If it is too thick and lumpy I reuse it, what is still stuck to the heat sink in the same place the old component was.
Cleaning off the heat sink can put force on the other components on the same heat sink, another headache will start.
Sometimes the heat sinks are supported more by the chips / transistors than the PCB / chassis, cost cutting measures...
For new application I use a fresh local compound, a small jar is only about 15 US cents, and in bulk it is about US $12 a kilo.
I sometime get more on my finger than on the heat sink...
I am not so cheap as to save and scrimp, it gets on my fingers, I have to clean it off every time...a small jar lasts me years.
Cleaning off the heat sink can put force on the other components on the same heat sink, another headache will start.
Sometimes the heat sinks are supported more by the chips / transistors than the PCB / chassis, cost cutting measures...
For new application I use a fresh local compound, a small jar is only about 15 US cents, and in bulk it is about US $12 a kilo.
I sometime get more on my finger than on the heat sink...
I am not so cheap as to save and scrimp, it gets on my fingers, I have to clean it off every time...a small jar lasts me years.
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Some of those pastes are conductive! But if only used on the heatsink side of the isolation pad it is probably ok.
Edit: Oops I see I missed page2 in this thread and my comment has already been covered. Check out kwadrofonik's thread called something like 'obsessive passive cooling' in the construction section.
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"Check out kwadrofonik's thread called something like 'obsessive passive cooling' in the construction section."
ooooooh, nice, thanks.
Obsessive passive cooling guide
ooooooh, nice, thanks.
Obsessive passive cooling guide