120 radiators in parallel

[Big WigglyStyle]

Has anyone ever wondered if setting up 120mm rads parallel to each other would work? Or has anyone seen it done?

By parallel I mean in a straight line say from a front 120mm intake fan > 120mm rad > 120mm fan > 120mm rad > 120mm fan and so on.

I guess just a question to get your opinions or knowledge on whether this would work or not I'm guessing it would work but very minimally obviously nowhere near an actual radiator setup.

And say the 120's weren't in parallel form just around the case would 3 120's be equivalent to a single 360 rad? Or two 120's to a 240 or 4 120's to a 480?

 

[jamesriley94]

Well, How are you gonna attach the two rads with the fans in the middle? Also, why would you wanna do that? The second rad would be getting warm air anyways.

Open corner fan, short screws, small right angled screw driver

 

[SparkleDJackson]

I was thinking the same thing dude. Some akasa vipers or nff12s blowing air through like mad

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

Just for the record I'm not planning on doing this I was just curious

 

[jamesriley94]

The answer is: Yes, you can do it. Should you? No. The barbs would also be blocked, so you would need to use 90 degree fittings.

Not necessarily. You can get multiport rads

 

[PEXON]

Not necessarily. You can get multiport rads

Namely the new XSPC ones. I have a rad sandvich and its fine, no louder than two rads sat next to one another. The tubing looks good with 90's and crystal links.

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

I want to see someone sandwich like 5 120's then compare the temps with the 5 120's in a normal config

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

By the way, that's series, not parallel. Series is one after the other. Parallel is two side by side.

my bad I couldn't really think of something to call it so I just put that

 

[airdeano]

I want to see someone sandwich like 5 120's then compare the temps with the 5 120's in a normal config

then i'd suggest you get crackin'.. you got alot of peeps waiting to see your results.

airdeano

 

[jamesriley94]

By the way, that's series, not parallel. Series is one after the other. Parallel is two side by side.

Actually it is parallel. As it isnt an electronic circuit then series wouldnt really apply, and parallel would mean the radiators are parallel to each other which is what is happening here...

 

[SparkleDJackson]

That is parallel is it not the two items are physically parallel to each other but i guess its all in which angle you are coming from suck as piping method, physical arrangement, air flow because as he has described imo they are sitting parallel with airflow in a series look at gymnastics for example. The parallel bars are two bars which are parallel to eachother if they took the second bar and put it at the end of the other one it would be two bars in a line. Completely useless. If he were to have one power source pumping through one rad into the other that would be series but if he had split the flow in two and rejoined at the otherside that would be parallel. Or if it was a two separate loop system would also be parallel so yea it all hinges on your angle. I have been thinking of this myself as it would save a buttload of space and i dont see it performing that bad. If there was 3x3 good powerful fans like the nff12s or vipers blowing in series i would think it would be good. Also my phobyas are mulltiport so i would have no problem either. Again lysol good job now my mind is working overtime on problem solving. Cheers

Genuinely. Im not being sarcastic this could benefit my system. Anyone willing to try. I would but i dont have enough gear o do it myself yet. Stupid unreleased gk110

 

[leejc73]

Not wanting to get into semantics but in order to fit radiators in parallel you would need one of the rads to have 4 ports the other could have 2, and in that scenario I don't think you would gain anything from the second radiator as the water is going to take the path of least resistance. So you're actually mounting the radiators in series but physically bolting them together in a "parallel" manner. I don't think parallel is the correct word but I'm having trouble finding a better one also, stacked is a bit to clumsy.

As for the Series Stacked suggestion then isn't that very similar to the koolance build Tom did with 240's. I'm by no means a thermo/fluiddynamics expert but I think heat loading will reduce your cooling ability on the second radiator as the air flow across the second rad will already be loaded by the heat transfer from the first, I'm sure there are very elegant equations to predict what this might be but it's way too early for that kind of maths.

 

[Big WigglyStyle]

I like how this has turned into a discussion on what to call radiators that are sandwiched together AND technically it is parallel since if you were to take the rads and stand them straight up as in | | | | | with fans in between and having them all connected it still forms parallel lines. Series is a connection of multiple objects forming one so no just calling it series doesn't work since I could take this | _ _ | ___ | and picture each line being a rad and call it a series.

I was just wondering if anyone has seen it done. And the 240s in the koolance build weren't exactly how I meant. I meant literally touching each other not having two rads with a gap between, yes logically it would be dumping hot air into each continuing radiator but with a lot of things, you just can't rely on simple logic.

As for having four ports on the radiators...I don't see how you would need that water goes in the first from say...pump to the fist rad in then out the first then in second then out second in third out third and so on... So there is only one path and no "easy" route to take for the water. I think you were picturing having the radiators connect back to the first or something like that when you tried to describe it.

 

[S_I_N]

you might get eh so-so temps with 2 in a sandwich (lets call it that and drop the series/parallel horseshit discussion as it dont pretain to topic. Anywho 2 =eh so-so temps while a 5 rad sandwich is just plain bad temps as there will be next to nothing for airflow by the time it got thru the second to the third rad. Now if all copper rads they may have a lil but still gonna be not decent temps plus the sheer thickness would make it nigh impossible to mout internally.

 

[potatis]

Wasn't there a lad on the forum that made a sandwich with two 240 mm rads?

 

[leejc73]

You've just described a series coolant path with your last paragraph. Parallel in the sesame street definition does pertain to lines/shapes/rail track. When you get to electrons, fluids, communications then it's defined about paths offering equal resistance/impedance to the flow source.