How to mod a Heatercore (Dual 120mm version)

[br408408]

Very nice work, Weapon. I do a lot of custom automotive work, and I let very few people help me with my work (read touch it...lol). I, however, would have every confidence in your abilities. Great job.

Bill

 

[Silver]

This is just to give a public nod to Weapon as he put me on to the 77 bonny core (with a/c). I am running a dual core external box with the above mentioned core however one is brass and one copper. I stole a couple ideas from others and combined them in my box. End result is running to an a64 3000+ with a 320w tec and then to the vid has resulted in the vid only rising 1 degree c over straight water without the tec. I find this exceptional given that the tec is at 13.8v, the cpu at 1.85v and the vid at 1.4v (6800gt). Though I am certain this can be beaten with a bong, the quit of rads is great and the performance is exceptional for a rad setup. 2.8Ghz on the lowly 3000+, 28500 in 2001, 13300 or so in 2003 and SuperPi 1 megs of 32 secs places this setup at the outer fringes of phase change type peformance. Thanks for putting me on to the bonnies Weapon.

BTW, wonder what that works out to in total wattage to the cores?

 

[weapon]

thanks guys.

silver - the box you built for your system turned out very well. I have referred several to the pics of it when they want to get big cores but have no room in their case. you should do a good rundown of that box with pics and show the whole setup and how you have it laid out.

br408408 - if you don't mind doing it, cut-n-paste your b'ville single pass mod to this thread. you did a really nice how-to on making them single pass and it would fit nicely as this whole thread is mainly about the b'villes and the single pass mod is mentioned in here several times.

 

[br408408]

Pics of my single pass mod

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is the 2-302 modded to single pass. the threaded insert started out at a 3/8 female to 1/2 male pipe adapter. I could have used a lathe on it, but wanted to use tools that everyone might be able to use. So I found a bolt that fit inside it and chucked it up in a drill. Using the drill to spin it I ground the theads off using a 4 inch grinder with a non-ferious wheel. Checking it after grinding it, it came out within .002-.003 of an inch of being round...good enough for what I was going to do with it. Then I cut of the end of it right at the end of the female threads. The OD came out at about .710 of an inch, or 23/32. I then drilled a 23/32 hole in some scrap angle to use as a guide for the trusty Dermel. Drill a small hole in the center of the core (don't push to hard as the soft copper will bend) and use the guide it open the hole up to 23/32.
Then, put the insert in and solder as Weapon instructs in this thread....filling with water, using wet towels...etc
Also, some people have asked what the core looks like where the water passes thru...you can see this in "corepic4"

 

[br408408]

Last pic...all done!!

 

[thorilan]

It can't be any harder than brazing two '77 bonneville cores together like I did to make the monster-core:
http://www.cox-internet.com/weapon/...onstercore1.jpg
that was about a 9.8 on the pain-in-the-arse scale....nothing quite like a core that will take eight 120mm fans though.

are you still using this core? hows it working out?
the reason i ask is in the future im looking at having someone make the same thing ( cant since i dont have the tools availible here in japan cause of limited space) but i want to make it single pass with 2 outlets by making the the bottom tank the inlet with a 3/4 input ( will have a t1 titanium sealife pump which is THE uber pump)

the pic in the post directly above is what i am also thinking of but with the 3/4 inlet
this is a future project but just throwing some ideas around .

whats the total dimensions of your monster core btw ?

 

[weapon]

are you still using this core? hows it working out?
the reason i ask is in the future im looking at having someone make the same thing ( cant since i dont have the tools availible here in japan cause of limited space) but i want to make it single pass with 2 outlets by making the the bottom tank the inlet with a 3/4 input ( will have a t1 titanium sealife pump which is THE uber pump)

the pic in the post directly above is what i am also thinking of but with the 3/4 inlet
this is a future project but just throwing some ideas around .

whats the total dimensions of your monster core btw ?

I play around with it quite a bit - it isnt for the H2O box I'm using right now - it is for the modified cabinet I have been working on.
the before pic:
http://pages.suddenlink.net/weapon/images/reszda1.jpg
I think it will fit in that.

the dimensions of the monstercore are:
approx 22-3/4" x 5-5/8" w/tanks
core = 21-5/16" x 5-5/8"
temps of the water in the loop stay very close to ambient temps. I have the exact numbers saved -- I'll dig em up and post em.

