Removable thermal epoxy?

[Yodeling]

Hey folks. Any ideas on thermal epoxy that I can use to glue on the LEDs with but that would allow me to later remove them if I change my mind? I have some Arctic Alumina 2-part, but from reading around it looks like it might be permanent.

 

[Gorgok]

Its not really permanent. You can slide the tip of a flathead/chisel between the two and it will pop the stars right off. Then clean the heatsink with a razor blade to remove the remnants of the epoxy.

Still far easier than using paste and screws on each LED i think...

 

[hllywd]

Its not really permanent. You can slide the tip of a flathead/chisel between the two and it will pop the stars right off. Then clean the heatsink with a razor blade to remove the remnants of the epoxy.

Still far easier than using paste and screws on each LED i think...

That's been my experience exactly. Alternatively you can give the star a little twist and it will pop off fairly easy. I like epoxy or the thermal adhesive pads are pretty convenient, but I haven't tried to remove any of those yet...

 

[vpaul79]

Use as little epoxy as possible. I had LEDs that had a healthier dose of thermal epoxy and a screwdriver or twist would not work. A chisel was needed with some taps with a hammer. They did come off and intact. Now I use the absolute bare minimum of epoxy, a dab in the middle and push down hard to spread it out thin

 

[mcgyvr]

removable epoxy is surely an oxymoron

personally I drill/tap and use regular thermal compound for every fixture I've ever built.. its just better and easy to do.

 

[Yodeling]

Hey folks. I'll go with your recommendations and use the Alumina I have. I'll use a small amount. I also looked up a trick of "diluting" the epoxy 1:1 with AS thermal grease, which I also have on hand. Apparently it still forms a strong bond with good thermal conductivity but makes it easier to remove later. I'll possibly do some testing using this method before the full build.

mcgyvr I hear ya. In my situation, I am trying to design two tight clusters and if I don't like it I'll move to four. Which would just leave a bunch of holes where I don't need them.

 

[Dmorty217]

Alcohol wipes clean up thermal adhesive in a hot second

 

[zachts]

the one part thermal adheasive like sold by Steve's LEDs and others works well and is not nearly as hard to remove, can also be cleaned off of the stars after removing them.

I still prefer drill and tap though, it gives a better thermal bond.