Car radiator

weird_dave · 20 May 2011 at 13:30

I was wondering how car rads compare to some of the ones for sale here, has anyone used any?
Maybe something like:
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af165/hwmotorparts/SUBARURADIATOR-CLASSIC-FANS.jpg
They are 12" fans

samcat · 20 May 2011 at 13:40

Those fans will be very noisy.

Car rads are large enough that with the right choice of rad and the right setup you could run it passively without any issues...

Sam

paradigm · 20 May 2011 at 13:41

You need some seriously strong pumps to get decent flow rate through a car radiator, add to the fact that you need some epic stepping down of the inlet and outlet to your average W/C loop hosing diameter.

More hassle than it's worth.

dekez · 20 May 2011 at 13:47

People used to use car heater cores, that's old school watercooling.

BurntOutMutha · 20 May 2011 at 18:07

I'm using a heater core from a range rover which I bought new for £30 - it has standard 1/2" fittings and is the perfect size for 2x120mm fans (Coudl fit 4 in PP of course). Teamed this up with a Hydor L30 II pump (£25) and 2 Yate looms 120mm and I'm getting better temps on my 2600K@5Ghz (7C Lower) than my friends identical setup, except he plashed about £600 on a DD custom kit. His looks a lot nicer tho - LOL

panyan · 20 May 2011 at 18:42

weird_dave said:
I was wondering how car rads compare to some of the ones for sale here, has anyone used any?
Maybe something like:
http://i1004.photobucket.com/albums/af165/hwmotorparts/SUBARURADIATOR-CLASSIC-FANS.jpg
They are 12" fans

that is an AWESOME idea

i can imagine custom loops that do out the back of the case and have the car radiatior and then the loop goes back in

BurntOutMutha · 20 May 2011 at 19:19

With that size Rad - if you do need to blow air, check out Kenlowe......

weird_dave · 22 May 2011 at 14:39

I like the idea of a passive rad, I may have to get one and see how it goes.
I'm trying to keep the budget down as far as I can, the biggest issue is which waterblock.

Mick-1965 · 22 May 2011 at 16:40

weird_dave said:
I like the idea of a passive rad, I may have to get one and see how it goes.
I'm trying to keep the budget down as far as I can, the biggest issue is which waterblock.

Ive been using one for the past 7-8 years.

Remove those fans, as said they are hellishly noisy.
What Ive done is build a shroud and use 2 x 140mm Yate loons running at 8 volts (almost silent ).

If you are going to use a large car radiator, try and get hold of an older type, ie made from brass and copper rather than aluminium or plastic, they are allot easier to work with, especially for attaching/changing fittings.

23JMZ07 · 22 May 2011 at 18:12

Heater cores are better than car radiators for our uses.

johny dolan · 22 May 2011 at 20:22

How about a motor bike rad smaller more compact than a car one.

panyan · 22 May 2011 at 20:38

johny dolan said:
How about a motor bike rad smaller more compact than a car one.

doesnt smaller/compact mean less cooling potential?

BurntOutMutha · 23 May 2011 at 18:42

Depends on the density of the fins in the rad. Heat core fins are real small, much smaller than for example the rad that comes with a H50.

weird_dave · 24 May 2011 at 13:42

I can talking to a mate who does a lot with cars, he's suggested oil coolers. I'm struggling to get my head around which solution is going to give the best bang for buck.
I'm trying to keep to a budget of £100 for the rad, pump and block. Looking like £30 for the block, £20 for the pump.
Res: http://www.atb-bargains.co.uk/ekmps/shops/atbbargains/images/haribo-bunny-mix-bucket-800g-4973-p.jpg

Randall8686 · 24 May 2011 at 13:50

weird_dave said:
Res: http://www.atb-bargains.co.uk/ekmps/shops/atbbargains/images/haribo-bunny-mix-bucket-800g-4973-p.jpg

LOL !

weird_dave · 24 May 2011 at 14:14

I'm just waiting for the last few to be eaten, then I can put it to use

BurntOutMutha · 24 May 2011 at 15:49

Nice

I'm using a clear tidy box from tesco at the mo - £3 !!!!!

Won't fit into a 5 1/4 bay tho

Mick-1965 · 24 May 2011 at 18:00

If you want some numbers

As said I'm using a car rad, specifically a Montego 2.0i ( copper/brass version ) radiator with a central heating pump grafted on to circulate the coolant.
Attached to the rad is a shroud with 2 140mm yate loon fans running at 8v ( 600 rpm approx)

The system is cooling an i5 760 at 3.8Ghz and a GTX470 at 824/2000.

The water temperature at idle is approx 1.5 oC above ambient and under load ie a good session on Crysis 2 the water only ever gets to approx 6 oC above ambient. Resulting in a CPU that rarely touches 50 oC and the GPU Hits 45 ish.

OrWolf · 24 May 2011 at 20:32

Brings back memories. I used to run a loop with a Mark 2 ford fiesta heater core that I picked up from the scrapyard. Paired it with an eheim pond pump. I think they might still be in my garage somewhere...

weird_dave · 24 May 2011 at 22:57

Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout

I used to use a spare aquarium pump, I'm looking to do similar again. I did consider using a central heating pump, but they use about twice the power on minimum (which ends up as more heat in the system).