Question : Using White tubing and dyes/coloured coolant

[Euphoria]

Hey, I'm looking for some info from anyone that has experience with, White soft tubing, but also being used with a dye or coloured coolant. I would like to know if there were issues with staining, reactions or discolouration etc..??

 

Reason: I was going to use white tubing as it's solid and not transparent, that way I don't have to worry about clouding, but I have two large reservoirs which I would like coloured coolant/water in, even just a small amount of dye so it looks better than clear water, but I'm concerned it will stain the white tubing quickly or just cause issues.

 

Appreciate any info.

Thanks

[Enderman]

Could you use ZMT tubing instead of white?

[Euphoria]

I sort of considered black tubing at one point, but it's already quite a dark coloured build, black would just be too much.

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, Euphoria said:

Hey, I'm looking for some info from anyone that has experience with, White soft tubing, but also being used with a dye or coloured coolant. I would like to know if there were issues with staining, reactions or discolouration etc..??

 

Reason: I'm sick of replacing clear tubing every 6-8 weeks in my current (old) rig I use now, because of clouding. Well, I'm half way through completing my new build at the moment and because it's wall mounted, 2 loops plus the rads and pumps are completely separate, it's going to take approximately 6 meters of tubing, so I don't want to be replacing all of that every 2 months.

So I was going to use white tubing as it's solid and not transparent, that way I don't have to worry about clouding (unless someone knows something I don't), but I have two large reservoirs which I would like coloured coolant/water in, even just a small amount of dye so it looks better than clear water, but I'm concerned it will stain the white tubing quickly or just cause issues.

 

Appreciate any info.

Thanks

What tubing are you using that seems very quick to have to replace tubing most should last about a year before replacement. If you want a good white tubing Mayhems makes a really nice one that has a actively absorbs contaminates into the wall of the tube to help per-long the use of the fluid.

https://mayhems.co.uk/tubing/flexible-tubing/mayhems-uv-white-tubing-3-8-5-8-10-16mm-tubing/

[Euphoria]

6 minutes ago, W-L said:

What tubing are you using that seems very quick to have to replace tubing most should last about a year before replacement. If you want a good white tubing Mayhems makes a really nice one that has a actively absorbs contaminates into the wall of the tube to help per-long the use of the fluid.

https://mayhems.co.uk/tubing/flexible-tubing/mayhems-uv-white-tubing-3-8-5-8-10-16mm-tubing/

Many... many... many, different types I actually posted about this a week or so ago. I've tried everything from £1 per meter catering clear tubing, to expensive £10 per meter big branded tubing. Yet, every time, 6-8 weeks it's as cloudy as a British summers day. Also, I've tried high PH, low PH, with and without a kill coil, with and without biocide, dyes no dyes... nothing helps.

 

Regarding Mayhems tubing, I've read a few reviews on their tubing, people were say it's extremely soft and flimsy, not like nice and flexible, more dangerously soft as it pops off fittings and kinks badly blocking the flow. Do you have experience with it yourself??

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Euphoria said:

-SNIP-

Haven't heard of the issue of it being flimsy, I do know it's a very soft pliable material which doesn't mean it's bad of tubing. As for what you used before what was the fluid and tubing specifically, for even colored fluid you should be able to easily get 6 months out of the tubing without issue. 

 

I've used Primochill's advanced LRT with Pastel white for over a year with minimal staining. 

[Euphoria]

Tubing I've used so far: XSPC Highflex (clear), Primochill advanced LRT (blue and clear), Masterkleer Tubing PVC (clear), one cheap catering quality tubing off amazon (clear), WatercoolingUK own brand PVC ultra clear (clear) and lastly Tygon (possible), I have a good idea it wasn't actually Tygon, I think it was a Tygon rip-off.

Out of all of these, the Primochill advanced LRT and WatercoolingUK own brand ultra clear stuff seem to last the longest, but that was since 8 weeks before I could clearly and obviously see it clouding up and looking shitty. I might be a week or two out either way, but as I drain, flush and refill every 3 months on the dot, without fail, no tubing thus far has ever lasted a second term in the system.

