Mounting/Removing Ramsinks from VC

[voigts]

Well, my BFG6800 just died for some unknown reason (I haven't even OCed it) a week or so ago and I had to take off the waterblock and the ramsinks to RMA it. I mixed the AS adhesive 1:1 or so with AS5 so that I could remove them if I needed to when I originally mounted it. Good thing I did. However, while working to get the ramsinks off, a ram chip stayed on a ramsink and ripped off of the board. I put the stock heatsink back in place with the messed up ram chip just held in place, and thankfully BFG accepted the RMA and sent a replacement. However, in the case that this happens again, is there a better alternative to mixing adhesive with AS5 to ensure the ramsinks come off clean with no damage?

[voigts]

It's awfully quiet in here.......

[LabRat23]

You could try that two sided adhesive film stuff, but then the ramsinks can come off spontaneously. If there is a better way, I haven't seen it.

This makes me wonder why no company has made a good removable adhesive yet.

[yahooad]

can u just add more AS5 then adhesive ?

or add a tiny bit of AS5 in the middle

and some form of glue that can handle the heat

[kswaid]

I plan to try something to solve this problem. I grabbed some high-temp silicone sealant/adhesive from home and a tube of as5. I plan on putting the ramsink on with as5, then spreading silicone around the outer edges to hold it on. To take it off, you could then just cut the silicone with a piece of plastic. I'll let you know how it goes, as I am worried about thermal expansion of the silicone causing loss of contact.

[LabRat23]

I am worried about thermal expansion of the silicone causing loss of contact.

I think this is precisely why no one has made a removable thermal adhesive. Thermal cycling will break stuff like that down faster than anything else.

[voigts]

Actually, the silicone idea doesn't sound bad as silicone expands quite a bit and it quite pliable. It might be an idea worth trying. There has to be a way to come up with some kind of removable adhesive. Let's face it, there are a lot of people like me I would think that would rather use something removable in case of having to RMA a card if it didn't sacrifice performance.

I too am leary of using the thermal tape as I have heard too many examples of it loosing its stickyness and having heatsinks fall off. What kind of experience have you folks had with using thermal tape (if any)?

I may also try the idea of putting AS5 in the middle and a mix of adhesive and AS5 just around just the edges and see if that holds.

[Enablingwolf]

My opinion on tapes and adheasives.

When you use tape you are not concerned about the thremal properties as much as getting some cooling. IF you commit and use the adheasives your serious about what you are doing and want the best you can get.

I used tape on my RAM sinks on my GDDR3 since I got my cooler. I also use it on my chipset for the NF3. None of them have failed yet(falling off), but if I was really concerned about heat. I would use thermal adhesives without dilluting it. Since I am not so worried about heat on them parts I use the tape on.

I belive it is heat that lowers the stickiness of the bond of tape.

[jamesavery22]

I did artic ceramique and adhesive mix on a ti4600 a long time ago. Even after sitting the card in the freezer for a week I ripped off all the BGA chips.

I think the only people that have success removing heatsinks that they used adhesive on are those who never did a good application in the first place.


If you want good cooling and the ability to remove the heatsinks then make custom ones. So you can sandwich the card between two L shaped heatsinks that cover the RAM using the original mounting holes. I haven't seen a new card come out in years that wouldn't allow this.
Would take a lot of hacking and dremeling but I'd say its worth it.

The old slot1-2 whatever p3 xeon heatsinks are great for this. 5-10$ on ebay, huge and flat base. Just get the ones that are the pin fin design (well sort of).
this isnt bad (http://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-XEON-HEATSINK-for-DELL-GATEWAY-etc_W0QQitemZ5814335832QQcategoryZ56093QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem)

heatsinks on these are the best (http://cgi.ebay.com/XEON-400mhz-1MB-SL34J-Matched-Pair-W-Heatsinks_W0QQitemZ6808168056QQcategoryZ51055QQrdZ 1QQcmdZViewItem)

[LabRat23]

Thermal tapes have a bad name because almost all of the products on the market are crap. I have used a type of tape in the past that is absolutely great but I cannot remember who made it or where to get some more. The stuff was extremely thin and holds very well. Seran wrap is several times thicker than this stuf. Even after several years, the stuff is still on there even though I tend to hold the card by the heatsinks.

[voigts]

Labrat, I wish you could remember where you got that tape from.

[LabRat23]

Ok voights, you have no idea how long it took me to find this tape, but I knew it was going to drive me nutts if I didn't find it. It is made by Sekisui and is tape number 5760. As I suspected, the 'tape' is pure adhesive, there is no material layer on which adhesive is applied. It is actually a film of adhesive.

I am contacting Sekisui now to see about obtaining a batch of this stuff, possibly for resale here at the forums. I'll keep you posted.

[voigts]

Ok. Sorry for the long hunt. I did not intend to haunt you into a long search.

[LabRat23]

No biggie. Its something that I have been meaning to do for quite some time. Thermal tape has quite a bad reputation but this stuff doesn't deserve it.

[voigts]

Labrat, I popped your item into good old Google and it seems bestbyte carries the stuff. Is this it?
http://www.bestbyteinc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=TIM-SEK-001

[LabRat23]

Bingo, thats the stuff. Funny I didn't see it when I googled it the other day.

[voigts]

Great. I'll be putting in an order. I don't want a repeat of the bga chips ripping off in the event I have to do another RMA something later.

[overclucker]

What kind of experience have you folks had with using thermal tape (if any)?


gravity gets the best of them, if you know what i mean (-;

[voigts]

That's exactly why I started this thread as I know that the thermal tape I have messed with is nothing but a waste of time. I just never expected a perfectly good VC that I haven't even overclocked to just die for no apparent reason.

I ordered that thermal tape from bestbyte that Labrat suggested and should get it in either this Saturday or next tuesday after the holiday. We'll see how it goes.

[Revivalist]

Great find! Looking forward to hearing how it goes. . .

By the way, do you still apply some AS 5 to the chips before putting the adhesive tape? If so, doesn't the tape interfere with the thermal interface that the AS 5 is supposed to make between the heatsink and the chip?

[voigts]

Good question. The tape is an adhesive AND a thermal interface. You don't use AS5 or anything else.

[Revivalist]

Good question. The tape is an adhesive AND a thermal interface. You don't use AS5 or anything else.Excellent! Don't even have to spend extra on AS 5.