Radicooler HRC360C 360 mm
Today I’ll leave the alphabet and just start with the AliExpress lead bomb. The company behind Radicooler, Qingdao YTeng Electronic Technology Co, Ltd, advertises with the latest production methods and machines, and has only been in existence since 2013. This actually gave me a little hope that these could be usable and affordable products, but the tested radiator is such a piece of crap that I had to calm down again after the test. I can only hope that the distributors who had and still have these products in mind for the German market (yes, they do exist) read today’s test very carefully. Because this product is a total failure that doesn’t even need a run-up to jump off the cliff. It’s already dead before that. Okay, we’ll dispense with the somewhat plain OEM packaging, as that’s the norm for samples.
The radiator made a very good impression, right down to the coating. If you then put the price in the right perspective, it could well be a bargain. It could have been, but then came the test…
Let’s let the manufacturer have his say before I comment on it:
Our products are mainly shipped to Europe, North America, East Asia, south America , Taiwan and so on.
Pre-chamber, inlet and plumb bob
Let’s open the radiator at the pre-chamber (tank). The solder joints of the cooling channels are neither oxidized nor scaled. The solder is circumferential and very well distributed. The bottom line is that you can leave it as it is, although the best and cheapest way to achieve this quality is with lead solder and lower temperatures. So I was already warned once.
And I was proved right. The mixture here is Pb65Sn35, i.e. lead with only 35% tin, which is equivalent to a sales ban! And this is done over a very large area and almost looks like a generous wave solder bath. The only thing is that a new company founded with a lot of money could actually rely on clean technologies right from the start. But it didn’t, instead happily supplying lead all over the world, even if it is banned (the share for the EU is given as 10%).
The walls of the antechamber are also without complaint, because CuZn30 is really good brass. In contrast to the lead, everything here is still in the deep green range.
But now we come to a certain point where the wheat is separated from the chaff, namely at the threaded inserts for the fittings, which were soldered into the chamber beforehand, often by a supplier. With around 70% lead in the solder, this product must definitely not be sold in the EU, as it is a blatant violation of import regulations and RoHS requirements! We are not talking about microscopically small quantities here either, but during soldering the entire cavity around the insert is filled with solder, in this case lead. This adds up to quite a lot that you can’t easily see unless you really cut the tank open properly.
Apart from the lead, the quality of the soldering is also poor, as I found large air pockets in several places, both on the insert and in many other places. But I’ll come to that in a moment.
The soldered thread insert is made of white brass with almost 45% zinc by weight. This is still ok and quite common.
But what is that rattling? When I opened the tank for the first time, a soldering bead fell out and I found another one on the wall!
And yes, even in the tinder, more than half of it is still made of lead. Pretty uncool. Especially as flying soldering beads are not suitable for water cooling.
Cooling channels and cooling fins
Now we come to the cooling channels and the fins soldered to them. If you cut the whole thing open, you get the usual picture.
Inexpensive ducts made from soldered-together folded pipes, for high-frequency welded and flattened pipes there is certainly a lack of will, technology and money. And here, too, you can see very clearly how torn and full of holes these soldered joints are, where the tin plague is still having a merry party. Anyone who buys something like this is sure to be punished at some point.
The cooling channels are made of normal yellow brass (CuZn40). This is a bit borderline and the quality is even thermally significantly worse than the tank.
The slotted cooling fins are made of pure copper, because brass would break more easily here, as it would also be much more brittle due to the zinc.
Frame and screws
With the usual addition of chrome, the frame with the threaded holes for mounting is very durable.
The nickel-plated screws, on the other hand, are made of pure steel with a very subtle tungsten coating.
In detail, the analysis looks like this:
Summary and interim conclusion
And yes, it really is what it says on the tin. Even more than that, and that’s the real problem. The radiator contains quite a lot of lead, and far too much. This means that sales in the EU should be stopped immediately. It is also the most poorly manufactured radiator to date. I can only hope that everyone who had these products on their radiators will refrain from importing them. It is unlikely that a medium-sized company has several production lines and can therefore produce lead-free as an alternative in parallel. Changing the tin baths is technically impossible.
Assembly | Manufacturer specification | Material testing |
Pre-chamber / Terminal | Brass | Brass CuZn30 (70% Cu, 30% Zn) |
Threaded inserts G1/4 | Brass | Brass (65% Cu, 45% Zn) |
Channels/tubes | Brass | Brass CuZn40 (60% Cu, 40% Zn) |
Solder used | n.a. | Lead (65% Pb, 35% Sn) and Lead (70% Pb, 30% Sn) |
Cooling fins | Copper | Copper (100% Cu) |
Frame / side panel | Steel | Chrome steel (85% Fe, 15% Cr) |
Screws | – | Galvanized steel, doped with tungsten |
Other accessories | – | – |
RoHS labeled on box | Clear RoHS violation! |
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