Could be in trouble :(

[Glanir]

Hello everyone,

So my shipment from EK liquid cooling came in today.

I ordered some of these fittings for my custom copper loop. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-16mm-g1-4-white

My copper pipe and fittings match outer diameter, but when I insert the copper pipe there appears to be a slight wiggle, as in I can wiggle the copper a very slight amount in the fitting. Is this from the sear weight of the copper pipe (6ft long, haven't cut and bended yet)

Could this lead to leaks?

Thanks!

[W-L]

9 minutes ago, Glanir said:

Hello everyone,

So my shipment from EK liquid cooling came in today.

I ordered some of these fittings for my custom copper loop. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-hdc-fitting-16mm-g1-4-white

My copper pipe and fittings match out diameter, but when I insert the copper pipe there appears to be a slight wiggle, as in I can wiggle the copper a very slight amount in the fitting. Is this from the sear weight of the copper pipe (6ft long, haven't cute and bended yet)

Could this lead to leaks?

Thanks!

Take a pair of calipers and measure your copper pipe to see if it is an exact 16mm OD size, potentially the tubing can be undersize due to manufacturing tolerances or it was a nomainl 16mm and not exact. 

 

How much is the looseness, if you tighten the fitting all the way and can easy pull the fitting off that is not good. 

[trag1c]

If its at all possible you could test the seal with a bit of soapy water and an air compressor. Seal one end with the fitting, apply some soapy water all around it and then pump some air into it. If it bubbles then you're screwed but if it doesn't you may be in luck.

[Glanir]

1 minute ago, trag1c said:

If its at all possible you could test the seal with a bit of soapy water and an air compressor. Seal one end with the fitting, apply some soapy water all around it and then pump some air into it. If it bubbles then you're screwed but if it doesn't you may be in luck.

 

19 minutes ago, W-L said:

Take a pair of calipers and measure your copper pipe to see if it is an exact 16mm OD size, potentially the tubing can be undersize due to manufacturing tolerances or it was a nomainl 16mm and not exact. 

 

How much is the looseness, if you tighten the fitting all the way and can easy pull the fitting off that is not good. 

I'll measure it exactly tomorrow, if it is 16mm, then what's my course of action? Could it be the fittings?

[W-L]

14 minutes ago, Glanir said:

I'll measure it exactly tomorrow, if it is 16mm, then what's my course of action? Could it be the fittings?

Could be the tubing is dead on or slightly undersized and the fitting is slightly oversized with the tolerancing making it loose. Take a look first but if the tubing is the correct size then potentially you might need new tubing or some thicker orings to create that seal as long as it's not too much. 

[Glanir]

On ‎2016‎-‎05‎-‎28 at 0:11 AM, W-L said:

Could be the tubing is dead on or slightly undersized and the fitting is slightly oversized with the tolerancing making it loose. Take a look first but if the tubing is the correct size then potentially you might need new tubing or some thicker orings to create that seal as long as it's not too much. 

I did a water leak test, I ran water through a fitting and pipe for 5 minutes. Then removed the fitting. The outer of the pipe wasn't wet so it seems okay. I have to apply medium force to pull the fitting off. Any final suggestions?

[W-L]

1 hour ago, Glanir said:

I did a water leak test, I ran water through a fitting and pipe for 5 minutes. Then removed the fitting. The outer of the pipe wasn't wet so it seems okay. I have to apply medium force to pull the fitting off. Any final suggestions?

What was the dimensions you got for the tubing an exact 16.00mm, it shouldn't really be able to be pulled off in general but as long as it's compressing down with decent force it would create a water tight seal. 

[Glanir]

8 hours ago, W-L said:

What was the dimensions you got for the tubing an exact 16.00mm, it shouldn't really be able to be pulled off in general but as long as it's compressing down with decent force it would create a water tight seal. 

I sadly only have access to a caliber, not a digital. It looked nearly 16mm. Tomorrow I'm planning to borrow one from a friend to get an exact measurement.

[Glanir]

And it not suppose to pull out at all? It's just being held by a o ring? 

[W-L]

4 hours ago, Glanir said:

And it not suppose to pull out at all? It's just being held by a o ring? 

It shouldn't come off usually or take a fair bit of force, the tube is held in place by the oring being compressing against the outside walls of the tubing. 

[Glanir]

On ‎2016‎-‎05‎-‎30 at 3:09 AM, W-L said:

It shouldn't come off usually or take a fair bit of force, the tube is held in place by the oring being compressing against the outside walls of the tubing. 

Pipe and fittings measured to be 0.07mm difference, I don't think that's enough to effect it. Maybe I was just nervous because its my first custom loop.

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Glanir said:

Pipe and fittings measured to be 0.07mm difference, I don't think that's enough to effect it. Maybe I was just nervous because its my first custom loop.

Yeah that shouldn't be a problem, just tighten then down firmly and you should be off to the races  

[Glanir]

26 minutes ago, W-L said:

Yeah that shouldn't be a problem, just tighten then down firmly and you should be off to the races  

sounds awesome! would it be better to do a small twist with a wrench?

[W-L]

Just now, Glanir said:

sounds awesome! would it be better to do a small twist with a wrench?

You can give a very light 1/8th to 1/4" turn but don't overdo it or force it, usually though finger tight is good enough.

[Glanir]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

You can give a very light 1/8th to 1/4" turn but don't overdo it or force it, usually though finger tight is good enough.

Thanks for all the tips

[EK Luc]

9 hours ago, Glanir said:

sounds awesome! would it be better to do a small twist with a wrench?

Don't use tools it's not necessary.  The simple force of your hand to tight the compression ring is enough to make the o-ring do it's job.

 

I recently finished a build that uses chromed copper tubing and I had the same fear as you encountered at first because I was finding the tubing to be looser than a normal acrylic tubing. But in the end everything was fine.

[Glanir]

15 hours ago, EK Luc said:

Don't use tools it's not necessary.  The simple force of your hand to tight the compression ring is enough to make the o-ring do it's job.

 

I recently finished a build that uses chromed copper tubing and I had the same fear as you encountered at first because I was finding the tubing to be looser than a normal acrylic tubing. But in the end everything was fine.

Awesome, thanks for the tip! Just seemed a little loose to me, but futher inspection proved wrong