heat sink paste

[old-wos-is-name]

Hi All,

Have squirted some heat sink paste ( bought from ebay, in a syringe) onto some bits in my overheating amp, used the amp for hours, took the chassis out of the case, and the paste is still fluid. touch it with your finger and its wet. should this happen? now two weeks. still the same.

[LCDMAN]

It's designed to go between the hot thing (chip etc.) and it's heatsink (big, metal thing, often with fins) and acts as a transmission medium for the heat - it doesn't make a heatsink in it's own right. How exactly have you used it??

[patchett]

I think the paste you're referring to might be intended for joining things such as heat sinks to the over-heating parts by spreading a thin layer between the mating surfaces, not just putting it on the overheating parts themselves, If this is the paste you're using then no, it will be a long time before it does set, what type of amp is it that you're running? valve or solid state?

[old-wos-is-name]

Hi,
I have made some aluminium strips and drilled a central hole in them, then screwed them into a metal post that stands 2 to 3 inches high from the circuit board, the bases of the rods are moulded around some large component, there are three of the rods, and I assume that there should have been something fixed to the top of all three, as there is a threaded section for a set screw in each one. adding the aluminum striips has solved the overheating problem but as I had bought some paste, I thought I would smear it over the screws that I fitted to help hold the aluminium strips in place.

[patchett]

Probably Best to wipe it off, just incase the moisture in the past causes a short. It probably isn't serving any mechanical purpose anyway.

[beso]

Modern amps don't run hot???

That depends on how much power is running through them. An amp that is not hot is not running at its maximum rating which is essentially the limit imposed by its ability to get rid of heat.

[beso]

Heatsink paste is usedto fill the small voids between the surfaces of parts that are designed to conduct heat away from the components.

It does not contain water but rather is generally a suspension of zinc oxide in a low viscosity oil.