Laptop heatsink single to dual pipes upgrade mod. How to desolder & test laptop heat pipes. Part 1

DIY laptop heatsink mod. Time has come to upgrade my Lenovo g510 i7 4700mq cooling system to dual heat pipes. I'm hoping to have more temperature headroom to allow me to push all cores to 3Ghz. Currently, I can stress test my CPU at 2.6GHZ on all 4 cores without overheating. With a max stable temp of 86-94C.
Obviously, I am not going to just buy a dual heatsink system and swap it in. But where is the fun in that? I'll be taking the more adventurous route instead. Modding mine by adding another Heatpipe (sourced from a cheap second-hand Fujitsu Siemens heatsink system) to upgrade it from single to a dual heat pipe system. See how I desolder and test the heat pipes before installation.
What I used in the video:
- Spare heat sink from a Fujitsu Esprimo laptop, bought used.
- Cheap 2-speed dual heat gun using the hotter setting to melt solder.
- Rosin-based liquid soldering flux
- K type thermocouple fo test heat pipe heat transfer.
Timestamps:
- The plan: 01:40
- I buy the heat pipes: 03:20
- Desoldering the heat pipes: 04:10
- Testing the heat pipes: 06:50
If you liked the content and want to support the channel for free, please click a link below next time you need to make a purchase of anything on Amazon US or UK. It will be at no extra cost to you and I'll greatly appreciate the small commission this will send my way. Thank you
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Stuff I use to make videos (for those curious/want to start youtube)
- Videos shot on my trusted 2014 Galaxy S4
- Lapel Mic: DIY made from old headset parts
- Microphone for voiceover: Guitar Hero Konami microphone
- Video editing software: Movavi video editor plus 15 www.theprofitfa...
- PC Screen capture & secondary editing software: Camtasia 9 www.theprofitfa...
- Audio editing and speedup: www.audacityte...
- Main laptop: 2014 Lenovo G510 with i7-4700MQ (upgraded from i5 4210M) CPU and 12GB ram (all working smooth and lovely)
Disclaimer: Some links above are affiliate links and can be used at no extra cost to you if you wish to support this content. If you don't want to use them, please proceed to your local amazon website / google and do a product search on it directly. As always, my advice is to go to a local store and touch and feel any physical product so you know what you are about to order online.

[@diyroby732]

Part 2 here. Installing this heatpipe into my laptop and new benchmarking temperatures kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX-sZ4R3Zbl8rqs

[@rickcupola6262]

That reddit user used a modified i7-4980hq to fit into a laptop socket afaik; its TDP is high, so the user modified their heatsink... cool stuff!

[@someguystudios23]

Gotta love those birds outside.

[@meareAaron]

pretty interesting find didnt know heatsinks were just held together with solder

[@trabadix]

Muchas gracias amigo, era lo que estaba buscando, una prueba de temperatura de los heat pipes pero con una prueba similar como la que tu hiciste, tenia ess duda, mi vieja laptop murio y pensé que era porque posiblemente el heat pipe se había dañado de alguna forma, pero viendo tu publicación veo que los heat pipes son casi indestructibles y que la transferencia de calor que hacen es instantánea con una eficiencia tal vez del 99.99% o por lo menos eso parece. Thank you very much friend, it was what I was looking for, a temperature test of the heat pipes but with a similar test like the one you did, I had a doubt, my old laptop died and I thought it was because the heat pipe had possibly been damaged from Somehow, but seeing your post I see that heat pipes are almost indestructible and that the heat transfer they do is instantaneous with an efficiency of perhaps 99.99% or at least that seems.

[@simplysura8450]

you seem to be a very smart man

[@amberdovel359]

Thank you I saved 70 dollars. Now It works great again

[@Phantom-mk4kp]

It wont explode, the first thing to happen would be the flat pipe returns to it's original round shape. taking the temp to 330 C is not high enough to over pressurise

[@mordecaiepsilon]

Thanks for sharing your adventure

[@doesntmatter2681]

I messed up my heat sinks I got bent Now to in processor of repairing it got kinks What can i do Plz help

[@hugoslav843]

Buy a new cooler, kinks destroy heatpipes.

