Regular tubing as a really cheap reservoir?
 

I remember someone on these forums that posted a pic of his system and he just had a big vinyl or tygon tube sticking out as his inline reservoir. It was connected into his loop with a simple T junction.

Since I don't feel like spending money on a solid reservoir, can someone point me to a place where I might find a T junction that can fit 1/2" ID tubing at opposite ends and something like 1" ID at the bottom of the T? A way to cap off the big tube would be cool too, but methinks that'll be easy.

that's a very popular method among enthusiasts, as it takes up less space.

most refer to it as a t-line

I don't know about a t with 1/2" ends and a 1" middle, 1/2" ID tubing coming from the T would be fine anyway

You can also use a 1/2" T with a 1/2" -> 1" convertor on top ;)

Where do you guys get your converters? I tried looking for them at the hardware store yesterday (Lowe's) and they didn't have any.

Or I can just use a 1/2" T.

You can use just a 1/2" T
I get my convertors from my local HW(DIY)-supermarket (5 of those in the neighbourhood) of hw(DIY)-store (3 of those)

Okey Dokey. Thanks.

Yeah, a T-line is what most people use. Try home depot. I got a lot of stuff from there with success. I made my own T-line cap:

How good is this at filtering out bubbles?

It takes a couple of hours. Much longer than using a res., but fast enough.

Do you mean the whole tubing as res or the piece from mars? (gotta like that sentence-ending ;))

That piece is just the tube-ending, you need to close the tube or you will have a great risk of fountainlike things ;)

Tubing as a res is good, but a regular res is better.

My personal experience learns me that for optimal results (res-like), you best use a Y piece which is mounted horizontally (and the split-endings above eachother) with the 'res-tube' on top, and the circuit-tube at the bottom. When mounted like that you won't have the problem that with high-flow systems the airbubbles miss the 'res-tube' and continue in the circuit.
Off-course, after a few days even in a high-flow circuit a regular T-split 'res-tube' will have worked as good as all the rest, it just takes a bit longer.

No, this is just the T-Line Cap, to fill the system and then seal it.

I know, but my post was directed to babybunny ;)

Uh, having a hard time visualizing this one. How can a Y piece be mounted horizontally (which I image means it's laying on its side) and still have the split-endings above each other? Wouldn't the split endings be on the same horizontal plane as the Y piece?

Oh, wait, nvm.

You mean this?

................res-tube
................|~~~|
................|~~~|
................|~~~|
.............../~~~~\
............../~~/\~~\
............./~~/..\~~\
............/~~/....\~~\
circuit tube.........circuit tube
water going up...water coming back down

I was actually thinking about this. It shouldn't restrict flow that much should it? Or am I getting it wrong? Because this looks like a fountain to me.

hmmm if 90deg bends are a no no, surely 120 deg bends are?

No, not lik that, that is a big nono !

take a Y and rotate 90° right.

Flow from left to right with upper 'leg' to 'res-tube' and lower 'leg' to rest of the circuit.

........................ res-tube
....................../~~/
...................../~~/
__________/~~/
~~~~~~~~~~/
circuit ~~~~~~\
___________~~\
......................\~~\
.........................circuit

like this ;)

Because the real angle is much smaller the airbubbles overshoot the res-tube less than with a regular T-design.

All the "Y" fittings I've seen are shaped like the letter "K" with one arm missing. That's a straight with a 45 degree takeoff.

The least flow resistent res-tube junction would be using one of these with the loop going through the straight, the reservoir branch heading backwards. It wouldn't clear bubbles well.

Thanks you guys.