Driver heatsinking

[AUTO XX]

There are a few options, I have used arctic alumina, arctic silver and ye olde deal extreme "greaselike silicone adhesive" (wouldn't recommend it).
The problem is, these methods are permanent without the use of some pretty brutal solvents. Well, apart from one *cough-DX-cough*
If you are like me and have an obsessive compulsion to try new heatsinks, hosts, or other components you either have to try to find a removable driver heatsink or buy a new driver for every build you try.
About 5 minutes ago I learned about "silipads" that are used as a heatsink for chips in different circuit boards to thermally connect to the host/body of the device to the chip with no electrical connection to speak of.
In the last 4 and 1/2 minutes I have learned of "frag tape", "3M thermal tape", "Sekisui tape" and a few others.
My question is:
What different materials can be used and what advantages do they have?
Seems like the Sekisui tape is the most widely renowned and is pretty cheap for an amount that would do a bunch of drivers.
SEKISUI 5760 THERMAL ADHESIVE TAPE PAD 6"x1" 2 STRIPS on eBay.ca (item 260597953665 end time 02-Dec-10 00:26:20 EST)
The "silipads" are not really adhesive *but they do feel neat when you play with them....I'm gonna need a minute*

Ok, back.
So which would fit this application best?
Thanks guys!
-Auto

 

[Kevlar]

I bought some of those which you linked to, and I ended up loosing them somewhere in my basement.

I thought they were going to be thermal pads, they ended up just being some kind of thermal tape. Looks just like masking tape. The word pad should not even be in the description.

 

[AUTO XX]

So would they work to heatsink a flexdrive for example?
Efficient heat transfer but still electrical isolation*
Seems like you can't "have your cake and eat it too" :undecided:

 

[BShanahan14rulz]

I've tried 3M 9882. the 9882 is thermal transfer tape, while the other stuff you linked to is also an adhesive.

Sekisui tape:
Thermal Resistance: 0 C/W (I doubt that the claimed 0 C/W is right....)
Thermal Conductivity: 1.24(W/m*K)
Thickness: 0.14mm

3M 9882 tape:
Thermal Impedance: 0.35 (C*in.^2/W)
Thermal Conductivity: 0.60 (W/m*K)
Thickness: 0.05mm
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=66666UuZjcFSLXTtnxM65Xs6EVuQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--

 

[Kevlar]

I've tried 3M 9882. the 9882 is thermal transfer tape, while the other stuff you linked to is also an adhesive.

Sekisui tape:
Thermal Resistance: 0 C/W (I doubt that the claimed 0 C/W is right....)
Thermal Conductivity: 1.24(W/m*K)
Thickness: 0.14mm

3M 9882 tape:
Thermal Impedance: 0.35 (C*in.^2/W)
Thermal Conductivity: 0.60 (W/m*K)
Thickness: 0.05mm
http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/mediawebserver?mwsId=66666UuZjcFSLXTtnxM65Xs6EVuQEcuZgVs6EVs6E666666--

What kind of results did you have with the tape?

 

[Ignis Fatuus]

I would use the tape as a middle layer for the Arctic adhesives. This way there is no issue with conductivity, and could be easily removed from the heat sink if you choose to.

 

[Benm]

What material is best suited depends entirely on the application - all of them offer certain advantages and downsides to choose from.

If you need to span a small gap, like a transistor mounted to a heatsink, i would recommend going for thermal paste that doesnt cure, but just stays somewhat liquid. These pastes are just fillers for micorscopic gaps in the metal surfaces, and will not provide electrical insulation. Since the layers are extremely thin, thermal conductivity doesnt matter that much.

It becomes more difficult if you need electrical isolation: in such cases the silicone pads can be a very good option, but i'd still reccommend a very thin layer of paste on either side to ensure optimal contact.

Its important to note that virtually none of the pastes on the market are actually electrically conductive. The problem is that you get connections through the paste when doing metal-to-metal contacts on spots where the metal on either side has a 'mountain'.