[@mafeceng]

thank you for your efforts, i appreciate that

[@JWH3]

Watching this video makes me want to jump on ebay and buy some heatpipe setups like this, not sure about the price now but that's cheaper than you can buy raw heatpipe for by far.

[@JWH3]

@@sourandjaded2586 they're essentially a commodity now.

[@CzMnHD]

Drilling massive hole to rear cover and installing low profile desktop watercooler is the best way my brotha. cooling pad that is also drilled so the laptop stays straight. no thermal compound so easy to remove cooler after gaming. Do a video about this you will be amazed. take 5v from usb to fan and pump.

[@kiyoponnn]

lol it will work but it won't be a laptop anymore

[@CzMnHD]

@@kiyoponnn been running this for 2 years. 30sec job to set up. i carry this setup around to my job in other countries. I only use watercooling when gaming. I say it still is a laptop with mod.

[@kiyoponnn]

@@CzMnHD I see, fair enough

[@kiyoponnn]

@@CzMnHD I have one last question: Do you use the water cooling block on top of the heatsink or do you attach it directly to the cpu?

[@CzMnHD]

@@kiyoponnn just put it against heatpipes. its more than enough cooling still. i play warzobe 75fps 1080p no thermal throttle. without watercooling unplayable

[@-tf-boforsho4008]

this would be great with a liquid metal replacement vs solder liquid metal you can replace with ease over solder and when the heat pipes become old and lose the thermal transfer from oc or what ever you can get new ones and replace them, you can also build your own cooler

[@olivierplayer1633]

i dont understand why they use pipes , why not put fan directly on cpu ?

[@trabadix]

Por cierto, ganaste un suscriptor! Y likes a este proyecto, gracias por compartir! By the way, you gained a subscriber! And likes to this project, thanks for sharing!

[@coisademerd.a4079]

amazing explain

[@COOL-mk4ty]

Wow I was literally going to do this too my laptop! There's enough space to add a heat sink so I'll won't need to desolder the heat sink it's almost like the manufacturer wanted you to do that upgrade just need to cut 1 pice of plastic lol

[@albertusanantotunggadewa5927]

Very cool, i want to know what glue you are using? Thanks

[@rodolforiveraleal]

Congratulations teacher...do you know about laptop temperature sensor in the board? The fan cooler do not funtion when the pentium heat and shutdown the laptop

[@Bankotsu09]

I'm gonna do this in the next few days! I will tell you if it works!

[@royalcharge9022]

so? worjed or nit

[@williamli4422]

Very nice video

[@GhosT-oz6bb]

didn't know it could explode before doing it to our stove because i don't have a heat gun lol

[@Developer-online]

How are the temps if you put cooling silicone pads with Copper plate behind CPU and on the back of GPU ? I have not seen many Cooling pad videoes testing a Mod with bigger sized Pads that cover more than small areas .

[@C-K-G]

I will Upgrade my Cpu from a 35w tdp to a 45w tdp and i need a netter cooler , Tanks for tis idea

[@hnogueira90]

I'm feeling like putting 3 or 4 heatpipes now ahahah wonder if it works to lower maybe 25 celsius 😂🤔

[@dgm778]

Do you know if the fans vary in speed depending on the manufacturer? I have the l440 and I feel that it is slow.

[@shanesatanic666]

Have you tried solder it with copper brazing or maybe tig or cold welding?

[@JWH3]

Your precautions about heat pipes were a bit extreme and unneccesary. Heat pipes aren't under pressure at all, in fact the opposite, they're under negative pressure and there isn't enough liquid inside to cause them to explode. You could probably have done this with a torch in far less time, the ultimate temperature isn't that high as long as you apply the heat properly.

[@ddegn]

I've heard you have to be really careful when soldering heat pipes. If you don't have really good temperature control, the heat pipe can rupture. It's recommended to use special epoxy when experimenting with heat pipes.

