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Too much?
- Thread starter mateo
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2002
- Location
- Melbourne, Australia
Higher water flow almost always (except in some extremely rare circumstances) results in improved liquid thermal convection, meaning solid to liquid (or liquid to solid) heat transfer.
It's impossible for the water to be flowing too fast for it to not pick up heat. What happens is that the faster that the water moves, the more turbulent it is, and therefore the better the heat transfer.
Yes, if the water runs twice as fast as before, then the water only has half the time to pick up the heat, but by the same token, the water circulates twice as fast. As a result, the water spends exactly the same amount of time in contact with the radiator regardless of how fast it's flowing, but the faster it flows, the more turbulent, and therefore transfers heat better.
Higher water flow rates are better. True for radiators. True for water-blocks.
What can happen though is that as you stick a more powerful pump into the system to boost flow rates, that more powerful pump will add more heat into the water than before, and as a result the extra heat may overwhelm the benefits seen by the higher flow rates. This is however a different topic.
It's impossible for the water to be flowing too fast for it to not pick up heat. What happens is that the faster that the water moves, the more turbulent it is, and therefore the better the heat transfer.
Yes, if the water runs twice as fast as before, then the water only has half the time to pick up the heat, but by the same token, the water circulates twice as fast. As a result, the water spends exactly the same amount of time in contact with the radiator regardless of how fast it's flowing, but the faster it flows, the more turbulent, and therefore transfers heat better.
Higher water flow rates are better. True for radiators. True for water-blocks.
What can happen though is that as you stick a more powerful pump into the system to boost flow rates, that more powerful pump will add more heat into the water than before, and as a result the extra heat may overwhelm the benefits seen by the higher flow rates. This is however a different topic.
- Thread Starter
- #3
I understand the picking-up heat concept, but does the same apply for leaving/radiating heat? I take it as a yes, considering your comment "true for radiators", but just checking 
Also, on the subject of pumps, does this really hold true for real inline pumps (Eheims, Iwakis, etc. originally intended for inline use)? Ive heard a lot of debate, but haven't really seen anything comprehensive, and while the heat argument for submerged pumps makes sense, I dont really see how it works inline, since the pump is exposed to the air, and the water only exposed to the impeller. Don't suppose cooling the pump could do much
Also, on the subject of pumps, does this really hold true for real inline pumps (Eheims, Iwakis, etc. originally intended for inline use)? Ive heard a lot of debate, but haven't really seen anything comprehensive, and while the heat argument for submerged pumps makes sense, I dont really see how it works inline, since the pump is exposed to the air, and the water only exposed to the impeller. Don't suppose cooling the pump could do much
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2002
loner said:I understand the picking-up heat concept, but does the same apply for leaving/radiating heat? I take it as a yes, considering your comment "true for radiators", but just checking
Also, on the subject of pumps, does this really hold true for real inline pumps (Eheims, Iwakis, etc. originally intended for inline use)? Ive heard a lot of debate, but haven't really seen anything comprehensive, and while the heat argument for submerged pumps makes sense, I dont really see how it works inline, since the pump is exposed to the air, and the water only exposed to the impeller. Don't suppose cooling the pump could do much
Some heat transfered from the pump to the water is from the impellor shaft. It's not as much as if the pump was submerged though. Ceramic impellor shafts are better because of this and not as prone to wear as a steel shaft is. It's not a big concern really unless you use a bigger more powerfull pump.
Look at the performance of the pump compared to it's wattage use. If you can find a better performing pump that uses roughly the same watts as a less performing pump, your doing good.
