Glass tubing water cooling loop.

[LukaP]

My concern is whether or not I will get leaks when the system reaches operating temperature @LukaP thanks for the help.

it shouldnt, the water (if you have good flow) should never be more than a few K over ambient anyway, so it will be fine

[Trik'Stari]

@LukaP ok good, I was worried there for a second. Thanks for the info.

[LukaP]

@LukaP ok good, I was worried there for a second. Thanks for the info.

Anytime

 

in your case (guessing the thickness to be at 3mm) your change of thickness at a 10K dT would be 0.26mm

[B NEGATIVE]

1. According to Luka glass will actually look better.

2. Yes this thread.

3. Glass is not that much harder to work with if you take your time and have a propane torch, it can be snapped with a file as well.

4. The main advantage is yes looks, but also that glass does not stain, does not react with most things, and in general if never broken will last forever. plastics do last a long time, but glass lasts forever (to my knowledge, at least thats what we learned in school, that it does not biodegrade)

5. because no one to my knowledge has done it before. Also because glass offers a slight savings when you consider that it can be joined to itself reliably, and altered in ways acrylic cannot (i.e. blowing into it and making big chambers, you could make a balling ass custom reservoir if you really learned glass blowing)

 

I would like to say that I do expect a lot of hiccups along the way, especially fitting it all together. I have never worked with glass before but I do know how to use a torch, and thanks to the ever growing pothead community there are a crap load of glass working video's on youtube.

 

The system this is being done to is a cheapo build (my first pc build) that is going to be replaced with something much better, so nothing precious will be lost if it does fail catastrophically.

 

I'll be using monsoon hardline fittings and either borosilicate or flint glass tubing, 12.7mm OD with a wall thickness of either 1.2 or 1.6mm depending on whats in stock on amazon when I have the money. Also aloooooooooot of patience.

 

 

And yet earlier in the thread I already told you that I have done it. Every tube fitted broke.

Sorry,already been there-done that.

Good luck with your attempt tho

[Trik'Stari]

I did not see that @B NEGATIVE What type of fittings/glass did you use? did you anneal the glass?

 

This is not a "good luck" situation, I will find a way even If I have to cheat and use small lengths of flexible tubing as connectors to the glass tubing, although I really hope it doesn't come down to that.

 

There is no good reason for this not to work, and as for fragility that's always an issue with small electronics?

[B NEGATIVE]

I made copper sections then got a lab glass company to make them in glass. I used Aquatuning pushfit and BP c47's

If you are resorting to flexi tube to bridge the glass to the fitting then its a waste of time,it will look awful.

 

The problems you face are getting them in the fittings,glass has no deflection in it,its far too brittle. Trying to use the deflection to actually get the tube in the fitting is murderous. Even using rotaries to fit then screw down is a PITA.

Also,if the tubes are too long even by a couple of mm,its very hard to 'file' the end back without breaking it.

 

Try other hardlines first and you will grasp what I mean.

 

You could go for an all fittings style with no bending tho,you could do it with some careful planning

 

What has small electronics have to do with fragility of glass tube?

 

And this very much is a good luck situation,take it from me.

[VSG]

Let him try it out, B-Neg. Maybe he can pull it off. Worst case, he has the experience now to try out copper/acrylic which will be easier too.

[Trik'Stari]

I have seen borosilicate glass tubing that can flex like a spring.

Skip to 11:35 @B NEGATIVE, glass does deflect.

 

The issue with fragility, everyone says glass is fragile, so is just about everything else inside your computer, just be careful with it when your working on it as you usually would anyways.

 

The fittings thing I will have to see for myself, I dont really understand why it wouldn't work, It might be a painfully laborious process, but again, it should work.

 

Either way, I want it so I'm going to make it regardless of what it takes. I did toy with the idea of making the glass only very slightly shorter than it needs to be, then using a very short length (like maybe an inch or two) of hardline acrylic as a connector, simply heat it with a heat gun while its connecting the barb and the glass; then pull a slight vacuum on the length of tube to seal the hard acrylic to the outside of the glass. Then to seal it a bit of clear coat nail polish around the glass and plastic.

