The thermal grease must be replaced whenever the heat sink
has been removed from the top of the microprocessor and is going to
be reused or when debris is found in the grease.
When you are installing the heat sink on the same microprocessor
that it was removed from, make sure that the following requirements
are met:
- The thermal grease on the heat sink and microprocessor is not
contaminated.
- Additional thermal grease is not added to the existing thermal
grease on the heat sink and microprocessor.
To replace damaged or contaminated thermal grease on
the microprocessor and heat sink, complete the following steps:
- Place the heat sink on a clean work surface.
- Remove the cleaning pad from its package and unfold it
completely.
- Use the cleaning pad to wipe the thermal grease from the
bottom of the heat sink.
Note: Make sure that all of the thermal grease is removed.
- Use a clean area of the cleaning pad to wipe the thermal
grease from the microprocessor; then, dispose of the cleaning pad
after all of the thermal grease is removed.
- Use the thermal-grease syringe to place 9 uniformly spaced
dots of 0.02 ml each on the top of the microprocessor. The outermost
dots must be within approximately 5 mm of the edge of the microprocessor;
this is to ensure uniform distribution of the grease.
Figure 1. Thermal grease distribution
Note: If the grease is properly applied, approximately half
of the grease will remain in the syringe.
- Install the heat sink onto the microprocessor as described
in 10.