The next big thing in cooling?

mercator · 5th May 2005, 08:23 PM

Recently written up in New Scientist:

Liquid metal cooling system

I like the idea of the magnetic pump - no moving parts. Wonder if it is shielded?

/Dave

LBHajdu · 5th May 2005, 09:12 PM

That’s very interesting. I doubt diy’ers will be able to get there hands on one of those, they probably only take custom orders. That’s the bad news, but the good news is it doesn’t look that hard to build. The magnetic pump you could figure out, the tubing looks like it’s just a length of plane copper tubing, it doesn’t even need heat sink fins if you make the tubing long enough. The hard part is figuring out what’s inside the tube and how you could get your hands on some. Does any body have any more details on this or does anybody know where the patent is? It’s not mercury, because they say it’s non-toxic.

Leve

mercator · 5th May 2005, 09:43 PM

The article says liquid gallium alloy, whatever that is...
New Scientist Article

/Dave

LBHajdu · 5th May 2005, 09:43 PM

I think it may be Gallium.
Symbol: Ga
Melting Point: 29.78 °C (302.93 °K, 85.604004 °F)
Boiling Point: 2403.0 °C (2676.15 °K, 4357.4 °F)

I don't know where you could get it from. I wish the melting point was a little bit lower. Cold spots (anything less then 85F) could freeze and stop it from working.

For simplicity and reliability noting beats a plain old aluminum heat sink.

B Cullingford · 5th May 2005, 10:29 PM

probably a gallium alloy (as the article says and somebody posted)

a link http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scito...uid_metal.html

melts at -20°C not likely to freeze any where I would want to be listening to music

B Cullingford · 5th May 2005, 10:33 PM

Oh and there is a link on that page to a catalog - they will sell you some of the alloy for $24 for a vial - not cheap or maybe it is. disclaimer - I have no connection with scitoys nor have I ever purchased anything from them. Their website is pretty cool though

B Cullingford · 5th May 2005, 10:41 PM

Then again before you rush out and make your cooling system check out this link on liquid metal cooling:

http://www.frigprim.com/articels4/LiqMetal.html

which says:
"Pure gallium, (Ga), melts at 30 C but several of its alloys have much lower melting points. The main drawback is its aggressiveness towards almost all other metals. All gallium alloys must therefore be enclosed within ceramic walls, which seems difficult to realise."

Back to the good old Al

LBHajdu · 7th May 2005, 01:47 PM

Well I guess that makes it hard / almost impossible to construct. However it would have been cool to have an amp cool this way with a window in the front of the amp, showing the liquid metal dripping down.

5th May 2005, 08:23 PM	#1
mercator diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Calgary	The next big thing in cooling? Recently written up in New Scientist: Liquid metal cooling system I like the idea of the magnetic pump - no moving parts. Wonder if it is shielded? /Dave __________________ Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

5th May 2005, 09:43 PM	#3
mercator diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Calgary	The article says liquid gallium alloy, whatever that is... New Scientist Article /Dave __________________ Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

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5th May 2005, 09:12 PM	#2
LBHajdu diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002	That’s very interesting. I doubt diy’ers will be able to get there hands on one of those, they probably only take custom orders. That’s the bad news, but the good news is it doesn’t look that hard to build. The magnetic pump you could figure out, the tubing looks like it’s just a length of plane copper tubing, it doesn’t even need heat sink fins if you make the tubing long enough. The hard part is figuring out what’s inside the tube and how you could get your hands on some. Does any body have any more details on this or does anybody know where the patent is? It’s not mercury, because they say it’s non-toxic. Leve

5th May 2005, 10:29 PM	#5
B Cullingford diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: California	probably a gallium alloy (as the article says and somebody posted) a link http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scito...uid_metal.html melts at -20°C not likely to freeze any where I would want to be listening to music

5th May 2005, 10:33 PM	#6
B Cullingford diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: California	Oh and there is a link on that page to a catalog - they will sell you some of the alloy for $24 for a vial - not cheap or maybe it is. disclaimer - I have no connection with scitoys nor have I ever purchased anything from them. Their website is pretty cool though

5th May 2005, 10:41 PM	#7
B Cullingford diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: California	Then again before you rush out and make your cooling system check out this link on liquid metal cooling: http://www.frigprim.com/articels4/LiqMetal.html which says: "Pure gallium, (Ga), melts at 30 C but several of its alloys have much lower melting points. The main drawback is its aggressiveness towards almost all other metals. All gallium alloys must therefore be enclosed within ceramic walls, which seems difficult to realise." Back to the good old Al

7th May 2005, 01:47 PM	#8
LBHajdu diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002	Well I guess that makes it hard / almost impossible to construct. However it would have been cool to have an amp cool this way with a window in the front of the amp, showing the liquid metal dripping down.