Ghetto Mods

[ThaiTaffy]

That's ghetto production right there

Air cooled VW blocks were made from magnesium alloy, and I've seen a couple go up in flames. They burn for hours.

 

[Valantar]

Doesn't magnesium easily catch on fire? I may or may not remember that in high school's chemistry lab we were shown burning magnesium.

Easily? No. It takes a lot of heat to ignite, especially when in solid blocks rather than powder. Lots of premium laptops have magnesium chassis.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

Easily? No. It takes a lot of heat to ignite, especially when in solid blocks rather than powder. Lots of premium laptops have magnesium chassis.

As I said earlier magnesium alloys ignite at around 600°c which isn't alot of heat it's fine in consumer electronics because they are generally just running below 100°c but a bare flame can reach 1400°c so any type of fire can theoretically ignite it with ease even a cigarette burns at 900°c.

 

[Valantar]

As I said earlier magnesium alloys ignite at around 600°c which isn't alot of heat it's fine in consumer electronics because they are generally just running below 100°c but a bare flame can reach 1400°c so any type of fire can theoretically ignite it with ease even a cigarette burns at 900°c.

True, but it takes a lot of heat to bring a solid piece of metal up to above 600°C. As I said, powdered magnesium ignites esily, larger pieces take a lot more energy. This illustrates that nicely - nearly three minutes with a blowtorch for it to ignite. Obviously a laptop chassis has far less thermal mass than that block of metal, but igniting magnesium is not easy, and simple exposure to flame is not enough. And as was mentioned above, alloys are much harder to ignite again.

That depend on the mod. The above picture mod, while still cool and effective, leans on the side of being ghetto because the those VRM plate clearly were not made for that board and are bolted down with plastic washers. It'll work and likely really well, but it's definitely a jerry-rig..

The mounting might be slightly ghetto, but this really doesn't reach the bar of a true ghetto mod for me. They are VRM waterblocks, after all, it's not like they JB Welded a copper pipe over the VRMs

 

[ThaiTaffy]

Thin Mg alloy used in laptop chassis and cases is very different to a block and it's thermal conductivity isn't great so a focused heat source might well ignite it as it only needs a small area to reach temperature, though I'm unsure for certain but very curious.
I might look for some and leave a cigarette burn down on it to see what happens

 

[Valantar]

Thin Mg alloy used in laptop chassis and cases is very different to a block and it's thermal conductivity isn't great so a focused heat source might well ignite it as it only needs a small area to reach temperature, though I'm unsure for certain but very curious.
I might look for some and leave a cigarette burn down on it to see what happens

Thinkpads have used magnesium alloy frames and lids for a decade or more, and apparently they're quite fire-proof:

https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportgore/comments/awn3h9

The keyboard deck is most likely plastic, but you can see it has burned away to the internal magnesium frame, which has not ignited.

I also literally can't find a single mention online of a magnesium laptop catching fire for any reason. If this was a thing, there would be at least one picture somewhere.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

I'm wondering if it's Mg alloy or aluminium alloyed with small amounts of Mg then marketing likes to bend the truth and a house fire would surely ignite any real Mg alloy

If it was safe people wouldn't spend so much time and money researching flame retardant Mg alloys.

Flame Resistant Magnesium Alloys - AIT Austrian Institute Of Technology

Up to now, the applicability of magnesium alloys was limited due to its light flammability. Reason therefore is the oxidation tendency of the alloys. In a research project, LKR scientists managed it to develop magnesium alloys, which show the capability to self-extinguish in case of a fire.

www.ait.ac.at

 

[Valantar]

I'm wondering if it's Mg alloy or aluminium alloyed with small amounts of Mg then marketing likes to bend the truth and a house fire would surely ignite any real Mg alloy

According to this forum post (as well as the attached image of the stamped markings in a Thinkpad chassis) they at some point used the AZ91D alloy, which is about 91% Mg. Not that visuals matter for much, but that metal looks identical to the casing of my old X201. No idea what they use today.

