how transparent is silicon tubing?

[sunblade]

I know that silicon tubing is milky white and semi-transparent, but just how transparent is it? What I'm getting at is will I be able to see if air is in my tubes with it? That's the main sticking point that makes me still consider vinyl, I can see through my tubing (gunk, air bubbles). Some pictures would be nice if it's not too much trouble.

[DigitalChaos]

you can see air and other stuff inside of silicone tubing if you have decent lighting. i am refering to the popular 1/8" wall tubing, the 1/18' is much clearer but kinks WAY to easy for my liking.

check out http://www.procooling.com/articles/h...plumbing.shtml
for a comparison between the 2
there are some pages after that with more pics too if you need

[Brad]

I've got silicone tubing, it is the stuff DDen sells (I have no idea how thick the tubing is), it is very easy to see air bubbles in it

[sunblade]

k, thx

[ambient]

I've been wondering for sometime what the big dif is between silicone and vinyl tube? The vinyl is sooooooo cheap. I got some 1/2id 3/4od 20' of the stuff from menards for 4$. If its cause it cracks by the connections when it gets old, why not just silicone the hose to the barbs or connectors? I've had some 3/4id 1"od in my salt water aquarium for 3 years with no leaks.

[DigitalChaos]

silicone stays soft, vinyl hardens over time.
i like the way vinyl is crystal clear and shows you anything in the system
silicone doesnt look as good IMO, and i have the same stuff dangerden has, its 1/8" wall.

[decodeddiesel]

silicone will NOT harden and will "grab" your fitting much better than vinyl. Therefor it is MUCH less prone to leak, especially after a few months. Also, the thick walled silicone has a very small bend radius, and WILL not kink like vinyl will. Finally, probably one of the nicest things, in the event of pump failure, or forgetting to turn your pump on the vinyl will droop and melt at VERY low temps (probably around 80C or so) where as I first hand have seen silicone get to the temp of molten solder and not even discolor. IMO it is most deffiniatly worth the extra money especially if you plan on using TECs, and quite frankly I would be concrened to run vinyl in a "low maintenance" system where you expect it to run for a few months.

[iceheart]

Actually I think silicone is unaffected between -90C and up to 520C.

[DigitalChaos]

Originally posted by decodeddiesel
Finally, probably one of the nicest things, in the event of pump failure, or forgetting to turn your pump on the vinyl will droop and melt at VERY low temps (probably around 80C or so) where as I first hand have seen silicone get to the temp of molten solder and not even discolor.

uhhh... if the pump fails how is the hot water gonna move from the block to the tube?

by the time your tubing would hit 80C durring a pump failure your core is gonna be MUCH hotter than that, and melting tubing will be the least of your worries.

[decodeddiesel]

Um, yeah obivously. I was more so talking about a system using a TEC suffering a pump failure, yes your CPU is toast, but if you are using silicone at least the rest of your system has a chance, where as with vinyl it WILL melt of the fitting and leak water everywhere. Some heat will be tranfered to the water, but for the most part the block will transfer the heat right to the fittings and the hose. Think about it...

Oh and BTW, while it is obivously not good for the chip I have seen Athlons hit 80C before and survive.

[Brad]

even then, I've heard of old vinyl tubing melting at temps of 60C or so, the waterblock was keeping the cpu under 80C or so, so the computer was still on, and actually working. then the vinyl tubing gave way, spilling water over the mobo, and graphics card

[sunblade]

While I haven't had experience with silicon (yet), I've done some things with vinyl, and I hate how it gets soooo stiff kinks everywhere. I should probably order my silicon this weekend.

Watercooler status:
- pump (check)
- rad (check)
- case (check)
- tubing (not yet)
- waterblock (not yet)
- wiring (not yet)

[Brad]

why not order your tubing and maze2 from DDen, at one time, then you save on shipping

[redleader]

If you can get the coolant (specific heat of H20-- 4.18J/g) in your system to 80C, then your house is most likely on fire.

[Cyph3r]

yeah DD actually has the best price on Silicon tubing... most is above $2.5 a foot for 1/2" DD has it for $2

Laters,
Cyph3r

[ambient]

so the verdict is vinyl if no pelts?

[pHaestus]

Some people don't stick with H2O cooling, sad but true. If it is your first system you might wanna start with cheapo vinyl, make sure that water cooling is right for you, and then move up to better tubing.

I started with vinyl tubing and a 3/8" ID system, and then I switched to the braided PVC tubing I could get locally. That stuff is BEEFY and I had no worries about kinks. Then I upgraded to a 1/2" ID system, and the vinyl tubing kept flattening out between the block and intake of pump. That was when I got some silicone from DDen. I love the stuff and if you know you are going to be water cooled in the future I think it is definitely worth it.

[decodeddiesel]

Originally posted by ambient
so the verdict is vinyl if no pelts?

I agree with pH, the verdict is if you are gonna run water for more than a couple weeks then it is highly recomended you go with silicone.

Originally posted by redleader
If you can get the coolant (specific heat of H20-- 4.18J/g) in your system to 80C, then your house is most likely on fire.

No, you are a little off in theory, the water will NOT get to 80C when the block is at 80C. Cu obivously absorbs and transfers heat MUCH faster and better than water. The block would heat faster than anything and tranfer that heat directly to the brass barbs causing them to rise to the melting point of vinyl VERY quickly and a catastorphic failure follows shortly there after.

[Brad]

I'd buy silicone regardless of pelts or no pelts, it is a little cloudy, but it is really easy to see the water, and any bubbles. The other thing is cost, $2 per foot is nothing too much really, and how many feet are you going to buy? 5ft? Thats $10, versus like $2 for the same amount of vinyl

[sunblade]

Originally posted by Brad
why not order your tubing and maze2 from DDen, at one time, then you save on shipping

He he he, I guess you think along the same lines as me, lol. What I noticed about DD's prices for tubing is that they have a constant $2/ft pricetag for both 3/8 and 1/2 ID, so compared to McMaster (if I was looking at the right page), DD might be loosing money on the 1/2 ID tubing, but make money on the 3/8 ID, or maybe they buy in mucho large bulk for giant discounts I just thought that was interesting.

I'm planning to buy 10ft of tubing just incase I make a mistake somewhere. I don't think the lifespan of the water system will be a problem. My two 80mm fans + card cooler in my revamped Dell can get on my nerves if I'm not wearing headphones. A delta would crack my skull

[ambient]

yeah i'll probably get the silicone in a few months, now i'm poor
i already got the system and almost all the parts, just need the wb.

[dabhpr]

You CAN get clear silicone tubing, from McMaster.com... it's just damn expensive... the 1/2" ID stuff is $5.52 a foot. It's the "Class VI Medical Grade" stuff they sell. 3/8" stuff is $4.44 a foot.

And if you want reinforced Clear Class VI Medical Grade tubing, it's $13.50 a foot for the 1/2" stuff. $10.58/ft for the 3/8" stuff.

WOW. That's a bit rich for me... I use Dangerden's 1/2" silicone tubing myself. And it's clear enough for me to see bubbles, such as when the system is first filled.

Dangerden probably buys the max lengths of tubing (100ft) which gives them 15-25% discounts. They pass the savings along to us, which still allows them to make a little money on the sale.

And it does allow enough visual transparency to let the fluid glow in blacklight.