Barbs Vs. Compression Fittings

M

MikeGT2

New member
Hi,

Was looking and hoping someone could offer me some advice please?

I'm going to be rebuilding a new rig and want to start and tidy things up a little.

Previously I've used Barbs only. I want to give compression fittings a try.

Having not seen one up close and personal before to be able to try one out I wanted

to ensure I was making a good choice by converting to using them where presentation is key.

I would be using compression fittings on the CPU block and also the GPU block.

Are these Compression fittings safe?

I know you have to screw them in to give the tight seal. Are they more risky to use then a barb?

Any recommendations to good quality ones that could make installing them on the likes of a CPU block

more easier? (for example screwing the compression cap).

Here is another question.

45 Degree angling... I've seen tom logan use what seems to be a complete 45 degree angle with a barb end so you can just

clamp the hose on. Do these exist like that or was it just how it looked? They was in black and he used them on the

CKC - Complete - Coolermaster Koolance Cosmos video for the bottom 240 rads.

Any recommendations to what I can use for 45 degree fittings like those as well please?

Thanks
 
Compression fittings are essentially barbs that have a ring you screw on to hold it securely. Just in the same way as you might put some kind of clamp/clip etc on your barbs for peace of mind. They are no more likely than barbs to leak, in fact they are probably less likely to come loose due to the fact that they screw on.

To be honest I think compression fittings are all as good as each other in terms of performance so you should just go for what you think looks best. The only thing to take into account is the compatible tubing sizes, both ID and OD are important with compression fittings. Here are the ones Specialtech do:

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Fittings-cid-1181.html

Here are some 45s for 1/2" ID 3/4" OD as an example.

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/12-ID---34-OD-13-19mm-45-Angle-Compression-Fittings-cid-1814.html

Again just go for whatever looks good in your rig.

Rotaries can be good with angled fittings as they allow you to decide what angle to have your tubing at, rather than whatever angle the fitting ends up at when screwed in.

In short just look around some W/C site and see what they have, choose what looks nice/ isnt too expensive and don't worry about leaks, as long as you do them up properly and leak check you will be fine.

Hope that helped.
 
They arent called " compression fittings " for nothing .

The screw on top compresses the tubing on the fitting and holds it safe in place !

I never had a leak with compression fittings .

Cheers !
 
Thanks allot for your replies
smile.png


I will be using a Koolance 452x2 as I'm doing a 3-4 rad set up to cool some OC'd 7970's and 2600k CPU.

Due to the rad coverage on one D5 pump. I was thinking of doing the in series set up so I have the power of two D5 pumps.

A few concerns I have is...

Would extra flow make the chances of a leak more higher? And is this becoming more common to do these days with dual pumps?

Maybe I would need to turn them both down slightly so that the power of two is still there to stop the strain on one pump. But to slow down

the flow?

Also....

Does higher flow help temps or can it hinder the effect if water is being passed around the loop too quickly?

thanks
 
Is there anything that can be purchased to help with the aid of screwing them tight without ruining the finish ?
 
IMO you dont need to screw them all the way down , go as much as you can go with your hands and if you still dont feel safe take some pliers but put a cloth between the jaws so you dont damage the fitting .
 
Well i can finger power them completely tight but i dont know maybe if you wore some socks on your hand you would still get the friction and preserve your fingertips butayne lose some mobility. I wouldnt recommend using tools unless it was some sort of clamp with a rubber clamping portion but that would definately reduce your possibility for movement as some items have barely any clearance between fittings
 
Does anyone have any experience with dual pumps and water flow vs cooling efficiency (see my post above plz)
 
I don't use compression fittings but I imagine wrapping a thick cloth around the fitting and then carefully using some pliers would do the job.

I have a dual loop set up with 2 pumps. Are you thinking about running them in series or parallel?
 
Master&Puppet said:
I don't use compression fittings but I imagine wrapping a thick cloth around the fitting and then carefully using some pliers would do the job.

I have a dual loop set up with 2 pumps. Are you thinking about running them in series or parallel?
Click to expand...

Hi,

It will be in series (the power of two pumps as one).

Now I have a little dilemma I need to consider.

When I come out of the top 7970 (GPU1) really I should link into the CPU as it's the nearest and neatest.

But I have a 360 rad on the outside of the case I will be using. The hose holes on the Cosmos 2 are at the very top of the case.

Would it make more sense for cooling to come out the top GPU and then out the back to the 360. then back in and to the CPU?

Other wise it will be like this if I follow the most obvious route for tidiness.... The res is combo with pump(s).

RES -- 240 -- 240 -- GPU2 -- GPU1 -- CPU -- BACK360 -- TOP360 -- back to RES

Would this be better..??

RES -- 240 -- 240 -- GPU2 -- GPU1 -- BACK360 -- CPU -- TOP360 -- Back to RES.

Would linking GPU2 into CPU really not cause much temps gain on the CPU?

From watching TTL's video's it seems I'd expect to really only gain or save a small amount of temp no matter how I do that??????

Another alternative would be to do the loop in reverse since I have the res and pumps as a combo....

RES -- TOP360 -- BACK360 -- CPU -- GPU1 -- GPU2 -- 240 -- 240 -- Back to RES

What would be my best option...

Thanks
 
It's kind of funny that you mention this issue just after Swiftech made their new fittings available, fittings which they claim avoid most of the issues with compression fittings. They wrote a white paper about it: http://www.swiftech.org/About_fittings.pdf

To save your fingers, they include flat surfaces so you can use a wrench to screw them in.

As for order, you have more than enough rad for your setup, so just use whatever is cleaner -- to avoid having to much tubing, or tubing that crosses.
 
For sale in the UK?

unwaxed said:
It's kind of funny that you mention this issue just after Swiftech made their new fittings available, fittings which they claim avoid most of the issues with compression fittings. They wrote a white paper about it: http://www.swiftech....ut_fittings.pdf

To save your fingers, they include flat surfaces so you can use a wrench to screw them in.

As for order, you have more than enough rad for your setup, so just use whatever is cleaner -- to avoid having to much tubing, or tubing that crosses.
Click to expand...
 
MikeGT2 said:
......What would be my best option...
Click to expand...

i could render an opinon, but i'd have to see what case, radiator location

and pump(s)/res location.

like Tom's advice, keep the hose to a minimum and straight without crossing

hoses to produce a tidy look rather than luigi blowing his spagetti into your

case. all for the sake of a couple of degrees.

airdeano
 
im a barb man. the compression can get sexy, but knurled fittings and now slotted lends them to some

deep scratches (if using metallic tools) and now the $10 fitting is a booger. 1/2" barbs with 7/16" hose

and nare a leak yet.. need steep angles, use the rotary angle fittings, too. someone has always got a

1/2" barb than 15 different flavors of compression fittings. there will prolly be a day ill have to use them,

but not today.. it is not your first rodeo in water-cooling..

airdeano
 
Hi,

Thanks again for your replies. And after reading I decided to make a quick photoshop pic of what I intend to do.

It's inspired by toms recent CosMos2 build.

Remember the pump will be with the res as a combo...



Compression fitting...

I have got my hands on one to try with some tubing. I find if I dip the tubing end in boiling water and push it onto the compression barb, then screw on the cap before

the tubing cools.. it's quite allot easier.

Can anyone see any problems doing it that way?
 
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