- Joined
- Nov 22, 2007
- Messages
- 1,554 (0.26/day)
- Location
- Annapolis, MD
| System Name | n.audBl |
|---|---|
| Processor | E8500 @ 3.80GHz |
| Motherboard | ASUS Striker Extreme |
| Cooling | Full liquid (everything except power supply) |
| Memory | 4Gb OCZ DDR2 PC9600 |
| Video Card(s) | Dual EVGA GTX 280 SSC Edition |
| Storage | Dual WD Raptor in RAID 0 (300Gb), Dual WD 1Tb Cavair in RAID 1 |
| Display(s) | Dell 2407 24" HD+ Widescreen |
| Case | Theraltake Tai-Chi |
| Audio Device(s) | X-Fi Fata1ty (bleh!) |
| Power Supply | Ultra X3 1000W |
| Software | Win 7 64bit |
Background: I utilize Koolance radiators and Innovatek HDD coolers in my liquid cooled system. These are aluminum components and having them in my water loops means that I can not utilize bare copper without facing corrosion issues.
Problem 1: Copper and Aluminum despise each other. /personification
Problem 2: Koolance and Zalman CPU coolers do not perform as well as one would like.
Problem 3: Koolance and Zalman are the only manufacturers to supply plated copper CPU waterblocks. Aqua Computers makes a silver CPU block, but its performance is a bit of a mystery and costs $300 USD.
Solution (I hope): Nickel Plate a high performance copper waterblock. This is a project that has been in the works for a couple of weeks now and has been discussed in a couple of other threads:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=49288
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=46358 <-- I hijacked this one but there is a lot of good info on this subject.
In a nutshell, the nickel plating should theoretically provide a neutral metallic barrier between the coolant and the copper, thus nullifying the cathodic corrosion process (or at least significantly reducing it) typically experienced in copper/aluminum applications. Any residual corrosive tendencies should be within the preventive capabilities of the anti-corrosion chemicals in the coolant. FYI, this plating process is exactly how Koolance gets around corrosive issues with their entire line of cooling products, the only difference is they gold plate all of their copper products.
The main question I am trying to answer with this is: Can beating galvanic corrosion issues really be as simple as just sending a copper component to a plating shop and paying a small amount to have it nickel plated... or is it a more complicated process?
Below is the result of the $25 plating process performed by a local plating company (automotive oriented):
Here you can see that the mounting surface of the block is not a mirror finish polished surface you would typically see on a nickel plated product. This is not an issue since I intend to lap the mounting surface anyways. I could have requested a highly polished finish but it was fiscally unnecessary.
And let the lapping begin.
FYI, I reassembled the entire block for this process. The corner bolts are torqued.
In these pictures you will see that the Fuzion is anything but flat. I'm not sure if this is a result of the manufacturing process or the plating process, but I suspect that the plating company was not exactly 'gentle' with their handling. They are used to palting car parts, not computer parts.
At this point I could not for the life of me get the last corner to lap even with the rest of the block. The block was warpped pretty bad in this area. It looked flat, but lapping tells all. We had to make a run to the local Pep-Boys for more sandpaper. The argument was made that this corner really wouldn't be an issue regarding the thermal capability of the block, but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it like this. Damn my anal retentiveness!!!
Finally after hitting the block with 250 for a while and then working up with 400> 800> 1000> and 1200 this is the final result. I tried 1500 but it honestly looked worse than the 1200 did.
This is a picture of a lapped nickel plated D-Tek Fuzion... not a pencil and a crock pot
Corrosion results will be provided as the system ages. I will perform an inspection at 6-months and a complete overhaul at 12 months with photo documentation of the results.
***UPDATE*** See page two of this thread for 6-months results!!
Problem 1: Copper and Aluminum despise each other. /personification
Problem 2: Koolance and Zalman CPU coolers do not perform as well as one would like.
Problem 3: Koolance and Zalman are the only manufacturers to supply plated copper CPU waterblocks. Aqua Computers makes a silver CPU block, but its performance is a bit of a mystery and costs $300 USD.
Solution (I hope): Nickel Plate a high performance copper waterblock. This is a project that has been in the works for a couple of weeks now and has been discussed in a couple of other threads:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=49288
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=46358 <-- I hijacked this one but there is a lot of good info on this subject.
In a nutshell, the nickel plating should theoretically provide a neutral metallic barrier between the coolant and the copper, thus nullifying the cathodic corrosion process (or at least significantly reducing it) typically experienced in copper/aluminum applications. Any residual corrosive tendencies should be within the preventive capabilities of the anti-corrosion chemicals in the coolant. FYI, this plating process is exactly how Koolance gets around corrosive issues with their entire line of cooling products, the only difference is they gold plate all of their copper products.
The main question I am trying to answer with this is: Can beating galvanic corrosion issues really be as simple as just sending a copper component to a plating shop and paying a small amount to have it nickel plated... or is it a more complicated process?
Below is the result of the $25 plating process performed by a local plating company (automotive oriented):
Here you can see that the mounting surface of the block is not a mirror finish polished surface you would typically see on a nickel plated product. This is not an issue since I intend to lap the mounting surface anyways. I could have requested a highly polished finish but it was fiscally unnecessary.
And let the lapping begin.
FYI, I reassembled the entire block for this process. The corner bolts are torqued.
In these pictures you will see that the Fuzion is anything but flat. I'm not sure if this is a result of the manufacturing process or the plating process, but I suspect that the plating company was not exactly 'gentle' with their handling. They are used to palting car parts, not computer parts.
At this point I could not for the life of me get the last corner to lap even with the rest of the block. The block was warpped pretty bad in this area. It looked flat, but lapping tells all. We had to make a run to the local Pep-Boys for more sandpaper. The argument was made that this corner really wouldn't be an issue regarding the thermal capability of the block, but I couldn't stand the thought of leaving it like this. Damn my anal retentiveness!!!
Finally after hitting the block with 250 for a while and then working up with 400> 800> 1000> and 1200 this is the final result. I tried 1500 but it honestly looked worse than the 1200 did.
This is a picture of a lapped nickel plated D-Tek Fuzion... not a pencil and a crock pot
Corrosion results will be provided as the system ages. I will perform an inspection at 6-months and a complete overhaul at 12 months with photo documentation of the results.
***UPDATE*** See page two of this thread for 6-months results!!
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