Old School Cast Iron Radiator?

[Zarathustra[H]]

This may be a silly idea, but has anyone ever tried using one of these as a passive radiator?

I think it would be awesome.

Judging by the charts here and the radiator sizing here it would seem perfectly possible to use them as a very capable completely quiet(other than the pump) radiator for a water cooling system.

According to my numbers at a heat output of 1000W which would be what a rather high end overclocked system could output, a 120EDR cast iron radiator would be able to dissipatate enough heat at 70F room temperature to keep the water temps at 40C at full load, at the same time it would be very discrete sitting there in your wall looking like an old school heater.

Any thoughts?

 

[NKDietrich]

It seems like those would be too large and require too much flow for a typical WC loop using 3/8 or 1/2" tubing. I could be wrong though. I'm not sure how big the water channels inside one really are.

 

[slayer9019]

the pressure you would need would most probably destroy your block and hoses....I have a system like that in my house and its relativly high PSI

 

[NKDietrich]

the pressure you would need would most probably destroy your block and hoses....I have a system like that in my house and its relativly high PSI

Another thing I thought of, cast iron would probably be a bad idea. In cast iron radiator setups you're supposed to clean out your boiler periodically to get oxidized metal and such out. Your boiler in this case would be your water block. You don't want rust building up in there.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Another thing I thought of, cast iron would probably be a bad idea. In cast iron radiator setups you're supposed to clean out your boiler periodically to get oxidized metal and such out. Your boiler in this case would be your water block. You don't want rust building up in there.

Interesting point. I guess it depends on wheter you have an open or closed system.

In a closed system any oxygen in the water would be depleted relatively quickly, and thus any oxidizing would cease.

In an open system, oxygen would be replenished, causing oxidizing to be continuous...

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

the pressure you would need would most probably destroy your block and hoses....I have a system like that in my house and its relativly high PSI

Is it a water or a steam system? Steam systems are under much higher pressure.

The water pressure can be very high in those systems too if you have a large loop (many rooms, many radiators.) In this case one would only use one.

If the channels are large in the radiator the flow restriction would decrease, not increase leading to a relatively slow flow inside the radiator compared to the faster moving water in the tubing and blocks. It would be interesting to see how this would work.

Oxidizing could be a problem as mentioned though.

 

[NKDietrich]

Interesting point. I guess it depends on wheter you have an open or closed system.

In a closed system any oxygen in the water would be depleted relatively quickly, and thus any oxidizing would cease.

In an open system, oxygen would be replenished, causing oxidizing to be continuous...

Hmm yeah. Also keep in mind that you'd need to use aluminum for your loop. Copper and iron would equal pretty rapid galvanic corrosion if memory serves. But you'll want to look up details on that. Mixing aluminum and iron might also be bad but to a lesser extent.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Hmm yeah. Also keep in mind that you'd need to use aluminum for your loop. Copper and iron would equal pretty rapid galvanic corrosion if memory serves. But you'll want to look up details on that. Mixing aluminum and iron might also be bad but to a lesser extent.

Aren't there also addatives you can put in the coolant to reduce corrosion?