hi all,
as a nooB around here i wanted some advice on water cooling thought you all might be able to help. im looking into innovatek and would appreciate any info (good or bad) anyone could lend on the co. i am also curious as to tubing preferrences. thanks in advanc all.
logik

The Innovatek is a pretty good cooling setup. If you want the best tubing, buy Tygon tubing. It was initially produced to handle industrial chemicals, but kicks ass in water setups.

I don't think too many people have much bad to say about innovatech, they are very well respected.

If you are planning on just doing CPU, and maybe gpu down the road I would go with 3/8 tubing. Tygon is the best tubing (apparently) but it is pricey. I have always had great luck with the simple clear tubing from home depot.

It kinks if you make tight corners, but if you chuck a length of spiral wrap around your tight corners, the lumen will absolutely not obstruct.

Is tygon better? Maybe. Is it worth the price? Probably not.


Edit: I typed all this and forgot to hit submit....an hour later I submit, and BA has covered the same stuff!

(Side Note)

I just broke down my case and removed the water cooling. While doing this I inspected my tubing. I had some high quality hose but noticed some troubling things.

The watter wetter I used had degraded the hoses to the point where if I squeezed them they would show cracking. All the ends were cracked, and the hose had discolored to an ugly pastel color.

I had gone 4 months without tube maintenance, but didn't think anything about it.

No longer. I bought Tygon and will be more careful of the chemical composition of my cooling solution. All components are important when it comes to pooter cooling.

bigakita,
which of tygon do you recomend? I plan on using washerfluid with a little water wetter. thanx

hehe too bad piper aint here

All three clear types of Tygon will work just fine for a water cooling set-up. The 3063 is the most cost effective and is what most retailers carry. McMaster-Carr has all types and sizes. Highspeedpc now carries it also, and has good prices on Innovatek parts. Buy 5/16" with a 1/16" wall if you plan to use the stock Innovatek fittings. If you upgrade to the 10mm fittings you can use 3/8" ID 5/8" OD. That's what I use. The 3/8" Tygon is also elastic enough to fit over half inch barbs without an adapter.

A good mix for what you plan would be 10-15 percent washer fluid and no more than an ounce or two per gallon of watter wetter. As Akita said, it degrades most "plastic" hosing and fittings. Or use 10-15 percent of a high grade anti-freeze with a anti-foaming agent. The anti-foaming agent does the same thing as water wetter or purple ice. And it's much cheaper and less corrosive. It lowers the surface tension of the water. Which allows a better contact with the block and radiators surface, allowing greater heat transfer. As you know use only distilled water to prevent electrical conductivity and minimize electro-chemical reactions between dissimiliar metals.

The less additives you use the better the cooling properties of your mix. Use just enough to inhibit corrosion.

You'll like the Innovatek stuff, it's quality shiznit.

Which Tygon? Tygon is a type of tubing. Just make sure you get the right size to match your water cooling setup.

Actually BA, If you go to the Tygon website, they make about 15 different types of tubing.

medical grade, lab grade, industrial grade........etc.