Heatsink Adhesive Question

[Jayde Six]

Hi,
I ordered a heatsink from digikey along with my DE10-Nano and the thermal tape doesn't look like any examples I have seen others use. It looks like a metal mesh. The listing doesn't say anything about it other than it is thermal tape adhesive.

W1JvpM50.jpeg

I was wondering if anyone has seen this type before and whether or not it is safe to use for this application.

Thanks for any and all help.

[Rikko]

Any cooling is better than no cooling. Metal particles or mesh in this case, are introduced to improve thermal conductivity. Even though I haven't tried it myself on the DE-10 Nano, you should be fine using it. What you want to make sure though, it being a metal mesh, that it does not come in contact with the conductive parts of the board, surrounding the chip. If the mesh is slightly larger than the chip, then you could play around with a blade to reduce it's size to match the chip, and thus eliminate any "overrun" that could cause shorts.

Hope this helps

[lomdar67]

Are you sure it is a metal mesh? I could imagine that it is an elastic compound and the idea is to fill the gabs in the mesh when the heat sink is pressed against the surface. Therefor the tape gets thinner. With any thermal tape or paste the goal is to have it even and as thin as possible (but not to thin ).

But it's only a guess, haven't seen it before...

[Jayde Six]

Are you sure it is a metal mesh? I could imagine that it is an elastic compound and the idea is to fill the gabs in the mesh when the heat sink is pressed against the surface. Therefor the tape gets thinner. With any thermal tape or paste the goal is to have it even and as thin as possible (but not to thin ).

But it's only a guess, haven't seen it before...

Not sure at all, just looks shiny and metallic. I bet you are right about the gaps.

Any cooling is better than no cooling. Metal particles or mesh in this case, are introduced to improve thermal conductivity. Even though I haven't tried it myself on the DE-10 Nano, you should be fine using it. What you want to make sure though, it being a metal mesh, that it does not come in contact with the conductive parts of the board, surrounding the chip. If the mesh is slightly larger than the chip, then you could play around with a blade to reduce it's size to match the chip, and thus eliminate any "overrun" that could cause shorts.

Hope this helps

Thanks, that makes sense. I was worried it would be electrically conductive, It is slightly larger. Now that the top plate/fan/heatsink set are back in stock at misteraddons I'm ordering that and not messing with this one. Hard part has been limiting my use of the MiSTer till it arrives. I'm hoping that when the wiki mentions degrading in the long run without cooling, that they don't mean using it for a week without can do it ha.

[lomdar67]

Thanks, that makes sense. I was worried it would be electrically conductive, It is slightly larger. Now that the top plate/fan/heat sink set are back in stock at misteraddons I'm ordering that and not messing with this one. Hard part has been limiting my use of the MiSTer till it arrives. I'm hoping that when the wiki mentions degrading in the long run without cooling, that they don't mean using it for a week without can do it ha.

I wouldn't worry about it to much. If you have a ohm-meter you can test your self if it is conductive. Carefully place one pin of our ohm-meter on the right side of the adhesive and the other pin on the left side without touching the heat sink itself. If your ohm-meter show anything else then "1" the adhesive is conductive.

[Phaedrus]

I just installed a heatsink exactly like that. It's fine.

[Jayde Six]

I wouldn't worry about it to much. If you have a ohm-meter you can test your self if it is conductive. Carefully place one pin of our ohm-meter on the right side of the adhesive and the other pin on the left side without touching the heat sink itself. If your ohm-meter show anything else then "0" the adhesive is conductive.

That's a great idea but an ohm meter is one of those things I keep meaning to pick up but haven't yet.

I just installed a heatsink exactly like that. It's fine.

That's good to hear.

I went ahead and installed it. Thanks everyone for the advice. One last question, is it difficult to remove themal taped heatsinks? I might want to grab that new misteraddons case when he ends up releasing it.

[lomdar67]

No normally not especially not with such a small heat sink. It will stick but try twisting it to the left and right until it gets loose. After that clean the cpu with alcohol.

[tRAcE]

This thermal glue pads can be removed easiest if heated up lightly - e.g. play a game or two before trying to remove it. This way you also keep the mechanical stress at a minimum.

[Jayde Six]

Perfect, thanks again.

[Rikko]

If your ohm-meter show anything else then "0" the adhesive is conductive.

Actually, if ohmmeter shows anything but infinity (leading digit 1, in case of many digital mm's), it means it's conductive.

[lomdar67]

Actually, if ohmmeter shows anything but infinity (leading digit 1, in case of many digital mm's), it means it's conductive.

Sorry for mixing this up in my post. I'll fix it, in case someone is not reading this thread to the end. Thanks for clarifying this.