Is it ok for water tubing to touch hot components?

[Scoobi]

As the title, is it ok for tubes to touch hot components (any immediate or long-term risk)?

I have micro-ITX case, so everything is very cramped inside. I have the Antec Kuhler H20 620 (the all-in-one kind, cooling the CPU). The tubing is resting on the heat spreader for my RAM, almost touching the PSU, and touching the back of the board on my video card. I'm planning on following a 'burn-in' test guide to test all my new hardware, the the temps are supposed to get quite high.


Specs
Case: FT03 mini (mini-itx build)
CPU: Intel Core i5-3550
Motherboard: Asus p8z77-i deluxe ITX
CPU water cooler kit: Antec Kuhler H2O 620
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb D3-1600 (1 stick, but possible add another stick in the future)
SSD: Crucial M4Slim 128g
HDD: Seagate 320g ST3320620AS 7200rpm
Power supply: Silverstone ST45SF-G 450w

 

[drums101]

I think you be ok....ram doesnt get hot enough the only real issue would be the video card....this could be a simple fix though is there any way you could just zip tie it up or move it somewhere? it would be better for your peace of mind

 

[kajabla]

What's the GPU? You didn't say. I think you're almost certainly fine, but get the tube off the card if you can.

 

[Scoobi]

Sorry missed that out. Its the Inno3D GTX 560. I guess having water in your computer really does make you worry a bit more. Since the case is so small, I don't have much of an option to move the GPU/tubing away from each other. Although I can jam a few heat resistant wires between the GPU/tubing.

I need to run those 'burn-in' tests as I don't want to find out later that my hardware is faulty. Is it safe? Has anyone actually had a tiny case and ended up resting water tubes on other components? I'm still not sure :O

 

[rubix_1011]

The main thing I would worry about is excess stress being put on a component due to the tubing resting on or against something like a GPU that you wouldn't otherwise place pressure against.

 

[Guest]

Sorry missed that out. Its the Inno3D GTX 560. I guess having water in your computer really does make you worry a bit more. Since the case is so small, I don't have much of an option to move the GPU/tubing away from each other. Although I can jam a few heat resistant wires between the GPU/tubing.

I need to run those 'burn-in' tests as I don't want to find out later that my hardware is faulty. Is it safe? Has anyone actually had a tiny case and ended up resting water tubes on other components? I'm still not sure :O

Neat - I only just squeezed one of those coolers into a Silverstone SG01 Evolution, and I imagine thats got loads more space your itx case.

In response to your original question - I wouldn't worry about it, the components are never going to get higher than 80-90C in the worst case and the tubes are water cooled anyway

 

[Scoobi]

Thanks for the replies. So it seems no one thinks the tubes are going to start leaking water As for pressure on the GPU, fair point, but luckily there isnt too much push against it. I think I will run the burn in tests tonight, and hope for the best.

 

[drums101]

yea you should be fine...i didnt think about the pressure on the card but i cant imagine it would be too much unless you are really forcing the tubing at a weird angle or something

 

[Pinhedd]

You might be okay but I would be worried about the long term integrity of the tubing. If it's resting on the memory or GPU it could catch on something sharp which could tear the tubing and spray the contents all over your expensive components.

I very highly recommend that you wrap your tubing with Anti-kink coils such as these

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=29362&vpn=PCC-58-BK&manufacture=Primochill&promoid=1198

http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=30064&vpn=PCC-34&manufacture=Primochill&promoid=1198

This will prevent the tubing from collapsing around tight corners and will prevent it from getting damaged

 

[Scoobi]

Yes! I didn't know these coils existed. Going to pick some up tomorrow. TY

 

[Scoobi]

Best answer selected by scoobi.

 

[Pinhedd]

Yes! I didn't know these coils existed. Going to pick some up tomorrow. TY

Yup, just wind them tightly around any problematic areas. You can cut them to whatever length you need. Make sure that you get the right size to match your tubing outer diameter.

 

[Scoobi]

Yup, just wind them tightly around any problematic areas. You can cut them to whatever length you need. Make sure that you get the right size to match your tubing outer diameter.

Which size should I get for the Antec H2O 620? I did a search but nowhere tells me the tubing diameter. I really don't want to dismantle my case again right now

 

[Pinhedd]

I can't find that information anywhere but it looks pretty thick. It's not corrugated like the Corsair ones are, that's all I can tell