Discolouration of WaterTubing

[Reefer86]

hi guys, This is kind of a heads up and also an informative post.
Please note i have only ever used distilled water and never added anything else to it accept a killcoil.

When i started watercooling i used XSPC tubing and found it to be ok but not a bendy as i would of liked for the tight bends i wanted to achieve. After 4 months use in my loop the tubing did not degrade or discolour at all. I added different blocks over time and even added in a set of crossfire full cover blocks and the tubing always stayed at its 'best'.

The new tubing is the one on the bottom and the used tubing on on the top for comparison.

On my second build of my loop i decided to go with some Clearflex as i had heard good things about it across forums and it having very good 'bendy' properties. After a couple of weeks i noticed the tubing looked discoloured. I first thought my loop water had gone milky but when i checked the water in the res all looked fine. This is what the tubing looks like after 2 months use in a simple cpu loop.

The tubing is definitely at fault here, i am also not alone on this i have been on other forums and found that others are complaining of the same problems with Clearflex. I assume this is a new issue as clearflex has a good rep across forums. Tubing should not be doing this after a month's use in a simple loop using only distilled water. I can only assume that Clearflex has changed the manufacturing process or something because this surely isnt what they expect it to do.


I have rebuilt my loop today and purchased some Tygon tubing hopefully this will not do the same as this also has a very good rep and it does not come cheep.
Here is a pic for example of the 1 month old Clearflex next to the Tygon in my loop.

Here is the XSPC and Clearflex together

XSPC used - XSPC new - Clearflex used - Clearflex new

 

[Solaris17]

its not limited to clearflex my tygon tubing did it. Its pretty bad too. was perfectly clear. now i cant see the fluid in it. best part is i cant get the stain out.

 

[Reefer86]

maybe i might stick with XSPC tubing then as i didnt have any problems with it at all.

Tbh solaris it was kind of a shock when I used a well know brand of tubing and found it to discolour so quickly. After only a couple of weeks. Funny thing is that XSPC is one of the cheapest tubing around and it only has a slight discolouration after 4 months of use. (as you can see from the pics)

 

[Solaris17]

maybe i might stick with XSPC tubing then as i didnt have any problems with it at all.

Tbh solaris it was kind of a shock when I used a well know brand of tubing and found it to discolour so quickly. After only a couple of weeks. Funny thing is that XSPC is one of the cheapest tubing around and it only has a slight discolouration after 4 months of use. (as you can see from the pics)

ya i know right. i had my tygon for like 3 weeks to a month and it was blue like the sky. now i cant see through it at all. i was actually looking to get some new tubing i think ill look into XSPC since you seem to recommend it.

 

[Reefer86]

well it good tubing tbh, im not trying to recommend any brand in particular but if your going to use clear tubing then i would suggest XSPC as ive found is doesn't discolour no where near as much as the clearflex. Tbh XSPC is as good as anything i have used and is cheep!
You can see that the XSPC has had a slight discolouration ( the last pic in my first post) but no where near as much as the Clearflex and this was after 4 months of use with the XSPC.

Tbh it makes me wonder though, why is the tubing discolouring when other brands don't? Is it reacting with the water or something?
What in that compound of rubber/plastics is making it do that. Because surely it shouldn't be.

 

[Solaris17]

well it good tubing tbh, im not trying to recommend any brand in particular but if your going to use clear tubing then i would suggest XSPC as ive found is doesn't discolour no where near as much as the clearflex. Tbh XSPC is as good as anything i have used and is cheep!

Tbh it makes me wonder though, why is the tubing discolouring when other brands don't? Is it reacting with the water or something?
What in that compound of rubber/plastics is making it do that. Because surely it shouldn't be.

idk honestly even the XSPC seems to do it though. Id assume tis the type of rubber compound being used. Some just pick up color better than others. Why? well they usually change compounds when they make a spacific type of tubing like non kink is usually softer, softer tubing usually pics up colors better.

 

[HammerON]

I use Tygon tubbing and have not had this problem (using distilled water and Feser Base Corrosion Blocker)...

 

[dcf-joe]

Everything I say is the truth, I have no reason to lie. I purchased my tygon tubing, LAST YEAR, have not changed a damn thing in my entire loop for A YEAR, and I have NO discolorations at all. The only things I used were that tygon tubing, some distilled water from a local gas station, and some Swiftech HydrX Extreme Coolant!

 

[Naekuh]

lulz..

Okey, OP, before listening to all the wrong answers, here is the correct answer.

You have whats called plastercizer happening inside your tubing.
Basically a layer inside your tubing that allows it to bend softer, is starting to flake off, and leaving discoloration and a flakey white residue inside your coolant.

This is normal on most loops. Every tubing we normally used a while back had plasticizer in it, so its not something new.

There are a few tubing which do not have plasticizer.
Standard Tygon is NOT one of them.

If the discoloration really bugs you, the way we get around it is by using colored tubing instead of clear tubing.

Also all dyes will stain. If your coolant has a color, it will stain, another reason why the vets push straight distilled and an antimicrobe.

