Heater Cores?
 

Hey guys,

Here's a n00bish question for you. Would the benefits of using a heatercore outweigh those of, say, a Black Ice Xtreme II? I know they are cheaper, but do they do a better job at dissipating heat? Also, any suggestions of which heatercores to use are welcome as well.

Also, any ideas what's up with my p4 Temps?

The BI rads ARE heatercores... they are just small and a bit restrictive. It is all about surface area, but for their size, the BI's do OK. If you have the space for a single pass heater core, that would be ideal but they are like 10" x 6" or so. If not, look into a chevette core which are 6" x 6". Regarding your temps, I would gather your mobo reads the on-die sensor in the CPU which is why it reports higher than most boards which read the insocket thermistor. 51C is fine for air, in fact, when I was on air with this CPU and board (before my WB adapter got here), my load temps were 61C :evilaugh:

Do you think that MBM is reading the temperatures right?

Regarding heatercores, do the inlet/outlets make a difference? Most of them have one larger than the other. Does this present a problem with flow restriction?

If you check out Airspirit's database, you can prolly find the dimensions your looking for with the inlet/outlets that you want...

Uusually inlet/outlet differences are just for convienience for fitting the core to a car.

I use an 89 Camaro heatercore, it has a 7x7 surface area. Total cost $22 dollars plus $10 for adhesive and barbs. Heatercores are cheaper than the specialized rads online and probably just as good. Mine was described as having a 5/8 and 1/2 inch outlets, but its really just a 1/2 pipe on both sides with one 1/2 pipe flared out at the end. Look for one that has copper tubing and tanks if you have a copper WB. There is a product called "copper bond" at Lowes or Home Depot that allows you to glue barbs and pipes together instead of soldering if you arent into that. Thats what I used, its leaktight and rock solid.

Out of curiousity, where do you buy them?

I've seen some at ebay, cap, scrapyards (but i dont want to go that route) websites etc.

Where have you guys found the best deals?

Mines where from an autoparts shop which gets most of their stuff from scrap yards. The difference is , they've already selected the best :) .
Good deals usually are in scrap yards , you can get a box of them , cheap.

I got mine from a local junkyard. A little bit of Gunk Flush and it's all good...

One quick note about the chevette core: If you look into the fins themselves, you'll notice that at each end there's a little lip , then a lip at the start of another plate... THough this is TIME CONSUMING, I decided to test out the air flow Vs turbulence caused by these "lips," which are HIGHLY dust accumulating! And with about 2hrs on my hands, I took a nice pair of scissors and poked through EACH vent opening and flattened them out and the air flow is MUCH better, dust doesn't get caught on the lips and temps dropped significantly for myself! Here's an MS-Paint of it...

Be VERY careful, as the lips are THIN copper, and I'm not too sure just how thick the flat copper tubes are, so you don't want to end up puncturing one and not having a way to repair it, with out messing up a substantial portion of the core... Good luck! :eek:

www.partsamerica.com or auto store I got them from both

Black Ice Extreme 2 (Cool Metal Blue) $102.00
Dual heatercore from DangerDen = $35

A freind of mine has both of these, the heatercore works perfectly, the BIX2 makes his Eheim 1060 whine a little and makes temps rise about 4'c

Nuff said.

'77 Impala HC (with a/c), 12"x5.5"x2". States 1/2" and 5/8" tubes but the 5/8" is a 1/2" when cut down for fittings as it's just enlarged on the end of the pipe.
$17.50 @ Autozone :)

Okay, I'll check out CAP sometime this week.

Now what about fittings? How would a novice like me attach them to the heatercore?

bump? would I find the fittings at a hardware store, or would I have to order them online...

Hardware store should have the fittings for either a HC or a BIX, etc...

To attach to the HC you'll have to "sweat" (solder) them top the copper tube. You'll need a paair of 1/2" female (plain female end that slides over the copper tube and is soldered) to a 3/8" fpt (female pipe thread). You'll also need a 3/8" male pipe thread to 1/2" or 3/8" hose barb, whichever size hose you have for the barb. Some teflon tape is needed also for a good water tight seal on the pipe threads.
When soldering the fittings to the HC you need to wrap a soaked towel around the base of the tube you're soldering and fill the HC with cold water. This keeps you from desoldering the other joints on the HC from the heat from the torch.

Well, least with my Chevette core, the water helps, but is not really needed since the electro-brazed Silver's melting temp is around 700F+.... I tested mine out and tried to unsolder the stock fittings and they wouldn't budge at the same flame temp as with what I was usingto melt this safeflo Silver/antimony Mix (415F) But yeah, I would still fill it with water and use the damp sponge trick! Good luck all

PS- anyone got any cheap links to temp level-2 brazing silver?

I'll look through all my racing supply resource links V12. In the meantime, you know of any good brass brazing links? I can weld all day long but have never brazed before. Tried it with my torch and it was a nesty looking mess. Definitely not a joint I would ever accept :( I made a brass "frame/mount" and fan shroud for my '77 Impala HC and need to braze it to the HC. Have to be able to make a perfect braze first ;)

BTW- what's cheap? Never bought the stuff berfore.

I soldered my barbs onto my first two chevette heater cores. This time around I attached them with "JB Weld". I risked no damage to the existing solder joints and came out with leak free results.
Jim

is all the soldering really necessary?

I have heard others say that they used plenty of 2000lb expoxy to attach the barbs to the hc. Being a high school student and all, I'm not sure I have access to the needed tools and space for soldering.

I epoxy all my barbs, usually with some 2500 psi metal epoxy. It's a lot less hassle than soldering. So far I'm yet to have a leak.

Soldering a hassle? Heat object a little, apply flux, increase temp to ~415F, apply solder or brazing material (requires higher heat) metal melts, bonds, DONE.... 3x stronger and more durable than ANY silly TIME consuming epoxy.... besides epoxy cracks and degrades under certain chemical exposure/pressure and takes a LONG time to FULLY cure (~16-24hrs). My 86 Chevette core has no leaks and it's over 18 YEARS old... try that with some epoxy (save for JB WELD!) DOn't be me wrong, I cannot live w/o my epoxy collection! But for the STRONGEST bond and shortest down time, a quick 10min soldering job is perfect :)

My $3 bottle of propane has lasted me over a year with frequent soldering/brazing jobs.

The whole kit is about $20 for Nozzle, Propane/MAPP, Silver braze, and flux w/brush!

Plus the torch can be used for other household projects, like making a good Creme Brulee! :drool:

hey, how much did you get your chevette cores for? they seem pretty simialer to the jr pro core.
also whered you get them from
thanks

$19.20 with tax at Auto Zone, (brick and motar) store.
Jim

Ever tried to solder a brass barb to anodised Al? :p

Takes more heat than standard soldering and silver brazing, and a special bi-metal flux, unless you've got MIG/TIG Arc welder... But why would you be combining AL + Brass LOL!? COPPER + Brass = match made in heaven. :p

Again... those "specialized" Rads and Cores are a COMPLETE rip off. Anyone that pushes these "pretty-boy" water cooling solutions is straight up FANBOY. You do NOT need any of that nonsense to cool "well." Nevermind, I'm not starting this already rerun rant.. :rolleyes:

Hard to find reserviors made of copper. :p

What diameter brazing rods are you using, and what type of flux?

Hello all my first post here, main question was where would I be able to purchase that welding stuff.

To me sounds like your using your average cooking torch, one of those small green ones with a small propane tank.

If thats what your using could I just buy that at my local Target store?

Also do you think JB Weld is just as good as soldering?

Thanks for any and all help guys :cheers: