A Custom Coupler Solution for Electronics Cooling Applications

Simplifying assembly and installation with a dripless, easy and secure solution.

QuantaCool needed a unique refrigerant coupler to meet the demands of their new electronics cooling system. Off-the-shelf component options were too large and expensive, and other manufacturers would not produce the short-run couplers the application required. QuantaCool took their application requirements to the engineering team at SafeWay, who designed a unique coupler that fit the size and material requirements – at a cost-effective price. The new coupler not only met the demands required for thermal management in the reduced footprint of QuantaCool’s PolarBox™ and PolarRak™ systems, it also simplified the assembly process. The result was a win-win for QuantaCool and their customers.

“We wanted to deliver our products prefilled (with refrigerant), with a dripless quick connector to make them easy to install.”

– Steven Schon, CTO, QuantaCool

Industry Application At-A-Glance

Today’s data centers, gaming systems and many other electronics operate with increased processing speed and graphic quality – with the added challenge of increased thermal management. More and more manufacturers are looking for alternatives to traditional air cooling to disperse the heat generated by their high-power electronics systems. A reliable, safe and passive 2-phase cooling system can provide a low cost, efficient and effective alternative to air cooling. Secure and leak-free couplers are a mission-critical component of any liquid or 2-phase cooling solution.

QuantaCool: Customer Snapshot

QuantaCool (quantacool.com) helps solve the cooling challenges of the electronics industry with innovative solutions. Their cooling systems remove and transport heat, stabilizing temperatures with patented MHP™ technology. Using passively circulated refrigerant instead of pumped water, QuantaCool’s system cools better while minimizing the risk to both electronics and personnel.

Application Requirements for Circulating Refrigerant

For the development of the new cooling system, QuantaCool required a dripless, quick disconnect coupler solution, with unique requirements for size, material and pressure – beginning with smaller production runs. QuantaCool contacted SafeWay and provided an overview of their coupler requirements, which included:

“SafeWay was very easy to work with. They’re willing to work with small production runs that almost nobody is willing to do. I was able to do a custom, minimal order at reasonable pricing”

– Steven Schon, CTO, QuantaCool

The Result: Advantages in Assembly and On-Site Installation

QuantaCool now has an electronics cooling system that is leak free, modular, flexible, and efficient. Their custom coupler solution from SafeWay helps them assemble products more efficiently, while helping their customers install QuantaCool’s products more easily.

The Design and Engineering Process

While other manufacturers were not interested in developing a new product with initial low volume production runs, SafeWay’s flexible, collaborative approach to product development made it possible to green light the project.

Unlike other contract manufacturers, SafeWay applied the integrated services advantage of their five different divisions and developed the coupler solution for QuantaCool from the ground up.

About SafeWay

SafeWay quick disconnect couplers have a solid reputation for ease of use without leakage, and with minimum restriction of flow during system operation. Since our founding, all SafeWay fluid transfer products are designed, fabricated, and assembled in the USA.

Today’s impressive product line includes a broad foundation of industrial interchange quick disconnect couplers. These include various ISO interchanges, heavy duty connect-under-pressure designs, extreme high pressure designs and innovative flush-face, non-spill models. Our product specifications and quality are second to none. We frequently work with OEM’s to design special products for their unique applications.

SafeWay is a division of The Specialty Mfg. Co. (SMC). The Company is organized into five integrated divisions Specialty ValveSafeWaySpecialty Integrated ServicesNew Ulm Precision Tool and Rola-Chem.