Hi-Contact Tube Liquid Cold Plate Manufacturing
HeatsinkMaker designs and manufactures production-ready hi-contact tube liquid cold plates for engineering-driven OEMs. We convert thermal requirements and 2D or 3D drawings into reliable cooling solutions from prototype and validation through pilot and mass production.
Since 2014
Thermal manufacturing experience
30,000
Liquid cold plates per month
Multi-process
Manufacturing under one supply chain
Engineering-led production
Hi-contact tube, embedded tube, vacuum brazing, FSW, and CNC microchannel technologies selected around your heat load, structure, volume, and target cost.
Product principle
What is a hi-contact tube cold plate?
A hi-contact tube liquid cold plate combines copper tubing with an aluminum plate interface. Tubes are exposed, half-buried, or fully buried in precision-machined grooves and bonded by soldering or brazing to maximize conduction area and reduce thermal interface resistance.
The design balances thermal performance, flexible coolant routing, manufacturability, and cost when air cooling is insufficient but a fully vacuum-brazed microchannel plate is not required.
01
Exposed-tube plates
Copper tubes are positioned for direct, efficient heat transfer and practical assembly.
02
Half-buried tubes
A balanced structure for strong contact, flexible routing, and controlled manufacturing cost.
03
Full-buried tubes
Embedded tube construction for increased tube-to-plate coupling and protected routing.
04
Sandwiched tubes
Layered assemblies adapted to larger or more complex mechanical and thermal layouts.
One engineering partner
Why OEMs choose HeatsinkMaker
We combine design support, process selection, testing, and repeatable production instead of forcing every application through a single manufacturing method.
Engineering first
Thermal development, mechanical design, DFM review, and simulation support.
Multiple processes
Tube, brazed, FSW, soldered, and CNC microchannel technologies under one roof.
Prototype to production
A controlled path from prototype and validation to pilot and mass production.
Testing discipline
Leakage, pressure, thermal, dimensional, and flow-channel inspection.
Production ready
Stable supply, process control, traceability, and repeatability for OEM programs.
Technical scope
Design and manufacturing capabilities
A complete manufacturing platform for custom liquid cooling assemblies and precision-machined thermal hardware.
Materials and structures
- Plate: Aluminum 6061/6063
- Tube: Copper C1100 (Cu1100)
- Exposed, half-buried, full-buried, and sandwiched tube structures
- Soldering and brazing for tube-to-plate bonding
- CNC-machined flow channels and precise grooving
- FSW for integrating multiple plates in ultra-wide assemblies
- Optional nickel plating and surface finishing
Machining and finishing
- CNC capability: ±0.002–±0.008 mm machine capability
- Milling, drilling, tapping, cutting, and deburring
- Anodizing and hard anodizing
- Nickel plating, passivation, sandblasting, polishing, and cleaning
- Flow-path verification and dimensional inspection
- CMM and 2D measurement for quality control
Pressure capability
Vacuum-brazed aluminum cold plates can be designed for operating pressures above 10 bar, depending on the design.
Thermal and flow design
Hi-contact tube layouts are optimized for low thermal resistance and minimized pressure drop per application.
Testing
Leakage, pressure, thermal performance, flow, cleanliness, surface, and dimensional checks are available.
Design support
Engineering before manufacturing
A high-performing cold plate depends on the relationship between heat load, heat source size, coolant, flow, pressure drop, material, geometry, mounting, and cost. Our team helps turn those variables into a manufacturable design.
Engineering software
AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and Creo
Thermal solution development and DFM
Heat sink and cold plate structure design
Material and process selection across five technologies
Thermal simulation support and design optimization
Prototype development and validation testing
Thermal resistance, leakage, dimensional, and quality inspection
When to choose hi-contact tube
- Localized heat sources need efficient spreading through copper tubes.
- You need a performance and cost balance without full microchannel complexity.
- Coolant routing must adapt to multi-device layouts or long heat paths.
- The design must scale from prototypes to repeatable volume production.
Best-fit process selection
More than one way to solve a cooling challenge
Our engineers compare thermal targets, pressure, geometry, cost, and volume before recommending the right process.
Vacuum-brazed cold plates
For higher operating pressures and intricate microchannel structures.
FSW-integrated wide plates
For large-format electronics and ultra-wide multi-plate assemblies.
Fully embedded tube plates
For maximum tube-to-plate coupling and protected coolant paths.
CNC microchannel plates
For fine flow control and compact thermal architectures.
From brief to production
A controlled development workflow
Every stage is structured to reduce technical risk and prepare the cold plate for repeatable manufacturing.
Requirements capture
Heat load, temperatures, coolant and flow, pressure drop, package envelope, mounting, volume, and timeline.
Concept and DFM
Select hi-contact tube or an alternative process, then define routing, plate thickness, joining, and finish.
Prototype and validation
CNC machining, tube integration, bonding, leakage and pressure testing, thermal testing, and design refinement.
Pilot and mass production
Process capability, yield, repeatability, documented work instructions, inspection plans, and traceability.
30,000
Liquid cold plates per month
Capacity for scalable OEM cooling programs.
300,000
Precision-machined parts per month
Supported by CNC machining and secondary operations.
100%
Leak checks by agreed specification
Inspection includes CMM, 2D measurement, thermal, flow, and liquid cooling leakage testing.
Equipment highlights
CNC machining centers, skiving machines, FSW machines, stamping and soldering equipment, ultrasonic cleaning, and assembly lines.
Designed for your market
Typical applications
OEM collaboration
Built for engineering-driven teams
We support thermal engineers, mechanical engineers, R&D and engineering managers, and procurement and sourcing managers who need a reliable partner from prototype to volume production.
- ✓Custom thermal design and manufacturability review
- ✓Competitive cost and scalable capacity for long-term programs
- ✓Consistent quality and transparent testing
- ✓Responsive engineering collaboration
RFQ preparation
What we need to start your project
Send the information available today. If your drawings are not finalized, we can also work from basic thermal requirements and propose a right-sized solution.
- 012D drawing and/or 3D CAD file
- 02Heat load and heat source dimensions
- 03Maximum component and ambient temperatures
- 04Coolant, inlet temperature, target flow, and allowable pressure drop
- 05Installation space, mounting constraints, annual volume, and timeline
Start a project
Request your cold plate review
Share your application, thermal targets, or design files with our engineering team.
HeatsinkMaker
Custom thermal solutions. Built for production.
From a first prototype to a repeatable mass-production cold plate, we help make your design manufacturable and reliable.