Tubing durability testing (continued)

[musicfan]

Hi, I just learned that an EOCF thread gets locked in 3 months. Since I cannot re-animate the April thread with the ugly tubing from January, here is follow-up with a link back. The Primochill Primoflex LRT in place now remains its normal translucent self with no change at all for nearly 6 months. It survived a full-tear down (April) and this week's dust blow-out and inspection. I found a kink in the tubing from CPU out to the top rad so drained and fixed it by adding and changing fittings. That took the kink out so I left the tubing in so we can see if it clouds. I don't recommend leaving in tubing that has kinked because it's easy to feel the crease still. But I am more interested in the durability and clarity of the tubing and how long it lasts so will check it regularly. After all that good dust removal and kink fixing the load temps remained identical, LOL. I drained because of the kink. The coolant pH was 7.0 (cheap aquarium testing kits x2). I use only distilled water and silver - pulled the coil last September and use only two .999 silver compression fittings now for biocide.

Attached are wonderfully boring pics of Primochill tubing and a better pic of the res - now dry - that got painted with plasticizer from Masterkleer. Hope there are no new tales to tell for a while. If the tube kinks or we get clouding the plan changes but for now will plan a duster blow-out with inspection around October, another in January (12 months for the tubing) with the annual spring-time cleaning in April. Let's see whether Primochill can go a total of 15 months. There are threads on the 'net with Primochill going cloudy in weeks, presumably from a bad batch of tubing. Not sure what is going to happen. Almost feel like we should do a betting pool like the college basketball tournaments.

[Mr.Scott]

If you contact a mod they'll re-open that thread for you.
My tubing (Tygon 3603) is in about the same condition as yours currently. It's been in the machine for about 14 months now. I use D water and an industrial grade Copper Sulphate based biocide. Same stuff we use in retention ponds.

[apw63]

Nice to hear the tubing is working out for you Rick. I have always liked the Primochill Primoflex LRT. Its all I have ever used.

Andy

[musicfan]

Thanks Mr. Scott. I should have checked with the mods. On the other hand, some threads get so long they scare folks off. So maybe the mods are doing me a favor, LOL.

Andy thanks for the comments. It's nice when Primochill is getting some accolades rather than grumbling isn't it?

After my first post looked weak, I thought it might help to summarize accurately before my memory goes as cloudy as the tubing and old threads vanish. The short story is I can't recommend a "best tubing" - just drain & change before it gets opaque or risk a funny-looking reservoir.

Black Tygon can do this too according to one post so I don't think colored tubing gets any free pass. Watch the reservoir closely. Look at the tubing during maintenance. Here is the long summary in an MS Word table.



Table Summary: The only coolant was distilled water and the only biocide silver. The rows in the table are correct. The columns won't add because of mixing different brands of tubing inside the same loop and changing the loop frequently to try different parts including tubing. The cloudy Tygon 3603 was a drain line with a silver coil that remained behind after the change to Masterkleer.

What have I learned? Use any clear tubing you prefer. If it clouds (or turns translucent), it will likely progress from translucent to opaque. When opaque, it is probably leaching. Since turning cloudy seems to predict leaching with migration, I suggest draining coolant and tubing change then. Tests like this can't tell what tubing is "good".

Opinions for premature tubing failure vary but most think it is bad luck with a bad batch of tubing since it is hard to find a common cause for tubing failures. There may be a bit of "they don't make it like they used to" because some have reported getting years of services from tubing.

Other speculation includes additives such as copper sulfate but many do fine with it (PT Nuke Cu - the blue biocide). UVA lighting can cause this but usually outdoors. My machine has a window and is between 5 and 6 feet from a window. Stridulent had tubing go bad and used a black-light (UVA). Mayhem, the dye maker, is testing tubing using temperatures and posted on OCN that tubing in 45°C water will cloud. That's a bit high for water in a normal functioning loop (usually in 30°'s under load), but not impossible. But that's not hot compared to what some use to use to get 7/16 inch tubing on and off 1/2 inch barbs. And we can't be certain how tubing is stored.

So far the worst consequence for me was a smeared reservoir that I replaced for $25. I may have been able to clean it with soap and water but can't reach the smearing. Debris inside the CPU block cleans easily with soap, water, and a toothbrush. I never documented temperature changes from plasticizer before or after cleaning.

Sources are my original 2010 build thread: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=342707

Plasticizer Thread 1: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=355473

Plasticizer Thread 2: http://forums.extremeoverclocking.co...d.php?t=361394

Plasticizer Thread 3: this one. To be continued...

This is largely an attempt to document random luck and opinion so please correct any errors and share your experiences. Thank you.

[Mr.Scott]

I think that post pretty much has it spot on IMO.
You do a good job here Rick. Thanks for letting me participate.

[The_Bishop]

I had Primoflex green in my old system for somewhere over two years, if I recall correctly. Coolant was distilled water and a couple drops of PT nuke.

When I finally retired the old WC setup (built a new PC) I cut some of the primoflex open to look at it. It was still clear, with no clouding. I'll dig up the pics I took and post them here.

Additional Comment:

Here we go.

Keep in mind, the *only* maintenance I did was to top off the loop from time to time via a T fitting. No reservoir in the loop.



This is the only crud I found, some minor stuff accumulated in the water block.

[madmaxx]

Been running Primochill for 7 years, some of it the exact same tube since day 1! Best tube IMHO

Distilled/biocide for coolant