Alphacool Rigid Tubing and Fittings Released

[WYP]

Rigid Tubing has became the latest water cooling craze, but now Alphacool's new HardTube series adds metal tubing into the mix as well as the clear tubing we are used too!

Read more about AquaCool's HardTube Fittings and Tubing here

 

[Wraith]

Ooooh way to go AquaCool! mmmm Chrome stuffs!

 

[JR23]

That's a nice touch making the inside hexagonal, not so you can tighten them but if you've ever got one stuck they are a PITA to get out. I had to put a pipe wrench around the threads of one of my ghosts to get it out which really didn't feel nice. The black finish looks sweet, I would of definitely gone for those puppies had I been building now.

JR

 

[Aquatuning]

Yup the hex is not for installation as fingre tight is enough but for getting them out again

 

[WYP]

Yup the hex is not for installation as fingre tight is enough but for getting them out again

That's pretty smart, didn't even notice that in the Pictures.

The amount of times I wished fittings were easier to take out.

 

[Agost]

Acrylic tubing is relatively easy to cut... but metal? How can you get the right lenght?

 

[truesilax]

dose the metal tubes keep cooler.

 

[Innocent159]

That's the tube for my first custom water cooled build

 

[Greenback]

oh black and chrome:notworthy:

Acrylic tubing is relatively easy to cut... but metal? How can you get the right lenght?

You can get pipe cutters that spin around the pipe

 

[Aquatuning]

You use a simple pipe bender and copper pipe cutter for the metal tube - there will be a cutting kit available shortly.

And yes metal tubes will keep the coolant slightly cooler but not by a massive amount.

 

[Reloaded2]

Can some one link the products to me because it not showing up for me.

 

[Aquatuning]

They will be live on Aquatuning sites tomorrow afternoon

 

[Reloaded2]

They will be live on Aquatuning sites tomorrow afternoon

Oh ok. Thanks When it goes live can you link it to me still, my internet is being a bit resistant to me for some reason because I can click on links but not the website.

 

[Agost]

You use a simple pipe bender and copper pipe cutter for the metal tube - there will be a cutting kit available shortly.

And yes metal tubes will keep the coolant slightly cooler but not by a massive amount.

Thank you

However the temperature drop would be very small ( < 1°C ) even if they were made of copper

 

[Blobby 72]

I've always wanted to have a hard-pipe build. Was just going to use some sort of regular plumbers copper tubing but this is way better

 

[RizeAllard]

Stunning... New wishes for Christmass...

 

[Mysterae]

This is a seriously welcome addition .

The fittings available today are a bit industrial and a bit large (insert self-promoting image here ! ).

I wonder how well the tubing bends. Normally copper tubing that is supplied straight doesn't bend well (it can crack or collapse on the bend, I think due to the thinness of the metal), tubing supplied coiled is good. You could of course use right-angled fittings instead of bending though.

For tools, I'd recommend a good pipe bender and pipe cutter with a reamer blade. The reamer blade helps clean up the cut edges of the copper pipe so they don't damage the o-rings of the fittings when you insert them.

The better bending tool is at top of the picture below, the better pipe cutter is the grey one on the right, and the long thin thing going across is a bending spring. I wouldn't recommend a bending spring as I found it so inaccurate and as you can only bend in the middle of a pipe you can waste a lot of tubing.

I'd really like to see more builds with hard tubing, hopefully with Aquatuning being supplier this will happen .

 

[Wraith]

When bending copper or brass pipe, it's a good idea to fill the tube with soapy water and freeze it before bending I saw this on an episode of "How it's made" when they made a Tuba, it stops the pipe from cracking or collapsing.

 

[RadeonHDx]

When bending copper or brass pipe, it's a good idea to fill the tube with soapy water and freeze it before bending I saw this on an episode of "How it's made" when they made a Tuba, it stops the pipe from cracking or collapsing.

Hahaha :lol:, best program on TV these days . I've learnt how so much is made from the show surprisingly enough. Jet boat engines to tubas, they've got it all .

 

[shambles1980]

i wonder why they dont thread the pipe.. would be easier. or supply a small tap / dye set so you can thread them your self.

p.s

some sand in the pipe is just as effective and a lot less time consuming than frozen soapy water. also sand wont expand when freezing so is unlikely to split the pipe