Mayhems Borosilicate Glass Tube Review

1. Introduction2. Technical Specifications3. Fitting Compatibility4. Cutting To Length5. Chamfering The Cuts6. Photos: Glass Tubing with Coolant7. Summary8. View All

Introduction

Mayhems Borosilicate Glass Tube Review

Welcome to another Extreme Rigs review. This time we have something a little bit different and very new which has just hit the market. Today we’ll be taking a close look at the recently released glass tubing from Mayhems.

This review is a spin off from a series of upcoming reviews where we take a close look at some of the many fittings currently available for hard line tubing, so keep an eye out for them in the coming weeks.

Hard Line tubing looks great when executed well and also has some distinct advantages over soft tubing in that it does not cloud over due to plasticizer issues.  It also does not absorb dye color as soft tube can. There is no doubt that the hard-line phenomenom has continued to explode over the last couple of years among the enthusiast PC community, with nearly all the major water cooling brands now offering hard-line fittings and tubing in one way, shape or form. With many forms of plastic hard tube out there, hard-line is starting to become main-stream.  Now for enthusiasts ever seeking to push the boundaries, Mayhems have released a glass tube that could be a feature that takes their build to the next level.

Today we want to find out how the Mayhems glass tubing may benefit users over “traditional” acrylic or PETG hard tubing. We’ll see which fittings are compatible, do some pressure testing, try a few cuts and do some chamfering.  Basically we want to give you the reader an idea of what to expect if you decide to to give Mayhems Glass Tubing a shot in your next build.

Firstly a big thanks to Mayhems for providing the review samples of their Borosilicate Glass Tube. As we received one sample of each straight tube size we’ll be taking a look at each in this review.

• Straight 12mm (OD) x 500mm Borosilicate Glass Tube
• Straight 13mm (OD) x 500mm Borosilicate Glass Tube
• Straight 16mm (OD) x 500mm Borosilicate Glass Tube

What’s in the Box?

The samples of Mayhems Borosilicate Glass Tubing arrived in a large box full of packing peanuts which was protecting a hard cardboard tube.

I received other items in the package, so it is most likely that orders placed for glass tube only may be shipped in just the protective tube with end caps.

Inside the protection tube the lengths of glass tubing were wrapped in bubble wrap. It was a snug fit for the 3 tubes and I believe this offers adequate protection, but with a fragile product such as glass tube, safe arrival to the purchaser is going to largely depend on the care taken by the shipping company. Mayhems did a great job with the packaging and it all arrived in one piece.

Carefully sliding the tubes out of the bubble wrap we found each length to be individually wrapped and labelled.

Each length is wrapped in several pieces of tissue paper which helps to avoid rubbing and possible scratching during shipping. We like this!

Credit to Mayhems so far! A very fragile product was shipped half way around the world and arrived in perfect condition.

Let’s take a look at these glass tubes already!

Technical Specifications

Technical Specifications:

Mayhems state the tubes are 500mm in length for each size, so we checked just to be sure.

With the lengths verified at 500mm (50cm) in length we measured the outside diameter (OD) of each tube size. This is by far the most critical measurement and was taken at each end as photographed and at 4 other points in between.

First the 12mm:At 12.01mm this was as perfect as we could hope for: Excellent!

The 13.10mm OD measurement was slightly larger at this end than the 13mm specification:
Finally the 16mm which came in just under the spec size:

But we didn’t just measure just one end of a tube, we took numerous readings from from each of the tube sizes:

From the above measurements we conclude that each size tube is meant to be manufactured with the following sizes.

12mm Tube:   OD 12.00mm        ID 7.50mm         Wall Thickness 2.25mm

13mm Tube:   OD 13.00mm        ID 8.50mm         Wall Thickness 2.25mm

16mm Tube:   OD 16.00mm        ID 11.00mm       Wall Thickness 2.50mm

It seems unusual that 3 of our ID measurements for the 12mm tube appear to be ~0.25mm too big, but that is what the measurements were.

Given that Mayhems state that the tubes are hand blown we think the consistency and tolerances to spec are quite amazing. We would be very surprised if the maximum OD discrepancy of 0.1mm would cause compatibility issues with the appropriate sized fittings.

