Huge External Common Radiator from Recycled Parts

[toastfacegrillah]

Made this external radiator as a common radiator for the 3 rigs in my office, I plan to make a larger one that is fitted to my window to vent the heat out (I live in South Australia, we just had 2 weeks of 40C Celsius heat) As an obsessive tinkerer I'm heavily experimenting with water cooling at the moment, as cheap as possible. This was made from recycled parts (Besides clamps) It is mounted in a cantilever style so the arm does not block airflow from the off-centered fan. The way the copper piping is designed allows you to section off the radiator which I will be doing further down the track to isolate the loops and assist with pressure.  At the moment its a two in two out config, it has dropped my reservoir temps across the machines between 20-30 Celsius, with fan running at just 5v, the temps drop a further 5 -10 Celsius at the full 12v. Just looking for some ideas, feedback, or if anyone has any experience or experimented with anything like this?

Parts:

Radiator from busted A/C unit.

Dell Monitor Stand

Corsair Fan from old Case

Had some black engine spray paint so gave it a coat, after some research I had read black helps with radiator thermal conductivity.

Few LEDS cause everything in here has LEDS cause i'm a fiend.

Hose clamps ($1.50 each, pretty pricey!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rodrosenberg]

Love the use of old parts, The part about black paint helping I don't understand. I don't think it will hurt but I have no idea how it will help. 

 

 

[toastfacegrillah]

2 hours ago, rodrosenberg said:

Love the use of old parts, The part about black paint helping I don't understand. I don't think it will hurt but I have no idea how it will help. 

 

 

Thanks, ive got many many recycled Tech projects, I did some quick research and it was a common thing to paint them black, especially in the automotive scene, if anyone could shed some light on the science? I always thought black absorbed more heat, all i can think is you're ever so slightly increasing the surface area. I should have done a before and after test, although it was mainly for aesthetics im sure the difference is negligible.

[hotbrass]

Black is the most efficient heat absorbing color.  And it is also the most efficient heat radiating color.  Color aside, the type of paint is important also.  Some types of paint are more efficient at thermal transfer than others.  Flat as opposed to glossy, and metallic as opposed to plastic, will get the job done better.