HUGE radiator mod complete - pics

squeakygeek · Jan 25, 2004

My radiator is finally complete (minus cosmetic work). It has 62 paralell runs, each of them terminating into a 2" copper manifold on each side. On one end each manifold has a 3/4" barb, and on the other end, each manifold has a bleed valve. The dimensions of the actual radiator (excluding the tubing and manifolds) are about 15"x36". It's the radiator from this thread. All that I have left to do is polish up the copper, and then finish one more waterblock, and I'll be ready to go!

The pics:

Before:

After:

Tubing extension detail:

squeakygeek · Jan 25, 2004

Hose barb detail:

Bleed valve Detail:

Soja · Jan 25, 2004

Good God. Didn't know you'd actually use the thing. Can't wait to see it in action

Korndog · Jan 25, 2004

nice job dude, didn't think u'd use it either, lol
what kind pump r u going to use? 1000gph +?

felinusz · Jan 25, 2004

Wow, is that ever nice work! Is it just me, or is that one incredible crazy huge radiator?

How long did it take you to finish the modifications?

How many fans do you plan to strap to it (if any

).

squeakygeek · Jan 25, 2004

Soja said:
Good God. Didn't know you'd actually use the thing. Can't wait to see it in action

It's been cooling my peltier for tests (no heatload on the pelt)... As you can see, the project keeps expanding. Before it's even finished, it turns into a peltier w/ a DIY power supply project

But all that is done... Just have to finish one more waterblock...

squeakygeek · Jan 25, 2004

Korndog said:
nice job dude, didn't think u'd use it either, lol
what kind pump r u going to use? 1000gph +?

Via Aqua Powerhead 4900, 1350 gph, 14' head.

It's beautiful how much flow I have through the radiator

squeakygeek · Jan 25, 2004

felinusz said:
Wow, is that ever nice work! Is it just me, or is that one incredible crazy huge radiator?

How long did it take you to finish the modifications?

How many fans do you plan to strap to it (if any ).

Not including all of the trial and error, it took a couple of days. The trial and error sucked though... First I tried extending the tubes with only 1" of soft copper, but I couldn't tweak them enough. Then I took them ALL off and tried a different approach that was a complete waste of time, and then I tried 3" extensions and it worked like a charm

[edit] And about the fans... I've been running it under the heatload of the pelt with no fans, and the water gets quite warm. What I'm going to do is suspend the rad in an attic space that is vented so it stays outside temp (cold!), and probably hang a window fan in front of it.

Prandtl · Jan 26, 2004

I think that if you change your design a little, you might be able to improve the efficiency of your rad. In its current design, the water flow will not be evenly distribute over all the smaller parallel tube since the water path is not the same for all of them.
i.e. the water has a longer way to go (more resistance) to go through the few last tubes (close to the manifold) than the one close to the inlet/outlet. That will cause most of the water flow to go through the first few tubes, thus making an un-efficient use of your heat sink surface.

There is something, I think, you could do that should improve this.

By doing this, no matter which of the parallel tubes is used, the path (to go from the inlet to the outlet) is always the same, which should give a more evenly distributed water flow through the parallel tubes and hence, a better use of the heat sink surface.

p.s. it is getting late here, so if what I wrote doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to clarify it after some sleep

squeakygeek · Jan 26, 2004

Prandtl said:
I think that if you change your design a little, you might be able to improve the efficiency of your rad. In its current design, the water flow will not be evenly distribute over all the smaller parallel tube since the water path is not the same for all of them.
i.e. the water has a longer way to go (more resistance) to go through the few last tubes (close to the manifold) than the one close to the inlet/outlet. That will cause most of the water flow to go through the first few tubes, thus making an un-efficient use of your heat sink surface.

There is something, I think, you could do that should improve this.

By doing this, no matter which of the parallel tubes is used, the path (to go from the inlet to the outlet) is always the same, which should give a more evenly distributed water flow through the parallel tubes and hence, a better use of the heat sink surface.

p.s. it is getting late here, so if what I wrote doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to clarify it after some sleep

I understand exactly what you are saying, and many people say it, but I think it is a mis-conception. After I completed the first manifold, and cut off all the turns on the other side, I pumped water through to see what would happen. The water actually first started coming out of the tubes at the back (near the valve), because that's where the backpressure is, opposite of your explaination.

In any event, I think the flow should be pretty even among the tubes when there is a flow restriction like a waterblock. Let's say, with no flow restriction, the water likes to go through half the tubes. Once there is a flow restriction, there is going to be a back pressure on those tubes, causing water to flow through the other half of the tubes. Sorry if I can't explain it better right now... it IS late!

FIZZ3 · Jan 26, 2004

Whoa hehe I applaud the effort you put into this beast! That's 124 * 2 solder joints for the extensions alone, isn't it?

Are you going to run it without active airflow?

neilmon2 · Jan 26, 2004

very impressive, what are you overclocking goals with this thing? you could almost cool multilple computer with this too, any plans on that?

bigben2k · Jan 26, 2004

Very nice work. Glad to see you followed through with it!

squeakygeek · Jan 26, 2004

Whoa hehe I applaud the effort you put into this beast! That's 124 * 2 solder joints for the extensions alone, isn't it?

Are you going to run it without active airflow?

Thanks, and yeah, that's 248 connections (brazed, not soldered) for the extensions. I actually did solder two connections, the connection between each bleed valve and stub of copper pipe, so in the future if I want to change something, I can do it much more easily. One thing I actually considered doing was to put a male compressed air fitting on one of the valves for expulsion, and it wouldn't interfere with the bleeding.

As for airflow, I think I'm going to use a box fan, because the water got pretty warm when I tested it with the peltier

very impressive, what are you overclocking goals with this thing? you could almost cool multilple computer with this too, any plans on that?

Thanks. I'm going to start with cooling everything that is overclocked (cpu, system memory, NB, GPU, and graphics memory). As for multiple computers, I really only have one computer that would be worth it.

Very nice work. Glad to see you followed through with it!

Thanks

Xymurgy · Jan 26, 2004

I always did wonder what happened to that thing.

rogerdugans · Jan 26, 2004

You, my friend, are obviously insane.

I like it.

I am looking forward to hearing more details as time goes on man- I have a few thought on doing a different, but still fairly massive radiator myself, one of these days.
You just might spur me on to get started.

johan851 · Jan 27, 2004

Pretty nicely done. After adding another radiator to my case and painting the inside, I'm QUITE done playing with watercooling, thank you.

Great work nonetheless.

FizzledFiend · Jan 27, 2004

that looks like a HAVAC A coil isn't it? good god man wheres the blower thats suppose to be attached to the bottom of the A Coils? that would work wonders for airflow aye? HA can';t wait to see this baby in action

ZachM · Jan 27, 2004

I remember when you got that a while back. Everyone thought you were crazy for even considering it for use as a radiator. Nice job. For god's sake paint it now! Very ugly, lol.

Cyrix_2k · Jan 27, 2004

Sand it again! It looked awesome before.

Nice job. It had to take a lot of patience too.

HUGE radiator mod complete - pics

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