[SOLVED] How long should the tubes be?

carocuore

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Jan 24, 2021
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Hi
I'm building a loop, well, sort of, it's more a frankenstein's monster loop made out of scrap parts, everything seems to fit and be compatible, now I only have to put it together and pour some coolant onto it, kinda worried about the pump's force though.

I'll be using the waterblock+pump combo from a Cooler Master ML240L with a 240mm slim rad, no reservoir.
Upon a quick search it turns out most stock AIOs use tubes that are between 35 and 40 centimeters long, but should I use that on my loop?

The idea is to mount the rad on top of the case so it'll be close to the CPU and I won't have to worry about air getting in the pump.
Should my tubes be shorter -for faster heat transfer I believe-, the same size or longer than the stock? Tubes I'm using are thick, similar to the ones that -proper- AIOs use, and not too flexible.

I reckon this pump isn't particularly strong.

Case where this -hopefully- will be is a Meshify C.
 
Solution
Not sure what the rate for the pump is as I couldn't find it on google/forums and I can't get D5 or greater quality pumps in my country so this will have to do, it'll be cooling an i7 6700K if it works.

AIOs are usually between 0.5 -1.0 liters per minute for common Asetek and CoolIT or most other brands, but brands like Alphacool have developed their own AIO pumps, so not all fall into the same category, so the LPM might be slightly different, but still not near the spec of D5 or DDC.

Tube length doesn't really matter as long as everything is positioned right. Longer might even be somewhat better because of more fluid but that's too little change for any measurable effect. Adding a reservoir would do some good.

Yeah...

carocuore

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Jan 24, 2021
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1,840
An AIO pump isn't going to be 'too much force'...they are very low power.

Compare the flow rate to a D5 or DDC and then let me know what you think.
Not sure what the rate for the pump is as I couldn't find it on google/forums and I can't get D5 or greater quality pumps in my country so this will have to do, it'll be cooling an i7 6700K if it works.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
Not sure what the rate for the pump is as I couldn't find it on google/forums and I can't get D5 or greater quality pumps in my country so this will have to do, it'll be cooling an i7 6700K if it works.

AIOs are usually between 0.5 -1.0 liters per minute for common Asetek and CoolIT or most other brands, but brands like Alphacool have developed their own AIO pumps, so not all fall into the same category, so the LPM might be slightly different, but still not near the spec of D5 or DDC.

Tube length doesn't really matter as long as everything is positioned right. Longer might even be somewhat better because of more fluid but that's too little change for any measurable effect. Adding a reservoir would do some good.

Yeah, tubing length doesn't really matter for the most part, but it can over longer lengths if this is excessive. Flow restriction exists even in straight tubing, but is more notable in configurations with 90 degree bends or multiple blocks, etc.
 
Solution