Can you have a heat sink that is "Too big"?

[Ilotrophic]

I was wondering if there was the possibility of having the heat sink be too big? Not like a huge 1ft solid block, But a relatively large computer heat sink.

If so, what would happen if the heat sink was too big.

(By heat sink I am most referring to a lab like housing heat sink)

Thank ya

 

[rocket689]

There are members here who have used a solid, huge block of copper as a heatsink here.
The CPU sink is a popular one as well.
You cannot have too big of a sink.
The cooler the laser is, the better the performance. So no, you can't have a heatsink that is too big.
It just has to be able to fit wherever you are planning on using it. :beer:

 

[foulmist]

If so, what would happen if the heat sink was too big.

it will take more space than necessary

what kind of question is that ? :crackup:

 

[Ilotrophic]

Thank ya both. I have a few really cool heatsink idea's but just wanted to make sure there was no consequences (Other than space) for having the larger heat sink.

Cheers :drunk: :banghead:

 

[Benm]

Usually bigger is better in terms of performace.

One exception could be some green dpss lasers that actually work better at temperatures a bit above room temperature. These lasers usually also take some time to warm up in their normal housing, but that warm up time will be increased by larger heatsinks.