Cooling with heatpipes

[Hamburger]

Is anyone using heatpipes or phaseplanes to get the heat away from the LED ?
I just read up on that topic and just found some pretty old topics in some german computer modding forums (I think the youngest entry I found was from '05).

Just wanted to find some opinions before I buy several diameters and throw them away afterwards since there not as useful as I thought and hoped they would be :)

Regards

 

[saabluster]

Is anyone using heatpipes or phaseplanes to get the heat away from the LED ?
I just read up on that topic and just found some pretty old topics in some german computer modding forums (I think the youngest entry I found was from '05).

Just wanted to find some opinions before I buy several diameters and throw them away afterwards since there not as useful as I thought and hoped they would be :)

Regards

I have done some work with them. I have yet to put one in one of my lights(although it is coming) but I did use an LED mounted directly to a heatpipe to get the highest measured output from a production single die LED(1mmx1mm). 502 lumens. jtr did the testing for me here.

 

[IMSabbel]

Is anyone using heatpipes or phaseplanes to get the heat away from the LED ?
I just read up on that topic and just found some pretty old topics in some german computer modding forums (I think the youngest entry I found was from '05).

Just wanted to find some opinions before I buy several diameters and throw them away afterwards since there not as useful as I thought and hoped they would be :)

Regards

I think one problem / challenge when using them in a flashlight is the current design of cylindrical flashlights: With a removeable head, you cannot optimally use a heatpipes transfer capabilities. In the ideal case, you would have the heatpipe running all the way down the body...

 

[LLCoolBeans]

Would that work though? I thought gravity played a part with heat pipes and that they need to be pointed or at least angled in an upward direction for them to work properly.

 

[jtr1962]

A bigger question is where do you get them? They seem like something which would be fascinating to play with, but don't seem to be readily available from the usual sources (i.e. Mouser, Digikey, surplus electronics dealers, etc.).

 

[saabluster]

Would that work though? I thought gravity played a part with heat pipes and that they need to be pointed or at least angled in an upward direction for them to work properly.

You are thinking of very simple heatpipes. Most that are made today have a wick that runs along the inside and allows the heat pipe to be used in any orientation.

 

[saabluster]

A bigger question is where do you get them? They seem like something which would be fascinating to play with, but don't seem to be readily available from the usual sources (i.e. Mouser, Digikey, surplus electronics dealers, etc.).

Courtesy of Newbie. http://www.avc.com.tw/products/NB-Thermal.htm#


AVC North America
[email protected]
TEL : +1-310-783-0885
FAX : +1-310-212-3284

I have gotten all mine from ebay thus far.

 

[Hamburger]

A bigger question is where do you get them? They seem like something which would be fascinating to play with, but don't seem to be readily available from the usual sources (i.e. Mouser, Digikey, surplus electronics dealers, etc.).

There are at least 3 kinds of heatpipes. Mesh, Grooves and Sinter and at least two of them are able to get the heat "under" the heater. Of course its not as efficient as when the heat can rise up.


Yeah where to get 'em is the other big question. I located 4 sites in germany so far that got it but they all got just the same heatpips 6mm&8mm diameter , length 150mm or 250mm
.
But I found one that could produce almost any kind of length and diameter, I just have to take 500 :nana: (The price for a single heatpipe is kinda crazy like almost $20 and if I take 500 its maybe $7 or even less...)

eBay germany is not big enough for things like that, except for passive cooled cpu heatsinks but way to big for what I need them to :)

 

[IMSabbel]

Would that work though? I thought gravity played a part with heat pipes and that they need to be pointed or at least angled in an upward direction for them to work properly.

The thin ones used in CPU heatsinks work in all directions. Capilary force is stronger than gravity by far, so the liquified gas gets wickered down/up/left/right to the heatsource again.


About types:
Electronics suppliers should have them
For example CONRAD has a ton of them, with lenths starting at 10cm, and diameters at 3mm:
http://www1.conrad.de/scripts/wgate...cted_area=0205081&zhmmh_area_kz=13&navi=mitte

 

[SemiMan]

This company http://www.neopac-lighting.com/ has been using heat pipes for a long time for general lighting. I know they have patents in the area.

Semiman