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Fittings for Alphacool 16/11 Borosilicate Glass tubing

4K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  Revan654 
#1 ·
I finally have some time to finish ordering everything I need for my new build, and I've ordered a bunch of Alphacool 16mm Borosilicate Glass tubing for my loop. Now I need to find some fittings. This Alphacool tubing says it only works with Alphacool fittings. Mayhems makes 16mm Borosilicate Glass tubing as well, but they say their tubing is compatible with fittings made by Alphacool, Bitspower, EK, etc. So, I'm wondering if they're just trying to get me to buy their fittings. How can Mayhems 16mm OD glass tubing work with everyone's fittings, including Alphacool? These two contradict each other so I'd really like to hear from someone who's used this tubing before and maybe tried multiple fittings.

The only difference between the Alphacool tubing and Mayhems tubing is the ID. 11mm vs 12mm (0.04"), but I thought as long as the OD is the same, it'll work.

Any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
I've used bitspower fittings in my rig, I used mostly Alphacool glass, but a couple bends are Mayhems.

The bitspower fittings worked great. Very tight seal. Make sure to seat the oring in the fitting well and lubricate with some water. Insert the glass gently, twisting in works too. If you jiggle it back and forth, don't tilt the glass too much or it will crack fairly easily.

Practice with straights and get proficient before trying with a bend.
 
#5 ·
The only possible issue would be if, like some other companies, they use metric measurements as interchangeable with or instead of imperial sizes.
Edit: They do use both 16mm and 5/8 on their website.

If the tube is truly 16mm OD then you can of course use any 16mm fittings. Alphacool do have a history of using their own sizings rather than standard though, like their 13mm stuff.

When they specifically say not compatible with monsoon fittings I would believe it. I have measured monsoon tube at as little as 15.5mm, while true metric tube like EK can be 16.15mm
 
#6 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashcroft View Post

The only possible issue would be if, like some other companies, they use metric measurements as interchangeable with or instead of imperial sizes.
Edit: They do use both 16mm and 5/8 on their website.

If the tube is truly 16mm OD then you can of course use any 16mm fittings. Alphacool do have a history of using their own sizings rather than standard though, like their 13mm stuff.

When they specifically say not compatible with monsoon fittings I would believe it. I have measured monsoon tube at as little as 15.5mm, while true metric tube like EK can be 16.15mm
Well, I ordered a handful of different 16mm fittings and 5/8" fittings, one of each, so I can test them all out before ordering all the fittings I need. Monsoon usually gives you different size o-rings so it'll fit tubing slightly larger and slightly smaller. I even ordered a fitting from that new brand made by Bitspower.

After I try them all, I'll post which ones were solid and which were crap. Hopefully, it'll save some a little time when deciding on fittings, like I'm having to do right now.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by rolldog View Post

I finally have some time to finish ordering everything I need for my new build, and I've ordered a bunch of Alphacool 16mm Borosilicate Glass tubing for my loop. Now I need to find some fittings. This Alphacool tubing says it only works with Alphacool fittings. Mayhems makes 16mm Borosilicate Glass tubing as well, but they say their tubing is compatible with fittings made by Alphacool, Bitspower, EK, etc. So, I'm wondering if they're just trying to get me to buy their fittings. How can Mayhems 16mm OD glass tubing work with everyone's fittings, including Alphacool? These two contradict each other so I'd really like to hear from someone who's used this tubing before and maybe tried multiple fittings.

The only difference between the Alphacool tubing and Mayhems tubing is the ID. 11mm vs 12mm (0.04"), but I thought as long as the OD is the same, it'll work.

Any suggestions?
It's just marketing trying to get you to buy there fittings. I have heard from a few that AlphaCool Glass tubing has some issues getting the glass inside most fittings (This includes there own fittings). Mayhem glass tubing is allot easier to work with.
 
