Talk:Thermosiphon

Nice to have a diagram
It would be nice to have a diagram or 2 illustrating how it works.


 * Please, in the future, provide a subject heading for your discussions and also sign them ... as per the good practices explained above. Thanks, mbeychok 06:57, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

The first diagram has a typo which needs to be corrected. The tab is a tap. I cant correct it as I dont have a way of changing the graphic.

jhoyle@nsac.ca —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.222.79.230 (talk) 14:40, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Added image
Added following images; needs CGI'ing dough

I moved my thermosiphon water heating system to the top as this image is non powersource specific (eg no mentioning of solar collectors, ...)


 * I've removed the two solar diagrams, as misleadingly inaccurate (see their Commons pages). If I can work out what the first one is supposed to represent, then I'll probably remove it too.
 * I'm assuming it's a domestic heating system. These don't work by thermosyphon, for two reasons:
 * Firstly the flow resistance is too high. Lots of thin pipes to multiple radiators is a high-resistance circuit and needs pumping. This becomes more difficult as copper prices encourage the use of thinner and thinner pipes.
 * Secondly, thermosyphon is widely used in domestic primary circuits (i.e. boiler to heat exchanger in an upstairs storage cylinder). This is a short fat-pipe circuit with high temperature differential, so it works fine. However it also places the storage cylinder high up, meaning it can't then circulate (by thermosyphon at least) through the secondary circuit to the radiators.


 * There have been radiator circulation systems by pure thermosyphon: early post-WW2 (in the UK timescale at least) systems with coal fires. They weren't used with gas-fired boilers (they demand a more reliable circulation). They're considered obsolete today. Also they don't bear much relation to the system illustrated. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:44, 22 September 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm removing the first image too. Serious factual errors (see the Commons image page). Andy Dingley (talk) 12:02, 22 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Updated first image regarding your concerns.

KVDP (talk) 08:54, 30 September 2010 (UTC)
 * I've reversed your change (labelling basins as radiators). That made it even more incorrect. Andy Dingley (talk) 09:11, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

Contradiction between computing section and the definition
The computing section states that there can be state change, but that sounds to me like a heat pipe. Other than that this article provided nice overview on the subject.

82.128.218.107 (talk) 21:11, 26 January 2011 (UTC) mteppo

Heat pipes?
Are heat pipes (convection with a phase change) considered as both thermosiphons, and as thermosiphons within the scope of this page? They certainly form an important enough subset that they are covered separately. Also note that many heat pipes are not driven by gravity on a density gradient, as is a requirement for the "siphon" aspect of a thermosiphon.

I note particularly that CPU cooling has been added here. Now there are many heat pipe cooled CPUs, but very few of these will be gravity driven thermosiphons.Andy Dingley (talk) 09:06, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Section on heat pipes to avoid permafrost melting is confusing
It's not clear how it works, plus as currently worded it sounds like the pipes would heat the ground, not cool it. Would be nice to have a diagram. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.14.154.3 (talk) 07:22, 9 June 2013 (UTC)

Variation in spelling of 'thermosiphon' (alt. 'thermosyphon') within article
The figure captions feature different spellings of 'thermosiphon' for different figures.

Suggestion: include an 'Etymology' section to clarify the status of the two spellings.

low temperature water
Water is most dense at 4c, and will allow a syphon to operate between 0-4c. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.195.2.77 (talk) 22:49, 19 January 2015 (UTC)

Gravity feed heating system
I have heard this referred to as "gravity feed"...radiator, baseboard, hot water heating system, boiler etc. I have rarely if ever heard "thermosiphon" used to describe it as part of a heating system. I mainly hear that term used when it is happening to a water heater system if it is an undesirable/unwanted effect in the system.

Does the use of the word "siphon" in this portmanteau, make it a misnomer when applied to this phenomena? I think Oxford should be asked to make a ruling. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.201.2.158 (talk) 02:32, 13 December 2016 (UTC)

Gravity not required?
The section on Computing fails to mention how the liquid is being returned from the condensor to the evaporator (since there is no pump). It could be assumed that the return of the liquid is due to gravity; however apparently not all coolers need to be mounted in an orientation that would allow the liquid to return through the influence of gravity. See the video linked here for an example: https://www.pcgameshardware.de/CPU-Kuehler-Hardware-255512/News/Ice-Giant-Pro-Siphon-Elite-kostet-150-Dollar-1341164/. So how does that work?

In any case, the cycle is, of course, not (somehow magically) self-sustaining.

Lee-0 (talk) 21:59, 25 December 2020 (UTC)

Cacti reference
I removed part of an addition by because I could not find sourcing for it.

Feel free to re-insert if there is sourcing. I tried both https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Alaskan+Cactus%22 and https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Alaskan+Cacti%22 and Google Book Search. Lizthegrey (talk) 19:31, 16 October 2022 (UTC)