My SLK doesn't seem to be all copper....?

[stan03]

When I look at the place where the fins meet the base of the heatsink I see some silver instead of the reddish colored copper... does anyone elses look like this? I thought they were supposed to be all copper. Its also slightly noticible on the sides of the base...

[PoX Freak]

Which one do you have? some are soldered fins, some are solid blocks.

[stan03]

the 900U...

[PoX Freak]

Not having one on hand to inspect, i'm still gonna guess that the fins could be soldered in. but why on the base?......I'm gonna take a look at it.......

[Tycho]

yep, solder

[PoX Freak]

OK, after looking at the pic, my best estimate is that the fins are soldered in place where they meet the base. This is not a bad thing since they probably use high silver content solder when they do it.

[stan03]

but why the base...? shouldn't that be solid copper?

EDIT: better description, it appears that the copper is actually flaking off. this is brand new by the way.

[PoX Freak]

Thats a new one for me. i've never heard of "flaking" copper since its such a soft metal to begin with. are you sure its copper and not some protective coating (don't know why there'd be one, but)

[stan03]

well as far as i know, there is not protective coating on an slk except for the plastic tape like thing you rmove from the bottom...

EDIT: looked at it again, i don't know what a solder looks like, but my best description is that its a silver colered metal, just painted copper... but i know (hope) its not.

[PoX Freak]

Have you tried to peel those "flakes" off? if not, try it. if it comes off and flakes and crumbles, its a coating. but i dont know why anyone would want to coat a heatsink.

[stan03]

to try to make it look copper. I just got a second opinion from my dad, he agrees that it looks like a coating. I will try lapping this thing hopefully tomorrow and i will tell you all my results.

[PoX Freak]

Like i said, silver solder looks silver, but so doesn't lead. silver solder, if it's over 65% content, is actually a very good heat conductor. since enough to cool down a cpu would cost 5 times as much as the cpu, we use copper. good luck.

[aznchaos]

So are you guys saying if the copper flakes off then his slk is a fake??

[FunkDaMonkMan]

Where exactally is the copper flaking off from?

[stan03]

the flaking seems to be from the side of the base, base=the part that contacts the cpu. Today I lapped it, and it seems to be all copper, but i didn't get to the part where it was flaky... based on the fact that the base is copper, maybe the silver is some of the solder that is actually ontop of the copper? I can't tell though because it seems to be so even, i tried poking it with a paperclip, but it feels smooth. Ask for more descriptions, idk what to describe:(

[Ralf Hutter]

Well, you know what they say: "A picture (hint, hint:)) is worth a thousand words"

[cherryp00t]

yes indeed post a picture it would help alot.. you sure its aluminum?? maybe its some TIM flaking off

[Strida]

What might have happened is that the copper they used wasn't very high quality and there is little bits of other metals in it. You never know though.

[Ugmore Baggage]

SLK heatsinks are not skived(cut), they are all made of fins attached (soldered) to the base.

[PoX Freak]

Just as i stated earlier in this thread; it's gotta be copper fins soldered in place, and they used a poly coating (kinda like whats on induction coils. need an example? look on your mobo. those coils are bare wire covered in insulating poly). a picture is available on newegg.com by choosing the SLK-900u and looking at the second pic they have....you'll see the solder where the fins meet the base.

[MrBean]

Where did you buy this, was it from a reputable dealer, ive never heard of fakes but hey you never know.....

[101]

Don't they clear coat those things in something to prevent the oxidation from making them look crappy? Maybe that's what's coming off.

[Diggrr]

Or maybe it's poorly melted solder.
Since the HSF is made on an industrial assembly line, they probably use a solder paste instead of having a hundred Chinese busily torching and attaching fins.
Solder paste is simply ground up solder flakes suspended in flux goop, and when run through an oven, melts to a nice shiny consistency that we all recognize from circuits. The fins would be held in place by a heatproof jig until the solder is melted then cooled.

Sounds like what you may be seeing is that the oven wasn't quite hot enough, maybe at the beginning of the shift. It shouldn't be a bother really, but I wouldn't try reheating it, the fins could fall off :eek:

[fubulg6000]

If the entire hsf was one assembly you would see some higher prices than the regular 40ish. You'd have to have a machinest do the job, and a lot of them to pump out the yeilds that they have. You would then have errors in production leading to higher prices. To skive like that and not make any errors takes a steady hand. It has to be soldered peices because of the price. Why dont one of you scrap part of the heatsink to see if it is coated or not.

[fafnir]

dude all of em slk's are soldered... and skiving isn't the greatest too... when the metal is stressed to near the point of it breaking, the thermal transfer properties aren't exactly the best.... same with hammered...

there however are wire cut hsf's that are solid copper without solder joints or skiving and are just a pure solid copper brick with fins or something... globalwin used to make those but now they stopped cause they were too expensive...

and silver solder is not all that great in thermal transfer either...

[fletch]

Look at the box again, maybe they gave you an SL|< :D :p

[Steve978]

rofl theyll be selling fake heatsinks in chinatown soon along with the dolex's