Edit: in my X201, the bottom casing including midframe and the lid were Mg; the keyboard surround was plastic (sitting on the Mg midframe), the screen surround was plastic, and the hinges were likely steel. All Mg surfaces were painted with a semi-soft touch matte paint, but left bare on the inside.

If it was safe people wouldn't spend so much time and money researching flame retardant Mg alloys.

Flame Resistant Magnesium Alloys - AIT Austrian Institute Of Technology

Up to now, the applicability of magnesium alloys was limited due to its light flammability. Reason therefore is the oxidation tendency of the alloys. In a research project, LKR scientists managed it to develop magnesium alloys, which show the capability to self-extinguish in case of a fire.

www.ait.ac.at

Did you see the parts about "applications"? Those alloys are for aircraft seats and engine housings. So, either the literal cover for a jet engine, or an application where jet fuel-fuelled fires are a real danger. They also show there as well that it takes nearly 2:30 under a powerful blowtorch to ignite a small lump of a typical alloy. Again, a thin laptop cover/frame will obviously ignite faster than that, but ... this is not a real danger.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

According to this forum post (as well as the attached image of the stamped markings in a Thinkpad chassis) they at some point used the AZ91D alloy, which is about 91% Mg. Not that visuals matter for much, but that metal looks identical to the casing of my old X201. No idea what they use today.

Edit: in my X201, the bottom casing including midframe and the lid were Mg; the keyboard surround was plastic (sitting on the Mg midframe), the screen surround was plastic, and the hinges were likely steel. All Mg surfaces were painted with a semi-soft touch matte paint, but left bare on the inside.

Just learnt more about magnesium than I ever thought I would. Seems they obviously use chemicals in the alloy to increase fire resistance for consumer products.

AZ91D is pretty much a amalgamation of all metals that would prevent Mg from burning.

 

[Valantar]

Just learnt more about magnesium than I ever thought I would. Seems they obviously use chemicals in the alloy to increase fire resistance for consumer products.

AZ91D is pretty much a amalgamation of all metals that would prevent Mg from burning.
View attachment 221575

Interesting! Btw, I just took the bottom panel off my work laptop (Latitude 7390 2-in-1), and its's also AZ91D.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

I don't feel so scared now then since I have to braze some mg alloy on my case to fit my rads.

I really don't think hanging a rad just off one side of screws is a good idea and zipties ain't gonna cut it.

 

[micropage7]

Uhh how is this ghetto?

My mod is the classic ziptied fans to the graphics card, and this is how I control their speed.

0 is off, pos 1 is 5V and pos 2 12V, cheapo molex powered fans only have 2 wires and boy they're noisy at full speed. left switch is for the case and right for the card, PWM is for rich kiddies.

nice idea, you have function and your eyes protected from the annoying solution coz you place it on the back

 

[1freedude]

I don't feel so scared now then since I have to braze some mg alloy on my case to fit my rads.View attachment 221576
I really don't think hanging a rad just off one side of screws is a good idea and zipties ain't gonna cut it.

When you say braze, what exactly do you mean?

I ask because I'm a safety dude and a professional welder of exotic metals.

If you put heat to Magnesium or it's alloys, you run the real risk of degrading the structural integrity. Depending on local atmospheric conditions, the Mg will absorb O2 and/or H2/H to create a super hard oxide that is extremely brittle.

In other words, don't heat it up in regular air.

 

[ThaiTaffy]

When you say braze, what exactly do you mean?

I ask because I'm a safety dude and a professional welder of exotic metals.

If you put heat to Magnesium or it's alloys, you run the real risk of degrading the structural integrity. Depending on local atmospheric conditions, the Mg will absorb O2 and/or H2/H to create a super hard oxide that is extremely brittle.

In other words, don't heat it up in regular air.

I was just planning to use flux and some brazing rods but if you think I should Tig it I will I've been welding a long time but normally just steel and cast iron so I know little about magnesium welding.

