Copper vs. Aluminum

[SShep71]

So, me and my bonehead friend who rents the garage with me have been having this ongoing debate (about 3 weeks) about which cools better copper or aluminim radiators. What do you think?

[kamaroman68]

copper

[Steve Chryssos]

Copper is a better heat conductor. Aluminum is cheaper, easier to repair and still cools effectively so the switch was made by the OE's and racers alike.

Now, with that said, a modern 2 row 1" tube radiator will cool better than an old school 3 or four row radiator with 3/8" or 1/2" tubes because of better fin to tube surface contact area. The tubes in a radiator are flattened.

[Randy67]

Copper cools better than aluminum, but the radiator is actually copper/brass that is soldered together. Brass cools less than aluminum and the solder doesn't help the heat transfer either. Here is one viewpoint on copper/brass vs aluminum: http://www.usradiator.com/testing.htm
Here is another with some new tech on radiators: http://www.copper.org/applications/a...ors/no_flux.ht
Here's one on aluminum: http://www.carolinarodshop.com/Store...in/griffin.htm

There's alot of debate on this out there, just search and sit back and read.

[MuscleRodz]

Aluminum is lighter which is why the racers love it. Also diapates heat faster. However most the of the ability of the cooling perfermance is in the fin design. I deal with some fairly old copper oil coolers on some aintique aircraft and the difference in cooling ability is quite different.

Mike

[gmachinz]

Imo, while aluminum will shed heat a little more quickly, as much if not more attention should be paid to how well you are pulling heat out of the radiator via the fan-whether it be mechanical or electric. The key to good performance cooling is proper airflow-moreso than the type/style of radiator you choose, to a certain extent. Obviously you have to pick one that can handle your cooling requirements but after that, it's up to the fan to keep it cool. -Jabin

[Z-man]

Clearly, aluminum radiators cool better!! But it doesn't have anything to do with heat transfer. Why? Aluminum is much stronger so the radiators can be built with bigger tubes (fins). The bigger tubes carry a ton more heat away...there's no comparison. The stronger metal also can hold higher pressure, so the coolant doesn't boil. That's why almost everyone who does their research runs aluminum for new radiators.

Here's some reading.... Radiator Stuff