Alphacool Announces Carbon (CFRP) 13 and 16mm HardTubes

[btarunr]

HardTubes enjoy great popularity. Those who prefer straight and clean lines in their computer choose them instead of hoses for the water loop. The majority of HardTubes are clear and transparent. Alphacool now offers with the Carbon HardTubes an interesting alternative to the common variants made of PETG or acrylic. The smooth surface and the structure of the carbon laminate give every water cooling system a unique appearance.

The HardTubes are made of CFRP (carbon laminate) and have to be sawed to the right length for precise installation. Bending curves is not possible here due to the material composition. The HardTube connectors from Alphacool's Eiszapfen model range are suitable for connecting the tubes. The connectors in black, white or chrome perfectly match the carbon look. The Carbon HardTubes are available with 13 mm or 16 mm outer diameter.





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[Bomby569]

Please be very carefull cutting carbon, the dust is very fine and very bad for your lungs, use good protection for your mounth and nose. I hope they warn people about this.

 

[Tsukiyomi91]

I hope whoever is using these know the dangers of carbon fiber dust. Alphacool should have put out a caution/warning notes about it.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Nice

12/10mm here. They have put a warning about wearing protection.
https://www.kustompcs.co.uk/cooling...ubing/alphacool-hardtube-12-10mm-carbon-40cm/

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

Next up fiber glass tubing!

Oh well, after a few years of COVID everyone should be used to wearing masks and have a bunch of those 3M ones sitting around.

 

[razaron]

I am way too paranoid to use opaque tubes or liquid.
I don't get how people can sleep at night without being able to monitor algae or residue build up...

 

[Crackong]

Why would someone use these instead of a simple plastic hardtube + carbon looking stickers ?

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Why would someone use these instead of a simple plastic hardtube + carbon looking stickers

Because the real thing is usually better than an imposter, and these should be far stronger so hopefully you shouldn't have to worry about cracking...in fact, I could see the advantage for modders who have ship a system to a show/convention or whatever (personally I'd just ship the system LTL and pay the extra money for complete piece of mind, but to each his own)

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

I am way too paranoid to use opaque tubes or liquid.
I don't get how people can sleep at night without being able to monitor algae or residue build up...

The biggest threat to loops is actually the plasticizer from the tubing or gunk for dyes. Which is why all those professional kits or servers use neoprene tubing and acetal tops and do not use dyes.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Because the real thing is usually better than an imposter, and these should be far stronger so hopefully you shouldn't have to worry about cracking...in fact, I could see the advantage for modders who have ship a system to a show/convention or whatever (personally I'd just ship the system LTL and pay the extra money for complete piece of mind, but to each his own)

I reckon they will be pretty brittle in a bend direction, though i could be wrong. Carbon bike frames shatter when impacted, so i don't reckon these will be very dissimilar

 

[Dammeron]

Because the real thing is usually better than an imposter, and these should be far stronger so hopefully you shouldn't have to worry about cracking...

About the strength - it's all about how it's made. Carbon is a material, that behaves differently, depending on it's structure.

As for which material is better - yes, genuine CF looks better, but read about it's recycling and how much energy it costs. And since the recycling is done in specialized plants, You shouldn't just throw the broken/cut-off parts into the trash bin.

 

[ZoneDymo]

Next up fiber glass tubing!

Oh well, after a few years of COVID everyone should be used to wearing masks and have a bunch of those 3M ones sitting around.

amateurs, I want straight up asbestos for my tubing!

 

[Bomby569]

I reckon they will be pretty brittle in a bend direction, though i could be wrong. Carbon bike frames shatter when impacted, so i don't reckon these will be very dissimilar

carbon is incredible strong if you apply any force to it, if done right it's stronger then most metals, but it's also very vunerable to a localized strong impact. But carbon doesn't shatter, it will just break.

I don't imagine in a PC carbon is vulnerable at all, you'd to be pretty absurd with the way you treat your computer, for the carbon to get such impact as to cause it any harm you'd have much bigger problems with everything else inside the PC first

 

[Chrispy_]

I reckon they will be pretty brittle in a bend direction, though i could be wrong. Carbon bike frames shatter when impacted, so i don't reckon these will be very dissimilar

It looks to be about 5-10 layers and if just plain, cheap cross weave sheet rolled up like bike handlebars are, it's going to be 10-50x stronger than an acrylic tube of the same dimensions.

So yes, it will eventually shatter, but not after ungodly amounts of force are applied. I've fitted no-name carbon bars to my road bike, and in order to make sure they were strong enough to trust, I jumped on them, all 88Kg of me, with all the enthusiasm I could manage. Steel or alloy bars would have folded like cardboard under the same test.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I'm actually tempted to give this stuff a try. The prices are not too bad either.

 

[ppn]

Good, but I'd like to have square matte tubing, not glossy round.
And how is bending it going to work. I have to buy a ton of $20 each 90 degree angled fittings I suppose.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Good, but I'd like to have square matte tubing, not glossy round.
And how is bending it going to work. I have to buy a ton of $20 each 90 degree angled fittings I suppose.

You cant bend it i guess.

 

[ppn]

Well isn't the bending all of the fun in doing this. Now its adding all kinds of additional failing points where it could leak.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Well isn't the bending all of the fun in doing this. Now its adding all kinds of additional failing points where it could leak.

In my experience, it is the bends which can put stress on the joins and can cause leaks. Straight pipe runs using fittings in the right places can look neater, but i guess it does depend on your loop layout.

 

[mechtech]

I don’t liquid cool. But if I did……

Swagelok or maybe HVACR Copper tube.

Brazed and tested in accordance with ASME BPVC

 

[ppn]

And copper radiators raw unpainted triple layer 65mm. also copper pump and reservoir.

 

[SOAREVERSOR]

And copper radiators raw unpainted triple layer 65mm. also copper pump and reservoir.

Or do this.

 

[Chrispy_]

I my black PVC (neoprene) tubing. Took me like 20 minutes to put the loop together, filled it with glycol/silver/biocide and haven't touched apart from when I removed the GPU block from the loop after a year or so.

I still don't really get the point of vanity builds. Desktops live at home where nobody apart from you sees them. Typically even if you have guests over they probably aren't coming to sit at your PC desk.

 

[b4psm4m]

I am way too paranoid to use opaque tubes or liquid.
I don't get how people can sleep at night without being able to monitor algae or residue build up...

If you use 5-10% of a high quality antifreeze (I usually use OAT variety) and deionised water, you will get no problem with buildup in the lines. Although I don't use custom WC loops currently (don't really see the point anymore), I have ran machines for 5 years+ without changing coolant. Technically you should do it more often than this, but I had no issue.

Fancy UV dye coolant will clog everythig in no time though.

 

[Chrispy_]

Fancy UV dye coolant will clog everythig in no time though.

That stuff is nasty and it exists only for PC-build vloggers and trade show stands.

From what I understand from trade shows like CES and E3, the people who build them know that it's only for show and say that the cloggage starts to hinder cooling performance within 48-72 hours. Sometimes that shit is so bad that it's not even good enough for a 4-day show and they drain/clean/refill one of the nights during the weekend on display.