Solid Copper Strap Heatsink

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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1HandClapping
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Solid Copper Strap Heatsink

Post by 1HandClapping » Fri May 16, 2003 8:56 am

It is called Plumber's tape but it does not have adhesive. (Think tape measure). It is relatively cheap -- $5 (USD) to $10 (USD) for 10 feet.

It is very easy to work with--cut with tin snips, bend by hand. Holes match close enough for HD mounting.

It seems very effective. I got about 10C drop for idle and much more for heavy use.

Should be effective piping heat out of an enclosure.

Here are the pictures. (It looks so getto compared to Olie's fanless PSU :oops: )

IBM 40G HD zip tied to removeable drive bay:
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Closeup (can see grounding wire)
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Child safety foam for table edges. Also good to set case on.
Image

ez2remember
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Post by ez2remember » Fri May 16, 2003 9:07 am

Very interesting stuff, do you know if this stuff is copper?

Copper is excellent for conducting heat.

Is that the actual name, I would like to find it here in the UK. :D

1HandClapping
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Post by 1HandClapping » Fri May 16, 2003 9:11 am

Yes it's copper. At first I tried cutting with a dremmel with a cutoff disk. This was slow, broke 3 disks and heated the strap. It cooled quickly. I then used pruning shears... piece of cake.

Beware that there is also copper plated plubbers tape. You want solid copper tape for this application.

kork
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Post by kork » Fri May 16, 2003 9:21 am

1HandClapping wrote:It seems very effective. I got about 10C drop for idle and much more for heavy use.
Wow, nice idea. Can you give exact readings for your temps? How warm does the copper get?

1HandClapping
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Post by 1HandClapping » Fri May 16, 2003 9:27 am

In the second picture you can see that I do not have a good contact with the HD edge. The Tape is warped and there are gaps.

You should get even better results if you bolt it to the HD sith a strip of stiff material. If you have quick rails for mounting HD that would press the copper to the HD giving better heat conduction.

But I didn't have any and I'm getting 29C idle and 31C during defrag! so why bother? (20C ambient)

Kork..
The HD and copper are both cool to the touch while I was tweaking my system.

pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Sat May 17, 2003 7:01 am

ghetto 8)

1HandClapping
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Post by 1HandClapping » Tue May 20, 2003 8:43 pm

ez2remember wrote:Is that the actual name, I would like to find it here in the UK. :D
"Plumber's tape" is the name here across the pond. Over there you call "rain coats" "macks" so it could be anything.;)

Look in the plumbing section of your hardware store for "Plumber's tape" or "Plumbing strap". It is just a strip of sheet metal with holes in it.
It is not adhesive.

I didn't see it at the local warehouse home improvement store but it stumbled across it at our neighborhood lumber and harware store.

Rusty075
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Post by Rusty075 » Tue May 20, 2003 9:45 pm

Any place that sells plumbing supplies to plumbers should have it. It's used to support plumbing lines when they are hung below joists. The holes are there to nail through, and it's made of copper so it won't corrude if the pipes leak on it. :lol:

All else fails find a clerk and describe it to him like that. That is, if you can find one. Is it just me or do hardware stores seem to specifically employ people these days that know absolutely nothing about that they sell?

Will35
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Post by Will35 » Wed May 21, 2003 6:00 am

All else fails find a clerk and describe it to him like that. That is, if you can find one. Is it just me or do hardware stores seem to specifically employ people these days that know absolutely nothing about that they sell?
Boy, ain't that the truth.... :roll: Another thing I spied last trip to the local home building store was copper roof flashing. A whole roll is $$$ but if you could find smaller pieces you could make the whole HD bracket from copper and then use isolators to mount the thing to the bottom of the case.

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