Fittings

[Chris230291]

Hello. I'm trying to find some clear fittings, barbs, elbows etc. I'm more interested in barbed-elbows though. Do such things exist or will i have to get them made?

To make my loop tight and neat it will have to have quite a few bends in it. I don't like the idea of having a bunch of opaque metal fittings because I don't think it will look right with the amount I'll need. I also don't want to mess around bending acrylic pipe and I'd also like to be able to bend the loop out of the way, in case i need to remove/change my hardware.

Can anyone help/advise?

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Remmy]

I don't think any such clear fittings exist in the way of barbs or compression fittings.

If you don't want to bend solid acrylic tubing, and if you want the loop tight and with bends, and to be able to easily move out of the way then just get normal tubing and don't even consider solid acrylic tubing surely?

I assure you it will not look out of place using shiny metal fittings where your tubing connects to blocks and radiators etc, I'd even say it would look more strange using transparent fittings.

 

[Chris230291]

Hello Remmy. I plan on using some nice black nickel barbs on my blocks to match the pipes on my mobo, but I want some clear elbows so I can keep everything square and straight but look like tubing (I want clear tubing). I won't be able to get the kinds of bends I want in regular tubing and I don't want to use rigid tubing because it will have a lot of complicated bending involved and I won't be able to move it out of the way.

Do you understand what I'm trying to achieve?

I might have to have go at making some elbows I guess?

 

[Remmy]

I understand a bit more clearly now, but the way I see it you have two interests which completely conflict, meaning neither flexible tubing or rigid tubing is desirable.

So:

You do not want flexible tubing, as you want straight lines, and tight corners.

You do not want rigid tubing as you won't be able to move it out of the way easily.


Does this mean you're looking for something between the two like a hybrid, and not just one of the normal solutions?

If it's coming to the point where you're going to have to make your own clear elbow joints, I can safely say that I think it will be MUCH easier, safer, and better looking to just get rigid tubing and bend it yourself (I know you said you didn't want to, but it will be easier, and there's good guides on how to do it, requiring little more than patience, a heat gun, and some king of object around which to create your bends).

Perhaps if you use a combination of rigid and flexible tubing? Rigid with bends where the bends are fairly simple or the tubing is highly visible, and flexible tubing where it is not much seen, or the bending would be very complex.

 

[Chris230291]

I'm not after a hybrid mate. I want to use flexible hose in straight runs but have transparent elbows for the "bends", so it looks like continuous hosing. What I picture is a 90 degree clear tubular acrylic elbow with barbs at either side, so when the hosing is fitted its near enough a flush fit making it look virtually seamless.

I'm not a fan of the ridged pipe because I would need compression fittings and I'd prefer barbs.

I did have a think about making what I'm after already. I thought I could cut a section of thick walled acrylic pipe, machine down the ends down to make "barbs", then bend it at 90 degrees like I would a regular pipe. Is this not a good idea? I'm surprised no such thing exists.

Chris.

 

[Remmy]

Okay, I fully understand what you mean now, and it sounds like more effort than it's worth to me, but that's just personal. Would the acrylic not be too brittle to just machine the barbs on?

Unless you keep it taut, flexible tubing rarely stays in straight runs because it comes in coils so the material has a natural bend in it.

I think the closest thing you will get is something similar to this type of fitting

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/T-Piece-for-38-Tubing-pid-7359.html

except just an elbow obviously, however, I don't know if you'll find some that is satisfactorily clear enough, I think opaquey would be the closest you'd get with this type of thing, so it's not going to look like a natural smooth junction in the tubing.

I did have a think about making what I'm after already. I thought I could cut a section of thick walled acrylic pipe, machine down the ends down to make "barbs", then bend it at 90 degrees like I would a regular pipe. Is this not a good idea? I'm surprised no such thing exists.

Here you're already talking about bending acrylic to make these custom fittings, what happened to no acrylic bending xD

The fittings for rigid tubing aren't actually normal compression fittings with the second screw down half, they're basically a nut with an O-ring inside like this

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...c-Tubing--Nickel-Plated-Silver-pid-19185.html

 

[SuB]

bitspower do clear cube joints you could put your barbs into. Failing that, get your ass down to BnQ they'll do clear (but not crystal clear) 90 degree barbs but they'll be f'ugly.

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...-2-Female-14-Threads--BP-LB-CL-pid-11353.html

 

[Chris230291]

Okay, I fully understand what you mean now, and it sounds like more effort than it's worth to me, but that's just personal. Would the acrylic not be too brittle to just machine the barbs on?

Well I'm already going through a lot of effort to make/modify a case, so that's not really an issue to me. The "barbs" I would have machined wouldn't be ribbed, just a smaller OD to the rest of the acrylic. I've had acrylic machined before so I don't think I'll have any problems. My old man will be doing any machine work though so I'll speak to him. I'd just polish them after to make them clear again.

Unless you keep it taut, flexible tubing rarely stays in straight runs because it comes in coils so the material has a natural bend in it.

I've already got some ideas on how to make it straight before I cut it and install it.

I think the closest thing you will get is something similar to this type of fitting

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/T-Piece-for-38-Tubing-pid-7359.html

except just an elbow obviously, however, I don't know if you'll find some that is satisfactorily clear enough, I think opaquey would be the closest you'd get with this type of thing, so it's not going to look like a natural smooth junction in the tubing.

Yeah... I've already seen those but I want crystal clear for an almost seamless look.

Here you're already talking about bending acrylic to make these custom fittings, what happened to no acrylic bending xD

I don't mind doing one bend in one piece. What I don't want to do is a bunch of different bends in one piece of acrylic. I'm bound to put one slightly in the wrong place and my OCD will go mental haha.

The fittings for rigid tubing aren't actually normal compression fittings with the second screw down half, they're basically a nut with an O-ring inside like this

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...c-Tubing--Nickel-Plated-Silver-pid-19185.html

That's still a compression fitting?

bitspower do clear cube joints you could put your barbs into. Failing that, get your ass down to BnQ they'll do clear (but not crystal clear) 90 degree barbs but they'll be f'ugly.

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...-2-Female-14-Threads--BP-LB-CL-pid-11353.html

Thanks, but that's not what I'm after.
I did look on the B&Q website but I didn't see any clear elbows. I cant imagine they would be good enough anyways as I want the OD's of the bends and the tubing to be flush. I will probably go with 7/16" hose and 1/2" barbs.

 

[Remmy]

That's still a compression fitting?

Well, yeah I know, in the sense that it maintains a seal around the tubing using an o-ring which compresses when you put it in, but what I meant was it's not just a standard compression fitting, that virtually everyone in w/c will think of when you say compression fitting.

I'm sorry I can't be of much more help than suggesting alternatives, but bending rigid tubing will be the best looking solution by a clear mile, and if you're so happy about putting all that effort into your case etc. I don't understand why you don't want to do all the custom work justice with some epic looking rigid tubing, which is less work than you'll be doing on the case by the sounds of it.