making a heat pipe

using common copper tubing and fittings to make an efficient heat transfer device

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• solar
• hot
• water
• evacuated
• tubes
• heat
• pipes

[videoclipits]

Are these as efficient as the "super conductors" as they are called by some "energy companies" import from China in the assembly of evac collectors. I had a demonstration where one end was put into a kettle of hot water while holding the top 4 feet away. within seconds it got too hot to hold. I wonder if butane or trichloroethylene may make the transfer more efficient.

[sundug69]

@videoclipits If you search the term superconductor you will see it is referring to something else. Heat pipe is the proper term. Many different working fluids are used, even water. It gets a little more involved, but you can adjust the boiling point of the fluid by adjusting the pressure.

[darthom]

Although requiring more time, once the cap is on, does letting the pipe cool, flipping it over and then soldering the cap, make sense in order to improve the soldered joint? Thanks for the post.

[sundug69]

@darthom You could do that, but all the solder joints I have done upside down have held. Just do the proper prep, and run the solder all around, it will be fine.

[WXIIIR]

Instead of using a blowtorch to kick air out of tube just charge and discharge the tube using a refrigerator compressor, it's easy and effective.

[sundug69]

@WXIIIR That would require a dedicated Schrader valve to access the tube, refrigeration hoses and gauges. The torch was in my hand, much simpler and cheaper.

[Abdallah2319]

Hello. Amazing work and thank you for providing the information.

My question is does the pipe HAVE TO BE copper?

Copper is UNBELIEVABLY expensive in Egypt, nowadays =/

[WXIIIR]

@sundug69 Also joining tube walls and plugging the hole with silver solder will help with durability. I'm only saying this because i saw one guy that had done a lot of heatpipes like you are doing but that in the end saw that it was more effective to heatsink the area directly with a small heatsink intead of moving the heat to a larger heatsink. Precision is key when doing stuff like this, i mean, there's no point in making a heatpipe that won't serve the purpose of a heatpipe, am i right?