[@JWH3]

@@ddegn the problem I have with that is that I've never found anyone that says that and can actually back it up with explanations or verifiable facts. I never trust information from sources that can't be verified. The reasons I've seen given so far don't make sense.

[@ddegn]

@@JWH3 The video where I heard this information was titled *"How to Attach Heat Pipes into an Assembly".* The video can be found on the channel *Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc.* I think what was said in the video makes sense. Since the small about of vapor/liquid in the heat pipe is what does most of the heat conducting, I'd think the manufacture would want to make the pipes using the least amount of copper as possible. The pipes need to withstand soldering temperatures but I doubt they can withstand much more. I have a DJI FPV drone. I want to try to modify the drone. One of things I'm thinking of doing is using a heat pipe or two to keep the electronics cool. I plan to order a few heat pipes from AliExpress. There not very expensive. I'll need to order at least one extra to see how hot it needs to be to rupture. I've heard water and acetone are used inside the heat pipe. I think there are other liquids they use as well.

[@JWH3]

@@ddegn your reply doesn't make sense. We're not talking about anything like shaved metal, I've seen the cross section of heat pipes before and you can tell by the mass of them how much is in them, they're not that thin. Also the thickness doesn't change how much heat it can handle so I'm not sure why you would even suggest that.

[@ddegn]

@@JWH3 "thickness doesn't change how much heat it can handle" The strength of the pipe is directly proportional to the thickness of the walls. A stronger pipe can hold more pressure. The pressure in the pipe is proportional to the temperature. Higher heat will cause higher pressure. A stronger pipe can contain the higher pressure cause by higher heat. You said in your original comment "Heat pipes aren't under pressure at all, in fact the opposite, they're under negative pressure" The pressure might be less than atmospheric pressure at room temperatures but the pressure will increase as the temperature increases. "there isn't enough liquid inside to cause them to explode." It might not be easy to make the pipes explode but the pipe will certainly rupture if the pressure/temperature is high enough. It's not a question of if the heat pipe will rupture but a question of at what temperature will it rupture.

[@kayburcky7146]

Crazy how you managed to desolder that heat pipe without it exploding But now i'm curious: would it be possible to desolder/solder the Heatpipe with one end in a cup of water for example? That could reduce the risk of the Pipe exploding...

[@diyroby732]

Not a bag idea. But if you then heat the water, there may not be enough heat on the pipe to melt the solder. But it's all theory, you can try and see what happens in real life, just like I did in this vid.

[@kayburcky7146]

@@diyroby732 Yeah that might be a problem, unless you can put up enough heat that just the solder melts and the heat pipe transfers enough away to not warp or explode.

[@diyroby732]

Exactly. It's the solder that has to reach it's melting point. Anyway, you can see that I used a regular heat gun blasting heat for many minutes and all that happened are slightly swollen heat pipes. Obviously, I never concentrated heat to one spot on the pipes, gentle movement to soak all parts in heat.

[@kayburcky7146]

@@diyroby732 yeah, i was mainly considering it for soldering heatpipes not for desoldering.

[@ryanmiguelmariano2576]

at 138 deg C melting point at lowest for low temp soldering paste, you'd probably boil the water first before you can melt solder

[@michaellk2254]

I plan to do this on a T430 dual pipe fan to cool my i73632qm. Have you ever tried doing this to another fan?

[@chiefdenis]

This man sounds nigerian like crazy, I'm pretty sure u ain't tho. Anyway thanks for the idea, i might try this

[@diyroby732]

Are you "pretty sure" I ain't tho??? Follow your instincts bro :)

[@chiefdenis]

@@diyroby732 😂😂😂 been nigerian my whole life, but u never know, some africans do sound like us. Am i wrong tho?

