Watercooling with All Copper Piping?

[mellojoe]

Has anyone ever done or seen a watercooling setup that used copper piping instead of the "plastic" tubing?

It would require lots of planning, but it would dissapate a ton of heat.

Thoughts?

[sirkillalot617]

I was planing something simular nice and shiny piping I did see a mod with silver looking piping Il have a look bear in mind that if you move the joints to much once there soldered together They easly break lose again.

[Airbozo]

...bear in mind that if you move the joints to much once there soldered together They easly break lose again.

...Not if they are done right...
I have done some plumbing in my house with copper pipe and once they are soldered correctly, they will not budge without a shot from the torch. Soldering them together would be a trick since it would be _almost_ impossible to use a torch inside the computer without burning something like a card or mobo... There would have to be some quick disconnect fitting in at least 2 places to get the copper in and out of the chassis. I can also ask my neighbor about this since he has fitted literally TONS of copper pipe in his lifetime...(and he is helping me re-plumb my house with copper). The tolerance under the house can be fudged, the tolerance inside the computer cannot due to the close proximity of all the parts.

OK, that said I know it is possible if you put your mind to it. Something can be rigged up inside the computer, then torched up outside. It will just take some creativity.

[DocNitrous]

im actually planning this on my actual project. (see my worklog)



But i dont think im gonna use house copper pipe, but rather copper brakes lines for cars..

about a 1/4 inch in diameter. if the connection can withstand brake fluid with a lot of pressure, running water wont leak for sure!!

[Mitternacht]

im actually planning this on my actual project. (see my worklog)



But i dont think im gonna use house copper pipe, but rather copper brakes lines for cars..

about a 1/4 inch in diameter. if the connection can withstand brake fluid with a lot of pressure, running water wont leak for sure!!
well, brake lines aren't copper. They're either steel, or stainless steel, like on the newer cars. But seeing some steel-braided line inside a computer would be pretty cool. :up:

[Spawn-Inc]

I was planing something simular nice and shiny piping I did see a mod with silver looking piping Il have a look bear in mind that if you move the joints to much once there soldered together They easly break lose again.

being hvac tech., i would braze them not solder them. but i would worry about condensation.


...Not if they are done right...
I have done some plumbing in my house with copper pipe and once they are soldered correctly, they will not budge without a shot from the torch. Soldering them together would be a trick since it would be _almost_ impossible to use a torch inside the computer without burning something like a card or mobo... There would have to be some quick disconnect fitting in at least 2 places to get the copper in and out of the chassis. I can also ask my neighbor about this since he has fitted literally TONS of copper pipe in his lifetime...(and he is helping me re-plumb my house with copper). The tolerance under the house can be fudged, the tolerance inside the computer cannot due to the close proximity of all the parts.

OK, that said I know it is possible if you put your mind to it. Something can be rigged up inside the computer, then torched up outside. It will just take some creativity.

i would use flare fittings to attach them to the water blocks and pump and rad. so now that i really think about it you wouldn't need any soldering or brazing. you would just need a pipebender to make some nice clean bends.


on another note i would for for 3/8 copper not 1/4. i think it could be done if you buy the right parts. look for water blocks that have changable fittings and this way you can change it with a flare fitting. the pump would be the hardest to convert. what i think would look really sick is to do a industrial theme. from crimson sky i would steal his fog machine idea and put it inside. then i would get tiny little hangers for the piping like it would hang from the ceiling. in fact i would try and use black iron fittings and pipe. and to top it all off i would get 2 120mm rads and try and make a tiny cooling tower.

here is apicture of how it works.
http://www.thiswritingbusiness.com/images/artwork/cooling.jpg
thats what some look like.
http://www.swel.org.uk/wolst.jpg

anyway i would put 2 120mm rads and place them like a V and then put a fan on the top blowing on boths and make a little metal case for them.

[Zephik]

I've seen this done before. I can't remember where though... it was on the forums somewhere.

It was pretty cool, maybe try google for tips and stuff.

[b4i7]

yeah....i saw this done before....they didnt solder it in...they used some sort of pressure connectors and then had a pump to pressuriise the system

[Zephik]

I think the one I saw had solder. I might be wrong though. I tried looking for the thread, but I couldn't find it.

[Spawn-Inc]

so for these soldered systems where is the solder placed?!@ do the seal it right to the block? that seems really stupid to me. it would be much easier, faster, safer to used flare fittings.

[Zephik]

lol I feel like such an idiot sometimes. I was thinking of flux, not solder. I really don't know why I thought solder was flux, even right now I still want to say solder and flux are the same thing. lol oh well, we can't all be smart. ^_^

[Crimson Sky]

Flux is the acid that is used when soldering pipes or electronics. It's an acid that etches and cleans the metal parts creating a rough surface on a microscopic level that the solder material can stick to.

On copper tubing for watercooling:

-Pipes should be insulated if you plan on doing any sort of evap cooling. They will sweat and cause shorts.
-Solid pipes also make it VERY difficult to manuever parts into place. Some sort of combination of solid pipe and flexible hose would be ideal.

[intergalacticman]

i remember posting something similar to this
just skip the radiator altogether
weld/solder copper fins or spines around the piping, making a heatsink built into the tubing

[Slug Toy]

all this talk about soldering. i have an idea.

instead of using regular old lead solder, use silver solder. you can buy it from jewelry stores. it would be much more thermally conductive, and it holds better too. the only trick is that silver solder melts at a much higher temperature than lead. the copper almost gets red hot. its a big plus for heat conducting though in my mind, especially if you go with an idea like putting fins right on the pipes themselves.

[Spawn-Inc]

all this talk about soldering. i have an idea.

instead of using regular old lead solder, use silver solder. you can buy it from jewelry stores. it would be much more thermally conductive, and it holds better too. the only trick is that silver solder melts at a much higher temperature than lead. the copper almost gets red hot. its a big plus for heat conducting though in my mind, especially if you go with an idea like putting fins right on the pipes themselves.

thats what i would do since i have access to that stuff for free, but you would need acetylene gas. propane doesn't burn hot enough. you can melt a stick of silver solder but there just isn't enough heat for the pipe and solder at once.

[Bopher]

I saw a case mod on a site while looking for information on changing a bus to a camper. here's the link on how he did it. Looks pretty sound. But i haven't actually been back to the site in a group.

http://www.vonslatt.com/proj-cc.shtml

[Eclecticos]

here is apicture of how it works.
http://www.thiswritingbusiness.com/images/artwork/cooling.jpg

I would suggest a separate enclosure for the water and collection area with a pump with a fill lever indicator ie. a Return pump that turns on with a Styrofoam bobber. You would have to keep it submersed obviously. Then you can have a sealed reservoir off to the side I would make a tank add some pressure then there would never be a air bubble.

A bleeder valve would also help alot of you get the air out.

[Maz]

one of my favs. (http://www.mashie.org/casemods/y2k01.html) there should be a worklog that goes along with it too.