Quote:
|
Originally Posted by redleader
Keep in mind that not all of the heating happens in the pump. Theres friction along the entire loop too, so in the end its a loseing battle. Maybe if you have some monster of a pump you could shave a few watts off by cooling the houseing, but keep in mind its made of plastic (or at best a thin aluminum shell with no fins). While a radiator is made of copper and does have fins. So a CFM of air on the plastic houseing is doing you a heck of a lot less then a CFM added to the radiator.
So while it can help, from an effciency/noise standpoint, just improve the radiator for best results.
|
Hi Redleader,
you bring up an interesting point with friction in the pipes. I may have a triple benefit answer to it! (just maybe)
Washing up liquid !
My Radiator is a Ford Sierra heater core that was given for free. I wanted to clean the waterways before use so did my best to remove most of the gunk and then left it running a couple of times overnight with small amount of washing up liquid in the pumping water (WaterBlock not included in cleaning loop!).
When I put the system together I emptied the washing up water out and immediately replaced, it with ionised water and Asetek Anti Algae fluid and was astounded how well it worked with only an Eheim 1048 pump. Since then (6 months ago) I have wondered why the good result and perhaps its partially due to the washing up liquid!
Current System specs:
Abit AN7 motherboard
Athlon 2500+ Mobile (2 months old from CPU City)
Clocked from 1.86GHz to 2.7GHz @ 2.0V rock stable.
33C Idle, 40C load, 23C Ambient. CPU measured externally with the thermistor touching the CPU Die using one of these:
http://store.over-clock.com/Adaptors___Connectors.html
Arctic Silver 5
Asetek Antarctica 1/2" pipe water block
Quite long 1/2" ID tube throughout with 1/2" OD fitting the waterblock.
Eheim 1048 pump
Ford Sierra Heatercore
1x120mm fan unknown CFM, not loud @12V
Heatercore and Fan kept separated in a Stella Beer cardboard box to reduce turbulence. Sealed up with duct tape.
No Reservoir.
From what I have been reading, the CPU is creating upwards of 140W
The Antarctica Block is specced to shift 200W.
My thoughts on why washing up liquid helps:
1) it acts as a surfactant, reducing the surface tension of the water so better adhesion to the Water Block and Radiator is made, dissipating more heat. Many Anti Algae solutions are also surfactants, maybe the washing up liquid helps fill some gaps or is a slightly different surfactant that complements the Anti Algae solution ?
2) Friction: The washing up liquid (even though quite mild) will have left traces on everything the water flowed through. Some of this will transfer to the newly added water block too. Something tells me that a very small amount of washing up liquid in the water and on the pipes helps reduce friction. I cant quanitfy this and would appreciate any help positive or negative.
To try and gauge how much is in the system: When the pump isnt running, there are tiny white bubbles at any air cavity . They surround the small air cavity and do not fill it These bubbles remain for quite some time.
3) Algae. The 1/2" pipe used is Clear and theres a lot of it too (the airbox is routed to the other side of a loudspeaker). The pipes are directly under a window.
There hasnt been a sniff of Algae yet in 6 months.
I imagine that cleaning the system with Washing up liquid and then having a trace in the water is an effective algicide.
It would be great if anyone would like to test this to see if any improvement happens. Before / after information would be nice.
I have an open mind, so any comments will be much appreciated