Quick Connect Info...
 

Sup fellas, I have done a great deal of searching for quick connects w/ 1/2" ID. I havent encountered any that have appealed to me greatly which is why I write you tonight. Has anyone found any that are great? If so I'd really appriciate a link. Also, my rad/fan/res etc are in an external enclosure and Id like for the quick connects to be at the rear of my case, under one of the exhaust fans. What measures should i take to secure the quick connects to that thin piece of metal? On the inside of the case would be two 1/2" hose barbs which would lead to the cpu block and on the other side of the hose barbs, the quick connects. Any information would be greatly appriciated.

Thx,
Breeze

Hi!

Here's a linky linky:
http://www.omega.com/pdf/tubing/coup...fc12series.asp

These are *supposed* to be high flow quick disconnects with no shut off/shut off options for each end. They're made of thermoplastic too, so they're light. Also has a bulkhead option.

Take a look!

Gardena garden hose fittings... work awesome,
http://3rotor.dns2go.com/images/3RH2...p05465_sml.JPG

there you can see 2wo of them in action.

Something like this, perhaps?

http://www.albany.net/~drowmage/imag...d/im001325.jpg

The quick connects there are by Colder, ordered from UsPlastic. All the ones I bought are 1/2" ID or 1/2" NPT with shutoffs on both sides. Bulkhead fittings are also available.

--HP

Ahhh. I just seen those the USPlastics catalog I got with my tygon order. how do they perform? They would make life so much easier for cleaning the system.

Well if you get the kind that also close up when they are disconected to prevent leaking they will kill your flow and therfore kill your temps.

Ouch I don't want that. I just got my tygon so I can get rid of my 90°s to improve flow.

I don't think that necessarily true. I have the high flow quick disconnects by Colder, I think the same ones that Hellion has. They have 1/2" fittings but with valves you get 3/8 nominal flow. Although in the colder catalog they say their 3/8 flow is as good as some others 1/2 flow. We'll see. The only couplings they have with 1/2 flow have no valves.

Ah yes the negative effects can be minimalized but they are still there and you fail to mention that the only way to get that is with the use of a valve which also adds un-needed bends to the system which slows flow. Although these are great in theory they leave allot to be desired in execution.

They are good eyecandy but harm the cooling ability of your ststem. By how much I'm not sure. It may be minimal but they will harm your cooling ability.

Could the negative effects be minimized if a quick disconnect of the next larger size was used. For example, for a system using 1/2" tubing, say a quick disconnect for 5/8" tubing could be used.

That seem right?

I havent noticed an excessive loss of flow with these fittings.. but then again, my pump moves 400 some odd gph at 22' head =). Using larger quickdisconnects seems like a pretty good idea, only problem I see for those of use who are using 1/2" systems is that the next size up (that Colder seems to carry, anyway) is 3/4", which is a bit too large (not to mention bulky).

Main reason I wanted to go with these was the whole external enclosure I'm working on (bulkhead fittings are VERY nice). I also decided to use them on all the main components so that I could swap out parts without having to drain the whole system. The Colder fittings seem pretty high quality. I tried some brass/metal fittings on an earlier test setup, and wasn't very pleased with their performance or their durability.

--HP

Eerm what kind of pump you running there hellion?

If he's pumping to an external enclosure he'll need the extra head and gph.

Its a Little Giant mag drive, model 3-MD-SC.

--HP

thanks alot for the help and picshoors, nice setups. As for securing the quick connects to the case, or to the external enclosure, which will be a few feet away, how should I go about that? Has anyone had success? I imagine I could drill a 3/8" inch hole in the back of the case and screw a hose barb onto the quick connect, with maybe an o-ring or the such. Also what is the white stuff coming out of peoples hose barb connections? Again, all help is greatly appriciated.


-oLi

Personally when I contemplated using an external design, I would just drill holes for the bulkhead quick connects (1 for in and 1 for out). For the box containing the w/c stuff, just drill two holes a little bit larger than the tubing OD. I would use some rubber around the hole to make sure that no jagged or sharp edges could puncture the hose. Then I would use some black drainage pipes (the crinkled kind) to put around the 2 tubes in between the two boxes to protect and insulate them.

That's what I was gonna do. I hope that helps.

Thanks for all the great info, pics, and links. I have been thinking of doing the same thing, so I came here (Pro/Forums) to get some info. I searched for "quick disconnects" and found this.

I'm a first time H2O user(excluding the occasional shower), and I recently purchased a rather large rad and CPUFX Z4 Aquasink from "BigL" on the [H]ardForums for $55. Both come with 1/2in fittings. Only problem is the rad is too large to fit anywhere in my PC-60. I'd have to do some serious dremelling to get it to mount in the top. Even then, I am not sure how I would mount it, so I opted for an external enclosure. But I only have 1 (good) PC to take to LANs, so I need a way to disconnect the enclosure for transport.

I saw this article and figured I'd do something similiar. I tried Grainger for quick disconnects, but I couldn't figure out what the hell I was looking at. Hydraulic Hex Nipple Hose Adapter??? WTF? When did hoses get nipples? (Yeah, yeah, I know what a nipple is).

I guess I just wanted to say I'm glad I found this thread, and I hope someday I can be experienced enough to contribute to these boards. You all seem very helpful and intelligent.