 

[thorilan]

cool . the idea i have is for an external box if you havent guessed and that would fit almost perfectly depending on the orientation of the 3/4 intake that would have to be modded on.

hehe maybe if i get money to finish my current project and start the next one i could buy one off you

 

[weapon]

I'm working on a new one that uses twin single pass 342s and an improved way to connect the cores together. it will be a little shorter but it should have insane flow for a core this size.

 

[xBabyJesus]

Hey Weapon thanks for the guide. Just a little further info for the other members:

1. Napa is expensive! So is Schucks! We (Kirkland, WA) only have like 5 autozone's in the whole state and it's 30mins away from me. I paid $26+tax for a 2-302

2. The 2-199 is too wide to fit in the 5 1/4" area of a Lian Li PC70, but the 2-302 will fit! If you're modding a Lian Li case, and you want the easy-to-mod 2-199 make sure you cut your case holes near the back of the case where there's no drive cage!

3. Different manufacturers make the same exact cores. Here's how you figure out what's what:
http://www.autopart.com/radiatorinfo/heatercoretech.htm
Part number converter!

Seeya

 

[weapon]

new bit of weirdness for cores - I came across a few cores (302s and 199s) that have ALL of the channels moving water - even the outer sides of the cores [i.e. the 302 has 14 channels with waterflow].

 

[xBabyJesus]

Are you using #6-32 threaded rod for your fan mounting? I just mounted my setup last night and had a number of small chunks come out of the heater core "webbing" from pushing through the rod, even being somewhat careful. Hopefully no leaks

 

[weapon]

Are you using #6-32 threaded rod for your fan mounting? I just mounted my setup last night and had a number of small chunks come out of the heater core "webbing" from pushing through the rod, even being somewhat careful. Hopefully no leaks

yeah, I have used 6x32 quite a bit - I don't push them thru though - I thread them thru the cores fins very carefully. That being said, as long as the metal that came out of the core was from the middle section of the fins that runs between the divider plates, it shouldn't cause any issues with leaking.

If you can find them, 4x40 threaded rods will work and they will slip between the fins a little easier.

 

[weapon]

I managed to get my mitts on some new toys and tools so there will be another update to this soon with a slightly modded shroud design and hopefully some more test results with the cores that are in this thread as well as a new revision of the weapon monstercore that should be very high performance.

 

[JTanczos]

I have a question about the '77 B-Ville Core w/ac. Would it be possible to use a drillpress / careful clamping to drill 2 holes on the 2nd tank(opposite the inlet/outlet tubes) on each side on the flat areas? Then tap it, threading a barbed fitting into it then using solder or jbweld to seal around the hole/fitting to make a dbl in dbl out single pass core?

Similar to the post using the brass 302 core above. Reason im curious about this is because I wanted to mount my core on the top of my case and that would make its easiest for me to bleed the air from the tank. If I didnt do it for a single pass I would do it for a T type fitting to fill and trap air.

JT

 

[br408408]

It might work. Just remember that a larger drill bit being used to drill a hole in thin metal likes to catch and tear the metal...even in a drill press. Thats why is used a small drill and enlarged the hole with a Dermel and a template that i made with some scrap metal. You might want to try your method on some thin scrap metal before you try it on the core...it could save $15.00-20.00

Bill

 

[creepy]

Just alittle something I thought id add. If you do this mod be patient and wait for the solder to melt compleatly. I wasnt being patient and was worried I was going to melt the solder holding the tank together. It was only partially melted but weak enough for me to pull it out so I did. The hole for the barb is now misshaped a bit and "ripped" but it seems as if itll seal up good with some jb weld.

 

[br408408]

The thing that takes the longest to heat is the fitting, not the thin tank. That's why I put my fittings in a 400 deg oven first (f not c of course...I live in the USA), so they are already hot. that way, I can keep the torch time on the core the shortest and still have the solder flow properly. It's the fitting that takes the time to heat.

Bill

 

[Stoner51]

I have done this mod with the 77 w/ac, but I just cut off the tubes where they bent at the angle and fed my 1/2 in tube over it is there any recourse for doing this and not putting the threaded connectors in? Just wandering as my pump arrives Mon. and I will begin to asssemble everything together.

 

[creepy]

Id get some input from other people but the way I look at it you shouldnt have any problem just be sure to use a hose clamp or put a zip tie over the hose to be sure it doesnt slip off. Its possible it could restrict flow A LITTLE as well.