Just an update on my stainless steel ball mod. It turns out that the 1/8 in balls cause total restriction when used in the second part of the CU, the one with the screen. The other one, because of the small screw, does not obstruct.
I got some 4 mm balls. But, I decided to use them another way. I could just dump them in behind a rimmed basket screen, but the RBS offers too little space for the dose of my high CBD ACDC strain.
So, I made the two CU identical by putting a screen on the second one.
I put the first one in leaving almost 1/2 before the screen. I then loaded the 4 mm balls 50 I think. Then I put the second CU in. To do so I just use the screw. I gave the balls a little play. So, now, I can remove the second screen with the screw, pour out the balls in a cup and rinse them with iso. The first one comes out just by pushing it out as usual.
I tried the 1/8 in balls this way and they work just as well with just a little bit of restriction which I actually like.
Of note... I am sure everyone knows what a heat sink is which is essentially what we are trying to do... However, what we are really NOT doing here is dissipating the heat.
I mean, the glass stem gets pretty hot, especially where the balls are which is the idea.
To get rid of the heat, one would need something that looks like a PC or other finned electronic heat sink.
I have a friend who makes aluminum and copper heat sinks for hand held lasers in that I build. They don't have as many fins as a PC sink has, but it gets the job done.
The present setup works I think sufficiently but I am wondering if it could be improved. How?
I would use a longer stem. I would have my friend make me a custom sink to fit the glass tube and use heat sink compound to allow for as much heat transfer as possible. In theory, both copper and aluminum would make better stems because they transfer heat better than glasses but we don't want either in our air path.
I don't know if Titanium would work better or worse than glass. Titanium is known to have a low coefficient with respect to heat transfer. Glass is thought of as an insulated. I have not yet found an actual number but it doesn't matter.
The question in my mind is whether to even bother lol. (I do like tinkering which is part of the motivation.)
It would look pretty funny. If my friend could cut me deeper and thinner fins than he does for the lasers, it might be worth a shot. I would probably make it about 2.5 to 3 in in diameter and about the same length. I have to try and do some calculations. If anybody here has an engineering background, you could help me out!
Aluminum is lighter than copper so I think the sink would not be too heavy.
I tried to think of a way to do this directly in the air path but the problem is I would not want either aluminum or copper there so that killed that idea.
What do you think. Is it worth trying out. By using my IR thermometer we could find out of it really makes a difference. There is a guy who does custom glass stuff... And a head shop not far from me so I could probably get the glass tube from him.
I hope this is ok. I will leave a link for one of my high powered lasers below. Not sure if you will be able to make out the heat sink...
No animals or plants were injured in this demonstration.
Laser Heat Sink
I like mine short and low profile, but length can help with deep joints... Plus extra pathway, but form factor