Polyethylene tubing in water cooling build vs. Silicone and Vinyl

[Laessen]

HDPE (high density polyethlyene) is one of the best plastics for chemical resistivity (moreso than acrylic for sure). Even the solvent weld stuff from TAP won't touch it. I'm wondering if this quality is also inherent in PE tubing. It's a thermoplastic, probably doesn't have much or any plasticizer, is radically cheap and more easily available than silicone and I'm guessing it will last a hell of a lot longer, although it doesn't look as nice. Another complaint is that it isn't as flexible but other than that isn't PE tubing pretty much superior in every way? I'm doing a budget water cooling build on my backup pc and just want to know if I'm really getting the best there is with Primochill from a longevity and practicality perspective.

Trying to avoid all the plasticizer junk that can build up. From what I've read every type of tubing has it (but they never mention PE), unless you go with hard tubing.

Edit: I'm also considering just the cheapo PVC crap from home depot, but I really want to have a long-term no-maintenance solution. Really don't care much about looks.

 

[Eximo]

Custom cooling means maintenance, so you should build with that in mind. At least yearly draining just to check everything.

I used car radiator hose in my last build as a quick solution to poor tubing that I had ordered. The walls were too thin and collapsed around bends that were honestly pretty minimal. Would have been a very loopy build had I used it with excess length everywhere.

3/4 ID radiator hose was a bit stiff, but I used it for at least a year with no issues. Tiny bit of brown muck in my reservoir near the pump, so some sort of bacteria growth or just a precipitation of a copper compound, not really sure.

Using Primochill now and it is a very nice looking tube. Quite flexible and easy to cut.

 

[mcnumpty23]

using primochill lrt myself for a good long while

looked inside my blocks last week when i changed cpus

no sign of any plasticizer in there at all

 

[ThePlaneAddict]

Go with Primochill advanced LRT and make sure it's the right stuff. I've had it running for 6 months with no plastic issues. As someone else said, a PC loop is alot of work. You can't expect it to survive, just like a pool won't stay algae free unless you put in chemicals.

 

[Laessen]

Alright, but my point is that polyethylene tubing with the right kinds of biocides and anti-corrosion inhibitors might be able to go indefinitely right? They use HDPE for long term food storage and hot food dispensers because it does so well under heat and is basically impermeable (unlike other types of tubing that gradually evaporate water over time. It's also UV and algae resistant. It seems like a super material if you're willing to have a loopy build or do some heat bending like hard tubing. Does anyone have evidence to the contrary? If I can get a better material here for $.30 a foot vs the Primochill I'm wondering why it hasn't been done before.

I'm also looking at some neoprene tubing that looks promising. Even though it is the same cost or more than silicone it seems much hardier and without plasticizer. The goal here is to eliminate as much maintenance as possible through plasticizer leakage, water evaporation, and aging of the tubing (ie. losing flexibility or physically degrading and leaking).


Some background on my application:
I am going to build a cheap ass water cooling loop for my spare computer that hopefully won't need much maintenance at all.
I'm also planning on using simple barb fittings and worm gear clamps so it has to hold up to that. The tubes are going to be 3/8 inch ID.
The loop is going to consist of a cpu block, gpu block, 120mm rad, 240mm rad, a small reservoir, and two pumps (all cheap stuff from ebay totaled around $100 not too worried about the utmost of performance or best in class hardware).

EDIT: This is what I'm talking about (except in 3/8 ID):
https://www.amazon.com/White-Density-Polyethylene-Tubing-Length/dp/B000FN3K04/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488341970&sr=8-1&keywords=hdpe+tubing+3%2F8
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008BWT64K/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[ThePlaneAddict]

I'm not sure then. You would have to know the exact specifics of the engineering and how the materials responded over long periods of time. You might also run into kinks. Really to avoid any algae in a loop, all you need is a kill coil and you could avoid corrosion with a certain coolant type but that would need maintenance as it breaks down. If you want to just throw it into a junk loop, might as well do the tests yourself and make a post about it. I think custom watercooling is more for design for many people so they spend the money making it look really good which is why it may not have been done before. Plus people spend hundreds of dollars on waterblocks and fittings and don't want unknown practices to ruin them. I think building a custom loop as cheap as possible would be kind of fun. Linus did it in one of their scrapyard wars episodes.

 

[Laessen]

I'm not sure then. You would have to know the exact specifics of the engineering and how the materials responded over long periods of time. You might also run into kinks. Really to avoid any algae in a loop, all you need is a kill coil and you could avoid corrosion with a certain coolant type but that would need maintenance as it breaks down. If you want to just throw it into a junk loop, might as well do the tests yourself and make a post about it. I think custom watercooling is more for design for many people so they spend the money making it look really good which is why it may not have been done before. Plus people spend hundreds of dollars on waterblocks and fittings and don't want unknown practices to ruin them. I think building a custom loop as cheap as possible would be kind of fun. Linus did it in one of their scrapyard wars episodes.

If you could link me that video it would be much appreciated.
If I end up choosing one of these materials I will post a thread with my results. Like I said I really don't care about looks and my waterblocks cost $15 each

 

[ThePlaneAddict]

Yeah I totally get it, I just was answering why it might have never been done before. Here is the first video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=snhrslMa4vQ It's a series so you may have to jump around. It's not done well but it just shows how janky you can go on a liquid cooled loop. I'm pretty sure none of the parts they use are meant for pc use

 

[mcnumpty23]

yes petg is probably superior

though my primochill lrt has been in there almost 3 years now and still looks as new

but petg has the issue that you have to learn to bend it

hardened glass tubing is also being used now

looks great but even harder to bend and get the bends right/looking good

 

[Laessen]

I went with the cheap vinyl stuff from hardware store. Using a mix of watter wetter and tap water. Keeps my 4770 and two r9 390's at 50C on a single 360mm rad.