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Thermosiphon cooling

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rudnik68

Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2003
Location
Southaven, MS
Hello all,

I am brand new to watercooling trying to find a wb with low resistance to try a new cooling idea. I am going to try to cool a chip with no pump, using a thermosiphon - has anyone seen this done before?

Basically, a thermosiphon is natural convection that is caused by density changes as the temperature of water changes. A thermosiphon system could cool a processor with no moving parts (if there was enough heat transfer area), but would probably need a fan to get enough heat transfer to keep the fluid at a reasonable temperature. Thermosiphons are dependent on the difference in bouyancy between hot water and cold water and require an elevation change to work.

The following link shows a schematic of a thermosiphonhttp://www.sunearthinc.com/sunsiphon_system.htm

I have to admit I got this idea from cooling mechanical pump seals
ftp://ftp.aesseal.co.uk/downloads/pub/literature/L-UK-SSE10.pdf
The pdf has a picture that shows the sealpot connected to a mechanical pump seal - substitute a waterblobk for the seal - and you have my desired setup. I've been told that a 10°C difference between hot fluid and cold fluid will provide sufficient (1+ GPM) flow for a pump seal.

Does anyone know of a low resistance waterblock that might work for this application?

Thanks in advance,
Aaron
 
I've heard of guys who's pumps have died, but the radiator/fan combo provided enough cooling for the system to keep running. Most of the time the radiator was a dual 120mm setup mounted in the top of the case, but why bother trying to setup a system without a pump? Noise? Pumps don't make the much noise. The rad/fan will create more noise. Hell, your PSU will make more noise than most pumps, excepting Danner pumps (which can be quieted given some work). What's the point of going pumpless?
 
As for extremely non-restrictive, high flow blocks, they don't get much less restrictive than the Dangerden Maze 4. It's almost new enough the cooling performance isn't too bad either.
 
I would definatly say that it is doable, but the temps would not be the best in the world. The temp difference needed to get a good flow rate is too high to get good temps. It definatly has some potential, but the idea of putting my CPU in a water look without a pump would scare the crap outa me :p
 
Alacritan said:
I've heard of guys who's pumps have died, but the radiator/fan combo provided enough cooling for the system to keep running. Most of the time the radiator was a dual 120mm setup mounted in the top of the case, but why bother trying to setup a system without a pump? Noise? Pumps don't make the much noise. The rad/fan will create more noise. Hell, your PSU will make more noise than most pumps, excepting Danner pumps (which can be quieted given some work). What's the point of going pumpless?

More or less for fun :) Its a little different, something I haven't seen done before. Its an oddity, and won't provide fantastic temps, but could be interesting.
 
Water is not the best for this. It has an unusually small thermal expansion. If you do this try some other liquids, just beware of the toxicity of them....
 
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