Quark 125B / Sky Technologies

[BrianG]

Even though thermal epoxy is considered permanent, you can remove it, but it's quite a bit of work. First, freeze the chassis/ESC in a freezer for about 1/2 hour. Then, gently use a screwdriver to pry up. It should pop loose with a little force. Now this is where the work comes in; use a flat exacto blade to scrape off the epoxy. I would use a fresh one to avoid scratching the surface too much.

I know this works because I've done it twice. It works good on something rigid like the case, but I definitely would NOT try it on anything directly attached to the FETs. Chances are the solder joints on the FET pins (or the pins themselves) would break before the bond would.

Originally Posted by BrianG

Even though thermal epoxy is considered permanent, you can remove it, but it's quite a bit of work. First, freeze the chassis/ESC in a freezer for about 1/2 hour. Then, gently use a screwdriver to pry up. It should pop loose with a little force. Now this is where the work comes in; use a flat exacto blade to scrape off the epoxy. I would use a fresh one to avoid scratching the surface too much.

I know this works because I've done it twice. It works good on something rigid like the case, but I definitely would NOT try it on anything directly attached to the FETs. Chances are the solder joints on the FET pins (or the pins themselves) would break before the bond would.

Can you shoot me a few leads on some of this conuctive epoxy? I'd like to entertain this idea in detail, adn learn of it's transfer properties in comparison to my silver paste.

[BrianG]

I always recommend Arctic Silver epoxy. They have two types; Arctic Silver Thermal Epoxy and Arctic Alumina.

The thermal epoxy has silver particles in it. While not truly electrically conductive, it can exhibit capacitance. So, you don't want to get this stuff on any electronics, like the legs of the FETs. It works fine for the main case though. I say all this, but I did use this on my FETs - you just have to be VERY careful that you use a very thin layer just enough to adhere but not squish out and get on anything else.

The Arctic Alumina is totally non conductive/capacitive. So, this is the stuff to use on the FETs if you decide to go that route.

BTW: The freezer trick works on the first one, but I'm not sure about the Alumina stuff.

I do know that thermal epoxy does not transfer heat quite as well as a good thermal goop, but if the surfaces using the goop are allowed to move around, this would make the goop worse than the epoxy.