We need a "Vogons users posting their L's online" thread for this type of thing!

Sorry that happened. I guess there is only so much upward force you can apply to it before it will separate.

I'm surprised that the force of the thermal tape was enough to overcome the epoxy.

I've never seen this happen, or heard of this happening.
What kind of thermal tape were you using? 😜

Adhesive thermal tape? This has not enough w/mk and is not intended use especially on bare die applications.

Stick with thermal pastes like MX-4 or 5, AS5, NT-H1/H2 etc.

Cheers,

pentiumspeed wrote on 2021-09-08, 22:52:

Adhesive thermal tape? This has not enough w/mk and is not intended use especially on bare die applications.

It's not meant for sustained use. I use it for short power-on testing where the individual application of thermal paste is cumbersome and unnecessary.

Tetrium wrote on 2021-09-08, 22:50:

I've never seen this happen, or heard of this happening.
What kind of thermal tape were you using? 😜

Generic unbranded. It's pretty sticky though.

Wow that is odd. Maybe the epoxy on the DIE cover was weak on that particular Celeron or could the core/die still have been warm when removed ? Most epoxies get weaker when hot.
Glad you warned us ! I still use cheap white thermal grease for testing, easy to clean off but have considered thermal tape.

Ugh that stinks. I hate when what seems like a good workaround fails in the worst way possible.

Whats the next step? Graphite pad + socket 370 heatsink/fan?

Make a shim out of plastic sheet a hair thinner than die height, to protect the next tester.

drosse1meyer wrote on 2021-09-09, 00:38:

Whats the next step? Graphite pad + socket 370 heatsink/fan?

Graphite pad is the next best thing I would think. The tape will still be fine for older Pentiums, "Mendocino" Celerons, and anything with a heat spreader.

I don't like thermal pads, I prefer to use the good old thermal paste, but I've had this unpleasant surprise several times when removing the motherboard chipset heatsink (especially the G31 and G41 chipsets), I'll give you a golden tip: Before removing the heatsink, use a hair dryer, heat the heatsink well, this will make the heat pad glue sticky, similar to gum, this will prevent this kind of accident, and it will also make it easy to remove the heat pad.

honestly, for very temporary use, you can use any regular grease used for mechanics.
like lithium grease. they act, and have heat conduction properties. they do the job, and that's fine for those kind of cpu.
graphite grease should certainely be fine too.

now, i think you can still use it for making some nice microscope pictures of the die itself :p

My microscope isn't THAT powerful! I also only have the one set of lenses. It's only binocular so whenever I want to share a photo I have to put my camera up to the eyepiece and it's very difficult to get a focused shot and in frame.

It's an AmScope; it doesn't have all the features I would like but it was for sale from a local seller and I was able to buy it for a very fair price. It allows me to do repairs that would otherwise be impossible without it. I love my microscope.

provides a soft cushion and helps to prevent this kind if damage.

If you want to avoid scuffing - apply strips of silicon pad around the crystal.

pentiumspeed wrote on 2021-09-08, 22:52:

Stick with thermal pastes like MX-4 or 5, AS5, NT-H1/H2 etc.

I can't tell you how many times I've ripped out a CPU from the socket while removing the heatsink because of MX-4 (But still good stuff).

I just use Arctic Silver 5.

I like to live dangerously, using conductive thermal pastes on bare die CPUs 😀

But I can get AS5 is big tubes relatively cheaply. One tube lasts years, is cheap, and is a good thermal paste if I decide to not pull it apart again!

canthearu wrote on 2021-09-09, 05:59:

I just use Arctic Silver 5.

I like to live dangerously, using conductive thermal pastes on bare die CPUs 😀

Arctic Silver 5 is not electrically conductive. Not in a way that is relevant to this application anyway.
I have had multiple Athlons with the whole top smeared with AS5, contacts and all. No issues. It's just a giant mess and annoying to handle.
On Pentium III CPUs the whole conductivity thing is a non-issue anyway because there are no exposed contacts on the top side. The top of the die is not electrically conductive either. You could theoretically use liquid metal on it and it wouldn't matter electrically. I don't know wether this could become a problem chemically though.

I use Noctua NT-H1 for important applications and this "mystery" paste I got from Aliexpress for less important jobs. It cools a Pentium D down to around 20-30C when paired with a Zalman heatsink and that's enough validation for me. I bought it because it was cheap and is good enough.

Cleanup with paste is a pain when you're doing a lot of component swapping. That's why thermal tape is so convenient. I won't be using it on any bare dies anymore now that I know how dangerous it can be.

I did some research and settled on IC Diamond Graphite Thermal Pad. I bought a couple of the 30x30 size which is enough to cover a Mendocino or Tualatin heat spreader. Hopefully they will be durable enough to last for a while. They are much more expensive than thermal tape but definitely cheaper than vintage computer parts.

keenmaster486 wrote on 2021-09-08, 22:19:

We need a "Vogons users posting their L's online" thread for this type of thing!

Sorry that happened. I guess there is only so much upward force you can apply to it before it will separate.

There was a thread on various ways people have managed to break things: What retro hardware you killed today or in the past :(. Killing spree stories+serial killers are welcome.Rest in pieces.

Some German hardware magazine did a test a bunch of years ago and it turns out tomato ketchup beat all the actual thermal pastes in their test in terms of heat conductivity.
They didn't recommend it for long term use though. 😄