"Richard Crowley" wrote in
:

"CitizenRuth" wrote ...
....
I learned about some stuff that's called Thermal Adhesive, but
apparently that stuff is supposed to be permanent, so mine can't be
that. I read that grease has no adhesive properties, so it's not
that either.

Maybe it doesn't matter, if I don't have to clean the old and apply
new - that would be great! I don't really see why I can't just screw
the frames together and leave the old stuff where it is.

Not advisable. The act of disassembly looses the "excess" that
squeezed out from the surfaces, and you can't really effectively
recover all of it to reuse. Besides if it got very hot, the compound
may have partially "dried up" making it more difficult to get the
thermal coupling the second time around.

But if I have to clean and reapply, can you please help me to 1)
identify the compound and 2) figure out how to clean off the old
stuff.

Should be able to use standard heatsink compound (gooey,
white stuff) which is widely sold to people constructing their
own PCs. It is used between the CPU chip and the heat sink
in the computer. Should be able to buy this stuff anywhere
computer CPUs, heatsinks, etc. are offered.

I usually clean off the old stuff with alcohol and a rag (or Kleenex,
etc.)




WHITE HS compound contains either alumina or beryllium [oxide?];that's what
makes it white and thermally conductive(no silicone,AFAIK),and there are
clear -silicone- greases made by Dow Corning.The white compound has some
solvent that dries out after some time. Silicone grease will not dry out.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net