The best thermal conductor

[stealthENG]

Anyone know what great thermally conducting pads are out there for mounting my LEDS onto my heatsink ?

 

[hempfield]

What type of leds are you going to use ? Is the leds already have a large contact surface, any thermal pas/grease could be used. If the contact surface is relatively small, use a low thermal resistance , extra thin thermal pad.

 

[StickyHands]

back in the day, one of the good pastes to use on cpus and heatsinks was Artic Silver thermal paste.
I used is quite a lot about 10 years ago, but sure its prolly still about.
Temps were a lot lower than other thermal pastes/pads that were available back then.
Hope that helps mate.

 

[stealthENG]

What type of leds are you going to use ? Is the leds already have a large contact surface, any thermal pas/grease could be used. If the contact surface is relatively small, use a low thermal resistance , extra thin thermal pad.

I will be using the golden dragons. I've looked over loads of tutorials and diy led guides & out of the only two thermal pads that have been recommended, one is no longer stocked & the other (wakefeilds thermal pads are sold by digikey but they charge £12 P&P...

@StickyHands - yeah Im buying some of that off amazon to mount my LED to my thermal pad & then the pad to the heatsink. Just dont know of any decent thermal pads! OFC ebay sells tons of shite and theres no way telling they even conduct the slightest bit of heat... I have also seen copper thermal pads but the safety issues there seem high compared to using non electrical conductors

 

[luvdemshrooms]

Anyone know what great thermally conducting pads are out there for mounting my LEDS onto my heatsink ?

Pads are not the way to go.

The best conductor is metal to metal (however, this would require the 2 surfaces be perfect). The second best conductor is an ultra thin layer of heat sink grease (ULTRA THIN)

Pads are convenient, but are the worst of the 3 choices.

 

[stealthENG]

Pads are not the way to go.

The best conductor is metal to metal (however, this would require the 2 surfaces be perfect). The second best conductor is an ultra thin layer of heat sink grease (ULTRA THIN)

Pads are convenient, but are the worst of the 3 choices.

I hear ya' but surely i would need something to isolate my live led from the metal heatsink?

 

[exploziv]

aren't your leds coming each one on a small heatsink?

 

[luvdemshrooms]

I hear ya' but surely i would need something to isolate my live led from the metal heatsink?

You should mount your leds to stars, then the stars to the heatsink.

 

[stealthENG]

aren't your leds coming each one on a small heatsink?

No, I will be mounting them onto a large custom built ali heat sink

 

[stealthENG]

You should mount your leds to stars, then the stars to the heatsink.

Ok, and the stars --> heatsink via thermal adhesive or screws? 0.o

 

[luvdemshrooms]

Solder the LED's to the stars. Attach the stars with grease and screws.

You can control the thickness of the layer of grease.

I'll stress that you want an amazingly thin layer of grease. You ALMOST cannot make it too thin.

 

[luvdemshrooms]

Oh, and use quality stars. Berquist makes the best.

Be good to your LED's and they'll be good to you.

 

[stealthENG]

Oh, and use quality stars. Berquist makes the best.

Be good to your LED's and they'll be good to you.

ok thanks for the tips

something like this; http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...=sGAEpiMZZMunP6xGBs1h9LwglsmJQmknQpx2QFlppI0=

or this? http://uk.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...GAEpiMZZMunP6xGBs1h9LwglsmJQmknZG%2bxRYVhUjQ=

 

[rives]

I used the latter stars for mounting my GD+'s, and they worked well.

 

[stealthENG]

I used the latter stars for mounting my GD+'s, and they worked well.

Ok I shall do the same, what did adhesive/screws did you use?

 

[luvdemshrooms]

4-40 X 1/4 (or 3/8) button head. While I don't, many like to use fiber or nylon washers under the screw heads. It's easier for most to use the washers. I think 2.5mm is the metric equivalent for those on the wrong side of the ocean.

Any thermal GREASE (not adhesive, it'd be redundant and more work if you ever have to remove a star) Just remember... ultra thin layer.

 

[rives]

4-40 X 1/4 (or 3/8) button head. While I don't, many like to use fiber or nylon washers under the screw heads. It's easier for most to use the washers. I think 2.5mm is the metric equivalent for those on the wrong side of the ocean.

Any thermal GREASE (not adhesive, it'd be redundant and more work if you ever have to remove a star) Just remember... ultra thin layer.

All of this. I prefer the Torx head, self-tapping screws - trying to use that small of a tap in aluminum is an exercise in frustration. The Torx drive system gives you the best control and torque transfer that I've found. Play around with a piece of scrap to get the right drill size, if you use the standard size tap drill the screw can be so hard to drive in that the heads will occasionally torque off.

 

[habeeb]

Oh, and use quality stars. Berquist makes the best.

I am interested how this company fairs to sinkpad. I'm seeing higher numbers for sinkpad??? they also offer copper stars

 

[tebos]

I am interested how this company fairs to sinkpad. I'm seeing higher numbers for sinkpad??? they also offer copper stars

Exactly, copper stars are the way to go, helps a LOT with higher currents: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/19331

It's also possible to Reflow the Emitters on a copper sheet (Cree XM-L(2), XP-E, XP-G) by sanding down the contact surfaces on the bottom of the emitter and using the contacts on the the top.

 

[SupraSPL]

I polished the aluminum heatsink then used prolimatech PK2 to mount the star. Rather than drill and screw the stars to the heatsink I taped them to the heatsink using kapton tape. It aint pretty but it works great.

I am always changing the design and resusing the heatsinks so drilling them did not seem like a good approach in my case.

I used to mount golden dragons using very thin copper tape over a thin kapton layer. Very easy, cheap and fast. I used Prolimatech PK2 between the copper tape and the LED. The solder on the legs holds the LED down on the copper. The cooper tape spreads the heat quickly which creates more surface area for the heat to get into the heatsink.