Will my custom loop fit?

TomH · March 11, 2021

So I need some low profile fittings 90 degree for a build I'm planning, however the Koolance ones would cost about £60 to ship to the UK. I was looking for some recommendations for any other similar fittings that might have more reasonable shipping costs? Thanks

Applefreak · March 11, 2021

21 minutes ago, TomH said:

So I need some low profile fittings 90 degree for a build I'm planning, however the Koolance ones would cost about £60 to ship to the UK. I was looking for some recommendations for any other similar fittings that might have more reasonable shipping costs? Thanks

Use industrial fittings. There are literally thousands of fittings available. Just have to find a store that sells them in your area. You can also weld them yourself if you have the skills. Another way, not as pretty but if size as an issue, get some rectangular copper pipes and cut them and weld the open sides shut so you end up with a tiny box. Then use a hole saw or a stepper bit and drill the right size hole and use straight fittings. You can paint the outsize if you want but make sure to cover the holes, no paint should be allowed to get inside.

TomH · March 11, 2021

So I'm planning on doing a custom loop in my NR200 using this Barrow CPU pump block which is 72mm with the Koolance low profile fittings according to this Optimum Tech video, however those fittings are not available in my country (at a reasonable shipping cost). The Koolance fittings are 23mm according to their product page, which is 5mm shorter than the fittings I plan to use so the whole assembly should be 77cm.

I measured the space between my current AIO (Kraken x63) and my GPU, vertically mounted and got just over 25mm, which means I should have about 80mm of clearance, (Kraken is 55mm thick according to the NZXT product page) meaning my cooler should fit. The Coolermaster product page, however, says 76mm which would mean it would not fit. Is this just to compensate for thicker GPUs? I'm not sure what the best thing to do is.

Any advice welcome, thanks

bowrilla · March 11, 2021

2 hours ago, TomH said:

The Koolance fittings are 23mm according to their product page, which is 5mm shorter than the fittings I plan to use so the whole assembly should be 77cm.

No, it's worse. As you can see in the drawing of the Koolance fitting, you'd need to substract 3.5mm for the G1/4" thread at the bottom. So it's somewhere between 19.5-20mm while the EK has a built in height of 28mm. So you're looking at 8-8.5mm additional height.

Just get a different pump res, use a regular block and avoid any issues all at once. Or try the Alphacool fittings, their 90° M-F adaptor fitting should only be 19mm in height. Or just don't mount your GPU in the vertical position.

If the official clearance says it's 76mm, then it's 76mm and everything else means try and measure. Also, bear in mind that the fitting you're screwing into the 90° adaptor fitting might be wider in diamtre and it might add additional overall height.