Is this idea just crazy, or crazy good?

[Razako]

So I'm sure we all know that keeping the driver cool is one of the big issues when making very high powered handheld lasers. I had an idea though which goes back to when I would mess around with high voltage stuff. It's common practice to submerge high voltage transformers in mineral oil for the purpose of arc suppression and cooling. I wonder if encasing the driver of a laser in mineral oil would help keep the components nice and cool. Basically you'd enclose the driver in a little copper module, fill it with oil and then solder it sealed. Is there anything horribly wrong with this idea that I haven't thought of?

 

[Trendkilla254]

I watched a video on Mineral Oil cooled computers. It seems pretty cool. If you don't have a way to cool the mineral oil it will hold the heat for a very long time. It might take a bit longer for it to get hot but once it is hot you will have to wait a while. You could do a "Steam Punk" build or something and have some Cooler Fan Fins on it also.

 

[Razako]

I watched a video on Mineral Oil cooled computers. It seems pretty cool. If you don't have a way to cool the mineral oil it will hold the heat for a very long time. It might take a bit longer for it to get hot but once it is hot you will have to wait a while. You could do a "Steam Punk" build or something and have some Cooler Fan Fins on it also.

Yeah, I'm thinking you'd have the mineral oil filled driver module heatsinked normally into the host. The benefit is it would stop the components on the driver from quickly overheating under heavy load.

 

[Cyparagon]

Oil cooling of transformers is based on convection. Oil is an insulator otherwise. Transformer windings will easily get up to 150 or sometimes 200C, which allows faster transfer of heat. There is no such thermal gradient in a driver. Thermal expansion and contraction make it difficult to seal. This will probably end up making a mess and do little to benefit thermal characteristics.

If your driver is getting too hot, you've chosen the wrong driver (or designed the driver poorly).