Talk:Thermal grease

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[edit] Berylium

This is almost entirely historical, now, but it may be worth mentioning the Beryllium-based compounds and the associated health risks. This is worthy of note to anybody about to dismantle something particularly old, or possibly some modern high-performance equipment. This might also be the right place to clear up some of the confusion about the hazards of different types of heatsink compound. Research would have to be done into the pervasiveness. --ToobMug 02:12, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree: there should be a section on toxicity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.163.167.174 (talk • contribs) 20 May 2006

Separate section or in an existing section? Any idea what Beryllium compound looks like or what the risks are? I knew someone who was convinced Zinc compounds were carcinogenic (worried the hell out of me, as an electronics professional who deals with zinc compound daily), until I read otherwise. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jp adelaide (talk • contribs) 13:20, 30 September 2007 (UTC)
On that note, can't find any references to beryllium compound, only washers used to electrically insulate high performance transistors and its use in heatsink copper alloys. Need some info on this subject because google came up wit zip —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jp adelaide (talk • contribs) 18:31, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Metal conductivity

"It is also more electrically conductive, however, which can cause problems if it contacts the pins of an IC."


At this moment I don't have a problem with leaving that statement in place. But I seem to member that Arctic Silver touts the dielectric property of Arctic Silver 5, despite the high silver content. If it does need correction, then I am thinking a new paragraph should be made describing the way to choose the right compound for the job. Citations would be needed too. --Charles Gaudette 22:48, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

So called 'micronised' (particulate metals processed to a cetain size by mechanical means) or colloidal metals (metal atoms suspended in a liquid, a substance created by electrochemical means) will be conductive but Arctic Silver isn't conductive because it uses various oxides and salts of silver, not the raw metal (something they are keen to point out on their web site). An oxide or salt of a metal is non-conductive. This makes Artic Silver a ceramic material, not a metalic one.
Oh. I just read it elsewhere and assumed it was true, but citations would be better. — Omegatron 02:47, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
The three classes given of heat sink compounds are misleading to some degree. Arctic silver claim, and is generally accepted to have, the highest thermal conductivity of consumer-available compounds but it is a ceramic (based on silver) and entirely non conductive. They also manufacture aluminium-ceramic paste and a ceramic paste without reference to the actual content ('ceramique'). Micronised or colloidal silver or other metals may well have better thermally condutive properies but without references to studies, the statement metalic compound are better than ceramic compounds is unclear. Further common zinc/silicone compounds are ceramic, being made from metal oxide in the same way more complex silver based ceramic compounds are. Much research needs to be done.

[edit] Silicon and silicone confusion?

I wonder, does the article confuse silicon and silicone, the former being a hard, metalloid element, the latter an organic-inorganic polymer? In my limited knowledge of thermal grease, they generally all have a silicone oil base, with various nonmetallic (e.g. zinc oxide, ceramic) or metallic (e.g. silver, copper) additives to increase thermal conductivity. Are there actually greases with silicon as an additive, and are there greases that don't have silicone oil as a base? --Arteitle 03:29, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Silicone, the polymer, uses silicon, the mineral as the backbone of the molecule in much the same way organic plastics and oil use carbon. Silicone (silicon based polymer) oils offer better characteristics at high heat than carbon based oils. Important note: 'silicone' (with the 'e' at the end) is a registered trademark, a brand name, belonging to Dow Corning. I don't believe there is an issue with using this name as it's universally used for silicon based polymers.

Daniel Rutter? i have the same name as you, woahhhhhhhhh!

[edit] Merge with thermal interface material

Thermal greases are definitely a type of thermal interface material (TIM), and I believe that Thermal Grease should be integrated with this topic.

Further, TIMs and Heat sinks are subsets of the category of Thermal Management of Microelectronics and Optoelectronics.

CarlZweben 22:01, 5 March 2007 (UTC) CarlZweben

I'm inclined to agree that the pages should be merged. I would guess that the other page happened because the author couldn't find this one (I very nearly started a page for the same reason). Thermal grease has the the longer edit history and so I would suggest that it be the target of the merger, even if it is then renamed to "thermal interface material" (I have no preference on the name). The procedure is documented at Wikipedia:Merging_and_moving_pages#Proposing_a_merger, but it seems to imply that if I put the tags in then I'd end up being responsible for the merger. I'm too lazy for that. --ToobMug 10:51, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
I will also agree to the merger. I thought it would be a good idea awhile back. I'll have to mull this over, as I now have more Wikipedia experience under my belt, (but still short of mastering the art). I regularly run into thermal grease and other thermal interface materials (pads) used almost interchangeably. Further, I see grease and foil used together. My gut feelings run against doing anything merge wise with the heat sink article; though I'm open to hearing any ideas. I was involved in the x86-64, AMD 64, Intel 64 merge. Anyone can place the merge tags and anyone can do the merge, you you just want to get enough voices heard so that the merge is not reverted. Even with the higher profile of x86-64, it was hard to get people to comment in the volume I thought it deserved, and after several months we had to "just do it". --Charles Gaudette 19:36, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
while heat sink compound is used with computers, it's most common use continues to be in electronics. Focussing entirely on CPU use might miss some important information. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.167.197.212 (talk) 11:40, 27 September 2007 (UTC)
Well, merge then! 5 months is a long time to decide what to do! Meanwhile I've updated the best I can the English and meaning to avoid focus on CPU use and make clearer and easier to read (and more graceful) various parts of this article which should be tagged something to indicate poor quality. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jp adelaide (talk • contribs) 13:32, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Separate sections on CPU/GPU/computer and power-transistor use... useful

while the function of heat sink compound is the same regardless of use, there are several details which are of particular relevance to computer enthusiasts that aren't to Chinese 1/2 watt amplifier manufacturers (no disrespect intended) though both use thermal grease.


[edit] References Old

Several of the references refer to compounds dating to 2000. More recent and accurate references and sources of information and testing are available now. Add these or update existing (to avoid an eventually infinitely long list of obsolete data)?

[edit] Basic types needs revising

Very simplistic and misleading and presents itself as a pivotal key to understanding of thermal compounds and doesn't provide references. Removed bit about AMD recommending avoidance of wax based compounds: AMD's aging Athlon XP engineering guide recommends against all non-drying (ie silicone based) compounds. With the large area metal 'heat spreader' type chips this is no longer a problem brought up by manufacturers and, frankly, who knows what they will recommend in a few years time. Should this be a general guide or a specific one kept up to minute in regard to emerging technology & trends?

As to liquid metals: provide a reference and, verily, it shalt be very good and go in, possibly as a 4th category if we HAVE to separate categories of compound. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jp adelaide (talk • contribs) 13:42, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:IBMxenon.jpg

Image:IBMxenon.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 18:48, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ad-like?

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the external references "AI Technology Cool Silver Thermal Interface Material by Shane Higgins" and "Latest Thermal Compound Faceoff by Joe Anderson" both look like the same paid endorsement? Granted, the competitor Arctic Silver was gently warned for blatant advertising, but that's still no excuse.

74.248.228.204 (talk) 02:12, 3 June 2008 (UTC)