[Trik'Stari]

Also, and this is just semantics,

 

You had considered that a glass shop can't really claim to be scientific grade if you get the piece and its a few mm's off right? to be scientific would be within a 1/10000th of an inch, not within a few mm's. Granted they didn't have the pc right there with them to go off of, which is always better than just measurements.

 

Just a thought

[ericlee30]

And yet earlier in the thread I already told you that I have done it. Every tube fitted broke.

Sorry,already been there-done that.

Good luck with your attempt tho

No offense bro, but just because one fails at something does not mean that another can't succeed. I tried so hard not to comment, but your comment just seems, well there really is no other way to say this, snobby, cocky, and very rude, kind of like the middle figure to the OP for not taking your advise. I know you are very good at bending tubing and you do know your stuff, but so do others. This is not ground breaking technology that was just recently invented.

[spwath]

I'll take your word for it and follow.

Do you have plans on posting the specs?

Off topic: you changed color.

On topic: looks cool, subbed

[Trik'Stari]

Thanks for the support guys. Make no mistake about it, I fully expect to fry this pc and dont mind "terribly" if it does happen. But I wont be surprised. He may well be right that its not possible, there may be some issue with hardline fittings and glass and thermal expansion. It could be a lot of things.

 

I do not know if @B NEGATIVE tried heating and bending the tubing himself or not, but I would think being able to bend the tubing (meaning I have a shed and a blowtorch) and the components in hand, It might be possible to heat the glass outside the case, and then try to put it in place and line it up (difficult yes, dangerous yes, but if you watch some of the videos, there is a brief window where the glass is relatively flexible, but not horribly molten), or simply get closer and closer with repeated adjustments with the torch.

 

The biggest issue I know I will have is annealing, I have a simple propane blowtorch, which is hot enough to make the bends, but it doesnt but out a nice big "cold" flame for the annealing process. Just a hot blue flame, with a fair bit of pressure behind it. Although I was considering using the large grill burner on our (I don't actually remember what its called, wrought iron tripod with a big round burner in the middle, that hooks to a grill tank).

 

But hell, If I'm forced to buy a bigger torch thats just another useful piece of equipment to have around (albeit slightly unnerving depending on the gasses, I don't trust acetylene)

 

To me, the thought of spending all day behind a torch whilst listening to music sounds like fun lol. I can't wait for the glass to get here.

 

@ericlee30 we're you talking to me about being good at bending tubing? because I've never done it before, I just plan to start trying it and seeing whether or not I can pick it up, I did the same thing with welding rather easily (although I'm sure welding is infinitely easier than glass blowing). I fully expect to fail many times before/if I succeed. I'm just really excited to try, been along time since I made anything with my hands. I miss that flow of creativity.

[Trik'Stari]

@B NEGATIVE I saw where you said something about doing just fittings, I was thinking the same actually.

 

guys don't be hard on B Negative, I welcome all opinions. I expect it to be alot harder than I think, I hope it is, that way my balls feel that much bigger when I succeed. I tend to be overambitious but hey aim for mars and hit the moon.

[ericlee30]

guys don't be hard on B Negative, I welcome all opinions. I expect it to be alot harder than I think, I hope it is, that way my balls feel that much bigger when I succeed. I tend to be overambitious but hey aim for mars and hit the moon.

I fully understand, I just don't think anyone should belittle others, because they failed at something. I know @B NEGATIVE is very knowledgeable about tube bending but there is certain ways of saying things in a nicer manor then what he had displayed with that comment.

[ericlee30]

@ericlee30 we're you talking to me about being good at bending tubing? because I've never done it before, I just plan to start trying it and seeing whether or not I can pick it up, I did the same thing with welding rather easily (although I'm sure welding is infinitely easier than glass blowing). I fully expect to fail many times before/if I succeed. I'm just really excited to try, been along time since I made anything with my hands. I miss that flow of creativity.

No, I was saying, that just because one person fails at something, that does not mean that another person couldn't succeed at the same thing. If you have all the right tools to do something it is very possible to be successful at what you want to achieve.

[B NEGATIVE]

At what point did I belittle the OP? I stated my experience and wished him well on his project. At no point did I insult or disparage him.

 

If the OP  doesn't want my opinion or advice,fine,but sit there thinking im abusing him when this is not the case.

 

 

And Yes,I did try bending it myself...this is why I made copper formers and got them made in glass.

