Homemade radiator vs a real one

[Frodo Baggins]

I'm wondering how effective is using copper tubing coiled together in front of a fan instead of a real radiator?

Because it is for me a helluva lot cheaper to use the copper tubing (49 cents canadian a foot)

[train22]

Are you saying you'd abanden the fins or what?

[Frodo Baggins]

From the radiator? I'm aksing if I should use copper tubing coiled in a circled and tied to a fan....alot of ppl use this, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea

[train22]

oh I see, that sounds like it won't help a lot if any but I havn't tried it so...

[Frodo Baggins]

http://www.overclockers.com/tips89/

[William]

seems to work pretty well, not the quietest solution, but it will work.

[Frodo Baggins]

Well, I;ll just tie it around a 15 inch oscillating fan, which should manage to cool it rnouh

[train22]

oh now I see, damn I am dumb as a log after a few beers, still isn't an excuse, sorry man, was totaly missing the picture. That actually looks nice, might be worth a try... But it's actaully a nice big radiator withouth the fins you canadd teh fins and it will be even better, the only diff between a normal radiator is that it dosen't twist like that.

That arises a good question: What is the best twist for a radiator?? Humm, would be a nice experiment if you say thse copper tubings are so cheap, I'm thinking long weekend fun here.

[The Overclocker]

i bought some tubing to do that but is was 10mm and wouldn't bend well

[Patchmaster]

Get some solid core copper wire, strip off the insulation, and weave it into the copper tubing. You'll probably end up with something that looks like a spider web. The wire will increase the radiation surface area. If you're strapped for cash, try to find some commercial demolition site. You can probably raid the dumpsters and find all the wire you'll need. Construction sites would probably be good too. I'm sure you'd find lots of short lengths of wire left by the electricians.