PC Peripherals rants about Thermalright heat sinks :-(

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Eazy

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I have been having a hard time with Thermalright heat sinks which I bought recently :(

SI-128
I got this heat sink from Sidewinder and I found that the temperatures with it were a bit high as the base was quite a bit concave - so I lapped the base and I must have gone too far as now it has become very loose on the CPU and rotates with the slightest touch - sometimes I feel it is now so loose that if I blow on it then it will rotate :) - now the CPU temps I get with it is only one degree C above what I get with the Ultra 120 and that is GREAT !! A picture after the lapping...

si128hn6.jpg


HR-03 PLUS

First the HR-03 PLUS had a problem even before I used it when one of the fins fell off the moment I opened the package - at that time I should have had a premonition of the bad times to come with this otherwise lovely heat sink. Then I found that the heat sinks 4 screws that hold it in place were coming loose about one third of a turn every week because of the vibrations from the fan. So I put some solution to stop this on the screws threads but realised too late that it was going to make a permanent bond !! :O I tried to remove the screws quickly but it was too late as the solution had cured and when I used force the screws snapped into 2 pieces. Aarrrgh !!!! ... a picture....

hr03plusbrokenscrewsyo7.jpg


Next I found that the fins on this heat sink had a coating which was getting corroded off with the high Mumbai humidity levels and high temperature - dont know if it is actually corrosion because of humidity or damage by pollutants in Mumbai's air. :( a picture.... this is after use for 2 months only !! :O

hr03flakingcloseup1024az1.jpg


Strangely I found that this heat sink has a limit to the cooling it wants to give the 8800GTS card - these days it has a wall at 47C ... no changes of fans of different speeds or even a 120mm fan will reduce the GPU cards temp below 47C ... the only thing that reduces or increases the GPU temp is the ambient room temp.

Ultra 120
My Ultra 120 is attached to my 939 A8N-E board with the S-Clip which allows me to rotate it so that the flow of the air from it is pointed to the rear exhaust fan. The S-Clip has a very tight fit going around that Ultra 120 heat sinks heatpipes and I did not realize that the S-Clip has a sharp edge and was cutting into the soft copper heat pipes every time I was using force to attach it to the heat sink. (Bikey - answer to your question: I always attached S-Clip when the heat sink was away the CPU) A couple of days back suddenly I found my CPU temps were higher by around 5C ... I removed and attached the heat sink many times reapplying fresh AS5 each time but no difference in temps. I even started to lap the base of this heat sink and then I saw the deep cuts in the heat pipes... obviously the cuts have gone thru the soft copper and the vacuum in the pipes is no longer there... so now I have an expensive paper weight !! :(

a picture of the cuts on the heat pipes...

damageatn8.jpg


damagebxb1.jpg


... end of ranting .....

Let me say this - I will buy more Thermalright heat sinks in the future. Looking forward the Thermalright IFX-14 heat sink.
 
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try and see if you can get it RMA'd for the cuts. i think chaos or someone got a new backplate from sidewinder from a faulty screwhole
 
Sheeesh !.....:( sad to know abt the stuff....so now the Ultra 120 is just un-usable ??? :o ......cant u like seal up the opening or something....but then the vacumm.......hmmmmmm...:( ....bad ...back to stock ?
 
bottle said:
try and see if you can get it RMA'd for the cuts. i think chaos or someone got a new backplate from sidewinder from a faulty screwhole
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NOPE .... Prime was very clear about the no warranty on the Thermalright heat sinks :(

I have already bought one more HR-03 PLUS heat sink. I like this heat sink a lot. Reduces my 8800GTS temp by around 13 - 15 C !!! :clap:
 
hanzy said:
Sheeesh !.....:( sad to know abt the stuff....so now the Ultra 120 is just un-usable ??? :o ......cant u like seal up the opening or something....but then the vacumm.......hmmmmmm...:( ....bad ...back to stock ?
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I am going to put AS Adhesive over the cuts and take a chance.... but like you said ... the VACUUM !!! .. and I think there is a liquid inside too which may have evaporated by now :(

My stock Opti 175 heat sink is a nice copper one but I have other heat sinks too including a Zalman 7000cu too (HEY bottle remember our nice long thread at TA on my problem with this heat sink !!)
 
