Using 3/8" ID 5/8" OD air hose for water cooling?

[tMuRd3R]

I really like the looks of the goodyear red air hose. It's the same dimensions as my primo chill tubing. And would work on my ek fittings.They have it cheap at the local hardware store I have a black and red color scheme. I think it would be cool looking and unique with the goodyear logo on the tubing. I also dont like any of the popular brands of red tubing as it is shiny. I like the matte non shiny look better. I will not use any other coolant than distilled water w/ ptnuke. No mayhems dyes or coolants. If I was going that route mayhems is what I would choose. But I don't want to risk any clogging in areas like blocks or radiators. Would using that tubing cause a plasticizers issue,mess with the p.h. levels, or the chemistry of the different metals? Only copper brass, and nickle in my loop. All E.K.

https://www.amazon.com/Good-12674-Rubber-50-Feet-8-Inch/dp/B0089XH5O4

The hardware store has it cheaper and can buy by the foot.

Thanks for reading any answers are appreciated.

 

[rubix_1011]

As long as the ID and OD of the tubing is correct for your fittings, you should be fine. I've seen people actually use small diameter garden hose...it wasn't good looking, but it worked.

 

[tMuRd3R]

As long as the ID and OD of the tubing is correct for your fittings, you should be fine. I've seen people actually use small diameter garden hose...it wasn't good looking, but it worked.

LOL! Garden hose? Yeah don't think I'll be using that any time soon Desperate times equals desperate measures I guess. I'll be buying a flow indicator soon and when I install that I'll install that hose as well. Thanks for the reply.

 

[rubix_1011]

I've never really been an advocate for flow meters as they really just reduce flow and add restriction, but that's just my opinion.

 

[tMuRd3R]

O.k. I'll take that advice since I'm fairly new to water cooling my pc. I have been through many threads on Tom's from overclocking to water cooling and see you giving good solutions to many problems. I'll take your word for it. I have clear tubing and it looks like the water isn't moving at all. I hear my pump it makes a sound like my ears are ringing quietly, so that should be a good enough indicator? Is there another way to visually make sure the water is flowing without using dyes? I have the xspc d5 vario pump and res unit. Maybe put something in the reservoir and the current will move it around? I'm kind of uncomfortable taking the top of the reservoir off. The unit is 3 months old. I've read this pump will last a long time. Maybe I should not worry about it?

 

[rubix_1011]

You'll know if the pump isn't working or if you have flow issues - your temps will rise pretty quickly. You should be able to squeeze the tubing on the outlet side of the pump and it should pulse or vibrate pretty well, especially with a D5...they're pretty strong and robust pumps...I had one that I ran for over 6 years and it still works great today (when I need it).

Also, if temps get too hot, your system would go into thermal shutdown before damage occurs. Do you use temp monitoring software like RealTemp or CoreTemp? Those can be set to run at system startup and can even alarm or run a shutdown script if temps get too hot.

 

[tMuRd3R]

Awesome advice! I use HW Monitor but am familiar w/CoreTemp. I'll definitely run it at startup and set the shutdown temp to 67c. Amd fx8350. 70c is the max for this chip I find in aod it does not shut down my pc trying to get to 5ghz but still don't like going over 62c. I have it oc'd very stable 4.8 @1.428v max Temps are 53c, idle is all over the place lol. (Hope they fix that with Zen). Sli 980's don't go above 49c. Just throwing that out there. Thanks for the quick responses you saved me from spending $60.00 on the flow meter 2 EKWB compression fittings with shipping. Again thank you! Have a really good day. ☺