90 fittings vs bending (aesthetics)

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OpenLooper

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Yo doods,

if money was not an issue and you only care about visuals, how do you feel about 90degree fittings to create bends vs bending tubing?

Ive seem some cool examples with fittings then when I go back to look at bending builds they look a bit plain.

You guys think im just personally biased?

What do you guys think?
 
Sheesh. I don't know. I don't build with aesthetics in mind.

I'd be thinking about it from a comparative flow restriction perspective.
 
Sounds interesting to me but why stop at bends. Use various fitting for the whole loop and completely forgo tubing :D
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
Sheesh. I don't know. I don't build with aesthetics in mind.

I'd be thinking about it from a comparative flow restriction perspective.
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per research a bend vs a fitting does not affect performance. Just curves overall affect performance, which only determines what pump power you need. Im performance driven and thats why im asking this question because it comes down to aesthetics vs performance. soooo with that in mind, what you think :)
 
I Use both. In my opinion too many bends in a tube run looks cluttered. I try to limit bends to all 90 degree bends with a max of 2 bends per run. So very typically I will have several 90 degree fittings coming from the block to a 90 degree bend into the next block. I dont like the aesthetic of using a fitting mid run, I prefer a bend there. I do kind of have a fantasy that one day I will have enough fittings to do an all fitting/extension build. These are just my likes. I build mostly for the fun and aesthetics.
 
The more expensive option is the one that looks the best.



Don't blame me, that's just life!
 
KazeoHin said:
The more expensive option is the one that looks the best.



Don't blame me, that's just life!
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That's usually how things work. The problem is that it could easily double or triple (possibly more) the cost of your fittings. On the other hand, it also creates more potential leak points. So there is a practical downside besides the cost.
 
Dan_D said:
That's usually how things work. The problem is that it could easily double or triple (possibly more) the cost of your fittings. On the other hand, it also creates more potential leak points. So there is a practical downside besides the cost.
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Not wrong at all.

But that also makes such a setup more rare, therefore eye-catching.
 
I use fittings where they will work and bends where I need them, because it would take more than one or two fittings to get the same result.
 
You could do that. Makes it all a lot easier.

A fully fittinged build will look better than a sloppy bent build, but IMO, well-bent tubes can't be topped no matter how pretty the fittings.

Course I'm a cheater now and use soft tubing, but only because I've done enough hardline builds to be tired of it. 😂
 
VanGoghComplex said:
You could do that. Makes it all a lot easier.

A fully fittinged build will look better than a sloppy bent build, but IMO, well-bent tubes can't be topped no matter how pretty the fittings.

Course I'm a cheater now and use soft tubing, but only because I've done enough hardline builds to be tired of it. 😂
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I agree with this. I think to be able to tell yourself that you have accomplished a hardline build, you have to do some bending. I am not saying I am a master in any way, so many things i have not achieved yet.

Man, VanGogh, I helped my brother-in-law with his first custom loop. It was a soft tube loop and I just did not enjoy the process as much as rigid. Raw knuckles from cranking down compression fittings, the anxiety of pushing tubing onto barbs and putting pressure on components. Made me say never again to soft tubing.
 
Smoked Brisket said:
Man, VanGogh, I helped my brother-in-law with his first custom loop. It was a soft tube loop and I just did not enjoy the process as much as rigid. Raw knuckles from cranking down compression fittings, the anxiety of pushing tubing onto barbs and putting pressure on components. Made me say never again to soft tubing.
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I guess I can see those complaints. Personally I was always nervous that my bends weren't perfect with hard-line, that the tubing was cocked. Never had any problems with any of my hardline builds but it was always in the back of my mind.

That's not the reason I switched tho. When I got my 3090 and had to plumb around it temporarily until a waterblock is released, it took ten minutes and one tool. That's the real appeal of soft line to me.
 
Smoked Brisket said:
I agree with this. I think to be able to tell yourself that you have accomplished a hardline build, you have to do some bending. I am not saying I am a master in any way, so many things i have not achieved yet.

Man, VanGogh, I helped my brother-in-law with his first custom loop. It was a soft tube loop and I just did not enjoy the process as much as rigid. Raw knuckles from cranking down compression fittings, the anxiety of pushing tubing onto barbs and putting pressure on components. Made me say never again to soft tubing.
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I get what your saying, I wonder if I would be more comfortable with soft tubing because I make a lot of recirculating hydro systems and im used to all the barbs and compressions lol. jkjk i just need the look of hard tubing. though on the reverse, I bet it would be easy for you to make a recirculating dwc now after your soft tube build lol.
 
Personally I like hybrid systems. Hardline between fixed components and soft tube between parts that will be changed out more regularly, like GPU and CPU. Toss in some QDC where it changes and it's even easier to work around and with.
 
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