Different varieties of Tygon 1/2" ID (R-3603) tubing? What do you use?
 

Most of my intitial water cooling components came from Danger Den, including a few feet of 1/2" ID Tygon tubing.

I was ordering some additional supplies the other day from FrozenCPU, and I decided I might as well get some more Tygon tubing since I was placing an order anyway.

Today when I got the package, I thought FrozenCPU had shipped 3/8" tubing by mistake, because this was much smaller tubing. However, once I pulled it out of the box and measured it, I realized that it was, in fact, 1/2" ID tubing, just like the stuff I got from Danger Den. It's just that the side walls of the tubing are only half as thick - they're 1/16" instead of 1/8". Both sets of tubing are clearly marked R-3603, so they're made of the same Tygon formula.

I don't know which I prefer yet. Obviously, the variety with thinner walls is way more flexible and seems easier to work with; but, it also kinks much easier.

What feedback do you guys have? Do you have preferences? Thoughts on longevity? What do you use? Were you even aware that there were multiple varieties of 1/2" ID Tygon R-3603 tubing?

Yes, I knew.
I have 1/8" wall from DD, and I have 1/16" wall from BeCooling (didn't know at that time there were two varieties...)
Anyway I only use the 1/8" wall because the 1/16" kinks too much. (should be ok for big bends or straight routing)

CD :)

You should also try to use the thicker wall to connect anything to the pump inlet, to avoid collapsing.

My entire system is 1/16 wall. I don't have any problems with it kinking, but even my little ViaAqua 1300 sucks the tubing flat at the pump intake without re-inforcing the tubing some. Some spiral-wrap on the tube between the pump intake and the rad made short work of that problem though.

word...any suction or other hose that see's less internal pressure than it's surroundings should have a stiff wall to reduce collapsing. In our application that means thick walls. In industry you will even see a heavy steel wire spiraled along the hose's length -just like Cova's fix.;)

I originally used thinwall Tygon and hated it. It kinked easily and because it was so soft it would not grip the barb as well from what I remember. Now I use thick walled ClearFlex which is working great.

I agree for the thinwall Tygon.
What I miss on the thickwall Tygon (probably the same for the Clearflex) is the softness of the silicone tubing.
Silicone is really soft and bends incredibly well, but I hate it because it stains so quickly...:confused:

I think Tygon R-1000 is what I would prefer: All the qualities of Tygon R-3603 and the softness of silicone.
Unfortunately it's almost impossible to find (although DD sold it for a while, but I was too late: when I ordered they were already out of stock...)

CD :)