using car radiators...why not?

[Alexontherocks]

I tried lokking around for the answer to my question but I did not get conclusive results...

I may have found a used iwaki (very lucky) so I am currently thinking big..I am intrigued by car radiators. If flow and head is not a problem why should I stick to conventional computer parts and not go for this: http://cgi.ebay.it/Radiatore-motore-...QQcmdZViewItem

looks big and it is completely made of alluminium. I guess that even passive operation is achievable if the flow is just right...

I have been looking for specific details on the exact heat dissipation capacity of this radiator as well as others but have found nothing....how many watts could an iwaki rd30 + a car radiator (let us take the one I posted a link to) dissipate?

Cheers!

[BrokenWall]

There was someone on these forums that has done that with a Copper Race Radiator from a Japanese company. His delta between temps is insane, and is able to handle his entire rig passive without a problem.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...=race+radiator

[Serra]

There was someone on these forums that has done that with a Copper Race Radiator from a Japanese company. His delta between temps is insane, and is able to handle his entire rig passive without a problem.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...=race+radiator

Ha ha, I had forgotten that. I don't think I was even posting yet when that post came up. Pure awesomeness.

Edit: Oh look at that, I was wrong... I was posting by then - and had been for about a year. I think I just realized I've been posting here for 3.5 years now. It still feels like it was just yesterday when I was starting here.

[Zehnsucht]

I don't know if you have been following the corrosion / mixed metal wars here, but if you are mixing Al and copper in a loop IMO there is a relativly high risk of corrosion.

[jackies]

Yeah aluminum and copper is no good. I was thinking of using car rad, but when I saw that it's made of aluminum I changed my mind.
Then I got an air conditioner from a car, pulled the radiator from there, that's the good stuff! All copper tubing, and very big too, my water temps were the same whether with fans or not..

[Alexontherocks]

I understand......

are all AC units from cars made in copper? I may very well be able to get hold of a very good one.

[madmaxx]

Yeah aluminum and copper is no good. I was thinking of using car rad, but when I saw that it's made of aluminum I changed my mind.
Then I got an air conditioner from a car, pulled the radiator from there, that's the good stuff! All copper tubing, and very big too, my water temps were the same whether with fans or not..

an EVAP from a car will be full of oil unless you mean a H/C? also MOST if not all A/C components are ALU

[Alexontherocks]

sorry guys what do you think of this pump? sorry for the off topic but I was just curious to know if something like this could be suited to run such a performing loop:

[Alexontherocks]

no one? I could get hold of an iwaki or this.....I am unsure because the head (HM) is 10 which is very good and the flow is actually better than an iwaki.

[STEvil]

You only gave 50 minutes for an answer. I cant read the name of the pump you've pictured so cant look it up on the net. Couldn't say.

Madmaxx - I think Jackies is thinking of the heatercore which is used to heat the interior of the vehicle.

[003]

Dont get that radiator, it's aluminum. See BrokenWall's post if you want to do it right.

[Fraggle]

I think that pump looks way overkill.

[Alexontherocks]

I ask forgiveness for my impatience.....

Anyway the pump is overkill. I will get this one since it has 10m of head pressure and 8400 l/hour of flow !!!

Regarding the aluminium radiator....couldn't anticorrosives do the trick? I can get hold of various chemicals from a friend who works at a lab. I read that phosphates help a lot so I could try those.

It is very difficult to find copper radiators since they are heavy and serve no purpose on cars really (that aluminium can not serve as well and in a cheaper way)

My loop would consist of ek supreme - super pump (should be a univer) - and car radiator.

Isn't there anyway I can get aluminium and copper to work together?

thanks!

[Giannis86]

anticorrosives could do the trick but you would need a large amount of them in your water. That would hinder performance as well, as compared to distilled water.. i would look for a copper one if i were you

[Vinas]

I ask forgiveness for my impatience.....
My loop would consist of ek supreme - super pump (should be a univer) - and car radiator.

Isn't there anyway I can get aluminium and copper to work together?

thanks!

Moderate to heavily diluted antifreeze will work. Dilute with pure distilled water... I'm using 80 to 1 ratio distilled/water. Some people like 90 to 1 but for mixed metals I'd recommend a little lower. With the TEC I'm dissipating about ~415 watts of heat total. Raises my room temp from 25C to 30C in about 10 minutes... The more antifreeze the better corrosion protection but your temps will suffer a bit since water is able to transfer more heat than the glycol. This is why you need to find a nice rad/heatercore.

PS hopefully that pump doesn't leak! Either way it needs a washing/buffing... eeek

[Alexontherocks]

the pump is perfectly watertight (tested). It does need a little cleaning but it is just dust, no rust anywhere important. 8400l/h, 10m head....can't wait to have it running

How much would you say an aluminium radiator looses against a copper one performance wise?

P.s. you are absolutely certain that you don't have any corrosio going on in your system?

How much would you say I would loose by using antifreeze in terms of performance?

[Vinas]

the pump is perfectly watertight (tested). It does need a little cleaning but it is just dust, no rust anywhere important. 8400l/h, 10m head....can't wait to have it running

That looks to be a fine pump and relatively quite at 40 dba. Nice find.

How much would you say an aluminum radiator looses against a copper one performance wise?

That's hard to say when it comes down to the materials copper should be about twice as good than alu. I think it matters more on the design of the rad TBH. Check this out:

P.s. you are absolutely certain that you don't have any corrosio going on in your system?

Yes, however my system is mostly copper and brass. I say mostly because I don't know if any alu is inside the heatercore. It's a 1980 Bonneville HC and looks very similar to the DD double 120. Corrosion my biggest concern in the CPU block and it's in perfect condition (have the acetal top EK which makes checking very easy).

How much would you say I would loose by using antifreeze in terms of performance?

Not sure. I've read the posts here but nothing AFAIK is conclusive. For me, I started with 50/50 ratio and after adding more distilled for approx 80 to 1 ratio, my temps lowered about 3 degrees on average. At the same time I remounted my block so it could just be a better mount. Hard to say what your results will be but you could start at 50/50 and work/add more distilled until you get the results you're happy with. Either way I believe it will not be a 10C difference, probably more like 1 to 5C.

[Alexontherocks]

less headache going with all copper loop an safer using DW an iodine

thanks for the input! However how do you know that radiator is copper? It is 7:22 in the morning where I am writing so I may be a bit on the dumb side but I can't read "copper" anywhere on the ebay page...


@ jcool: are you sure I would be safe? Of course certainty does not exist however the mixture you suggested would prevent corrosion and not hinder performance? Remember that with any car radiator I would ample margin of performance to spare. Even operating at 90% of possibile efficiency my looop would still be overkill.


P.s. the pump is a univerbar. got it for 14.99 euros and it should outperform an iwaki according to specs.

[aspire.comptech]

Yes and no, mixing copper and aluminum can never be completely safe.

However the main reason not to do it is because glycol is quite inferior to water as a coolant.

[003]

yeah, anti-corrosives are typically dissolved solids, which just end up precipitating in your loop, and lower performance. You would need a lot for that huge radiator. Not worth it, find a copper /brass one.

[madmaxx]

arent phosphates hazardous to the enviroment?

[DarthBeavis]

using car radiators...why not? ? Because the mighty mighty XS forum members said no.

[aspire.comptech]

using car radiators...why not? ? Because the mighty mighty XS forum members said no.

Nothing wrong with car radiators, just aluminum ones.

[DarthBeavis]

Nothing wrong with car radiators, just aluminum ones.

Probably a bit UGLY . . .unless you get one from one of Jay Leno's hot rods . . .

[sirheck]

The automotive industry has been mixing them for years.