Heat Pipe Bending Tools Give Engineers Proper, Reproducible Bends | ATS, Inc.

Bending heat pipes needs to be done carefully, with the right tool, in order for the bend to be accurate, reliable, and reproducible. There are a few ways to do that.

One way is with a jig. A jig could be a pipe of some kind or even a vise. The objective is to have something to bend the heat pipe against or to keep it stable so you can bend it. While inexpensive, this method may not produce an accurate bend. Care should also be taken not to crimp or break the heat pipe, which would reduce the heat pipe’s ability to transport the heated fluid from the hotspot where the heat pipes’ evaporator is to the condenser section in order to remove the heat.

A second method that can be used is an off the shelf, heat pipe bender or tube bender. They come in various sizes from single hand to double handheld, with various arm lengths. These can often be found at hardware and home improvement stores such as Home Depot, Amazon or Grainger. Often times these are plumbing tools, meant for bending copper piping of various diameters. The plus side to his method is that is more precise than using a jig, they are relatively inexpensive and generally easy to source. A down side to this approach is that these types of benders may not allow for the millimeter sized diameters of heat pipes used in electronics cooling.

A third way is using a precision tool purpose built for bending heat pipes used in electronics cooling. A few companies make these, including Wakefield-Vette and Advanced Thermal Solutions.

ATS has created a “how to” video on how the ATS heat pipe bender works, you can see it on their YouTube Channel by clicking to “ATS Round Heat Pipe Bending Tools“.