Quote:
Originally Posted by george kujanski
Question in my mind....several members have reported cooling improvements when installing a new aluminum radiator, yet, the thermal conductivity of copper (and probably brass, being an alloy of copper) is about twice as good.
Could it be the previous rad was clogged, the new rad has larger tubes for better flow, more surface area, etc.
If the claim is true, I would think the improvement would be one of the above. Any thoughts?
I wonder if anyone has done a A/B comparison using rads with similar dimensions/construction?
george
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George, you are correct about trying to compare the performance of an older copper/brass radiator to a new aluminum one, it is apples to oranges. A controlled test might provide some interesting answers. But even though the heat dissipation properties of copper/brass are superior to aluminum, what has not been mentioned yet is the lead solder used for construction. Lead is notoriously poor for thermal conductivity, and when figured into the equation, I would GUESS would have a substantial detrimental effect. Just my $.02.