Thermally Conductive Epoxy

[photongeek]

Does anyone know a good (cheap) supplier of this stuff in small quantities? Thanks! Lowest ebay price is $27.00 which is WAY too much.

 

[Gazoo]

Search for Arctic Silver on ebay.....

 

[Zarniwoop]

You're near Chicago? Fry's Electronics probably sells Acrtic Silver there - they do at the stores here near Dallas.

 

[MarioMaster]

arctic silver sells both a thermal grease and a thermal epoxy, but most stores only carry the thermal paste so you may have to order online if the epoxy is what you need.

 

[a_pyro_is]

Or you can take some superfine Al powder and mix it with JUST enough 2 part epoxy to stick. I used about 5 parts 325 mesh Al powder and one part each clear 2 hour epoxy and hardener. Works great, and cheap to make. I'm too much a tightwad to spend $20 on a tiny tube when I can spent $2 on a bunch of epoxy and another buck worth of Al powder from my thermite stash
I know it's no dielectric, but for most applications it works fine for me. YMMV but if anyone else makes some, let me know how you liked it.

 

[photongeek]

Thanks for the info Guys.
I have atomized aluminum powder (I use it in my art work) I can mixed into 5-min epoxy. I'll give this a try before buying the retail product.

 

[yew.sir-name]

Dx just got some of this stuff in, check the new arrivals pages

 

[Benm]

Perhaps a general warning would be in place for those who want to use finely powdered alu: It's hazardoes if you breath the stuff, and larger quantities can cause nasty dust explosions if spread around and accidentely ignited.

As for the heat conducting compounds: thermal expoxy is perhaps 3 times better than regular epoxy. In comparison: aluminium is over 100 times better than the best thermal grease. Minimizing the gaps will do you much more good than using an expensive compound.

 

[IgorT]

Minimizing the gaps will do you much more good than using an expensive compound.

Exactly! I used plain old CA, when glueing heatsinks to my helicopter motors and my laser, and in both cases it works perfectly, since there is no gap in between.. (verified with an IR thermometer)

Of course, when it comes to lasers, CA can have nasty side effects.. The vapours can destroy the window of the LD or the lense.. That's why i covered the LD with a piece of scotch, and waited for the glue to completely dry, before putting the lense in.

 

[Benm]

The thing with CA is that there must really be no gap at all in between, as the stuff really shrinks when it cures and the solvents vaporize off.

 

[photongeek]

Perhaps a general warning would be in place for those who want to use finely powdered alu: It's hazardoes if you breath the stuff, and larger quantities can cause nasty dust explosions if spread around and accidentely ignited.

As for the heat conducting compounds: thermal expoxy is perhaps 3 times better than regular epoxy. In comparison: aluminium is over 100 times better than the best thermal grease. Minimizing the gaps will do you much more good than using an expensive compound.

YES!!! Good call Ben. This stuff has medical risks! Use caution!

 

[IgorT]

The thing with CA is that there must really be no gap at all in between, as the stuff really shrinks when it cures and the solvents vaporize off.

In that case it must also be quite good at conducting heat (at least in thin layers), cos in the case of the motors i mentioned, they went from scorching hot to barely warm, just by glueing two of those DIP heatsinks on them..

You have to squeeze everything together strong, of course, to make the layers as thin as possible.. That way they can't do much thermal insulating.

 

[Benm]

The benefit of the drying an shrinking effect is that it works to your benefit when you let it cure under pressure. If you fit 2 pieces that actually fit eachoter (for example to flat surfaces) with CA, the layer of glue will be minute.

 

[desslok]

I just bought a small tub of this at Radio Shack for $2.29, because the Arctic Silver was $6.99.

EDIT: Sorry, I was confused, it was a tube of Silicone thermal compound that I got, not Epoxy.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Uh, if it was a tub, it's probably thermal grease, not thermal epoxy.

 

[Greyfox]

RadioShack doesn't carry thermal epoxy. They have the ceramic and the silver thermal grease, but no epoxy. They also have thermal pads, but this is special order only, and they are labeled incorrectly. They are not adhesive pads.