Using Heatpipes for LED Cooling

Having found out how effective the Zerotherm Atom 30H Heatpipe heatsink is for cooling my SST-90 Modular light, I've had a closer look at heatpipes.

Farnell/Element14 even sells them in Australia in one-off quantities, ranging from -

$23.79+GST - 5mm - 100mm - 0.04deg/Watt - 40 watts Max to
$36.66+GST - 8mm - 300mm - 0.007deg/Watt - 65 watts Max

0.007deg/Watt means that if it's moving 50 watts, the temperature difference from end to end will be 0.35 degree !!!

Each heatpipe has a maximum power rating too, otherwise the fluid won't condense and it'll stop working.

You can download a guide that makes it clear that you must use a heatpipe with sintered interior, because all the other types have to be mounted with the heatsink below the heatsource
http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/317989.pdf

We had a little discussion in the other thread (about copper/alu differences), where I talked about making my own heatpipes. But this is a very nice (and fool proof) solution.

Nice find!

Altough, heatpipes can be acquired for (a lot) less when deconstruction CPU coolers.

Epsilon said:

Altough, heatpipes can be acquired for (a lot) less when deconstruction CPU coolers.

Click to expand...

Even new ones on sale can be cheaper.

I paid $38 (incl postage) for the Atom30H and got TWO heatpipes installed in a 30x30x5 mm copper block and very lightweight fins

I've just ordered the 5mm x 100mm one for my SST-50 Headlamp.

I want it to run for a long time without a fan, without a massive heatsink, while keeping the LED as cool as possible, so I'll run the heatpipe from LED and along the heatsink.

MikeAusC said:

Even new ones on sale can be cheaper.

I paid $38 (incl postage) for the Atom30H and got TWO heatpipes installed in a 30x30x5 mm copper block and very lightweight fins

Click to expand...

That can be interesting .

A thing I allways look for, is durability and stability in my designs. Fins "out in the open" is never a good idea then: they will be destroyed by accident in no time .

Enclosing the fins inside a host (tube) can be a solution (with a ducted fan).

Altronics sell a cast aluminium box that's a perfect fit for this heatsink.

look out for Dell heatsinks on Ebay,
they tend to be cheaper as they are box specific and are a bit more compact compared to the normal PC types.