Each end of the tube is pre-chamfered, which was a pleasant surprise and means only the cut end needs to be chamfered after “cutting” to the required length.

Some of the chamfers were more obvious than others.

As you may notice in the above photographs using the calipers on the glass tube scratched up the tube a little bit, so care must be taken with tools that have sharp edges to avoid this kind of scratching.

Mayhems glass tubing will look sensational in a build with bright lighting, but I think might look even better with some more subdued white lighting, especially when run with some colored coolant.

In the following photo we lined up the 3 Mayhems glass tube sizes (on the right hand side) with Mayhems soft tube and a length of acrylic tubing to see the difference.
I was surprised to find the acrylic tube (2nd on the left) was clearer than the glass tubes which has an ever so slightly darker tinge.

This slightly darker tinge is more easily seen in the following picture in which the lighting was deliberately set up poorly. Note the acrylic tube is actually quite dirty from having previously chamfered the unseen end.

So we have to say that while the glass tube is clear, the length of acrylic we compared to was very slightly clearer.

Next let’s take a look at fitting compatibility.

Fitting Compatibility

Fitting Compatibility

While we didn’t have a huge selection available for test fitting, we did have at least one type of fitting which was appropriate for each of the glass tube sizes.

For the 12mm tube we had 3 fittings that were appropriately sized.  The following photos are a quick look at the glass tube inserted into each of the fittings, we’ll go into more detail about each shortly.

For the 13mm we have just one fitting that was suitable:

For the 16mm tubing we again had just the one suitable fitting:

Let’s now take a closer look at each fitting along with some extras which were found after the previous photos were taken.

At this time we’ll take the opportunity to say thanks to some of our sponsors who donated fittings for use in this review. Their generous support means we can bring more detail to you the reader.

Previously I mention fitting compatibility; some definitely gripped and held onto the smooth and slippery glass tubing better than others. We set up a pressure test to find out which were better and to what PSI could we pump up to without failure. At least that was the plan. What ended up happening was that the fittings were “popping” off the top of the tubes or the tube “popping” out of the bottom fitting far too randomly (and often) to be able to say for certain what PSI each fitting could hold when used with the Mayhems glass tube.

I had to compromise and settle for a photo taken after determining the approximate “popping” PSI from 3 (sometime many more) pressurizations and then pump up to ~ 2.5 PSI below what the trials indicated would be too much.

Let’s look at the Mayhems Glass Tube results in order of the Glass Tube Size.

Fittings for the 12mm Glass Tubing.

EK-HD Adaptor 10/12mm – (Not previously pictured)

The glass tube didn’t require excess effort to seat into place. While inserting the tube I could feel resistance going past the 2 inner O-rings and made a positive clunk when it was all the way in. These were able to reliably hold ~ 5.5 PSI.

EK-HDC Fitting 12mm G1/4

With the EK-HDC fittings it was difficult to insert the tube into the fitting housing. In fact I broke the length of glass on my first attempt! The broken piece is on the left and I suspect that too much sideways pressure was accidentally applied while trying to get the glass tube inserted. The other 2 tubes in the photo are from failed score and snap attempts.

The tiniest amount of silicone grease was applied and the tube insertion was much easier. I didn’t want to use silicone grease initially because I thought it would affect the results of the pressure test by making the tubes easier to slide out.

The EK-HDC even with the silicone grease was able to hold the glass tube at over 20 PSI :

Bitspower C48

The Bitspower C48 had the loosest feel of all the fittings that we tried and the test results confirmed what could be felt. We could not even get 5 PSI to hold and after many attempts we settled on a safe holding pressure of ~3.5 PSI.

The next fitting we tried is a “knock off” of a Bitspower C47 fitting and from the limited info available, I conclude that these fittings are made at the same manufacturing plant as Barrow and Rocket Science fittings. While we do not condone blatant coping of other company’s designs, we did get some of these fittings for our review and they are still available on eBay Australia – Rigid 12mm OD Acrylic Tube Push In Connector Like Bitspower.  Hopefully in the near future we can update this review by adding info for the real deal Bitspower C47 fittings also.

