It's been a bumpy old ride for Danamics, their first liquid metal cooler, the LM10 was much hyped and highly anticipated, unfortunately, it didn't quite deliver in the performance department, and the price tag was a whopping €280 - Learning from this, Danamics went away, re-designed their cooler and earlier this year announced the LMX , it  has a completely new look and promises better performance - that is what we will be reviewing today.

The LMX has been re-designed from the ground up with all the key components being upgraded, from the cold plate to the electricals, however, one thing stays the same and that is the use of NaK (Sodium Potassium Alloy) as a coolant.

NaK - Sodium Potassium Alloy.

Sodium Potassium Alloy, as its name suggests, is made up from Sodium (Na) and Potassium (K), Danamics use a eutectic mixture of:

• >= 21% - <= 23% Sodium

And

• >= 77% - <= 79% Potassium

This means that the NaK is liquid at between -12.6C and 785C and also has excellent heat transfer properties, meaning that in theory, it is well suited to being a coolant.  There are some drawbacks, however.  NaK is highly reactive to water and air, and even small amounts leaked in the wrong circumstances can cause small flashes and explosions.  Danamics say that their cooler is safe, the Nickel plated Copper tubes are hermetically sealed and even in the unlikely event that a small amount of NaK should leak out, it should form a crust and "self heal" the tube, almost instantly, however, if you do manage to get to this stage, its probably best to seek urgent help from Danamics!

How Does The LMX Work?

In a nutshell, the LMX uses an electromagnetic pump to move the NaK around the tubes at 60ml/Sec (3.6 Litres per minute), the pump has no moving parts, it doesn't vibrate or make any noise.  Previously, electromagnetic pumps have required a lot of current, and this would still be the case if the LMX used a single, wider copper tube, however, Danamics discovered that if they make several smaller tubes (or strings as they call them), they could potentially reduce the amount of power needed by a fairly substantial amount, but at the same time keeping a similar amount of flow of NaK through the tubes.

Here's what Danamics say about the way the pump works:

• "When voltage is applied to the electrodes of the pump, electrons in the liquid metal start moving."
• "When the charged electrons are moving in the presence of a magnetic field, a magnetic force is acting perpendicular to both the velocity and the magnetic field."
• "The phenomenon, created directly within the liquid itself, creates the motion of liquid metal through the electromagnetic pump."

The pump is also magnetically shielded, Danamics claim that the LMX is over 100 times better shielded than its predecessor, the LM10.  They also go on to say:

"Shielded Magnetic Field

Compared to its predecessor, Danamics LMX features a new shielded magnetic geometry.

Radiation of magnetic flux from the permanent magnet into the surrounding air is virtually eliminated as the new iron core geometry surrounding the magnetic structure keeps the magnetic flux inside the iron core and the pump itself."

On paper, the LMX certainly does look impressive, but how will it perform?  Read on to find out...

About Danamics:

Founded on the principle of providing manufacturers of electronic hot spots the very best in cooling, Danamics started in 2005. Since then Danamics has worked on developing, manufacturing and commercialize their core technology, which centers around the principle of using liquid metal as a heat remover.

The primary target for commercial products is semiconductors in the computer industry. The urge for better heat removal is driven by the obvious benefits - higher performance, less thermal failures, longer lifetime and less noise from cooling fans. Many of these benefits are also strived for in other industrial applications, where the heat problem is a constant challenge.

As a company, Danamics is highly skilled, dedicated and informal. Today, Danamics is a part of the Dantherm Group, which was founded in 1958. Dantherm is known for its thermal expertise and holds worldwide manufacturing capacities. Dantherm is also listed on the Danish Stock Exchange. For more information about the Dantherm Group please visit www.dantherm.com

Next, the official specs...