Splitting The Flow

[MicroAlex]

Hey guys,

Looking for some advice and input on my (probably silly) idea of splitting the flow between two radiators to reduce the amount of pipes going in to the system as the case is really small.

Here is a rough sketch


In other words to make it simple to explain imagine as if two radiators are connected with a T splitter in between on both ends and then runs to the pump. In the diagram I am using the 120 radiator multiple openings (xspc rx120 v3) to split the flow in the chamber.
Due to pressure and if my physics are correct then the flow will split making it flow left in to the 240 rad and at the same time to the right through the 120's fins

Would this impact the cooling dramatically in you opinion or is this a reasonable option to consider? Idea kinda came from radiator setups in some homes + boiler.

Thanks

 

[Davva2004]

The general opinion is that 120mm radiators don't actually add much in the way of cooling to a loop. So my advice would be to simplify even further and just use the 240, but increase the thickness if possible.

 

[MicroAlex]

The general opinion is that 120mm radiators don't actually add much in the way of cooling to a loop. So my advice would be to simplify even further and just use the 240, but increase the thickness if possible.

Sadly there is no option in going with a thicker radiator for the 240 An extra thick 120 is my only option.

However, my main question still stands - will this flow layout work?

 

[Dragolu]

Hi
That is a weird setup. I have never seen anyone or tried to do parallel radiators before. There should be worse as even though the water is splitting evenly, half the water is only going through the small radiator instead of both. This even though water is spending more time in the radiators. If the radiators were the same it may be about the same cooling.
I would go for series if possible but I have never tried this setup.

Good luck

 

[remember300]

If your going to split your going to want to have even and exact routes for the liquid to follow to get an efficient split. ie going into 2x 120mm rads as the fluid will take the path of least resistance and you may find the liquid does not go where you want it.

In a home its all heated so the return should still be hot/warm, you don't want the returning line to still be warm you want it as cool as possible.

your better off comparing to a fridge rad over central heating and they use identical rads/heat exchangers.

will they also be going into another t junction to go into the res? tbh your also missing where it goes into the cpu and gpu why not go into gpu from pump into rad on top then into cpu then into 2nd smaller tad then into res? should be minimal tubing as its going where it needs to aswell.

 

[SuB]

I would definitely not split flow between radiators, they are a key part of the flow where water *needs* to pass through the entire thing to dump the heat, putting them in parallel like that will make the water take the path of least resistance (in this case, the 120mm rad probably) thus, the 240 will just not be being utilised properly.

Splitting flow and running two routes in parallel only really ever works when the components you are splitting over are identical in there flow resistance.

 

[JR23]

It's difficult to say anything useful without knowing the entirety of the setup.


Running radiators in parallel will definitely work, if the flow rate is excessive which it often is then it may well be close to the effectiveness of having them connected in series. Worst case it would perform somewhere in between the two. The only way to find out is to experiment and try it, but I think your idea will get shot down on most forums, that doesn't make it a bad idea.

I'm struggling to see the advantage though, either way you will need two runs going in to the 240mm radiator.

JR