Liquid Metal Getting On PCB?

[UnaverageVague]

Would getting Liquid metal on the PCB damage anything? im talking about just the green board not the dots on it, like say when putting the IHS on some of it oozes off

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, xovague said:

Would getting Liquid metal on the PCB damage anything? im talking about just the green board not the dots on it, like say when putting the IHS on some of it oozes off

Don't get it on the PCB or anywhere you don't want it, the material is conductive and if it gets on the capacitors around the CPU it will short it out. It's not a bad idea to use kapton tape over the capacitors or to even coat them in nail polish which is common practice.

[UnaverageVague]

But what I'm asking will the liquid metal destroy the green part? Like corrod it or anything?

[Shiv78]

3 minutes ago, xovague said:

But what I'm asking will the liquid metal destroy the green part? Like corrod it or anything?

no... but it shouldn't reach/touch the green part!

[W-L]

9 minutes ago, xovague said:

But what I'm asking will the liquid metal destroy the green part? Like corrod it or anything?

No it won't but it shouldn't be on there in the first place, ideally if it's applied thin on both the CPU die and IHS it will not get on the PCB mask. 

[UnaverageVague]

Just now, W-L said:

No it won't but it shouldn't be on there in the first place, ideally if it's applied thin on both the CPU die and IHS it will not get on the PCB mask. 

 

9 minutes ago, Shiv78 said:

no... but it shouldn't reach/touch the green part!

Think this is to much or should I be okay?

[W-L]

Just now, xovague said:

Think this is to much or should I be okay?

That looks good make sure all surface are covered though I see some small bare spots. The liquid metal amalgam need to stick to all surfaces to be the most effective. 

[UnaverageVague]

57 minutes ago, W-L said:

That looks good make sure all surface are covered though I see some small bare spots. The liquid metal amalgam need to stick to all surfaces to be the most effective. 

I just now re-delided just as I suspected I put way to much on and when I removed the IHS it had oozed on the PCB

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, xovague said:

I just now re-delided just as I suspected I put way to much on and when I removed the IHS it had oozed on the PCB

How thick is it, it should just be a thin coat (almost like paint) enough to just cover the die and IHS

[UnaverageVague]

3 minutes ago, xovague said:

I just now re-delided just as I suspected I put way to much on and when I removed the IHS it had oozed on the PCB

I also put what you said in consideration about the dead spots and yeah I definitely made all of it stick to the die, and used 2x less than before

[W-L]

1 minute ago, xovague said:

I also put what you said in consideration about the dead spots and yeah I definitely made all of it stick to the die, and used 2x less than before

As long as it's a very thin coating over the surfaces it will make good thermal contact and should be good.

[UnaverageVague]

Just now, W-L said:

As long as it's a very thin coating over the surfaces it will make good thermal contact and should be good.

Yeah the coat I laid down was pretty thin I used barely any liquid metal, and did the 4 corner dot method with some RTV gasket

[MageTank]

3 hours ago, xovague said:

Would getting Liquid metal on the PCB damage anything? im talking about just the green board not the dots on it, like say when putting the IHS on some of it oozes off

Liquid metal won't damage the substrate (the green part you are referring to) but do be sure to cover any gold contacts or capacitor banks with clear coat nail polish or liquid electrical tape to prevent the liquid metal from bonding with those and causing a short.

 

Looking at your pictures, I can say that you did a great job with the application. Especially on the IHS itself, very clean. Pretty hard to do, given how hard it is to spread on nickel plating. Did you use CLU or Conductonaut? CLU tends to be harder to spread, but has less leakage potential in my experience. 

[UnaverageVague]

14 minutes ago, MageTank said:

Liquid metal won't damage the substrate (the green part you are referring to) but do be sure to cover any gold contacts or capacitor banks with clear coat nail polish or liquid electrical tape to prevent the liquid metal from bonding with those and causing a short.

 

Looking at your pictures, I can say that you did a great job with the application. Especially on the IHS itself, very clean. Pretty hard to do, given how hard it is to spread on nickel plating. Did you use CLU or Conductonaut? CLU tends to be harder to spread, but has less leakage potential in my experience. 

I used conductonaut, and I applied such a small amount of liquid metal I doubt I'll have any leakage issues

[dexT]

4 hours ago, W-L said:

kapton tape

I see this recommended a lot. Just get liquid electrical tape, it's way cheaper and has many uses.

[MageTank]

Just now, dexT said:

I see this recommended a lot. Just get liquid electrical tape, it's way cheaper and has many uses.

I got a huge roll for like $5, lol. Use it on a ton of things. 

[UnaverageVague]

1 minute ago, dexT said:

I see this recommended a lot. Just get liquid electrical tape, it's way cheaper and has many uses.

What are those gold dots for on the substrate? 

[UnaverageVague]

Just now, MageTank said:

I got a huge roll for like $5, lol. Use it on a ton of things. 

I wish I would have heard about it earlier I don't feel like re-delidding again fuck

[dexT]

4 minutes ago, MageTank said:

I got a huge roll for like $5, lol. Use it on a ton of things. 

Nice. I use liquid etape for insulation against condensation so I have it on hand. 

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, xovague said:

What are those gold dots for on the substrate? 

I believe those are test points for manufacturing and QC testing, but yeah those would be areas you want to protect.