Cooling Misnomers

[HankB]

It can't boil and condense at the same temperature.

Sure it can. Look up phase change diagrams. At a temperature and pressure where both gas and liquid can exist add energy and it boils, take away energy and the gas condenses.

Thought experiments do not always produce the same results as real experiments.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

And useless.

This.
Heat pipes work by changing phase of the working fluid. This action causes a large amount of energy to be absorbed.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

ATMINSIDE, get ready to be floored

As per Noctua:

Dear Whitehawk,

thank you very much for contacting Noctua and for your interest in our products.

Heatpipes for typical CPU coolers are usually made out of copper and filled with small amounts of water. Using alcohol as the medium inside the heatpipe is usually only needed if you want to use the heatsink in surroundings with very low temperatures, where you would run into issues with water. Since this is basically never the case with typical PC applications, basically no one is using anything else than water filled heatpipes for their products.

Kind regards,
Andreas Karner
Noctua support team

***************
Noctua - geräuschoptimierte Premium Komponenten
Noctua - sound-optimised premium components
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.noctua.at

 

[sobe]

As per Noctua:

Dear Whitehawk,

thank you very much for contacting Noctua and for your interest in our products.

Heatpipes for typical CPU coolers are usually made out of copper and filled with small amounts of water. Using alcohol as the medium inside the heatpipe is usually only needed if you want to use the heatsink in surroundings with very low temperatures, where you would run into issues with water. Since this is basically never the case with typical PC applications, basically no one is using anything else than water filled heatpipes for their products.

Kind regards,
Andreas Karner
Noctua support team

***************
Noctua - geräuschoptimierte Premium Komponenten
Noctua - sound-optimised premium components
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.noctua.at

Thanks for this! While I knew there was a liquid of sorts in the heatpipes, I honestly didn't think it was just plain ol' water.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Thanks for this! While I knew there was a liquid of sorts in the heatpipes, I honestly didn't think it was just plain ol' water.

With a small vacuum to bring the boiling point to below 100F (38c)

 

[Mr.Scott]

Told ya.

 

[sobe]

With a small vacuum to bring the boiling point to below 100F (38c)

Well of course, but I was under the impression there were additives of sorts such as an alcohol mixture, or similar.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

ATMINSIDE, get ready to be floored

As per Noctua:

Dear Whitehawk,

thank you very much for contacting Noctua and for your interest in our products.

Heatpipes for typical CPU coolers are usually made out of copper and filled with small amounts of water. Using alcohol as the medium inside the heatpipe is usually only needed if you want to use the heatsink in surroundings with very low temperatures, where you would run into issues with water. Since this is basically never the case with typical PC applications, basically no one is using anything else than water filled heatpipes for their products.

Kind regards,
Andreas Karner
Noctua support team

***************
Noctua - geräuschoptimierte Premium Komponenten
Noctua - sound-optimised premium components
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.noctua.at

Thanks for this, I didn't expect a company to actually say what they're using.

It's interesting that they did say "usually copper and filled with water", makes me wonder if they do have a bit of a secret.

I really did expect them to use either ammonia or an alcohol/water mix instead of a vacuum though.

 

[WhitehawkEQ]

Thanks for this, I didn't expect a company to actually say what they're using.

It's interesting that they did say "usually copper and filled with water", makes me wonder if they do have a bit of a secret.

I really did expect them to use either ammonia or an alcohol/water mix instead of a vacuum though.

You would think that It mostly depends on the environment and what needs to be cooled, so for electronics (CPU's, GPU's ) copper and water is used unless it's going to be used in environments where just plane water won't work, like the North Pole

 

[Blaylock]

This is what I recieved from Andreas last year. Basically the same as Whitehawks.

Dear Mr. Blaylock,

thanks for contacting Noctua and for your interest in our products.

Our coolers are not intended for such low temperatures.
To get the circulation inside the heatpipes started, the heatpipes must reach a temperature of at least 25°C, not just at the bottom but over the whole heatpipe.
Even if your heat source would produce enough heat to achieve that, you might run into issues with condensation buildup.

To be able to work in such an environment reliable, it would be necessary to use a different fluid inside the heatpipes, e.g. alcohol instead of water.

Kind regards,
Andreas Karner
Noctua support team

***************
Noctua - geräuschoptimierte Premium Komponenten
Noctua - sound-optimised premium components
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.noctua.at
***************

22.01.2014 18:30 - Blaylock schrieb:
Good afternoon,

I’m hoping you can answer a question for me. The specifications sheet does not list operating temperatures for the NH-D14. Can the NH-D14 be operated in a zero degree or subzero degree environment. What is the lowest safe ambient temperature the Noctua NH-D14 can safely be used in?

Thank you,

Blaylock

 

[NZKshatriya]

*dies laughing*