Cooling a 2W

[ApexProxy]

Any suggestions on a thermal epoxy for use with drivers? My plan is to stick a small heatsink on the driver and then fill the area around it in the host/pill with thermal epoxy to make a solid connection. Or, is there a better way to do it?

Also, what about putting Arctic Silver 5 between the diode module and the heatsink and then between the heatsink and host?

My exp lies with building and cooling computers and the main goal is immediately to get the heat away from the source by direct conduction so I'm just guessing this is the same with lasers

 

[flare09]

I would say that is the idea, arcticsilver works, and if you really want to use an epoxy, it'll stick... but arcticsilver makes a line of thermal epoxy.

 

[ApexProxy]

I just wasn't sure if the use of thermal epoxy was the best method.

Any opinions on using a computer power supply to power lasers? Any particular methods I should use if anyone has used them before?

 

[sts1138]

I've heard of people doing it with certain types of arctic silver before but haven't read enough into it to tell you which type would be optimal. As for the computer power supply it seems like a waste in my opinion, because you still need to hook up a driver, and those don't need the kind of power output by a PSU.

 

[Laser Smith]

I've never used Arctic Silver 5. According to their webpage it's slightly capacitive so I wouldn't risk it, but maybe someone who's used it would say otherwise. I use Arctic Silver Ceramique 2 when I want good heat transfer but don't want my parts bonded in place

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Arctic Silver only works in very thin layers. The theory is that AS is supposed to just fill those microscopic air gaps between the heatsink and processor/object with the silver particles. You don't want to use it to fill gaps because you'll be filling it mostly with binder and stuff like that. For any thermal paste you want it as thin as possible, only there to fill the microscopic air gaps.

 

[blrock]

I've left a post sometime in the past.

I drilled a 6mm hole in a heaksink and used arctic silver on a 445 laser. It's been 2 years perhaps (when did the 445s first arrive?) and that crude looking laser is still working 100 percent today.
Granted, the 445s are tough laser

 

[ApexProxy]

I ended up putting a very thin layer of arctic silver 5 between the module and heatsink and then between the heatsink and host and so far my duty cycles appear to have improved slightly. I already know that Arctic Silver 5 is electrically conductive but that's not a problem since it won't be touching electronics. As for Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive, it is capacitive as well at conductive but Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive is neither so I guess that one seems to be my best option.