[Hardware] How to Cut Hard Tubing for Your Custom Loop

[Angel of Death]

Custom watercooling has always been a po[CENSORED]r topic in the enthusiast community, and hard tubing has made it a lot more appealing for people who want cool temps as well as cool looks. It goes without saying that using hard tubing is a real challenge compared to the easier soft tubing approach.   So, in this article, I’m going to show you some of the basics needed to work with hard tubing and the steps I go through when planning an entire hardline custom loop. Let’s get started! Choosing the Right Tubing  There are a few options available when choosing the type of hard tubing, both for materials and size. The available sizes are 12mm, 13mm, 14mm and 16mm. You should choose based on your tastes in looks, as well as the size of the case, since bigger tubing looks better in bigger cases and vice versa. I have never detected a difference in terms of performance and water flow.  The most common materials are acrylic and PETG, followed by brass, copper, glass and carbon fiber. We will be looking at the first two options here.So, how do you choose between acrylic and PETG? The main difference is the ease of use: acrylic is more heat-resistant, so it’s a little harder to bend than PETG; acrylic is also harder to cut because you will need some sort of toothed saw, while almost any type of pipe cutter will work on PETG.  That said, I will always recommend choosing acrylic, because a custom loop that runs hot can be enough to warp PETG, causing the tube to pop out of the fitting and casue a disaster. This happened to me in the past with one of my builds. This is what PETG tubing looks like when it deforms under the pressure of the fittings: