I have a few more diodes to go through but i have to go to sleep, so i'll finish tomorrow.
I forgot to post a pic of the GB diodes after extraction and cleanup (= removing the thermal epoxy from the base - i use a surgical scalpel to clean it off)..
As you can see, all the heatsinks are all still in one piece, the removal method is so gentle, it barelly leaves a mark (the heatsink could even be reused).. :yh:
I just squeeze the heatsinks gently from a few sides, from the bottom end (around the diode base), the thermal epoxy bond breaks and the dode can be just wiggled out...
It's a method i started using with 4x's and later with 6x's.. With my first GGW 6x, which i paid over $300 for, i used a diamond plated dremel disk to cut the heatsink in half, took me an hour and i was scared i would cut into the diode base the whole time.
But this method takes only seconds for a diode and poses no risk to them whatsoever.
P.S. In this photo, bags 1-3 are empty, cos i installed those three diodes in test modules before taking the pic.
EDIT: Heh, not only empty but reversed as well... Only noticed it just now..