Overheard a guy at Micro Center say his custom loop leaked because he didn't sand the acrylic edge

That one comment about taking 5 extra minutes to wet-sand the tube ends made me stop being lazy with my cuts, has anyone else skipped this step and regretted it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

alexlewis2d ago

Yeah, I've been building loops for about 8 years now and I've never wet-sanded a single tube end. My first loop leaked but it was from a loose fitting, not the acrylic edge. I think that advice gets blown out of proportion, your mileage may vary but I've had clean cuts with just a deburring tool and never looked back.

nathanbennett2d ago

blown out of proportion" is wild to me @alexlewis. I get that it worked for you, but I've seen three separate builds in my local PC group die from hairline cracks that started right at the cut edge. One guy's rig was running fine for like 6 months then just started weeping fluid one day. Took him forever to figure out it was a tiny stress fracture from a rough cut, not the fittings. Wet sanding is like 30 seconds extra per tube, honestly feels like cheap insurance compared to rebuilding a loop or replacing a GPU. I'd rather spend that time than gamble on a deburring tool that might miss microcracks you can't even see.