TechHead said:
Now you've scared me.. the U120 on my 4200+... I haven't taken it off yet, but still...
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.... and like a sensible user you will not get bored and say "what should I fiddle with today" .... and remove the heatsink and put it back just for the heck of it... like I have done .... :no:
 
^Hehe.. so if I don't tinker much, I should be ok, right? Had a HELL of a time trying to fix the damn thing in the first place, as you and Bikey know!
 
Holy Moly- now that thing is one huge ultra90, with one pipe leaked.:@

And i had simlar oxidation and flaking off of teh anodisation on the opty cooler- somehing i didn't expect with TR- potential stuff to SC the gfx card.:(
Eazy had told me about his Zalman- another top qual stuff that suffered in Mumbai climes.

TH and Rivunited please check your TRU120s and peep into the case with a bright flashlight please.

Please check if any part of the s-clip is touching any of those heatpipes and report here.:(

While i scared TH with Eazy's narration of how tough it is to get that s-clip on and even TH had a tough time till he was using only thumb pressure-
Rivunited said he got it on witha fair amount of ease- after he put some body weight to it with some help.:S
i must have asked him 10 times if that thing is mounted well and won't fall off- coz after Eazy and TH's ordeal- i am still baffled how he got it in place within 2 minutes.:S

I hope TH and Riv check it out and report- else no more s-clips- have to do with the lousy orientation on 939 and maybe AM2.:(

And i was hoping that with some machining/grinding- i could get it to fit on a TRUE120.:no:

BTW Eazy- second HR03 gpu cooler.:O
 
The new TR mount is also a lil finicky and i have read some other reports of how people are getting increasingly disappointed with TR products, non-flat bases, sucky mounts- but hanging on as they are still the best in aircooling as of now.
All hoping that TR takes note and does something about it.
The mounting system being the first chabge withe newly launched IFX monster cooler.
I prefer the sweet/tiny but potentially deadly ultima 90 as i still dont have any monsters to cool down yet.:P
 
Next I found that the fins on this heat sink had a coating which was getting corroded off with the high Mumbai humidity levels and high temperature - dont know if it is actually corrosion because of humidity or damage by pollutants in Mumbai's air.
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Have the same corrosion on the fins of my TR U 120 Ex after just one month. :@

Must be due to the High Humidity of Mumbai :(

I tried to scoop away the coating with a toothprick and clean it off with Isopropyl Alcohol. Most of the coating went away, but it still feels rough to touch!!!

Anyway, I would recommend applying some IsoAlcohol to the heatsink. (Not for cleaning, but to experience how much the heatsink gets COLD after this treatment :P )
 
@Eazy - You're right about the quality of the TR heatsinks. I bought a U90 for my core2duo system (e4300 @ 3ghz). The base of the heatsink was very concave (as was the CPU IHS), I had to lap them both. After that, I was able to get the OC under control. Thing is, for the amount that is being charged, this is shoddy machine work. They should ensure that the heatsinks are properly machined. Not everyone knows how to lap, or is interested in lapping the heatsink.
 
AK3D said:
The base of the heatsink was very concave (as was the CPU IHS), I had to lap them both.
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Please post pictures of the heat sink and CPU IHS before and after lapping. How much difference in temps did you see after lapping ? What grades of paper did you use for lapping ? I used from 120 upto 1600 grit on the SI-128 shown in my first post in this thread. 120 grit was way to low to use on a heat sink (I was getting tired and wanted to finish in a hurry :) ) it ate thru the base too fast and I overlapped it :(
 
Eazy said:
Please post pictures of the heat sink and CPU IHS before and after lapping. How much difference in temps did you see after lapping ? What grades of paper did you use for lapping ? I used from 120 upto 1600 grit on the SI-128 shown in my first post in this thread. 120 grit was way to low to use on a heat sink (I was getting tired and wanted to finish in a hurry :) ) it ate thru the base too fast and I overlapped it :(
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The paper used was 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 in that order. The lapping took way too long actually, but I thought I did an okayish job on it. The temperature difference was a straight 5 degrees. My ultra 90 has a very nice tight fit, it won't budge even a mm with light force applied. I guess I was lucky in that I didn't overlap it.



