discussion Work in progress New Build - "Luvafair"

[Shadowarez]

I can see that being too $$$$ for them to consider but I need me some heat killer gear there Res/Pumps look slick AF.

 

[Jokester]

Not sure if this will turn out as an effective example to compare PETG tubes that I make, vs the pros using the glass. And noting that I am at an intermediate level (I think) for tube bending, but they still aren't that great. I can see distortions on my bends, even though I am using the matching inside rubber tubes, and also for PETG (I think Acrylic is a bit harder meaning it doesn't scratch as easy), you have to be very careful with it as it surface scratches really easy.

The top piece is the glass version - the pros do a much better job (then me) at the bends, and with the glass its easier to get a perfectly smooth end (so no need to worry about micro bits of PETG coming loose and getting into the loop. And while you can't really see it well here, the glass has no scratches/scuffs on it.

View attachment 39359

Yeah petg isn't really recommended anymore because of it's softness. Can even deform to the point of failing if Temps get close to 40c. It's not as clear as acrylic even new for the most part.

The glass piece looks very nice

 

[Shadowarez]

Wonder if that leak proof kit will go mainstream the one that can detect air and bleed itself.

 

[bjcsoln]

Yeah petg isn't really recommended anymore because of it's softness. Can even deform to the point of failing if Temps get close to 40c. It's not as clear as acrylic even new for the most part.

The glass piece looks very nice

Its funny - I start freaking out when my coolant hits 35C (usually time to turn on the AC) - never pushed it past that, again partially from what I heard about PETG (possibly) becoming softer...Not sure why I never used acrylic - I think I did for my very first build and was just not patient enough with it (newbie mistake) - just need to heat it a bit more before bending, and bit a bit more careful cutting it.

Granted, writing this I did remember that I had problems with the tubes cracking - again, that may have been due to in-experience, but I think thats why I switched to PETG.

 

[clshades]

Why would flow rates be better in glass? Is it because (theoretically, the inside of the tube is smoother meaning less to snag / slow down the water particles?

Any kind of liquid flowing through plastic creates static which decreases flow rate. Not really an issue with a small water loop. Glass and copper don't have static issues like plastic. Typically copper has the best flow rates which is why on large buildings it's always copper and not pex. Or they will do copper for all the mains and pex for picking up fixtures.

For example. Max length of 1/2" pex for hydronic heating is 300 feet. If there is more than one loop all loops must be within 10% of the largest loop or static pressure becomes an issue and the heating system will short circuit through the shortest loop. There's little tricks that can be used to get around this, but that's the rule of thumb.

Anyway, TLDR, glass is better than plastic.

 

[bjcsoln]

Any kind of liquid flowing through plastic creates static which decreases flow rate. Not really an issue with a small water loop. Glass and copper don't have static issues like plastic. Typically copper has the best flow rates which is why on large buildings it's always copper and not pex. Or they will do copper for all the mains and pex for picking up fixtures.

For example. Max length of 1/2" pex for hydronic heating is 300 feet. If there is more than one loop all loops must be within 10% of the largest loop or static pressure becomes an issue and the heating system will short circuit through the shortest loop. There's little tricks that can be used to get around this, but that's the rule of thumb.

Anyway, TLDR, glass is better than plastic.

Ahhh - its static...The only thing I could've thought of was friction from imperfections (at the micro level) of the plastic, but never realized static could be an issue (albeit as you mentioned, in my case a very small one). Learn something new every day!

 

[bjcsoln]

Okay, time to wrap up chapter 1 of this build - the last pieces of glass came in, and sadly, Cansci did not go with my request to not make the second bent piece (that they messed up), and instead give me one new short straight piece (so LSS I still have one 43mm piece of PETG that I need to eventually replace?).

For this first chapter - I put in an inline filter, and even though I did a pretty thorough rad flush. and since the glass tubes have no sharp edges / no particles of PETG, decided to give it a shot. Will run it this way for maybe 3-4 weeks, then replace it with the last piece of glass.
(btw - wtf is Vancouver so dusty - I clean my place regularly, but over the last xx number of years, every place I have lived in DT gets covered in dust!!! I hate that it shows up in a lot of the pics..Anyway I digress)

 

[bjcsoln]

Just some of the runs to and from the GPU -

 

[bjcsoln]

Now, in the manual for this case, it actually shows the top rad with the I/O on the left side - so you would go CPU out to Res in, Res out to case in. I hummed and hawwed over this a few times, and in addition to shoe-horning in a 420 rad (when it is only specced for a 360 - Note the Specter 4 now accommodates at 420!!), I decided to flip the top rad around so the I/O ports are on the right side. So now its CPU out to case in..



Had to use a little offset fitting so the run is almost straight...And then now for the other side, where it gets a bit tight...But overall I like how it turned out - very little overall tubing required..


The output from the case would normally go into the rad on the right, but instead its now going into the top. And if you zoom in really close, you can see where I cheesely used a black felt market to make a grey fitting turn black (cause I ordered the wrong part!!).

So now here's a bit of an out of focus view of what it looks like with the fans in..

 

[bjcsoln]

And here's another slightly out of focus view of the very tight fit, but overall again keeps things pretty neat and tidy...(oh yea and not so subtle shout-out there for my favourite band!!)