I finally discovered why "high pressure" radiators exist.

[AnonymousGuy]

I basically inflated, like a balloon, a alphacool XT45 280mm radiator that is rated to about 30PSI (1.5-2bar).  It'd be difficult to show in a picture but the case split apart and the bottom is a U shape instead of flat.  There is no way you can do this in a normal watercooling loop, I managed to do it by having water that was heated to 75C.

 

Surprisingly all of the gaskets and barbs and shit held together (everything was secured with worm clamps because I knew this pressure was a problem).  I was also using braid-reinforced tubing.  I'm mildly surprised the plexi reservoir didn't explode first.  There was also an EX280 XSPC radiator in the system that took it like a champ and seems undamaged.

 

I'm not going to replace the radiator because it still works and isn't leaking, but I am going to add an extension to the reservoir to allow it to expand and contract freely without overflowing.  Sealing the system is bad mmmkay.  Aplhacool and Watercool make 5bar - 10bar "industrial" radiators but not in 140mm size, just 120mm variants.  

 

 

I can't actually figure out why there is so much expansion when the water heats up.  At first I thought airbubble but I've had it running for ages and don't have any obvious points for air to be trapped (it's possible there's air in the water heater itself since it's designed to have much higher flowrate through it I imagine).  I'm not sure if It's simply water expanding when hot, or if it's water not capable of dissolving as much air (gas) when it's hot and the air effectively precipitating out and making its own airbubble.

[MageTank]

8 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

I basically inflated, like a balloon, a alphacool XT45 280mm radiator that is rated to about 30PSI (1.5-2bar).  It'd be difficult to show in a picture but the case split apart and the bottom is a U shape instead of flat.  There is no way you can do this in a normal watercooling loop, I managed to do it by having water that was heated to 75C.

 

Surprisingly all of the gaskets and barbs and shit held together (everything was secured with worm clamps because I knew this pressure was a problem).  I was also using braid-reinforced tubing.  I'm mildly surprised the plexi reservoir didn't explode first.  There was also an EX280 XSPC radiator in the system that took it like a champ and seems undamaged.

 

I'm not going to replace the radiator because it still works and isn't leaking, but I am going to add an extension to the reservoir to allow it to expand and contract freely without overflowing.  Sealing the system is bad mmmkay.  Aplhacool and Watercool make 5bar - 10bar "industrial" radiators but not in 140mm size, just 120mm variants.  

 

 

I can't actually figure out why there is so much expansion when the water heats up.  At first I thought airbubble but I've had it running for ages and don't have any obvious points for air to be trapped (it's possible there's air in the water heater itself since it's designed to have much higher flowrate through it I imagine).  I'm not sure if It's simply water expanding when hot, or if it's water not capable of dissolving as much air (gas) when it's hot and the air effectively precipitating out and making its own airbubble.

How in the world did your fluid reach 75C? Even with an 8700k at 5.2ghz and a 2080 Ti at 2100mhz, I have a difficult time getting mine to go much higher than my ambient temps.

[Eigenvektor]

9 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

I basically inflated, like a balloon, a alphacool XT45 280mm radiator that is rated to about 30PSI (1.5-2bar).  It'd be difficult to show in a picture but the case split apart and the bottom is a U shape instead of flat.  There is no way you can do this in a normal watercooling loop, I managed to do it by having water that was heated to 75C.

Did you fill the loop, including the reservoir to the brim?

 

I would suggest leaving enough air in there for the water to expand. Air is compressible, water is not. If the heated water has no room to expand, bad things happen.

[AnonymousGuy]

1 minute ago, MageTank said:

How in the world did your fluid reach 75C? Even with an 8700k at 5.2ghz and a 2080 Ti at 2100mhz, I have a difficult time getting mine to go much higher than my ambient temps.

A literal water heater.  My goal here is to generate hot water to run through a radiator to generate hot air.  I need 65-70C air temperature in order to melt wax on my skis.  

 

The hottest I've ever gotten actual PC water is 45-50C and that's under full CPU+GPU load with just a 240mm radiator in a space constrained case.

