Phase change project
 

What I learned tonight:

1. Don't turn a compressor upside down (why...see 2) :drool:

2. Compressors have oil inside...and it comes out if you turn it upside down :cry:

3. Chevette heater cores make 'funny' 'popping' sounds like in the movie U571 when you put high pressure on them...don't use them as an evaporator... :shrug:

4. Soldering tiny copper tubes is harder than I thought :confused:

5. You don't really need that many parts to make a phase change cooler. :p

Pictures when I get my computer reinstalled (Quantum LM20 is giving me the creeps...it ignores me sometimes...) :(

hehe, the heatercore should have been fine, I think that in a car the heatercore is under pressure anyway.

as for the rest - no comment :dome:

Also in a car it gets very very hot. There has to be quite a bit of pressure too. Did you get it from Autozone?

They will replace the rads for life. :)

The core I have is just like 'Big Mamma', not the copper tube style (which I was trying to find)...I just got too itchy and tried to throw the thing together myself...against the advice of my friend's dad, who does appliance repairs/service (including air conditioners and refrigerator/freezers)

He says that high side pressures are in the 100psi range...a far cry from what a typical heater core sees...heat...engine coolant gets into the 220-250ish F / 100-120C range (if someone tells me the boiling point of water, I'm gonna kick them in the nuts)...

Actually, I got the core from Canadian Tire (Canadian eh?), but I cut off the ends of the tubes, and soldered pipe fittings on, then off, then another set of fittings on to reduce to the small copper tube from my compressor...I think I may have voided the warranty...:shrug:

I don't really want to spend too much money on this, since it is really only gonna get used for about 60 minutes...then I'll get sick of the hassle and go back to my 8045...I just 'happened' to have most of the parts lying around...

was the rad actually leaking eh? cause if it wasn't, then it might be just air moving around or something eh?

As for the water temp, that'd increase the pressure, the more steam there was in the coolant loop eh?(assuming steam could be formed under that pressure eh?)

Well, I never really got the entire loop completed. I was pressure testing it by blocking the outlet w/ my thumb, and it was making popping sounds, but I released the pressure before it popped...prolly around 30psi or so (finger pressure tester...very accurate...NOT)...I didn't want to totally destroy it

Yes, the cooling system is under pressure (I remember rad caps are in the 1.2-1.7 bar range, or around 18-25ish psi), and this increases the boiling point of water...

I'm sick of waiting for Brian's how-to writeup...I betcha I'll be done long before him...(or maybe not...)