How long do heatpipes go on working for?

gab344

gab344

gab344

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My Thermalright XP-90 is coming up to 9 years of service, not noticed any temp increase as such, but I was just wondering.........
Do heatpipes degrade over time? maybe a daft question I know. Obviously the the heatpipes are sealed, but do they go on working forever?
 
i suppose but depending if how they are fixed etc could clean and reapply the thermal pads or compounds if your worried about temps.
thermalright suggest or tell even replace there compound every twelve months as a service item.
 
He means the coolant inside the pipes.. Can't say i've noticed any degradation and i've had the XP-120 and XP-90 in builds since they were the latest thing on the block.. I'm guessing it'll probably outlast its useable life..
Also, i cannot believe its been 9 years! wow.

Just had a rummage about, found an XP-120, Si-128, XP-90C, Ultra-90 and Ultra-120 non extreme in my parts draw :o
 
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Heatpipes will go on working until damaged.
The design of them is a completely sealed tube, the fluid inside cannot leak out at all. Like you say, no increase in temps, after 9 years, you are fine!
 
The only time i ever saw damaged heatpipes was when someone lapped a direct contact cooler base, weakened the pipes and they cracked under mounting pressure. Aside from this, heatpipes are fairly robust under normal handling.
 
Thanks for the responses guys,

BTW I dug out the Invoice for the XP-90 (from overclockers uk naturally) it was from Dec '04, originally for a Sempron 3100+ o/c project, so not 9 years more like going on 7 years old. Sorry for unintentional B.S. thread content :eek:
 
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