IBM T20 - Thermal compound doesn't work

T20 - Thermal compound doesn't work

Hi,

Yesterday I open up my old T20 to clean the fan/heatsink and cpu. The
original thermal paste between the heatsink and CPU was bad so I scrap
it off and put on a new layer of thermal compound. But I didn't
realized that thermal compound doesn't do any good since there seem
like a large gap between the cpu and the heatsink. The original
thermal paste is harder and like a thin piece of gum, hence it can
fill up the gap pretty much, but the thermal compound is almost like
liquid so it doesn't reach up to make good contact.

Do I need to buy the new piece of thermal paste or I was thinking of
fold up a piece of aluminum wrap with the thermal compound and put it
between CPU and the heatsink/fan to make good contact? Can aluminum
transfer heat as well as the thermal paste? Thanks

Phil

 

Re: T20 - Thermal compound doesn't work

(Phil) wrote in message news:<>...
> Hi,
>
> Yesterday I open up my old T20 to clean the fan/heatsink and cpu. The
> original thermal paste between the heatsink and CPU was bad so I scrap
> it off and put on a new layer of thermal compound. But I didn't
> realized that thermal compound doesn't do any good since there seem
> like a large gap between the cpu and the heatsink. The original
> thermal paste is harder and like a thin piece of gum, hence it can
> fill up the gap pretty much, but the thermal compound is almost like
> liquid so it doesn't reach up to make good contact.
>
> Do I need to buy the new piece of thermal paste or I was thinking of
> fold up a piece of aluminum wrap with the thermal compound and put it
> between CPU and the heatsink/fan to make good contact? Can aluminum
> transfer heat as well as the thermal paste? Thanks
>
> Phil

I strongly recommend that you should buy a fan assembly designed
for T21 or T22. It is because the one for T20 after the thermal
pad is no use. I once tried inserting a aluminum shim to fill the
gap in my T20 and found that the cooling capacity is quite poor.
So I imagine a stack of aluminum foil should be even worse.

A fan assy for T21/T22 has no gap between the metal heat sink
and the top surface of the CPU. This direct contact really
improves the cooling performance. These units are compatible
with T20 so you can just pop it in.

If you are planning on upgrading the CPU to 1GHz, you should
grab a fan assy for T22 but the one for T21 should also work fine
up to around 850MHz.

Hope this helps.
Shin

 

Re: T20 - Thermal compound doesn't work

Woops, I posted without proofreading.

> for T21 or T22. It is because the one for T20 after the thermal
> pad is no use. I once tried inserting a aluminum shim to fill the

I meant,
"It is because the one for T20 after the thermal pad is removed
is no use."

 

Re: T20 - Thermal compound doesn't work

(shinted) wrote in message news:<>...
> Woops, I posted without proofreading.
>
> > for T21 or T22. It is because the one for T20 after the thermal
> > pad is no use. I once tried inserting a aluminum shim to fill the
>
> I meant,
> "It is because the one for T20 after the thermal pad is removed
> is no use."

Hi Shinted,

Thank you for the good suggestion, I didn't know that T21m T22
heatsink/fan would fit the T20.

Phil