 

Fluids tried, distilled water nothing else, dis-water with a little Mayhem dye, dis-water with tiny amount of biocide, also with lots of biocide, no biocide instead a kill coil and finally biocide and a kill coil together.

[W-L]

8 minutes ago, Euphoria said:

Tubing I've used so far: XSPC Highflex (clear), Primochill advanced LRT (blue and clear), Masterkleer Tubing PVC (clear), one cheap catering quality tubing off amazon (clear), WatercoolingUK own brand PVC ultra clear (clear) and lastly Tygon (possible), I have a good idea it wasn't actually Tygon, I think it was a Tygon rip-off.

Out of all of these, the Primochill advanced LRT and WatercoolingUK own brand ultra clear stuff seem to last the longest, but that was since 8 weeks before I could clearly and obviously see it clouding up and looking shitty. I might be a week or two out either way, but as I drain, flush and refill every 3 months on the dot, without fail, no tubing thus far has ever lasted a second term in the system.

 

Fluids tried, distilled water nothing else, dis-water with a little Mayhem dye, dis-water with tiny amount of biocide, also with lots of biocide, no biocide instead a kill coil and finally biocide and a kill coil together.

What components do you have in your loop, it really shouldn't be occurring that quick is it like the tubing clouding or frosting over to becoming opaque? A minor amount of staining is normal with dyes or colors but with distilled that really shouldn't occur other than maybe yellowing from age. 

[Eddie Current]

I'm with W-L, I'd be looking at what component(s) in my system might be causing the clouding (from what you stated above it's not the coolant or the tubing).

 

Cause and effect, the effect is cloudy coolant, whats the cause?

[ToastyBear]

On 2/10/2017 at 7:54 PM, Euphoria said:

Many... many... many, different types I actually posted about this a week or so ago. I've tried everything from £1 per meter catering clear tubing, to expensive £10 per meter big branded tubing. Yet, every time, 6-8 weeks it's as cloudy as a British summers day. Also, I've tried high PH, low PH, with and without a kill coil, with and without biocide, dyes no dyes... nothing helps.

Is your rig exposed to direct sunlight? A lot of tubing is more or less the same stuff with a different price tag on it. But one thing is for certain. High energy UV radiation destroy plastics.

 

Another thing to consider is risidual dyes and plastics inside your loop. I havent used dyes for years but when i flushed out my rad with a strong acid, all this blue stuff came out from over 6 years ago when i last used dyes. I noticed my tubes having a slight blue hue when i switched to hardline acrylic which promted me to take apart my loop. The dye was in my rad and slowly leeching out overtime clouding the walls of my tubes. Particulate matter easily sticks to soft tubes. 

[Euphoria]

It is within 1m of a large window, so direct sunlight could be a potential cause, I hadn't thought of that one. It will be interesting to see once my new rig is complete, because the cooling with be identical no changes at all, but it will be completely blocked from sunlight.

As for the flushing out of residual contaminates, well I don't have access to some incredible strong acids that I've seen recommended previously, but one I do have and I've used a few times on the rads and blocks, is a highly concentrated catering vinegar. It's 26 parts vinegar to 1 part water dilute so it's extremely strong and corrosive, so it did take quite a bit of crap out the rads.

[Euphoria]

Without in any way sounding ungrateful, I mean that sincerely, but I've edited my OP to remove my explanation regarding the clouding tubing issues as the thread has got off subject somewhat. Believe me I have tried everything I can without buying and replacing all block and rads, which I can't afford to do at present.

 

In this build I would like to run white tubing with a small amount of dye so I'm looking for input and info from anyone that has run this, as I think white tubing will look awesome in the rig, but I do want some colour in the fluid just for visuals in the reservoirs. I'm just unsure how white tubing reacts as I've never used it before, so I'm trying to find out if it stains or discolours very easily.

 

Again, I sincerely appreciate everyone offering advice and trying to help me with narrowing down the cause of the clouding tubing, but it's something I've been dealing with for the past 3 years and I have tried everything, so I've just learned to accept it until I can replace all the loop components.

