Plating the "Storm"

[KVL]

Hi,
I am thinking of plating my Swiftech Storm with silver or gold (the copper part of the Storm). What do you think? Will it get any better in performance with silver, with gold plating. I know that it will look good and fight against water corrosion.

What do you think, will it be expensive to silver plating or gold plating? because I have not done it.

Thanks for any info.

[Grinch]

prolly should leave it alone...you can't improve upon something that is already perfect...LOL:toast: :woot: :clap:

[ReD.SkY]

not worth time, effort, or money

copper wont corrode in a straight copper loop.


i dont think copper corrodes ever. it only gets discolored

[scwam]

Interesting idea. It wouldn't be expensive, some cheap transfer medium can be used from a variety of chems.
I bought this silver last week for bacterial growth in my loop. Might want to take a look at it:
http://cgi.ebay.com/4-9999-Fine-Silver-Electrode-Wires-14-gauge-Set-2_W0QQitemZ7616090523QQihZ017QQcategoryZ633QQtcZph otoQQcmdZViewItem

I think if it were a success tat the layer would be so thin that performance results would be negligable. But it would look nice. I wonder if it would cause a microscopic uneven surface too.

Doesn't copper corrode to copper oxide ....the green stuff. Or is that not corrosion?

You might want to read this about possible problems:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_plague_%28corrosion%29
Find a way to plate it with diamond.....The ultimate in cooling (insert wink tag here)

[septim]

hmm while we're there, might as well put some mirrors so we could see the actual plating... lolz joke joke...

doesn't some plating like chipped off after time?

[Kayin]

If you were say, running it in a loop with aluminum, plating it would effectively prevent galvanic corrosion, but any further than that, there's no real benefit.

[Serra]

If you're that serious about your water cooling, find a Cathar G7 for sale somewhere, they are already made with a silver plate. They're pricy, but you can find them if you look hard enough (pity that Cathar's accident has effectively stopped new production though).

[sdkevin]

If you're that serious about your water cooling, find a Cathar G7 for sale somewhere, they are already made with a silver plate. They're pricy, but you can find them if you look hard enough (pity that Cathar's accident has effectively stopped new production though).

Correction: Storm G5 instead G7

[Serra]

Correction: Storm G5 instead G7

Bleh, look at when I posted... 6:55am... gimme a break ;)

[BigBen2k]

We actually discussed this at Procooling before. We came to the conclusion that the plating process doesn't create a solid metal deposit, and even though silver would improve the heat transfer, it would be negated by the imperfect additional layer of metal.

Plating with gold would be detrimental (it's negligeable, but it's there).

If anything, you might consider nickel plating, like the processor IHS: it makes the surface more dureable, much less prone to scratches, dents, divots, and other deformations.

[Cathar]

Bleh, look at when I posted... 6:55am... gimme a break ;)

They're also not plated. They are solid pure silver.

My concern with plating a storm is that the plating may be imperfect within the impingement cup internals, and may have an adverse effect on performance.

[Nanometer]

Who told you it was plated? The G5 is solid.

[Serra]

They're also not plated. They are solid pure silver.

My concern with plating a storm is that the plating may be imperfect within the impingement cup internals, and may have an adverse effect on performance.

I never said they were plated. I said they came with a silver plate, ie. the bottom plate is made of silver.... though I can see where you drew that conclusion.

Believe me, I trust you to do a much better job than just plate a piece of copper with some silver Cathar.

[Cathar]

Yeah, I was just clarifying the point for others who might read it. The thread's topic is such that it might have been somewhat unclear when read in conjunction with the "a silver plate" statement.

[UnreaL]

Could somebody explain to me how plating it would be advantagous from a heat transfer perspective.

Perhaps I am missing something, but the heat will be transfered from the plating but then must move through the copper base. Surely you are limited to the poorest conductor for heat transfer? Or are you presuming that the greater conductance of the plating will help dissipate the heat across the surface thus increase performance?

Personally I cant see much of a gain?

[Radical_53]

It won't be an advantage concerning heat transfer, for sure not. It might only look neat, but that's about it.
As Cathar said, the plating might be imperfect somewhere which would hurt performance, also the added material (which makes the base thicker) automatically raises thermal resistance (maybe not much, but at least in theory it does).

[MaxxxRacer]

It won't be an advantage concerning heat transfer, for sure not. It might only look neat, but that's about it.
As Cathar said, the plating might be imperfect somewhere which would hurt performance, also the added material (which makes the base thicker) automatically raises thermal resistance (maybe not much, but at least in theory it does).

what he said...