Heat conductive paste help

[Gunny]

Hi guys

I'm hoping someone can offer some advice with the prob I'm having. I normaly service my laptops every 3 months and one of then had the last service done by Acer as they needed to replace a faulty DVD writer under warrentee, they also cleaned it up and used realy crappy conductive paste. I noticed it was running a touch hotter than usual but not alarmingly so. Anyways today I pull the heat exchange unit apart clean the fans and find i cant get the heat sink off! The processor and sink are baked together with the paste acting as cement.

My question is what would be the best way to separate the 2 withou damaging my trusty P4 3.2 HT chip.

 

[Artagra]

This happens quite often with cheaper brands of thermal paste. Usually, I just gently pry the chip from the heatsink with a large, flat screw driver. Brace the heatsink against a desk or other stable surface and apply measured, stable pressure - the idea is that when the CPU comes loose, you don't want it flying across the room!

You can also try rotating the heatsink against the chip, but in my experiences this can be harder because there's no easy way to hold it and you risk damaging a pin.

Artag

 

[Gunny]

Umm ok that approach scares me lol. But it did give me an idea maybe wedging a stanley knife blade between the chip and sink will do the trick.

/me fires off an email to the cheapskate Acer repairs division.

thx Artag.

 

[werner]

this happens more often than you believe, especially on skt478 cpu's.
i must have come across it aroun 20 times now in the last few years...best i can describe it is that the cpu gets a bit hot over a long period of time, the paste dries up a bit and basically becomes a pretty ok glue

there ar eonly two ways to do it..
twist the chip left and right a bit, taking care not to launch the chip into your best friends glass of coke or onto the floor

or, stanley knife, take your time, wiggle it in between chip and heatsink.

i havent broken one yet, so it is possible to remove, and do it repeatedly with precision. just take your time. if you are nervous, then get a hairdryer /hot air gun and hold it over the heatsink for a couple of minutes to warm the heatsink up, and hopefully loosen the bond between cpu and heatsink.

 

[Gunny]

Right I'll arm myself with a knife blade, heatgun and good paste, gonna give it a shot this weekend thanx for the help guys.

 

[Artagra]

be careful with a knife I usually use a large screw drive because it's solid, easy to hold, and spreads the pressure. And I don't try get between the HS and the CPU heatspreader, but just leverage against the actual silicone. And don't worry - the heatspreader won't come off - as someone who has taken one off (pointless modding decision ) I can tell you they are pretty well connected!

Don't stress dude - I'm sure you will come right. The first time is always a bit nerve wracking, but it get's easier the more you do it

Artag

 

[Bjorn]

Get some Arctic Silver 5 to replace the old thermal paste that was on there aswell

 

[AntiThesis]

I'd suggest using this stuff. (The tube at the back is priced at around R14.95 for 100g)

It's good up to 1100 degrees and is anti-sieze, anti-corrosion and very efficient.

 

[werner]

it also loops like it is conductive..

 

[AntiThesis]

Hmm... all it says is:

Resistant to acid, alkali, steam and sea water corrosion. Meets MIL-A-907E.

Never had any problems with it.

 

[Bjorn]

i saw the guy at the garage using it on the back of my new brake pads, and was wondering if could use that intsead, well when my Arctic Silver 5 runs out i will give it a go. Thanks for the conformation it works. lol

 

[Prometheus]

Anyways today I pull the heat exchange unit apart clean the fans and find i cant get the heat sink off! The processor and sink are baked together with the paste acting as cement.

Funny I've never heard of that before. Are you sure they didn't use superglue as a shortcut instead. Anyways if you're still struggling try spirits or acetone.

I'd suggest using this stuff. (The tube at the back is priced at around R14.95 for 100g)

It's good up to 1100 degrees and is anti-sieze, anti-corrosion and very efficient.

I wouldn't recommend using "this stuff". Rather use "Unick - Silicone heat transfer compound" which you'll find at almost all electronics stores. It comes in 10g, 25g, and 150g and one tube should last a lifetime. I've been using it for years and it doesn't seem to dry up completely. Try to spread it as thinly as possible as a think layer will act like a blanket inhibiting heat transfer.

 

[Gunny]

/me bump

Update : the hairdryer and knife trick worked pretty well used some Arctic Silver and its made a marked difference to the temp. Thx for all the advise guys and gals I realy appreciate it

AntiThesis I used copper grease to stop my brakes squeaking last weekend but as a replacement for thermal paste ??