The glass tube was a tight fit in the knock off fittings and was even difficult to remove. They actually felt the most secure of all the Push In style fittings we had available to try and the ~12.5 PSI test result was excellent.

Fittings for the 13mm Glass Tubing.

We only had one fitting available to try on the 13mm Glass.

Alphacool HT 13mm

Fitting the glass tube past the O-ring in the body of Alphacool’s HT 13 fitting was quite easy and from this we conclude that most of the holding strength comes from the compression O-ring when the cap is screwed down.

The HT 13 was able to sustain a pressure of 10.5 PSI

Fittings for the 16mm Glass Tubing.
We found a couple more 16mm fittings to test, adding to those we pictured previously.

EK-HDC Fitting 16mm G1/4

Inserting the glass tube past the O-ring in the body of the HDC 16mm fitting felt good and appears like a very good match. With the compression O-ring and collar screwed down the tube could still be pulled out of the fitting by hand but there was a lot of resistance.

The HDC 16mm fittings were able to sustain a pressure of 13 PSI:

EK-HD Adapter 12/16mm

The 12/16mm HD Adapter from EK seemed a decent pairing with the Mayhems 16mm glass tubing. The tube slid past the first O-ring quite easily but more force was required to get past the 2nd O-ring and seated.

Like most of the push in style fittings the HD adapter could not hold the same level of pressure as a compression type fitting but still maintained over 5 PSI in out testing.

EK-HD Adapter Female 10/12mm

The 16mm female HD Adapter is basically the same fitting as the HD Adapter we just looked at but with a female G ¼ thread instead of a male one, so we expected the two to perform very similarly.

We found that the tube required more effort to get past the 1st O-ring on the female version and this showed up on the pressure test. The female HD Adapter was able to hold a pressure of over 11 PSI, more than double that of the male version.

Alphacool HT 16mm

The Alphacool HT 16mm fitting was by far the largest fitting of those we tested. The tube slide past the O-ring in the main body with some resistance, but it seems the compression O-ring and washer did not work very effectively to hold the tube in place.

With a sustained holding pressure of ~ 4.5 PSI, the HT 16mm had the weakest grip of all the compression type fittings we tested.

It was clear that the push in fittings could not hold the same pressure as most of the compression type fittings. Given that very few systems would have an operating pressure above 5 PSI, most of the fittings that were tested we believe are compatible with the Mayhems Glass Tube. The Bitspower C48 fitting is the only one we would advise not to use because of it’s single O-ring and short body.

After completing the round of PSI testing with the Glass Tubing we did the same tests with acrylic tubing to get a performance/compatibility comparison.

In every case the fittings had a better grip on the acrylic than on the glass tubing. In many cases the fittings had twice the “grip” on acrylic tube than they did on the glass.

The 3 results for acrylic that are 26.5 PSI and higher never actually failed, instead the hand pump used to apply the pressure could not force more air in the the test manifold.

Without access to specializing equipment including a kiln, bending the glass tubing is not an option, so be prepared to plan out your loop thoroughly and get ready to order a tonne of 90° fittings.  Mayhems will soon be releasing lengths of the glass tube with pre-bent 90° angles, but cutting them to appropriate length may prove to be an issue.  Photo below courtesy of Mayhems:

Speaking of Cutting to Length, that’s exactly what we’ll cover on the next page.

Cutting To Length

Cutting To Length

With your glass tube ordered and your fittings selected NOW is the time to start considering how you are going to cut usable lengths of the tube to suit your loop flow path. As I discovered cutting glass tube is not a simple process, contrary to how easy it looks on the Mayhems video which demonstrates the score and snap method.

We’ve embedded Mayhems video on scoring and snapping here for you guys to watch first and then we’ll discuss how our experience went with cutting the glass tube.

Mayhems Mick made scoring and snapping the glass tube look easy, so I purchased a dual wheel cutter similar to the one which is used in the video. It has dual tungsten carbide wheels and is made specifically for cutting glass, tiles Terrazzo ect.

I used the tool in pretty much the same way as in the Mayhems video, however I was unable to snap the 16mm tube after scoring. I was attempting to “cut” a short length from the end of the tube such as might be used for an SLI connection so there was not much flex in the tube. The force I was exerting felt too great and to me feel unsafe to try any harder, so I abandoned the attempt.

