Man we really need to redo this thread with working pics, etc, etc. Will take a bunch next time I prep.
I basically follow kingpin's guide (linked in the OP) but do some things a little differently. In more or less the order I do them...
1) Cover full board front and back with a
THICK layer of LET. Going forward, I'll do the same except will use dragon skin instead of LET. I don't use any nail polish.
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2) Open the holdown assembly, mount the cpu in the socket then tape it in place. I use electrical tape but masking or painters tape are also fine.
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3) Put a little eraser all the way around the socket gently pressing it in toward the cpu socket / tape (I cover the bottom/outer edge of the tape all the way around). DON'T use too much eraser!!! Gently close the cover (gently using a little up/down rocking motion). Until you get the hang of it, give the setup a quick test just to make sure you can still post. If it doesn't, it means you used too much eraser inside the socket. Take care of that and test again until you're sure you can at least get to the bios. For quick tests, I usually just sit the pot on top of the cpu. Try to move quickly and keep an eye on the temp!
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4) Put a little TIM on the end of a k-type probe wire and place it on top of the tape so when you close the holdown, from bottom to top it'll be the edge of the cpu's IHS then the electrical tape then the probe end and finally (when you close the holdown) the edge of the holdown. This can be critical because if your pot's at -160C but your cpu is at -10C, you really want to know before letting things rip on the voltage and stress side of things.
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5) Eraser from the cpu outward, over the holdown and out to the edges/borders of the slots, heatsinks, vrm section, etc. Eraser all around any caps, behind the vrm section, etc. When you pull the eraser up some of the LET will come with it. Don't worry about it, you'll end up erasering those now bare sections anyway.
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6) Cover the entire bottom of the board with painters tape. Other than not peeling off the LET it seems to help from an insulating, cold-prep perspective. Since I'd already created the backing, the photos above and below show the tape with the single layer of frost king already on it.
7) Stick a single layer of frost king (or other pipe insulation) across the back of the board on top of the painters tape. Make sure to peel the metal backing off the insulation!
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8) Work some nice cpu mounting holes through the layers of painters tape and foam insulation. I usually use a narrow diameter, pointed, wooden skewer (normally for shish-ka-bobs). Once the tip pokes through I give it a good reaming (with the skewer) so the holes in the insulation don't close up so quickly.
9) Mount the backplate, etc and gently slide the holdown rods through the board like normal.
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10) For the top of the board, cut a gasket out of shamwow (shammy cloth) that covers out to the slots, heatsinks, etc. (I don't use shoptowels, shammy's thicker, reusable and much more absorbant). Cut out a neoprene gasket ala kingpin's guide. I use 1/2" neoprene for this.
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11) Apply TIM and mount the pot.
12) Put 2 strong 120mm (or larger) fans on top so they blow up away from the board. I mount the fans by just sliding one corner onto one of the holdown rods then use a rubber band to secure it to the opposite holdown rod. I also usually run a decent house fan on high blowing across the whole setup as well as a fan mounted to the benching table that blows across the board from the other side.
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13) Hook everything up and let it rip!!! Woohoo!!! Keep an eye on the temp delta between the pot and the cpu. If it's larger than 10 or so degrees C, could be a problem with the mount or TIM. Using a torch, heat the pot up to about -20C and then pull down again. If it's not a bad mount, the delta should be much lower.
Will try to clean this up and add more pictures soon! Hopefully it helps. As far as results, my longest session (so far) is 5 hours (ran out of juice). There was no frost whatsoever anywhere on or around the board except for the mouth of the pot and (in the pic above) the holdown where it connects the bottom and top parts of the pot.
Any other suggestions, tips, tricks, ideas, etc are definitely welcome!