I'm a complete newbie in DIY, am building a Charlize, and have two questions:
1) I want to put in a heatsink. I was thinking of getting a piece of aluminum and using thermal epoxy to attach it to the chip. Am I on the right track here?
2) The binding posts I bought seem like they require a hole with a "key" slot (presumably to keep them from rotating after installation). What is a good way of cutting these key slots?
Thanks!
Lanier
1) I want to put in a heatsink. I was thinking of getting a piece of aluminum and using thermal epoxy to attach it to the chip. Am I on the right track here?
2) The binding posts I bought seem like they require a hole with a "key" slot (presumably to keep them from rotating after installation). What is a good way of cutting these key slots?
Thanks!
Lanier
A small aluminum heatsink is just fine, although I would not recommend glueing or screwing it to the chip without a firm attachment to a casing, baseplate or whatever the Charlize PCB is attached to. The weight (and manipulation) of even a tiny heatsink can work loose some of the Tripath pins from the PCB and will cause all kinds of trouble. Ask me how I know.
Regarding binding posts, it depends on the case you put them in but with a small Dremel bit you will be able to make this keyhole dent in most enclosure materials.
Regarding binding posts, it depends on the case you put them in but with a small Dremel bit you will be able to make this keyhole dent in most enclosure materials.
Many find that small computer memory chip heatsinks fit the Tripath chips pretty well. Most have a "thermal" press 'n stick which seems adequate--meaning the sinks do get nice and warm. The really cool setup would be to remove the self-adhesive tape and glue the sink to the chip using a silver-bearing epoxy (also sold at computer stores), but hard to say if it's worth the considerable expense for the silver glue. Probably not. JB Weld is a metal filled epoxy sold at hardware stores, and that might me a middle solution.
As for irregular-sized holes, drill as large a hole as you can, then remove any additional material using files (slow) or a Dremel-type tool with a carbide burr (fast).
--Buckapound
As for irregular-sized holes, drill as large a hole as you can, then remove any additional material using files (slow) or a Dremel-type tool with a carbide burr (fast).
--Buckapound
If your heatsink came with thermal paste you can mix it with a few drops of superglue to make it stick.
Ive found after a day of continuous use the 2020 chip has only become 'warm'. [no enclosure, heated room]
Are there any advantages to running the chip cooler?
Ive found after a day of continuous use the 2020 chip has only become 'warm'. [no enclosure, heated room]
Are there any advantages to running the chip cooler?
If you're getting close to the voltage limits, a heat sink might be very helpful, as the chip can run pretty hot. I would think not a problem if you're using a "matched" (or onboard) power supply from the same maker as the board.
Some people have expressed the idea that running cooler, the chip may have a longer lifetime. Don't know where this effect might start to become important.
Buckapound
Some people have expressed the idea that running cooler, the chip may have a longer lifetime. Don't know where this effect might start to become important.
Buckapound
Thanks for all the responses. I don't know for sure if the heatsink is needed, but I've heard about some tripath chips getting hot and it should be trivial to add so I thought I would give it a go. (In the Super-T thread some have complained about overheating the chip.)
Lanier
Lanier
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