Knowing that Borosilicate Glass has a high thermal shock level I knew that a high temperature variation would be required to try and assist the snap with a bit of thermal shock, but without a way to control the hot temperature I didn’t want to try using a heat gun or other high temperature source. I felt compelled to try something though, so in a rather pathetic attempt at a thermal shock assisted snap at the score line I used boiling water and an over-sized ice cube.

As anticipated this did not help me in snapping the tube at all and the 16mm tube remained in tact with the score line in place.

I tried the 16mm tube first specifically because it had a thicker wall than the 12mm and 13mm glass tubes and should have been the hardest to “cut” using the score and snap method.

Moving onto the 12mm tube I again wanted to cut a small section off the end where there was little to no flex in the glass tube. After scoring the 12mm tube, it snapped very easily. Unfortunately on my first attempt the tube was left with an unusable end because the glass had chipped during the snapping process.

At this point I was starting to have serious doubts about the score and snap method of cutting glass tubing to length.

My second attempt did produce a clear break which was perfectly usable after a quick clean up of the ends, however the end broke into pieces when trying to insert into a very tight 12mm fitting.
My 3rd attempt of the score and snap method produced another chipped end very similar as to first one.

If this review was to ever going to get published with some cut lengths of glass tubing I had to try another method. To keep on hoping for the best using the score and snap method just doesn’t make sense.

So I bought the overpriced Dremel Diamond Cutting Wheel and Flexible Extension for my Dremel and set about building a cutting bench for the glass tube.  I found a design for a glass cutter I liked and made a valiant attempt to replicate it (in principle) with home workshop tools and materials I already had, with the exception of the Twin Puller which I purchased – Toledo – Twin Pull Puller Kit – Small 225000.

Glass tubing can not be cut though with a drop saw type cut because of it’s hardness. It must be cut through in increments by turning the tube while moving into the blade. To achieve this a sliding system must be used and to keep the tube level and straight a V is cut into the top of the sliding mechanism, hence we call this a Sliding V-Block.

The Twin Puller at the heart of the Sliding V-Block turned out to be overkill for the job, but it is effective and certainly does the job. I added springs to keep tension against both sides which assists in the block sliding easily when turning the adjustment screw.  Cutting glass tube with a diamond wheel requires water to keep the disc cool, so a reservoir and drip system was set up over the blade and tube being cut.

Basically the cutting bench consists of the following components:

• Rotary tool with a diamond cutting disc.
• Water Reservoir and drip system for cooling the cutting disc (and controlling glass dust).
• Sliding V-Block.
• Sliding back-Stop for glass tube – cut to length measuring.

The result at the end of a day in the back shed machining the acrylic blocks, making sure things were running straight and even and smoothly.

With hindsight a wooden deck may not have been the best material to have under the sliding V-block as water does go everywhere during the cut and I imagine over time the wood will expand making it harder for the sliding V-block to operate smoothly.  For the time being it is working like a charm:

Note: Silica Dust is very hazardous, so even though our water drip feed is suppressing some dust from the cutting process, a Dust Mask should be worn during the cutting and for cleaning up after.
Safety Glasses should also be worn during any cutting operation.

The result is a beautiful clean cut through the glass tube:

I highly advise cleaning out both pieces of the cut tube under running water as soon as possible after completing the cut before the dust and fragments dry and become more hazardous and much more difficult to clean out.

With a clean cut tube which is the correct length there is one more step to complete before the tube is ready for use.  Now let’s take a look at chamfering the ends.

Chamfering The Cuts

Chamfering The Cuts

Chamfering the ends of your cut tubes is easily achieved using a couple of diamond needle files, a flat one for the shaping the outside chamfer and a half round (or curved) one for cleaning up the inside lip.

The filing process is best done over a sink as water will again be used to lubricate while doing the filing. With the potential for silica dust again present, we advise wearing a dust mask during the filing process.

After chamfering and filing is complete a final clean up will be required and a pack of thick pipe cleaners from your local craft shop will come in very useful.