[B NEGATIVE]

Also,at no point did I say don't do it,what I did say (quite sensibly may I add) was to try other hardline to get a feel for the mechanics of it.

[rafalema]

How are you planning to attach the tubes for example between the radiator and the CPU block or any other connection? Will you just assemble the whole thing and then attempt installing it into a case without breaking it? Or install components first, heat glass and quickly put the tubes inside the case or..?

 

It would look very pretty I can imagine, especially if you used very thin-walled tubing.

 

 

Seems a doomed idea to me but hey good luck, make it happen

[Trik'Stari]

Well I have been looking at a few different ways of putting this all in. The main issue that I see is that glass (obviously) does not flex much if at all (I dont know how that coil in that video moves like a spring, but I know I dont have the skill to replicate that).

 

What I don't get, and the pictures I've seen, is how the harline fittings attach. Specifically the monsoon hardline fittings. Does the tubing, if done perfectly, sit flush with the fitting (without) the retaining ring on it? I am going with them because it seems like the fitting just holds the tubing in place perfectly, unlike other fittings where you have to actually flex the tubing to get it in. This I think would work and only leave the problem of getting the tubing lined up.

 

Also the first thing I was planning to do, was attempt to assemble this outside of my case, without the mobo or any pc parts, just the coolant loop and a bridged psu, with straight tubing if possible, simply to see if the fittings work with the glass tubing at all.

 

If the issue turns out to be flexing things to get them into the fittings, I dont really know what I'll do, although I think my best option is using 1 or 2 inch pieces of clear acrylic hardline tubing and a heat gun and making vacuum sealed connections with barb's. Which if done right wouldn't look all that terrible (would it?)

 

Beyond that, the only option I "Know" would work (at least to solve the fitting issue) would be custom machined (actually, a 3d printer might work too) fitting with a bolt on side plate that opens the tubing channel and allows you to simply place the tubing without flexing. You'd screw in the half of the fitting with the threads attached, place the o-rings around the tube, place the tubing in the fittings, place the side place over the tubing, and gently bolt it into place.

 

With all the crazy delicate, intricate, insane looking stuff you can see in a head shop (go look at a 1500$+ glass bong), I refuse to believe this is impossible. If I must I'll go directly to my local glass blower with the pc and see what he would do to pull it off.

 

I won't do flexible hose to glass, at that point it would just be pointless.

 

I did like the idea of just doing glass junctions to put the whole thing together, have bigger sections attached to the fittings, and cut short pieces of smaller diameter tubing to exact lengths, and glass weld the whole thing together (still, the flexing issue would occur)

[Trik'Stari]

 

These appear to create a flush junction, which is what Glass would need to avoid flexing. Skip to about 4:50

[Trik'Stari]

I'm an idiot.

 

Make sure all the fittings point in the same direction..... flex eliminated.....

 

D'OH

 

Glad I thought of that before the glass got here.

 

Edit: Glass should be here on the 26th. Now if only I could get more than 1 day in a row off of work got the larkooler kit yesterday, I want to be here for the entire 24 hours of leak testing though (preferably 48) so I haven't installed it.

[B NEGATIVE]

 

These appear to create a flush junction, which is what Glass would need to avoid flexing. Skip to about 4:50

 

 

Those would work,you do need UV glue and a UV lamp/bright sunlight to cure the glue tho. These were not about when i tried it,I should think they will do an admirable job.

[Trik'Stari]

So @B NEGATIVE you used push-in style Hardline fittings?

also if you order the monsoon fittings from frozencpu you can get a bottle of UV glue added on for cheap. My only concern is that you need to use glue, how well does glue adhere to glass? Not well id imagine since its a smooth surface.

[Tearass]

So @B NEGATIVE you used push-in style Hardline fittings?

also if you order the monsoon fittings from frozencpu you can get a bottle of UV glue added on for cheap. My only concern is that you need to use glue, how well does glue adhere to glass? Not well id imagine since its a smooth surface.

 

Sand the glass a bit? 

 

Don't hurt me, I'm dum.

[Trik'Stari]

Lol @Rumikarimu that's what I was thinking. I was wondering also how to frost glass tubing, because a frosted system would look really good. But sanding it a tiny bit on the end would probably work