Which is better

[Neuromancer]

Rubber or conformal coating?

Price:Efficiency wise


I would think that a rubber coating might be better because it might also help with thermal transfer more than a conformal coating would... since there is a medium to help transfer heat despite being an insulator...

Any tests done on this though?

[Assassin48]

for the gpus I'm using liquid tape

I found it at home depot for $4 i believe

haven't done ln2 on motherboards yet so idk

[Kal-EL]

Not sure bout the rubber bro. Be interesting to see.

[Buckeye]

Conformal Coating is by far the best for but motherboards and GPU's. Just paint it up and put a little eraser around the socket to make an air tight seal.

Problem is its not very easy to get off, unless you dont mind sitting the board in a tube of acetone and scrubbing away for a long time.

Generally if you plan on selling the board later or have to do any RMA's dont use it.

Black Electrical tape worked pretty well, I used it on a GPU. It was a pain to get off and it got into all the IC pin areas and was hard to get out. Most of it just peeled right off tho.

My frost picture of the back side of the GPU sucks, but I think you can see you dont have to worry about any insulation back there.

[rickss69]

I was thinking most the guys were just using vasoline...easy clean up afterwards.

[Gutterz]

ya vaseline seems way easier to remove. Heat it up ah hit it with an air compressor works well.

[Buckeye]

Gah... I totally hate that stuff. I never use it.

[Splave]

Im an eraser only type guy, so I can peel it off when I eventually break it. Couldnt be easier and no condensation issues yet.

[ReverendMaynard]

Im an eraser only type guy, so I can peel it off when I eventually break it. Couldnt be easier and no condensation issues yet.

+1. Easy to apply and remove, so when it's time to sell the board/card is mint.

[Neuromancer]

So no thermal properties benefits just ease of use eh?

Maybe I will try the Vaseline than to start, go eraser later and find conformal after that.

[Splave]

actually the eraser gets hard and cold as a rock (turns to like cold cement) I would care to wager that it does help cool the board itself.

[Kal-EL]

It grabs cold very well, I scaled back my around the socket erasure and I"m not getting as much condensation creeping out from the middle, whereas the entire pcb around the socket would freeze up. Also getting longer bench sessions in.

Now I paint vasoline in places I usually put eraser.

ALmost forgot, I picked up a nice saline syringe from the ER this week, perfect for dispensing vasoline in small places BIG finger won't fit ;) that and I took a stack of super absorbant towel.

[Neuromancer]

Holy crap I was just looking for the LN2 place nearby, and found a welding supply shop even closer

$5 a liter!!!


Rubber eraser I might not be able to get today... vaseline is looking possible though.


UGH not looking good :(

[Splave]

damn, I can take a pic of my invoice if you want a bargaining chip that's absurd

[Neuromancer]

Just called a place about 40 miles away thinking it would be worth spending the gas money..

They want $8.40 a liter!!

I am going to keep looking, but I think I might be selling my Dewar soon :(

[Neuromancer]

Waiting on a call back (tomorrow) from the welding supply place I contacted earlier today. Going to see if I can find out why he is charging so much.

He did not say $5 a liter he said $180 (something) to fill it..

Also when I called another place a bit farther away, who did not carry LN2 anymore... and I told him about $5 a liter he said "Holy Crap, I could see maybe charging a couple bucks..."

If not I will be trying to get some DIce for this weekend (assuming that my BE chip is scheduled for delivery tomorrow :))

[Assassin48]

maybe you can try talking to the dealer directly instead of going through the welding supply shop

and if they have there own truck maybe they could stop by

[Neuromancer]

airgas or praxair? Yeah I could try that. Dont think they want to stop at a residence for a measly 35L though

I did ask in my email about maybe renting a 180L though.. if it brings the price down enough since it is a large quantity. It is something I would consider. Just means I have to do a LOT of benching is all :)