The end result is glass tubes cut to length, chamfered and ready to be installed. If you have access to a gas torch a little flame polishing of the ends after the clean up would add a perfect finishing touch, although I have not done this and it is not at all essential.

Mayhems 16mm, 13mm and 12mm Glass Tubing: cut, chamfered and ready for use:
The pieces pictured above are the lengths I used for the PSI pressure tests.

While I did not receive enough glass tube (1 of each size) to plumb up a system, I did want to see how the glass tubes looked with coolant in them.  Let’s take a look at that next.

Photos: Glass Tubing with Coolant

Photos: Glass Tubing with Coolant

Before we wrap up this review let’s take a look at some shots of the glass tube with Distilled and some Mayhems dyes.

Notice the light refraction from the LED strip set up behind the blue manifold.  I believe in a system with LED lighting some awesome reflections and refractions are going to take place giving a showcase look to the build.

Ocean Blue:

Yellow:

Purple:

UV Pink:

UV Green:

Blood Red:

Oil Black:

After the Oil Black photo was taken I turned off 2 of the 3 studio lights and faced the remaining light at the ceiling. This gem of a photo really shows off the glass tube doing it’s thing bending and shaping the light:

Then I turned off the remaining studio light:

Next up – Summary!

Summary

Summary

Mayhems Glass Tubing brings something new to the enthusiast PC building community which rig builders can use to add a finishing touch to their works of art.

We found that “cutting” the tubes to length using the score and snap method produced unsatisfactory results on 2 of the 3 times we tried and so we advise that potential buyers order extra lengths to practice with.
Excellent cuts were achieved (and with no wastage) when we set up a cutting bench using a rotary tool (Dremel) with a water cooled diamond cutting wheel. This method can/does produce hazardous silica dust as a result, but using appropriate PPE and a thorough wet clean-up immediately after will eliminate this hazard.

Bending the borosilicate glass tube is not possible without special equipment so be prepared to have lots of 90° fittings on hand for building a loop with glass tubing. However, Mayhems is set to release Glass tubing with pre-bent 90° bends, but because of the issues I had with the score & snap cutting method I suspect this will be even more of a challenge to get the ends trimmed to the correct length for installation as it can not be rotated in the cutting jig that we created.

We found the clarity or clearness of the glass tube to be slightly less than that of the acrylic tube we compared against. The glass was ever so slightly darker than the acrylic. While this was noticeable when looking for a difference, the glass tube itself is very clear and this is not an issue to be concerned about.

Mayhems Glass tube was compatible with all but one of the fittings we had on hand to pressure test with. The single O-ring C48 fitting had a very weak grip and so we would not advise using C48’s with glass tubing.

Under lights and filled with Mayhems dyed water, the glass tube looked amazing. Light from an LED strip refracted and reflected light beautifully producing star like glints along the tubes edges. I imagine in a case with lots of LED lights the glass tubing could be the show-case feature.

As with all hard line tube, glass tubing is plasticizer free, and the borosilicate glass will not absorb color from dyes.

Mayhems Glass Tubing is not for everybody, Mayhems know this and we know this, BUT most importantly is it for you?

It is expensive, fragile, gets scratched quite easily with the tools required to cut and chamfer it and a cutting bench is needed for clean cuts.  In addition you cannot make your own bends with glass tubing.

If none of that is too much of a deterrent then as your reward you will have some amazing light reflections and refractions from the glass tube in your build.

It’s as simple as that, if the additional effort and learning curve/ tools required for lighting reflections doesn’t get you excited about glass tubing, we understand and you wouldn’t be the only one so we suggest sticking with acrylic hard tubing.

For those who like the challenge of a new project and want a show-case result, we thoroughly recommend Mayhems Glass Tubing.

Where to buy:

Performance PCs:
12mm (OD) 500mm Length $9.95 + shipping from USA
13mm (OD) 500mm Length $9.95 + shipping from USA
16mm (OD) 500mm Length $11.50 + shipping from USA

Mayhems Store:

12mm (OD) 500mm Length £6.50 + shipping from UK
13mm (OD) 500mm Length £6.50 + shipping from UK
16mm (OD) 500mm Length £7.50 + shipping from UK