Last, but (hopefully) best ever modified and complete NAD 3020

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I'm going to try it on an existing amp with a BJT and see what the surface temp of the transistor runs at compared to one attached direct. I can measure it with an infra red thermometer, I use it all the time looking for hotpots, invaluable sometimes
 
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How about leaving the heatsink in the original orientation and mounting the TO-247's in TO-3 sockets the usual way?

1713209798431.png
 
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ok so here we are
@Mooly i used the amp we converted with the soft clip light and TIP35 transistors
as you can see therte is very little difference,so the pads must work
appologies for the sock veiw and a bit blurred but i had to hold camera and infra thermal at the same time
 

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I don't want to throw a spanner in works over these pads but my worry was not so much the temperature everything gets to after its been on a while but rather what happens under dynamic conditions.

For example... bolt a power transistor to a suitable heatsink as a test and bias it for say 5 seconds at 50 watt dissipation and then back to zero. I know from experience how fast that rise in temperature can be. If it were not on a heatsink it would go from cold to sizzle water to leads unsoldering themself in a 2 or 3 seconds. How would the pads cope with that is my genuine worry.
 
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The heatsink would absorb much of the heat provided that the thermal interface was good.

You can test how good it is with any old power transistor and a power supply and heatsink. Set a voltage in the 20 to 30 volt region from a current limited bench supply (set the limit to say 1 amp) and choose a resistor to give about 1 amp current when connected. The transistor will heat up super rapidly.

Screenshot 2024-04-16 201538.png