Aluminum oil coolers

[Voodoo Rufus]

I was browsing on the Procooling forums and came across a website called Lytron. They sell some beefy heat exchangers, but really perked my interest was the aluminum oil coolers. They had both 120mm and 172mm sizes. I was wondering if anyone has opinions on these types of coolers, especially in comparison to heater cores that are brass tubed and copper finned. These look like they'd be good candidates for water cooling, provided I could find one.

 

[TonyMc]

I just won this one today from Ebay.

It's huge, 23"x12"x2.5", all copper, and may be large enough to run passive and considering that they cost $300 new and I got it for $52 new...

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

I saw that thing today when I was browsing ebay. I was more concerned with the aluminum oil coolers. That thing you have looks like it could have a huge psi drop from the nubmer of passes.

I was also looking at motocross bike radiators, since they are small. The Honda CR500 ones really look good. Right size, and can be run in parallel since they come in pairs.

 

[TonyMc]

Eh. you just need a big pump

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Yep. I see you have one of those White Water blocks. That needs a hefty pump correct? What do you use on it for a pump?

The question more is, is that a White Water block? The name in your sig suggests otherwise but it looks like one.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Anyone else know of how good an all aluminum oil cooler/radiator would work?

Water wetter would help minimize the chance of bimetallic corrosion if I remember.

 

[TonyMc]

Yep. I see you have one of those White Water blocks. That needs a hefty pump correct? What do you use on it for a pump?

The question more is, is that a White Water block? The name in your sig suggests otherwise but it looks like one.

Hehe. Thats not a white water block, thats a FRAGN'BLOCK

 

[TonyMc]

I use this to pump the coolant.

Two Hagen Aquaclear 402s in a 6x6x4 junction box. The pumps put out 270GPH apiece

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Very nice block, but I still would like info on all aluminum goodies.

 

[TonyMc]

This may give you some helpful answers voodoo.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

hmm, so a sacrificial anode would alleviate the problems then. I remember there was an article on the main page about this not too long ago.

 

[Rakk]

Rufus - This article uses an all aluminium oil cooler made by Serck Intertruck (the article author didn't realise it was an oil cooler but it is). The Serck came top in the test mainly due to it's large capacity. I was going to use one myself but then i'd have to have an aluminium waterblock as well or be forced to mess around with sacrificial metals and I don't want to do either of those things

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Heck, I can put up with sacrificial anodes. I know the Serck was aluminum, but I thought it was an aviation heater core for some reason, since Serck makes nice heat exchangers for aircraft. Can't find any on ebay though, and something the size of a single 120/172mm fan would be nice.

Does Water Wetter help at all with bimetallic corrosion?

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

The Serck totally dominated in those tests. Able to handle really high flow rates with no difference in heat handling. Also have to figure out how to mount a fan on that.

 

[Rakk]

Heck, I can put up with sacrificial anodes. I know the Serck was aluminum, but I thought it was an aviation heater core for some reason, since Serck makes nice heat exchangers for aircraft. Can't find any on ebay though, and something the size of a single 120/172mm fan would be nice.

I live about 12 miles from a Serck Intertruck store here in the UK and they are sure that the radiator used in the test was one of their oil coolers. The oil coolers come in 115mm or 235mm matrix widths (that is the actual radiating surface not including housing) and you can get either 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 25, 34, 44 or 50 rows of plates to make the radiator from 53mm to 390mm tall. If you're looking for one of these for a 120mm fan I guess the 115mm width 16 plate (124mm height) one would be good I can also tell you that the datasheet that i've got for these rads lists "Laser and X-Ray Water Coolers" as one of the suggested applications so they must be good They even come with threads for BSP fittings. It's just a shame they're aluminium....

Does Water Wetter help at all with bimetallic corrosion?

Yes it does help but it doesn't eliminate it - you will still get some corrosion if you've mixed aluminum & copper in your system. You'd also have to be flushing & refilling your system often as the effectiveness of WW declines over time. This is why I eventually decided against a Serck alu for my system

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Well it seems the only option is to dig up a heater core or other copper thing, dtek coolercore, or a BIX. I don't really like modding the cooling system, so the dtek or BIX would be my choice for a next system. Maybe two in parallel. Should be nice that way .

 

[Giblet Plus!]

I'm new here, I usually spend time at www.sysopt.com, but I was wondering where could I get one of those Serck heat exchangers from that article? There aren't any on ebay right now, and I haven't found any websites selling any.

I going to be getting a complete water cooled setup soon, and I'm looking for a good radiator that can use two 120 mm fans.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

Well, if you do your homework the Serck may or may not suit your needs, and it depends on your willingness to do maintenance on the system, from what we've been posting in this thread. Sercks are very expensive new, but you might be able to find one at a Truck shop, I'd guess. I've looked too, and found only one Serck on ebay many months ago.

 

[Giblet Plus!]

Sounds like Serck might not be for me. Do you have any suggestions for other radiators that size that use 1/2 inch fittings?

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

that size for 2 120s? Hmm, there's the Blackice2, but I wouldn't reccomend it because of the cost. You might be able to get a heater core large enough. There's an article in the water cooling section of the main page that has common heater cores that are suitable for computers.