Thermal paste around mag D heatsink?

[jasonck08]

I was wondering what people typically using around Mag D heatsinks for thermal compound. Is there some cheap stuff I can buy? I think an arctic product would be a little expensive, considering the large surface area of the mag heatsink...

 

[wquiles]

Most of us actually do use Artic Alumina, but the thermal paste, not the two-part thermal epoxy. The amount of paste use is actually pretty small, since the Heatsink is already a fairly good fit to the body of the Mag - so basically, although a "tad" expensive, it does last a LONG time ;)

Will

 

[jasonck08]

Whats the best source for AA?

 

[wquiles]

I buy most of this type of stuff from Fred, aka Photon Fanatic:
http://photonfanatic.com/componentsFS.html

Will

 

[Bullzeyebill]

You want to use the least amount of thermal paste, particularly if you have a good metal to metal contact.

Bill

 

[M@elstrom]

If Artic Alumina is too pricey for you, there's always the Thermal silicone paste from 'Unick' available in most DIY electronics stores like Radio Shack (this is the stuff you generally find in major electronic devices) :thumbsup:

Like Bill said above... less is more (effective that is) :D

 

[jasonck08]

I've built quite a lot of computers and used artic silver 5 for the CPU's. And yes I know less is better. Generally for each CPU you want about 1 grain of rice worth of artic silver for best results. I wonder how the performance compares. Cheap silicon paste vs AA that costs 10x as much?

 

[romulus]

Master Bond has some thermally / electrically conductive epoxies that are not too pricey. Check'em out.

 

[Gunner12]

There is a lot more area for the heat to transfer(from heatsink to body), so a thermal paste of a bit less quality should be fine from waht I understand.

 

[jasonck08]

I have another question regarding the heatsink. I see some people selling them that are bare aluminum and HAIII. Whats the purpose of HAIII? Is the reason for it, so that it electrically isolates it from the LED and battery so there is less of a risk of shorting it out? Is it necessary to have a HAIII or anoized heatsink? Or is bare aluminum just as good. Let me know! Thanks!

 

[old4570]

Get the non conductive white stuff , I use it all the time for motherboards and heatsinks , cant short anything out .

+ I use them under my Cree's , again , no need to worry about shorting anything .

 

[JamisonM]

I have another question regarding the heatsink. I see some people selling them that are bare aluminum and HAIII. Whats the purpose of HAIII? Is the reason for it, so that it electrically isolates it from the LED and battery so there is less of a risk of shorting it out? Is it necessary to have a HAIII or anoized heatsink? Or is bare aluminum just as good. Let me know! Thanks!

That's basically it. With the HAIII heatsinks you won't have to worry about if you isolated the LED. Both work fine, just one is a little more expensive, but lets you worry about one less thing during your build.