Question about a strange CPU cooler design

[sam1275]

Hello.
I have a Dynatron T319 CPU cooler, here's the PDF: http://www.dynatron-corp.com/upload/Downloads/T319.pdf
And please look at this photo:

You can see there's a thick layer between the radiator and the CPU, and there's a seal on the top left of the photo, I suspect the material inside the thick layer is the same fluid in the laptops' heat pipe.
I don't understand why it have such a design, as metal have a much higher heat transfer speed than any other common material(and that's why we shouldn't apply to much thermal grease). The only reason I can imaging is that layer increase thermal capacity, but I don't think high thermal capacity is even needed for a CPU cooler.
Also, the most thing I'm worrying is the life span of this, since I've seen some laptop's heat pipe lose seal thus no longer work in just a few years, although that's a low quality one.
Welcome to discuss these.
Thanks.

[sam1275]

Thank you very much!

[Codebird]

Copper has among the highest heat transfer speeds of any material in terms of heat conduction. But vapor chambers and heat pipes to not transfer heat by conduction - they transfer it by physically moving a coolant around within the chamber, which allows them to obtain a much higher rate of heat transfer even than copper.

[edpalmer42]

I've heard that you can hold a copper rod over a flame for a long time before it gets too hot to hold, but if you use a heat pipe the same size, you'll drop it really fast!

Ed

[retrolefty]

Talking about heatpipes, I have one salvaged from a large 70s Sansui stereo receiver. I use to referbish audio stuff from the 70s and resell on E-bay, until the source of such equipment from thrift stores started to dry up. Anyway anyone have a cool project Idea for using this. I have four young grandchildren so anything that what impress them?

[MrBungle]

...I have one salvaged from a large 70s Sansui stereo receiver...

Snap!
I've got one of these in my scrap bin.
Been there 20-odd years, never found a use for it.

[retrolefty]

...I have one salvaged from a large 70s Sansui stereo receiver...

Snap!
I've got one of these in my scrap bin.
Been there 20-odd years, never found a use for it.

 Well that is not very encouraging for me.   

[Mr. Scram]

I've heard that you can hold a copper rod over a flame for a long time before it gets too hot to hold, but if you use a heat pipe the same size, you'll drop it really fast!

The difference between copper and a heat pipe is true, no doubt, but holding a rod of copper near something hot becomes regrettable very fast. Even aluminium, with a worse heat transfer speed, transfers heat from one end of a rod to the other rather effectively, as I discovered when I tried to belt sand a number of them I ended up grabbing some thick welding gloves and even those offered limited protection.

The difference between those and a regular piece of steel is huge and rather surprising.

Talking about heatpipes, I have one salvaged from a large 70s Sansui stereo receiver. I use to referbish audio stuff from the 70s and resell on E-bay, until the source of such equipment from thrift stores started to dry up. Anyway anyone have a cool project Idea for using this. I have four young grandchildren so anything that what impress them?

I just salvaged a handful of heat piped heat sinks from old and conveniently power inefficient computers. I thought they might be useful to build an electronic load or something of that nature. I also recovered the passive aluminium sinks from the south bridges, which should be useful in a number of projects with power supplies.

[senso]

Heatpipes in laptops now a days(as far as all the ones I have cut open) are half filled with cooper wax that melts and then flows around.

[sam1275]

Thanks for everyone.
After re-read this I think we are missing something. The vapor chamber is an additional layer on the heat sink(look at the top left of the photo), so no matter how fast it transfers the heat, it will still slower than without it...
Where am I wrong?
Thanks.

[sam1275]

Thanks for everyone.
After re-read this I think we are missing something. The vapor chamber is an additional layer on the heat sink(look at the top left of the photo), so no matter how fast it transfers the heat, it will still slower than without it...
Where am I wrong?
Thanks.

Keep in mind I stressed the word lateral twice time. You want the heat from CPU to spread over the entire surface of copper fins, then dissipate to air.
Without a spreader, effective area of heat sink will be not much larger than the CPU's chip size, which is considerably smaller than the all bottom area of heat sink.
When designing high power dissipation applications such as high power power modules, heat spreading itself is a topic of research.

I see, thank you!

[amyk]

Thanks for everyone.
After re-read this I think we are missing something. The vapor chamber is an additional layer on the heat sink(look at the top left of the photo), so no matter how fast it transfers the heat, it will still slower than without it...
Where am I wrong?
Thanks.

As mentioned above by a few posters already, the thermal conductivity of a heatpipe can be far better than solid copper.