 

[HammerON]

How can my "answer" be incorrect when it in fact is what I have observed in my situation. I do not make myself out to be an expert, nor am I trying to answer any of the OP's questions. I am merely stating that I have used Tygon tubing and have not had this problem personally.

So I guess that I am taking offense to your statement "Okey, OP, before listening to all the wrong answers, here is the correct answer."

 

[Solaris17]

lulz..

Okey, OP, before listening to all the wrong answers, here is the correct answer.

You have whats called plastercizer happening inside your tubing.
Basically a layer inside your tubing that allows it to bend softer, is starting to flake off, and leaving discoloration and a flakey white residue inside your coolant.

This is normal on most loops. Every tubing we normally used a while back had plasticizer in it, so its not something new.

There are a few tubing which do not have plasticizer.
Standard Tygon is NOT one of them.

If the discoloration really bugs you, the way we get around it is by using colored tubing instead of clear tubing.

Also all dyes will stain. If your coolant has a color, it will stain, another reason why the vets push straight distilled and an antimicrobe.

lolz thanks for the pwnage bro your #1 on my cool list :thumbs up:

 

[robn]

Might also be UV light degrading the plastic if you have strong sunlight falling on your PC through a clear side panel, or UV cold cathode lighting inside.

In this case look for UV resistant tubing (comes with a bluish tinge).

 

[boulard83]

Primochill BLACK FTW !

 

[sneekypeet]

exactly the reason I went to colored tube myself. $3.50 a foot for tygon to look like pooh in 6 months, then I got to buy something else anyways. Just get cheaper colored tubing and be done with it

 

[pantherx12]

Feser tubing, cheap as shite but stays clear for a good while http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/home.php?cat=1233

( mine had slightly discolouration when took apart my loop when the Kandalf arrived)

 

[Naekuh]

I am merely stating that I have used Tygon tubing and have not had this problem personally.

So I guess that I am taking offense to your statement "Okey, OP, before listening to all the wrong answers, here is the correct answer."

Will tygon cloud? Yes

Was your original comment wrong in tygon wont cloud? Yes

So was your statement false? Yes

I didnt point fingers at anyone, however if u would like to stand up, be my guest.

Need more proof?
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3689774#post3689774

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=136514&highlight=plasticizer

 

[DOM]

yeah clear stuff doesnt stay clear for long, so when i buy some more tygon im getting the blk one

 

[Reefer86]

well i was just surprised that cheep XSPC tubing was in my loop for 4 months and i could still see the water travelling around the loop, but better known and more expensive Clearlex went discoloured and i couldn't see through it only after 2 weeks.

@ Boulard83 - Primochill you say is good!? and XSPC doesn't cloud up as much....hmmmm both British made!!!

 

[HammerON]

Will tygon cloud? Yes

Was your original comment wrong in tygon wont cloud? Yes

So was your statement false? Yes

I didnt point fingers at anyone, however if u would like to stand up, be my guest.

Need more proof?
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3689774#post3689774

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=136514&highlight=plasticizer

I did not say in my original comment that it wouldn't cloud: "I use Tygon tubbing and have not had this problem (using distilled water and Feser Base Corrosion Blocker)..."

As stated previously I was indicating in MY case it had not happened. So my statement was not "false" as it was based soley on my experience.

I do appreciate the information you have provided however

 

[Naekuh]

Personally i use Feser + Primochill LRT tubing.

I use only color tubing, however the feser UV tubing has been good.

From my experience:

Masterkleer : you'll be lucky if u get 6 months without clouding
Tygon 3606: you'll be lucky if u get 6 months without clouding again.
Feser: 6 months + going, and still no clouding (however its more expensive then tygon).
Primochill LRT: THE BEST TUBING PERIOD! better then feser when it comes to bend radius, the colors are somewhat limited compared to feser.

Primochill has the best bend radius. If your after premium tubing, primochill is a must for you.

If your new to h2o, i still recomend u going cheap tubing.
Clouding tubing means your system was up too long, and you dont apply on the definition of a newbie.

Newbie loves to disassemble, and reassemble, and try to recreate disneyland inside there computers on there first yr or so.
After the first year, from my experience, they slow down, and thats when you use premium tubing.

Example of Primo and Feser.

Right blue is primo, the clear uv is feser:

 

[johnnyfiive]

I'm a big fan of PrimoChill tubing honestly, have only used their white colored UV tubing though. As for clear tubing, I've used the cheap Durelene tubing from SideWinders and have never had issues with distilled and biocide.

Durelene Tubing
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/othertubing.html

PrimoChill Tubing
http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...13_292&zenid=6ecd8d5d1ca52c51ef9df63d5a72b374

 

[Naekuh]

There are ways to restore your tubing as well.

You can use something called scrubbing bubbles, and let the foam clean the tubing.

However keep the scrubbing bubbles away from acrylic.

But i have used that a long time ago to restore patchs of tubing you wanted to reuse, with great results.