Bending heatpipes - is it possible to mod an HR-03 Plus?

Jokoto · Post by **Jokoto** » Tue May 15, 2007 9:59 am

I like keeping my options open and having expansion slots available. The Thermalright HR-03 Plus seems to be the king of 8800 coolers, but while it is the best in every other sense, it takes up so many slots there's not much left. Especially if I wanted to use a second PCI-E card for more displays, arranging airflow would seem to get a little problematic.

I liked the Aerocase Condor's approach with its unconventional positioning of the heatsink. It enabled single-slot cooling solution for a top end GPU, but no-one has done anything similar since. Thus I started thinking: could you unbend the heatpipes of the HR-03 Plus to position the fins elsewhere, out of the way of expansion slots?

http://www.thermalright.com/a_images/HR03-plus-size.jpg

The first bend looked promising, but the bottom left view shows how the pipes aren't parallel. Would they twist lengthwise too much and break off of (or twist) the fins, if one were to straighten them as if they are?

Oh, and to answer those who would propose mounting the HR-03 Plus upwards, wrapping the card: I don't know if it would fit. My system is P5B Deluxe WiFi + E6600 w/ Ninja + HR-05 on the northbridge, in a P180. It might barely fit if I went back to stock NB cooler, but I can't know for sure if it's low enouh to clear the fins of the HR-03. Besides, airflow would need rethinking if I went at it that way. Any suggestions?

If all else fails, I would just mount it downwards, sacrifice those slots and try blowing air from the front, ducting or guiding it to the opened pci cover slots. It would be right next to the second PCI-E slot there, hopefully not touching it though. Of course, the ultimate solution would be to get Thermalright introduce a special version just for people like me, but there's surely a limit to utilizing niche markets...

edit: typo

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Tue May 15, 2007 11:36 am

I think the risk is too high even if you anneal the bends.

Fungi · Post by **Fungi** » Tue May 15, 2007 3:24 pm

There have been a number of reports of successful bendage of the HR-03 (Plus). You just have to be slow and gentle, and remember that if it does break it's your own fault

Jokoto · Post by **Jokoto** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:36 am

So far, I've only found this: http://www.overclock.net/cooling-experi ... -03-a.html

Very nice to know it can be done. The Plus has more heatpipes but I guess it shouldn't be much harder. Do you happen to remember any other examples, as the guy who did this didn't elaborate much? I guess you can do it just by hand, just like he did... Well, it's only a 53 EUR part, around here!

dfrost · Post by **dfrost** » Wed May 16, 2007 10:03 am

I've successfully bent heatpipes on an Aerocool VM-101. Hereand hereare shots of the results. Thought it would take tools, of which I have many, but it was much easier then expected. If you look closely, you can see some flattened areas mid-bend on the left heatpipe (still works fine). Those wouldn't have happened if I'd left the tools out of the work. No annealing was required.

The first bend looked promising, but the bottom left view shows how the pipes aren't parallel. Would they twist lengthwise too much and break off of (or twist) the fins, if one were to straighten them as if they are?

Heatpipes that are round over the full length would have slightly simplified this job. I had to re-orient the pipes parallel where they're clamped at the GPU, and had the added complication that this Aerocool version uses flattened pipes there, so had to twist them slightly to regain that. It only took me about fifteen minutes, regardless. This fins on this heatsink are a press fit on the heatpipes, so a little twist there wasn't a problem. However, I played with it enough that one of the end fins became slightly loose on the pipe.

My advice would be to try it, but keep your manipulations to a minimum so that work-hardening is minimized. Use fingers rather then tools, and do not kink the pipes by trying to bend in too small a radius. I used a second VM-101, in case it didn't work, but didn't need the spare.

Did you notice the nearby threadabout the new Aerocool VM-103, that comes oriented like mine?

trofast · Post by **trofast** » Wed May 16, 2007 12:02 pm

a very loose ideer i come up with

in the p180 u got by default a fan in the top and to the back, around the cpu place

do not know if there is space, but if a ninja without a fan is mounted

the gf8800 have a HR-03+ installed pointing upwards

could then some 5v 800rpm fans in the top and back instead of the tri-antec things do the job while the HR-03+ is pasive????

if there is space, that is..... proberly soon have to buy myself so are very insterested in this debate

btw new on silentforum

Jokoto · Post by **Jokoto** » Wed May 16, 2007 1:17 pm

Yes, I noticed the VM-103. Too bad there aren't any other coolers for the 8800 cards besides the HR-03+ at the moment.

Did you remove and re-attach the heatpipes from the VM-101 GPU block? The VM-101 seems to make that possible, as it has screws on the backside. HR-03 (Plus) is meant to use either side, so I guess the block is permanently attached to the heatpipes. This means there's no way to remove it while bending to allow the sidemost heatpipes to twist along their axes if they tend to.

trofast: I'm optimistic it could work. I don't have any of the default case fans at the moment, there's only one Nexus on the Ninja (aside from one intake in the front and the PSU chamber fan). It remains to be seen how well a bent HR-03+ can utilize case airflow, but I don't see why it couldn't do well. It has been succesfully used passive in reviews, and the airflow conditions in the lower parts of the case certainly aren't better. If I install it pointing upwards, I'll think about relocating the Nexus and/or adding another fan up there. The two vents are certainly a better way to evacuate the hot exhaust than the minuscule holes at the bottom.

dfrost · Post by **dfrost** » Wed May 16, 2007 2:40 pm

Jokoto wrote:Did you remove and re-attach the heatpipes from the VM-101 GPU block?

Yes.

As you note, that is possible (expected) on the VM-101 because the flattened pipes are assembled by the user in the mounting block. You can see the clamping screws in third shot I attached in my previous post.

HR-03 (Plus) is meant to use either side, so I guess the block is permanently attached to the heatpipes. This means there's no way to remove it while bending to allow the sidemost heatpipes to twist along their axes if they tend to.

Hadn't thought about that for the HR-03 with its permanent assembly.

Regarding case airflow, my Sonata already had good airflow (if one can say that about a Sonata) with the 'intake' fan close to the VM-101. And the Papst on my XP-120 is blowing outward (away from the motherboard), which probably helps since the flow from each nearby fan is nominally parallel to the VM-101 fins.

The surprising results from the VM-101 mod were very slight increases in CPU and MOSFET temps, even though there's plenty of clearance between fans and fins. Everything is still under 47C under worst-case sustained loads, so no worries.