buying standalone heatpipes / different ideas for this project

[tooandrew]

Hey, this is my first post here. im sure this isn't usually the type of thing you see here, but i figured "who knows more about cooling than overclocking fanatics?".

does anyone know where i could buy some heatpipes as a standalone thing? i am building a 360 laptop and need to shave down the stock heatsink to use as a base and drill through the block to attach heatpipes to connect to a different heatsink that doesn't fit properly. or could anyone suggest a different way to connect this heatsink (twin frozr from a 250gts)



to this motherboard



thanks guys

 

[Aldakoopa]

Well that's a new one.

What's a 360 laptop?

 

[Aldakoopa]

http://www.aavid.com/products/standard/heat-pipe-exploration-kit

^ I found this for $600.

I doubt it's worth that... You get a ton of heatpipes though!

After looking a little more they have a smaller kit for... $300. Still not worth it. Both of them show out of stock.

Searching amazon comes up with some much smaller options. like 10 pcs or less, but still cost about $50 or so. Crazy... why do they cost so much!

 

[tooandrew]

a 360 laptop is just a 360 in a slim case with a lcd and lcd controller board attached to the case via a hinge and the vga and power points on the mobo soldered to the controller so you get an attached monitor, but can still use it as a normal 360 because hdmi overrides component output

and to Aldakoopa thanks lol but even so, out of stock = no help. any ideas on removing heatpipes from commercial heatsinks for reuse

 

[runningweird]

http://www.aavid.com/products/standard/heat-pipe-exploration-kit

^ I found this for $600.

I doubt it's worth that... You get a ton of heatpipes though!

After looking a little more they have a smaller kit for... $300. Still not worth it. Both of them show out of stock.

Searching amazon comes up with some much smaller options. like 10 pcs or less, but still cost about $50 or so. Crazy... why do they cost so much!

haha, that kit is great!

 

[Spawn-Inc]

build your own,

1. 1/4" copper pipe or 3/8" cut to size.
2. braze or solder one end shut
3. insert a pipe cleaner a bit shorter then the length of copper
4. dump in some alcohol or water
5. crimp the open end and seal via step 2.

you would have to experiment with how much liquid to put in so you still have some liquid in the pipe and the remaining space filled with vapour.

bend to desired shape and polish

 

[Bobnova]

There's a step missing, you have to be actively boiling the liquid you put in when you seal the other end. Otherwise there's far too much air in the pipe.
They only work when it is only the working fluid (water, alcohol, ammonia, mercury, whatever it is) inside them. Liquid water and water vapor, liquid alcohol and alcohol vapor, etc.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

How about just using solid copper rod instead of tubing?

 

[Spawn-Inc]

There's a step missing, you have to be actively boiling the liquid you put in when you seal the other end. Otherwise there's far too much air in the pipe.
They only work when it is only the working fluid (water, alcohol, ammonia, mercury, whatever it is) inside them. Liquid water and water vapor, liquid alcohol and alcohol vapor, etc.

i would imagine that brazing the other end of the pipe would be sufficient to make the contents boil off enough to push the air out. although i guess it would depend on how long the heat pipe is.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Would an off the shelf 1U heatsink be thin enough?

 

[Aldakoopa]

build your own,

1. 1/4" copper pipe or 3/8" cut to size.
2. braze or solder one end shut
3. insert a pipe cleaner a bit shorter then the length of copper
4. dump in some alcohol or water
5. crimp the open end and seal via step 2.

you would have to experiment with how much liquid to put in so you still have some liquid in the pipe and the remaining space filled with vapour.

bend to desired shape and polish

Really... a pipe cleaner is all it needs? THAT makes it work?

If that's true, I'm making my own $600 kits.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Really... a pipe cleaner is all it needs? THAT makes it work?

If that's true, I'm making my own $600 kits.

No, the phase change of the fluid sealed inside the pipe makes it work.

It should also be a fluid with a low boiling point (like pure alcohol), otherwise the chip will have to get VERY warm for phase change to occur.

 

[Aldakoopa]

No, the phase change of the fluid sealed inside the pipe makes it work.

It should also be a fluid with a low boiling point (like pure alcohol), otherwise the chip will have to get VERY warm for phase change to occur.

Then what's the point of the pipe cleaner?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Then what's the point of the pipe cleaner?

Your guess is as good as mine.

 

[Bobnova]

It and surface tension move the liquid water back to the hot area. Without it the liquid pools at the lowest point in the heatpipe. Not a problem if that is where the heatload is, big problem if it isn't.

You don't have to use a low boiling point liquid. You shouldn't, in fact.
If you do it right there is NOTHING but your working fluid in the pipe (or solids). That means that the working fluid is always at its vapor pressure for its temperature, which means it's always just about to boil. Add heat and the spot in the pipe you add heat to is hotter than the boiling point. It boils, increasing the pressure. At a higher pressure the areas of the pipe that you are not adding heat to see well below the boiling point, and water condenses there.

That's as far as I'm willing to type on my phone. I recommend Wikipedia for more detail.

Research, in other words.

 

[Aldakoopa]

Maybe it... keeps it... clean?

 

[Aldakoopa]

It and surface tension move the liquid water back to the hot area. Without it the liquid pools at the lowest point in the heatpipe. Not a problem if that is where the heatload is, big problem if it isn't.

But it works for that? Does it work as well as a real heatpipe, or is it just "Meh, it gets the job done."?

 

[Bobnova]

Edited the post.

In short, yes it works fine. Certainly better than nothing.
Unless you can sinter brass inside the pipe or carve microgrooves in the inside, you're stuck with pipe cleaners.

You will never make a heatpipe as efficient as a heatpipe made in a factory built to make heatpipes.

 

[Spawn-Inc]

Just Google heat pipes, it allows for capillary action to move the liquid, pipe cleaner is the easiest thing I could think of, Although it would melt a bit from the soldering.

Proper heat pipes use grooved copper lines or use a ground up copper mix glued to the walls of the piping. I don't know how well the pipe cleaner would work as the main part of it would be in the center of the pipe. But I also saw pictures of heat pipes with wire mesh inside them.

I might just try and make one for fun and use some fine stranded welding wire as the wick. i also have some r22 and 410a to try making a heatpipe, although i don't think it will remain liquid unless i make the tube long.

 

[RnRollie]

its a thermosyphon and the "easiest" and cheapest to use is water. The main problem is that you need to create a sealed vacuum.

The DIY of injecting steam while closing off the end of the pipe can be done, but still leaves air in the pipe, and the whole thing wont work as well as when the pipe is a vacuum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_pipe