[@diyroby732]

You are not wrong. I grew up and went to high school in Lagos. This is where my English speaking skills were made :)

[@legendvaishnav5758]

bro pls help me with my hp laptop

[@hnogueira90]

wat's the best way to join the new heatsink? Welding? Or Thermal glue? OR any other

[@diyroby732]

I used thermal glue and it was a simple process with fantastic results. Follow up video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX-sZ4R3Zbl8rqs

[@askyalish]

i have problem like this, i want more cool my laptop "lenovo b590". how to add heatsink dual pipes ?

[@diyroby732]

First, undervolt your CPU with throttle stop. Then see this kzbin.info/www/bejne/rX-sZ4R3Zbl8rqs

[@MateusLinn]

nice nice one , i want to do this on my ideapad 330 with i5 8250u + mx150

[@diyroby732]

Will you have the space in this laptop Meetlicious? These new laptops are quite thin

[@MateusLinn]

@@diyroby732 dont too much , im think in do like yours but with a tin heatpipe

[@diyroby732]

@@MateusLinn Cool, As long at the heatpipe from the CPU can reach and sit on the radiator fins beside the fan you should have good results. Looking at pictures and videos of that laptop, I don't see space beside the main heatpipe in front of the fan.

[@MateusLinn]

@@diyroby732 my first look is to do this a side the principal heatpipe and down to the fan , is hard to understand but you can see the first models of 320 with only cpu , shes dont have the radiator only the pipe in contat to a metal plate in fan (www.newegg.com/p/2RM-000W-00297)

[@MateusLinn]

@@diyroby732 my cpu is limited a 75c 1.6ghz , so if i use the throttlestop a 3.0 it get 100c and gpu too so my plans is to decrease this to 80 combine with liquid metal

[@joshtree8298]

Awesome video man. Still active ?

[@diyroby732]

Thanks. Still active, yes.

[@hnogueira90]

hi. What's the least power you need to be able to heat gun it to de solder?

[@diyroby732]

Just a regular 1-2000 Watts heat gun. regulate the heat be keeping distance from the heatpipe assembly. It took me 2-4 minutes of heating to get it desoldered. Adding more heatpipes will help reduce temp up till you get diminishing returns.

[@hnogueira90]

@@diyroby732 is it possible to get less 10 degrees celsius?

[@killertruth186]

Too bad that mod doesn't work for every laptops.

[@diyroby732]

Yeah, I was lucky my old laptop was ideal for this type of mod. If your laptop has a dual heatpipe variation then check ebay or aliexpress for a cheap replacement.

[@killertruth186]

@@diyroby732 Yeah, unfortunately none of the laptops that I have doesn't include it.

[@diyroby732]

@@killertruth186 What laptop do you have? Software side, you can undervolt CPU and iGPU for a nice reduction of temps. An extreme solution hardware side will be to cut holes into the back cover of the laptop right above the CPU/GPU, fan air intake and glue a metal mesh net over the hole. There are videos on the internet about this mod. It is extreme though, but if you can find a cheap back cover on ebay then you can do this mod on that.

[@killertruth186]

@@diyroby732 I have HP Elitebook 8440p, HP HDX16-1140US Premium Edition and Dell Latitude E6410.

[@diyroby732]

@@killertruth186 Have you undervolted? I see your laptops have very exotic cooling systems. In this video, the guy places heat pipes on top (not beside like I did) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaK6iaVufdONipI. And in this video, the guy simply over-crossed the pipes with slim pipes to take the heat away from cpu kzbin.info/www/bejne/i36ZkHV_osuHrZI

[@OnliDM]

Started upgrading my own heatsink for T440p: www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/g8a291/challenge_accepted_a_dual_heatpipe_heatsink_for/

[@diyroby732]

I saw that. Very interested in the outcome. Especially when you get that second heatpipe soldered.

[@cliffordtanjaya6531]

i broke my pipe how to fix

[@michalkrajcovic3374]

throw it and buy a new one .... broken pipe cannot be repaired

[@SaveTheHuman5]

NEVER PUT FIRE ON A HEATPIPE!!! THAT JUST DAMAGE THE HEATPIPE!!!

[@jorgecourage]

What was the temperature that you apply to desolder the heat pipe ?

[@muhdamirul1164]

What a hacker