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Euphoria said:

Without in any way sounding ungrateful, I mean that sincerely, but I've edited my OP to remove my mini rant about clouding tubing issues as the thread has got off subject somewhat. Believe me I have tried everything I can without buying and replacing all block and rads, which I can't afford to do at present.

 

Right now I just want to know if anyone has run white soft tubing with a dye, as I really do like the idea of white tubing, I think it will look awesome in the rig, but I do want at least a small amount of colour in the fluid just for visuals in the reservoirs. But I'm unsure how white tubing reacts as I've never used it before, so I'm trying to find out if it stains or discolours very easily.

 

Again, I sincerely appreciate everyone offering advice and trying to help me with narrowing down the cause of the clouding tubing, but it's something I've been dealing with for the past 3 years and I have tried everything, so I've just learned to accept it until I can replace all the loop components.

Opaque tubing colors don't show stains even if the fluid were to turn into a rancid brown just the interior to the tube.

 

Toasty might be onto something there with the sunlight as many biocides degrade with UV or sunlight exposure which could be one of the reasons that has caused the clouding.  What are your loop components btw?

[Euphoria]

That's great to hear, thank you for that. I've used many different colours of tubing as well as clear over the years I've been WC, but I've never used a solid colour tubing as yet, so I wasn't sure if they are fully opaque or just less transparent.

 

As for the UV/Sunlight, yeah I agree he could be on the right track, I hadn't considered UV as a possible cause. The rig at the moment is less than 1m away from a large window, plus the reservoirs, (T-Viruses), have built-in UV cold cathodes too, so he could well be right.

Once I saw that post late last night, I kept an eye on the sunlight this morning and although it's a little overcast today, between 07:00 and 15:00 the PC is pretty much in direct sunlight. It has bothered the hell out of me for the past couple of years that my battle station was in the wrong corner of the room really, so the sunlight blinds me a lot of the time, which is part of the reason for the new setup, to move everything into a more suitable place.

 

Regarding components, current components at this moment:

• Brass fittings throughout (black nickel plated)
• Copper and plexi CPU and GPU blocks
• Acrylic and Acetal reservoirs
• Pumps I think are mostly Acetal or Nylon (About to be replaced with D5s)
• Brass and copper radiators (I did double check the manufactures site to make sure they don't contain aluminium or anything other than brass or copper)
• Can't remember exact what brand of tubing is in there right now, I think it was the last bits of LRT I had
• And about 4-5 drops of biocide

 

[W-L]

6 hours ago, Euphoria said:

-SNIP-

UV cold cathodes or LED's are a problem mainly the UV or exposure to sunlight is of concern as they are much stronger. Do you have some photos of the clouding or old tubing which this has occurred, all those components sounds good to me. 

[Euphoria]

15 hours ago, W-L said:

UV cold cathodes or LED's are a problem mainly the UV or exposure to sunlight is of concern as they are much stronger. Do you have some photos of the clouding or old tubing which this has occurred, all those components sounds good to me. 

I'll have a search in the garage for some old tubing, but I'm pretty sure I won't have any, as soon as I removed old tubing it normal goes straight into the recycling box. If I can't find any, in a couple of weeks I'll be removing the tubing that's in the rig now, which is a perfect example as it looks terrible, so I'll update the thread then.

[ToastyBear]

UV cold cathodes don't do anything. They are just low energy UV-C rays that make things glow. Its mainly the UV-AB from the sun.

 

I just helped my friend switch to hard acrylic tubing. I noticed his loops had a bunch of white powder on it. He never ever used dyes. His rad was just coated with the stuff. Im pretty sure its plastic powder from the tubes degrading but his loop was running for a good year or two. Is this what you are describing? 

 

or is the clouding within the tube itself? Like when you use a pipe cleaner on the inside but it doesn't clear up.

 

I also have had clear tubing yellow on me. 

[Euphoria]

Yes, it's the white powdery layer that builds up inside. Most of it can be removed with a pipe cleaner.