Flexable copper lines?
 

Has anyone here tried making use of soft flexable copper lines like air conditioning or refridgeration use?

Would seem to offer a bit larger ID than Tygon so lower head loss rate + a small gain for cooling.

How has it' worked for you in practice?

How well?

Thanks much,

BE

not worth the hassle/expense

finned copper tubing is another issue... if only it was cheaper - have to buy in large volume... what a wank value....

Cost is not a problem. I can get it reasonable locally, near the same cost per foot as Tygon.

Where did you see copper lines with cooling fins? I'd never even heard of it. Link?

Here's what he may be reffering to:
http://www.kentube.com/images/fintube1.jpg
They're not realy fins but ribs in the tubing to allow it to flex easily without kinking. Sort of like what a carpet cleaner/vacumm cleaners attachment hose looks like.

I doubt that either the cooling or the head loss benefits would be significant, but the hassle factor probably would be.

1. "Flexible" is a term with alot of flex in it... :D Copper line is more flexible than copper pipe, but it is several times stiffer than any of the standard Tygon or other plastic lines that we normally use in WC setups.

2. It takes tools to bend it, and if not bent very carefully will tend to collapse (and there goes the flow restriction advantage). Getting it to line up with all the components w/o stress would be a challenge. (and I'm not sure what thermal expansion / contraction changes would do on top of that...)

3. W/ tubing we mostly use barb fittings, which are easy and flexible. Copper tube requires compression fittings, soldering, or other fancier connections, which again add more hassle, and are fussier about tube length, alignment, etc.

4. I'm not sure if it comes in appropriate sizes - my hardware store only seems to carry it up to about 3/8", but that might just be them. I'm planning to use mixed sizes in my setup, but some lines will be as much as 3/4"

I don't think it is impossible to do a setup with all copper lines, but it would be difficult, and I'm not sure it would offer a performance advantage. I have seen a setup using stainless braided teflon lines (like used for water feed connections) but the owner clearly stated it was for cosmetic reasons and didn't claim any performance boost. (It did look cool if you care about such things!)

I've also seen setups where copper pipe was used for the longer runs, with just short lengths of Tygon or equivalent used for jumping between the pipes and the blocks, pumps, etc. It was neat, but restrictive due to the use of many 90* elbows, etc. Tubing could be used for this instead I suppose, but not sure it would offer any real advantage.

Gooserider

My hardware store carrys it in up to 3/4" so size isn't a problem.

I'm not going to try for ALL copper lines. I'll use some tygon as needed for ease of useage, but it won't be more than 20% at most.

It may not be as easy as all Tygon, but I'm going to give it a try. Worst that will happen is I'll end up changing my mind about it.

At best I may gain a bit of performance while learning something new.

http://www.cyburbia.net.au/Commercia...nned_tube.html

http://www.rometurney.com/whyfin.htm

Most specs I see claim 20-35% more surface area than plain tubing.

The really interesting idea..... have enough finned tubing (with proper case airflow) that a rad is not needed..... The tubing IS the rad....

I've been doing some research about this. For the reson "not" to need a radiator. (IMHO you never can have enough radiators)

Problem with the flexible ones : they will look ugly like hell!
Once you start bending, they will look wrangled.
In a nornal case, you don't have the space to make a good bend, so you need elbows again. and on a "soft" copper pipe, they are a lot harder to solder.
For small bend's they are just fine. (15 degrees or less)

With the ones with cooling fins, they are a lot harder to bend. Even with special equipment. Again, a small bend will be fine.
One other problem is that you need to attach at some point a elbow, or a tube. Damm, there are fins! So you need to get them of, and get a smooth surface again. Can be done, but extra work.

If you have a "free running" tube for about 10 or 15 cm, it's worth it.
Just remember that you need to have the space in your setup, and a good airflow!

Don't expect any gain for the water flow, but you coold lose 1 degree in water temp. (=0.4 degree cpu temp)

For some of us, it's worth the trouble.

fhorst,

While I've always had good luck soldering, I've never tried it with soft copper line before.

What sort of problems does it create to make it harder to work with?

brocoman,

Thank you for the links!:dome:

The problems are not that big.
For a starter, it ain't round, but a bit elipse.
So placing an elbow on there, is a bit of problem.
When you make it round, it will get damaged easely. this damage can give you quicker leaks.
Also, for some reason, the solder does not go so nicely, but I guess that has to do with the "damage"

So no big problems, Have fun with it!

p.s., normal copper pipes are round, and with a bit more forse, you can bend it the same as the soft ones...

refer copper is easy to solder.
use silfloss with a twin tip acetylene torch for perfect joins.