Can tubing be re-used?

S

sinn98

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Jan 5, 2008
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Greetings my fellow watercoolers,

I set up my 2nd watercooled case about 6-7 months ago and have had no problems with heat/leakage/etc. The only parts I've been cooling is my GPU and CPU.

This christmas, Santa gave me a second Tyee waterblock (for X1900 cards) in crossfire configuration for my second video card but he forgot new tubes! What's worst is that the supplier I got my tubes from no longer sells them!

I still have about 6-7 feet of unused Clearflex tubing from my last installation, the rest is in use right now and has been for half a year now.

Question: Once I drain out my system, can the used tubing be re-used? The two main concerns of mine is a) the blue UV dye might have penetrated the tubing and stained it blue (I'm changing coolant to red) and b) the ends of the tubes might be stretched out from the barbs and will be a loose fit when I connect them to new (but same-size) barbs.

Other than that is there any problem?

Is there a good way to clean out the tubes?

Is it true that the internet is a series of tubes? >.>

kthx
 
you can but to be safe use the same coolant. if it is stained then there is no cleaning. the ends will be stretched and you will have to cut them off.
 
You can re-use the old tubing..... It is a matter of if you like the look of the cloudy tubing with a fresh fill.

I personally replace all the tubing each and every time the loop is drained.
 
I'm not sure if I would replace the tubing with EVERY drain... that's a lot of wasted tubing that can be reused. Then again, I only used pure distilled water in my loops and get colored tubing instead of using expensive coolants and dyes.

Just depends on how much cash you're willing to burn I guess
 
If stained with dye there is no good way to get rid of the stain but if just to clean them out, use a wooden dowel to push a clean bit of rag soaked in white vinegar thru the tubing sections. Rinse well with distilled water (buy a gallon or two of distilled water from the grocery store and pour in a clean (new is good) plastic bucket or container and submerge the newly cleaned hoses), you can even leave them in the covered bucket for a couple of days until ready to reinstall to keep them clean. Probally a 1000 other ways just as good. Hard to find but a long handled lab glassware cleaning brush of the proper diameter would be ideal.

http://www.justmanbrush.com/catalog/index.asp?ScreenOption=NewCatalog&SelectCatalog=2

For example
Part No. Other Information Brush Material Brush Diameter Inches Brush Diameter cm Brush Length Inches Brush length cm Overall Length Inches Overall Length cm Price
610264 Straight Tip White Bristle 1/2" 1.3 3" 7.5 36" 90 $2.87
 
this is what i did hide any clouds in my toobin.
P1010119.jpg
 
Great idea there, we never thought about that :eek:

 
Wshmaster0 said:
Just depends on how much cash you're willing to burn I guess
Click to expand...

I think of it in the terms of risk vs. reward - with conductive fluids, you increase the risk of damage to your system ($1000 ~ $4000) for the reward of ~$30 worth of tubing

It's why I won't use conductive fluid at all - even if I take a hit in heat dissipation.
 
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