#8 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Revan654 View Post

It's just marketing trying to get you to buy there fittings. I have heard from a few that AlphaCool Glass tubing has some issues getting the glass inside most fittings (This includes there own fittings). Mayhem glass tubing is allot easier to work with.
Seriously? That's the last thing I need, especially with glass. None of my tubing has been opened yet so I wonder if I should send it back to swap it out. I haven't run across any articles comparing the two
Quote:
Originally Posted by Revan654 View Post

It's just marketing trying to get you to buy there fittings. I have heard from a few that AlphaCool Glass tubing has some issues getting the glass inside most fittings (This includes there own fittings). Mayhem glass tubing is allot easier to work with.
Well damn, I'm still getting parts and stuff in so I haven't even started working on the tubing yet. I have some acrylic to cut and a few more changes to the inside of the case, so once I'm done with all this, I'll try out this Alphacool glass. If it doesn't work out, then I'll return the pieces I haven't touched and get the Mayhems glass. Thanks a lot for the info.
 
#10 ·
I got 4 pieces of the 16mm Mayhems Borosilicate Glass tubing in along with some Monsoon free center chaingun fittings, and I can now say that Monsoons free center hardline fittings do not work with borosilicate glass tubing.

First, since we're looking at metric tubing working with imperial fittings, even though 16mm should equal 5/8", there is a slight margin for error with the glass tubing because of the way it's made. Some tubing could come out measuring 15.85mm and some might come out measuring 16.15mm, which means that if you buy enough tubing, you might be able to find some all measuring slightly smaller than 16mm, which means the acrylic Monsoon lock collar would fit nicely over the tubing. If it were 16mm PETG or acrylic tubing, you might be able to make it all fit since the tubing will have some leeway when trying to fit it in the lock collar. The borosilicate glass tubing has zero leeway if it's slightly larger than 16mm.

Secondly, the best way to get a strong, leak free fitting is to use acrylic weld solvent to adhere the tubing to the lock collar. The solvent is water thin and creates a chemical reaction which joins two pieces of acrylic to one another, but since the tubing is glass, the acrylic weld won't work. So, I'm going to have to get some push in type fittings or some hardline compression fittings that don't require a lock collar.

Lesson learned, so now it's time to return these Monsoon fittings and get some other fittings. I must say though, since I'm using a lot of nickel, chrome plated brass, and lots of shiny metal objects in this build, so far, I really like the 16mm Phantek hardline fittings. Even though they don't have quite the selection of fittings as Bitspower, these fittings are really nice.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by rolldog View Post

I got 4 pieces of the 16mm Mayhems Borosilicate Glass tubing in along with some Monsoon free center chaingun fittings, and I can now say that Monsoons free center hardline fittings do not work with borosilicate glass tubing.

First, since we're looking at metric tubing working with imperial fittings, even though 16mm should equal 5/8", there is a slight margin for error with the glass tubing because of the way it's made. Some tubing could come out measuring 15.85mm and some might come out measuring 16.15mm, which means that if you buy enough tubing, you might be able to find some all measuring slightly smaller than 16mm, which means the acrylic Monsoon lock collar would fit nicely over the tubing. If it were 16mm PETG or acrylic tubing, you might be able to make it all fit since the tubing will have some leeway when trying to fit it in the lock collar. The borosilicate glass tubing has zero leeway if it's slightly larger than 16mm.

Secondly, the best way to get a strong, leak free fitting is to use acrylic weld solvent to adhere the tubing to the lock collar. The solvent is water thin and creates a chemical reaction which joins two pieces of acrylic to one another, but since the tubing is glass, the acrylic weld won't work. So, I'm going to have to get some push in type fittings or some hardline compression fittings that don't require a lock collar.

Lesson learned, so now it's time to return these Monsoon fittings and get some other fittings. I must say though, since I'm using a lot of nickel, chrome plated brass, and lots of shiny metal objects in this build, so far, I really like the 16mm Phantek hardline fittings. Even though they don't have quite the selection of fittings as Bitspower, these fittings are really nice.
MonSoon is imperial & doesn't work with most of metric tubing. I tried a few Bitspower, EK, AlphaCool, etc... There a reason why some sites states in the description "Does not work with MonSoon Fittings"

Not to mention the whole collar system they have is a mess.
 
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