not enough for you, what about this. Ever notice how thick the hoses are, ever notice how thick the brass or plastic fittings are, ever notice how thin copper tubing is. would 20 to 25% more water flow be a good reason to use soldered copper instead of hoses?

Gre[

if you are measuring inside diameter anyway, it doesn't matter. The only place it might be important in is sharp bends, where copper would excel (but be much much harder to get to the right length)

Copper tubing is easy!!! All you need is some strait pipe and get what ever corners you need at the hardware store and solder them on. No reason to bend it yourself, although it isn't that hard with the right bender. All the corners ect.. are already made up at the hardware store. Copper tubing is fairly cheap. I could do my SX830 for about $10. (I priced it BTW)

I thought about doing this very thing for quit sometime, but I havn't got around to it. If you buff up the copper tubing all nice and shiny it would look pretty good through a window.

Or you can take the best from both worlds, silicone tubing and copper bends.

http://www.saldana.fsnet.co.uk/hardforum/current_1.jpg

yes mashie, we know your setup is damned cool. what is the pump in that anyway?

where'd you get that duct from? it's damn cool :)

it looks like a normal 4" ac duct to me, like what many buildings have

Yeah i think it is, I though it might be a chimney elbow but it disn't have the right ends on it.

hehe, infact I wandered aroudn the garage and found one exactly like that, one end was smooth, the other was corrugated

Yes it is a 4" ventilation elbow.

The pump is not installed yet, probably tomorrow.

isn't 4" a bit smaller than the 120mm though, have you got a small reduction thing there, or does some air just go out of the duct?

Oops, my bad, it's 5" (127mm).

hehe

some fans are actually made in 127mm size, I am fairly sure Delta and Nidec do some

I was surprised to find that a 1/2" threaded hose barb using 1/2-14 npt threads requires a 27/32 drill bit and after its tapped its max diameter is .84375, if you go up 1/32 in drill size you use a 7/8ths drill bit and thats exactly the size of 3/4" copper tubing.
I think almost any block should be able to take a 1/32 increase in hole size especially since it doesn't need to be tapped.

I did a little research and a 1/2" threaded hose barb with a 1/2-14 NPT x 1/2 hose would have an od of .84375 and an id of .611 and a 3/4 schedule M copper tube would have an od of .875 and an id of .811. Thats a hell of an increase.

Grep

Id of 0.611 onto 1/2" ID hose? seems rather unlikely...

Any block but mine. I am already down to 1/16" around the holes. another 1/32 would make the walls to thin.

1/2" ID = .5000", but 5/8" is .625", maybe thats what you had

I got my specifications from the www not from actual measurments. I hope to make actual measurements soon. I still maintain that the wall thickness of screw in barb type fittings and hose is a lot greater than that of schedule M copper tubing and this will permit much greater flow. Besides I do feel that an ultra clean mounting is possible with copper. I am not advocating an all copper plumbing system, rather mostly copper with short sections of silicon tubing to allow slight flexing for alignment and anti vibration. In my case I will only be plumbing to the video card and the chipset, the CPU will be cooled by phase-change. One of my major goals is the routing of electric and cooling in a way that looks like it was a factory design or is completely invisible.