[W-L]

12 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

-SNIP-

The fluid should have never reached 75C to begin with but if you have a photo that would be interesting to see since it shouldn't have bulged the end tank itself.

[Eigenvektor]

11 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

A literal water heater.  My goal here is to generate hot water to run through a radiator to generate hot air.  I need 65-70C air temperature in order to melt wax on my skis.  

 

The hottest I've ever gotten actual PC water is 45-50C and that's under full CPU+GPU load with just a 240mm radiator in a space constrained case.

Have you considered simply using something like a hot-air dryer?

[emosun]

21 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

  I need 65-70C air temperature in order to melt wax on my skis. 

and a heat gun isnt an option because

[Juular]

5 minutes ago, emosun said:

and a heat gun isnt an option because

It's not fun !

[emosun]

Just now, Juular said:

It's not fun !

neither is a hammer but i'd prefer it over a rock

[AnonymousGuy]

20 minutes ago, emosun said:

and a heat gun isnt an option because

 

28 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Have you considered simply using something like a hot-air dryer?

Some people do build these boxes using baseboard heaters and space heaters and lightbulbs and stuff.  I didn't because those strategies can create hot spots.  Water has a high thermal mass (I open the box and don't instantly lose all my heat) and the temperature of the water is the maximum temperature of anywhere in the box.  Skis being made of wood, plastic, metal, epoxy, etc you don't want to thermal shock them if you can avoid it.

 

Plus, I already had radiators and pumps and stuff laying around so it was just a matter of buying an under-sink water heater to round it out.

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Some people do build these boxes using baseboard heaters and space heaters and lightbulbs and stuff.  I didn't because those strategies can create hot spots.  Water has a high thermal mass and the temperature of the water is the maximum temperature of anywhere in the box.  

Ah, so you basically need a container full of 75°C air?

[AnonymousGuy]

Just now, Eigenvektor said:

Ah, so you basically need a container full of 75°C air?

Yup, the water peaks at about 72C and because the box is "leaking" heat even though it's insulated, the actual air temperature ends up being about 67-69C.  I have 3 temperature probes in the box to monitor it. 

 

The base of the skis is porous specifically to hold wax (sintered polyethylene) so leaving them to soak in it for a few hours is the best strategy.  70C is also a lot more gentle on the skis (I think) vs. passing a 130C iron over them but it's probably one of those "it really doesn't matter in the long run" things.

[emosun]

why not use a better rad then such as a cheap or even free automotive rad seeing as you arent using it for computer purposes anyway

[Eigenvektor]

1 minute ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Yup, the water peaks at about 72C and because the box is "leaking" heat even though it's insulated, the actual air temperature ends up being about 67-69C.  I have 3 temperature probes in the box to monitor it. 

 

The base of the skis is porous specifically to hold wax (sintered polyethylene) so leaving them to soak in it for a few hours is the best strategy.  70C is also a lot more gentle on the skis (I think) vs. passing a 130C iron over them but it's probably one of those "it really doesn't matter in the long run" things.

Gotcha. Yeah, ironing is the one thing I knew how to do it. Your strategy sounds pretty clever actually, if the loop can survive it Like I said, I think you need enough air in there for the water to expand, and maybe something like an overpressure valve.

[Eigenvektor]

Coincidence?

 

[AnonymousGuy]

1 hour ago, Eigenvektor said:

Coincidence?

 

Haha, yeah exactly like that.  Even down to the streching  and creasing of the end tanks, but I also have the bonus of splitting the case apart where the fans can't even be screwed in all the way anymore (can only use like 2 screws instead of 4).  It's too bad that I didn't attach a pressure gauge to get an actual number but it's one of those things where you don't know it's going to be that much of an issue...until it is.  I would have figured the reservoir splitting apart or blowing another tube off a barb before I would guess the radiator ballooning out.  I didn't even notice that's what happened until I heard a fan grinding on something and went to inspect why that was.  "wait why is this fan pointing a different direction than this fan?"