Some assistance from experienced phase changer users

[horizontalp7ane]

So i got a vapochill LS coming on Saturday and i know it's really old and cant handle todays core i7's but i want to super modify it. I've never used a phase change before, i got it from a friend for free.

I hear things like replacing the gas or what not, any input would be very great i'm gunning for a core i7 980x 5.0ghz, i'm not rich but i definitely am willing to super mod it and see what it would take to do it.

[TiN]

Gas is ok in it, but vapo ls have very weak evaporator and condensor.

You need:

1. Bottle of R507 gas for refill system.
2. Brazing equipment, like torch, or more preferrable - oxygen-propane torch.
3. Few copper tubes, tube cutter, etc. Order evaporator to some phase-change ppl or machine your own.
4. cappillar tube (5m of 0.8mm is enough, your system will have 1.5-2m of captube after tuning)
5. Bigger and better condensor with fan. Take a look on LuVe ones.
6. Buy filter-drier, e.g. Danfoss 50g
7. you may consider making bigger enclosure for phase unit
8. Evacuate gas , disassemble unit, making complete shematic drawing what is connected and where.
9. Braze new parts using same schematic, just replace stock condensor, filter, capilar tube with new one. Try 2.5-3m of captube for start. Don't forget to add shredder valves on high and low sides for nice and comfortable tuning.
10. Vaccumize system with vaccum pump for 30-60mins.
11. Clean up system, hook compressor to mains (w/o asetek controller), and begin to charge it with small portions of gas, controlling pressure on gauges hooked to high/low side valves.
12. after first frost appear scream "wow, my first frost"
13. Then turn everything off, disconnect gauges and tank with freon from system and go for a walk with your friends for few hours.
14. Discuss how smart you are with new phase build :D
15. Then hook gauges and check if everything ok, and no leaks of gas. If any find leaks, braze them (will gas evacuation previously!) and repeat tasks number 10 to 15.
16. Start system, measure temps on evaporator/condenser, and start addin gas till you get near +45-50C on condenser.
17. Hook your new vapo to CPU and tune system in realworlds conditions. By tuning here i mean adding/removing extra gas from tank to system. If unit unable to handle load at all (overheating till positive temps) - you need to shorten captube to 15-20mm less and repeat everything.

So its the basic algorithm. Not easy, but it's the only way if you want to do it yourself.

Some pics from my old phase-change build (totally custom, not based on vapo):

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs3.jpg

Nice big LuVe STFT

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs1.jpg

Pipe work, condensor and rotary motor with drier.

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs10.jpg

Suction line from stainless steel (gas pipe for kitchen )

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs12.jpg

Brazing evap

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs18.jpg

Boiling evaporator in coke, it's works as ACID :D

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs25.jpg

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs26.jpg

Assembled evaporator head with mounting clamp.

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phs24.jpg

First ice on shitty meter

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phl2.jpg

Testing

E8600 @ 5.4GHz 1.7V, -41 load in 3D

http://www.xdevs.com/images/phsd6.jpg

best regards,
http://www.xdevs.com/images/phsd9.jpg

PS. Wow, i'm "dry-ice member" now on this cool forum :D

P.P.S. hope forum admins dont ban me for pics :D

[horizontalp7ane]

Appreciate the in depth response, unfortunately i don't have a tool shop accessible to me. I'll definitely take a look around at estimates though. Hopefully wont cost to much and i'll be able to modify it into a pretty sick Unit.

One more thing i was meaning to ask, how about using the vapo ls at stock as a chiller sort of, like say for a gpu loop or for a 4-5 gtx 480 overclocked loop? think that could yield any good results?

[Gatman]

Wouldn't even expect it to be suitable to chill one fermi, let alone multiples. Even if you replace the evap and condensor, the compressor itself is probably going to be such a big limitation that it won't beat straight watercooling. Then at that rate you're basically replacing everything besides the flex-line. Heck, even if you keep the compressor, you're tossing out more than you're keeping.

Obviously not what you want to hear, but your best bet is to just leave it as is and use it on a dual core or lower system, like a Wolfdale or Clarkdale. It would probably do ok with those. Fermi(s) or a Gulftown, you'd end up sinking more than twice the cash the unit's worth most likely and end up with performance you could match on regular liquid cooling...

[horizontalp7ane]

Hey well it's free so, this way i'll get an idea and can experiment. Basically i wanted to use it as like a guide. see how the internals work and maybe figure something out for myself as a custom phase change. I take it no phase change units available today can handle a 980x any more yea. So phase change seems to be a custom made thing.

[Gomeler]

No factory units can handle a 980x above stock. Plenty of aftermarket builds out there though.

[horizontalp7ane]

Say i was able to get 2 of these vapochills, is there anything that could be done to say FUSE the power together? and do you think 2 fused could be able to do the trick?

[horizontalp7ane]

Say i got another phase change unit any unit, is it possible to somehow combine/fuse the evaporators anyway. This way i'd be able to get the power of both directed at the cpu

[TiN]

Its like taking two grandma's 1960's rusty car , trying to assemble Ferrari from them. No way, man. You will spend lots of cash for tools, gases, lots of time and get nothing.
Just better buy mignty aircon and rebuild with with evaporator to strong rotary unit. Or chiller if you want so.

I've posted such stuff here, even NON-modified it can chill decent hardware to 0...-5C or lower.
http://kingpincooling.com/forum/showthread.php?t=490 <- read it.

As for 980x or ferminators - dont even try vapo on them :D
Chiller needs MORE heatload capacity to operate nice, because there are extra (compared to SS) loss on tubing, pump, TX, waterblocks etc. The only good about chillers - if its very powerful (>1KW cooling capacity) it can cool multiple heads/parts not only CPU/GPU. But that's def not novice builds.

[horizontalp7ane]

Tin, is it possible to get the temperatures even lower then -40c? or is that something that a phase change unit is usually limited to? I understand the more load you add the higher the temps get but if say you manage to get it to -40c is it possible to go even lower or is that just the limit.

EDIT: btw if i'm going to make my own custom SS is there anything i can salvage from the vapo, like the reader board? Also i'm assuming evaporators alone cost alot of money, what tools would be needed to creating one's own and for low cost?

[TiN]

Some units can do -150c. most two-component gas units reach -60...-80 withoth much problem. But that def not vapochill. To reach something at -40 with decent heatload (300W for e.g) you will have to take vapo to trash bin and make custom unit with big and beffy parts from start. :)

Usually temperature+power limited by gas properties, compressor and evaporator structure. Win R507 system good temps are near -40..-45...if less - then there will be vaccum in suction, which is bad for long time life of unit. (will die too early coz overheating of comp).

On some level of heatload unit just cant operate, and will overheat (cant handle temperatures at all). Remember, phaseunits do not create "cold". They just move power from evaporator to condensor + generate some parasitic heat from compressor motor itself etc.

Forget about vapo. "Reader" board (those with LCD and etc) is very wrong on temps usually, measurement error reach 10 or even more C afaik. E.g. it will show you -50C, but real temp will be -35 or -40 not less :). Evaporator on vapo is very weak, i told you already. It could not handle >150W w/o big temp drop.

To create evap you need copper and some lathe. Or drill if you can handle it and not against slow and dirty work for hours drilling channels in copper slug :D google on net dif evaporators.