After an hour or more of lapping! Its still concave... you can guess how much I had to do!


The U-90 at the end

The CPU
 
HEY - thats a neat lapping job you have done !!

I started lapping the Ultra 120 and when I saw the cuts in the heat pipes I gave up as I felt it was a waste of time and energy so it now looks like your midway lapped picture - half copper and half nickle :(

It looks from your picture that you seem to be lapping with a left - right motion .... I read in a forum a long time back that the smoothest lapping is got with a figure 8 motion so thats what I have done always. Correct me if I am wrong.

Are you using wet type of paper ? Lapping with paper wet ? Using soap during lapping ? I read that lapping with a wet paper and having it a bit soapy gives the best results - I tried it and it was pretty difficult to handle the paper as it kept folding :( I did use a wet soapy paper for the SI-128 but now I did the Ultra 120 with a dry paper. The wet paper does give a smoother finish - buts its MESSY. :(
 
Hi Eazy, thank you very much for appreciating the hard work :)

There's no one 'correct' method of lapping I think. I read many many guides and got to know that a figure of 8 motion is good for taking a lot of material off, but will likely not give the best finish. What I did was use a left to right motion, rotate the heatsink/cpu 90 degrees, and so forth till I could get a good finish.

Yes, I used wet/dry waterproof paper. Unfortunately 3M wasn't available here, so I went with the local brands, they gave me a pretty good result as well. I used 3M Pril liquid though, and also had the paper wet. The paper folding is a problem, but what you need to do is first wet both sides of the paper, then tape the ends of the paper to the glass you're lapping on (you did use glass as a base, right?). The smoothness in handling is worth it, also, when you wet the paper, it will get rid of the larger particles which could scratch the heatsink finish while lapping.

To sum it up, wet the paper, put in a couple drops pril (or any other good soap/detergent) on the paper, and then move the heatsink in a firm forward/backward (or L - R) motion without putting any pressure on the heatsink (just the light weight of the heatsink, coupled with the movement pressure should be enough to give a good result). Next, when you feel the resistance on the paper decrease, rotate the HS 90 degrees and continue till you feel its smooth, do that for all four sides, keep at it till you get an even finish (you can check that with a steel ruler). In the meantime, keep washing the paper to remove excess particles, wipe the heatsink clean with some soft cloth to remove particles as well, and then again, put a couple drops of liquid on the paper.

After one grade of paper feels comparatively smooth, proceed to the next higher grade i.e from 200 > 400, continue with the lapping till you reach at least 1000 grade paper. That should be sufficient to give a great finish, but if you want a 'shiny reflective' finish, you can go on to 1200, 1500 paper as well.

It took me over 3 hours to lap the heatsink, it was a lot of effort, but well worth it :)

Also, to answer an earlier post of yours, yes the heatpipes are filled with some sort of liquid. I think that cut damaged one of the heatpipes, however the others seem to be okay, perhaps you could try cellotaping the other pipes to prevent further damage? As a final resort, you could perhaps write to TR and inform them of the damage to the heatsink due to their clip, who knows, they might just help out :)

I bought the U90 because I didn't need to overclock very high, and as per some reviews, it gave a very good result.
 
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^hey . . thnx for sharin your exp..:hap2:

Now when u said wet , what did u mean ? .. apply a few drops of water or dip the sandpaper in the water? .. :ashamed:
 
super_saiyan said:
^hey . . thnx for sharin your exp..:hap2:

Now when u said wet , what did u mean ? .. apply a few drops of water or dip the sandpaper in the water? .. :ashamed:
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You're welcome :)

I thoroughly wet the paper under running water. I was able to do this job near a sink, so everytime I needed to wet it, I just turned on the tap, and washed off the particles. Also, I had a nice thick rectangular piece of glass handy (so that the surface was extremely flat while lapping).
 
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