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

Mayhems logo
Mayhems Glass Sizes

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!

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4 COMMENTS

  2. Well, after reading and watching the Dremel Jig Setup vid, I thought of a few things…

    1) I see no difference in using glass over PETG or Acrylic.
    2) PETG or Acrylic is much cheaper and EASIER to cut than glass. (Even if it wasn’t cheaper, it’s glass is STILL much harder to cut)
    3) Bending PETG or Acrylic (obviously) is much easier than trying to bend glass (and that’s if you have the $$$ to buy one and the skills to bend glass using a kiln). PETG or Acrylic is very easy by comparison.
    4) As you can see glass tubing is easily subject to chipping and cracking if it’s not cut right (over PETG or Acrylic)
    5) If you decide to use Glass instead of PETG or Acrylic, you’re going to have to spend $$$ getting a Dremel Jig Setup going. I have the Dremel 4000 and that unit (kit) cost me $98.00 at the time and although it’s a great unit to use for someone doing a one time build (or even continual builds), it’s still way too much $$$ over simply using a hand saw to cut your PETG or Acrylic tubing. Then you have to set up and build that Dremel Jig Setup. That’s too much time to make happen.
    6) In some of the pics, even the reviewer/writer stated that he saw that the Acrylic tubing was even cleaner (at certain angles) to peer through than glass tubing, so right there, what real difference does it make to choose glass tubing over Acrylic (or even PETG for that matter)? – NONE!

    Thank you for this review, but you should have entitled this:

    “Mayhems Glass Tube Review… You Gotta Be On Crack!!!”

    I already knew that I would have to face this expensive and arduous process, when all you have to do is use a basic PETG/Acrylic bender kit, that uses a heat gun and hand saw. It’s much easier to use those items than buying and building a Dremel Jig Setup (which would take hours). Then purchasing and having the skill set to learn how to use a Kiln?!?! Yeah, right!!! I know that I’m not going to waste my time with all of that. Thank you for proving this point with your detailed review (as I already knew this). I’m sticking with PETG to showcase my build(s). Later… 🙂

  3. Very cool article (pun intended).

    FYI, borosilicate glass does not contain crystalline silica which is what causes silicosis. It is amorphous. No problem with being safe though.

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