And tbh I still haven't gotten any battery acid to check, the case is from China so when they say it's magnesium it could be just aluminium.

 

[1freedude]

Even tig will get it too hot, unless, like you say, its aluminum. Slice a piece from inconspicuos place and set it on fire. A sharp knife will do. If it goes poof, you've got your answer.

Mag and Ti need to be welded/heat treated in vacuum or inert chambers, much like a sand blast cabinet. Argon replaces the air, eliminating embrittlement hazard. Really fun after you get the hang of it

 

[ThaiTaffy]

Even tig will get it too hot, unless, like you say, its aluminum. Slice a piece from inconspicuos place and set it on fire. A sharp knife will do. If it goes poof, you've got your answer.

Mag and Ti need to be welded/heat treated in vacuum or inert chambers, much like a sand blast cabinet. Argon replaces the air, eliminating embrittlement hazard. Really fun after you get the hang of it

Thinking about it now even if it's aluminium or Mag it should be far easier to countersink the hole and epoxy in a countersunk plate to match otherwise I could just throw the piece out and fab a new one.

 

[caroline!]

Thinkpads have used magnesium alloy frames and lids for a decade or more, and apparently they're quite fire-proof:

https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupportgore/comments/awn3h9

The keyboard deck is most likely plastic, but you can see it has burned away to the internal magnesium frame, which has not ignited.

I also literally can't find a single mention online of a magnesium laptop catching fire for any reason. If this was a thing, there would be at least one picture somewhere.

Interesting. Though it's reddit so it's probably fake.

nice idea, you have function and your eyes protected from the annoying solution coz you place it on the back

I just put it there because the switches fit perfectly ^^

 

[oobymach]

Another ghetto mod for the pile, click to enlarge.

Before.


After.


Like any good mod it works, used around 5 layers of aluminum foil duct tape to give the heatsink more surface area, cpu heats up slower and cools quicker. Warranty voiding for sure since you have to remove the barrier between the heatsink and the battery and basically overlap the battery. I used the front and back cover of a magazine to make the basic shape and then just layered foil tape on it keeping it clear of the edges so as not to short anything out.

 

[WhitetailAni]

Battery on battery action

Spoiler

I'm thinking of getting Apple's 6S Smart Battery Case (A1585) to add a third battery sandwiched in the middle\

 

[lexluthermiester]

Battery on battery action

Spoiler

View attachment 222641

I'm thinking of getting Apple's 6S Smart Battery Case (A1585) to add a third battery sandwiched in the middle\

Does it work?

 

[WhitetailAni]

Does it work?

Yes, though I think the battery pack's beginning to wear out. Not too surprised though, I don't know where the pack came from - it's one of the "just there" pieces of tech that I stole adopted, and I've used it heavily for 3 months now. Gained me an extra 2 hours of battery life back when my 6S's inbuilt battery lasted between half an hour and an hour.
I replaced the inbuilt battery and now it lasts for about a day or two; really at this point I'm going for max capacity because yes.
I'm keeping the pack even if it does die, the charging cable gives me something to hook my fingers on when playing games on my phone and also gives me reason to keep a charging cable on my phone everywhere.

 

[P4-630]

The HD4870 finally died after 11 years, replaced it with a passive cooled MSI GT710 for my dad (email and webbrowsing).

 

[caroline!]

The HD4870 finally died after 11 years, replaced it with a passive cooled MSI GT710 for my dad (email and webbrowsing).

nice
been there, done that, to a 6800GT

isn't the fan upside down tho? it should blow air towards the heatsink and mems

 

[P4-630]

isn't the fan upside down tho? it should blow air towards the heatsink and mems

If you look closely there is a smaller fan in between blowing towards the cooler fins and so the 120mm sucks.

 

[caroline!]

If you look closely there is a smaller fan in between blowing towards the cooler fins and so the 120mm sucks.

oo I thought it was tape haha

shame it died