Heatsinking

Atlthough not strictly surface mount, I am sure that amongst the experienced players out there someone will have some answers for me. Does anyone have any experience of "phase change" heatsink materials. These are solid at room temperature and then turn fluid around 40-50 C. Apparently they provide a similar performance to thermal grease but without the mess. I am interested in comments on ease of use, effectiveness and relative cost

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| Atlthough not strictly surface mount, I am sure that amongst the experienced players out there someone will have some answers for me. | Does anyone have any experience of "phase change" heatsink materials. These are solid at room temperature and then turn fluid around 40-50 C. Apparently they provide a similar performance to thermal grease but without the mess. | I am interested in comments on ease of use, effectiveness and relative cost | We evaluated one of the first of these materials about a year to 18 months ago. This material was available as film only, film on aluminum foil, film on insulator and in adhesive and non-adhesive types. Its performance in terms of thermal resistance (better than grease) and ease of use was outstanding. While not overly expensive it was not cheap. We had decided to incorporate it in several products but the manufacturer turned out to be rather unresponsive and seemed to let the matter drop when asked to convert (cut) it for us. It seem that all the big players are now touting this material and I expect we will revisit it. hope this helps.

John Thorup

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