Does the pencil trick really wear out?

[dougjnn]

<<As I've been doing all of this, I had another idea. Would it possibly work to simply put some kind of a sealer over the graphite to prevent it from coming off of the chip? As long as you use something that doesn't conduct electricity, you shouldn't have to be all that careful with it (you could just sort of paint over the connections). I was thinking maybe clear nail polish or something similar. Any suggestions/ideas?>>

The problem I see with this is that the nail polish might disolve the graphite/pencil thin graphite coating. And even worse, it might spread it around, causing shorting between rows of pins, which might cause chip damage.

I'm wondering about the conductive ink which the AnandTech article recommended. Anyone know where to get that stuff?

 

[Assimilator1]

I bought my conductive paint from a local electrical specialist shop ,but I've also seen demister repair kits for sale at motor factor shops ,those kits contained Silver paint.

 

[mrEvil]

OR you could get a Conductive Pen (~$10-$15). Nothing like the permanent solution to know that you'll never have to take that heat sink off until you replace the CPU. CircuitWorks CW22000MTP...just make sure you use a needle or something similar to apply it with.

 

[Pederv]

Do you want to be brave and sure that the connections won't break? Do what I did and solder the bridges. Some liquid flux helps reduce the chance of bridging.

 

[mrchan]

used the pencil trick, never touched it since then, it's been about 3 months and i think it just wore out, gonna get some loctite later today.

 

[hatboy]

I went to a Napa auto parts store today and got a different Loctite defogger repair kit. This one came with a tiny bottle of brown liquid, a brush, and a stencil. It cost about $8. The brown stuff works great. If you do get a Loctite kit, make sure to get the one with the small bottle of brown stuff, not the one with the vial and pouch that you have to mix.

 

[dougjnn]

So the loctite that works is not regular old loctite, but instead the Loctite brand rear window defogger kit? Regular old locktite doesn't work?

 

[hatboy]

There are two different Loctite defogger repair kits. One comes with a little vial of brown stuff and a plastic pouch of conductive adhesive. You do NOT want that one. The other comes with a small bottle of brown liquid, a brush, and a stencil. You want this one (specifically, the brown liquid).

 

[Maniac9127]

As I've been doing all of this, I had another idea. Would it possibly work to simply put some kind of a sealer over the graphite to prevent it from coming off of the chip? As long as you use something that doesn't conduct electricity, you shouldn't have to be all that careful with it (you could just sort of paint over the connections). I was thinking maybe clear nail polish or something similar. Any suggestions/ideas?

You could try wax or a piece of scotch tape.

I personally tried the pencil, worked for about a week, wore off. Tried again, couldn't get it right. Third times the charm, but I was still having problems every once in a while (like it'd revert back, or I couldn't use any .5 multiplier). So I went and got a conductive pen and used that. Been working great.

 

[GregRad]

My first shot with the pencil wore off, this time it seems to be holding. When you read the articles on how to do it, notice how they all say to cover the bridges with the pencil lead. Don't overlap between bridges, but don't be shy. Pencils are cheap, use a lot of lead. I hope this one keeps working as I have the Chrome Orb on an Abit and it is not the newer 'Abit orb'. Had to bend a few capicitors to get the things on!!
Cheers
Greg

 

[dougjnn]

<<So I went and got a conductive pen and used that. Been working great.>>

Where did you get your conductive pen, and quanto costa?

 

[GaryTcs]

The pencil wears off. Some may last longer than others, but it does wear off. You want the stuff labeled Loctite rear window defogger grid repair kit, not the defogger lead repair kit that hatboy bought first. It's about $8. You are really wanting to take off the heatsink as few times as possible, and this insures that. As an added bonus, many here including myself have noticed actual speed increases due to this. I was stuck at 963mhz for quite some time, but after the loctite, I made it over 1ghz. I know, not much of an increase, but if your stuch at ~950, 1000 is a big deal.

I'm gunna try that fly with the sledgehammer thing..........

 

[DarkMajiq]

Visit www.chemtronics.com , they have a reseller locator to help you find a dealer near you (the URL shamelessly lifted from the AnandTech review mentioned above ).

 

[dougjnn]

Yeah, and here is a reseller for the East at least which looks like they will sell in small (one) quantities. I had to go through several of their distributors before I found one with a reasonably responsive web site, and a non &quot;restricted&quot; policy of selling the pens. I don't know what that is about. Quantity I'm supposing. (Unless this is a senstive national security item.)

Expensive though. 12.50 or so for the pen and 7.25 for ground, almost $20.

But it is at least a no hassle, permanent solution.

 

[merlocka]

Ok, my 800 Tbird has been runnin at 950 (pencil trick) for some time now. I just applied some of the Arctic silver to see if I could get the load temp down (and perhaps make 1000 which would never even POST before).

Put the thing back together and whammo... no post. WOuld only post at 800. Weird, I thought. So I went back and re-did the graphite. Now it would post with the multiplier at 8.5 but not 9 or higher. Man this was weirding me out. So I left it at 850 and cranked the bus to 110 (935MHz). It's running Q3 demo's right now but it seems fine.

So I know the CPU is good for 950, but the pecil trick is not letting me set some multipliers. I am assuming that each bridge controls one of the four pins, and if one of them is open you cannot choose some multipier settings.

Unfortunatly, with Tbirds as fragile as they are (and me without extra cash to spend), i don't wanna experiment with this. I will pick up a conductive pen tomorrow.

This is just an FYI in case anyone is seeing something similar.

And maybe it can do 1000 after all?!?

 

[DesignDawg]

All you people saying &quot;I have had mine running on pencil for 3 months now...No problem.... Just give it time. I applied the pencil in late August, I believe, or early September. It stopped working this week. I'm getting a defogger kit tomorrow. Get the defogging kit. DO it once, do it right. Use a needle.

Ricky
DesignDawg

 

[RacerX]

like I said if you have a $45 Duron why spend $15 on a conductive pen? So what if it &quot;wears out&quot; ...just re-trace it (for free) ...If I had a T-bird 800+ I can see your point but otherwise I think a pencil is fine. I don't see how it will wear away unless you are physically contacting it anyways (like by changing the heatsink).

 

[GaryTcs]

RacerX, It wears out simply by having electricity cross it. Have you ever had a lightbulb burn out? Did you have to touch it to make it burn out? This is the same thing. (In fact the CPU itself will wear out if given enough time.) As far as the pencil being free, thats only true if you don't crack the core, then the pencil costs you $45.

 

[GaryTcs]

That post was so cool, I sent it twice.

 

[Assimilator1]

RacerX

Why risk blowing even just $45 on a cracked cpu core? ,not mention causing problems sooner or latter when it wears out.Spend $15 now &amp; save future hassle &amp; a possible cracked core.
And if you had read DaddyG's posts he explains why it wears out ,due to contraction &amp; expansion of the cpu ,also (as Garytcs says) the passing of current through it will 'wear it out' too.

 

[merlocka]

Just orded the radioshack pen for like $12 shipped 2-3days.

 

[RacerX]

I guess you didn't read in my post I don't plan on even having this cpu by the time it &quot;wears out&quot;. I still don't see how that tiny amount of current will wear out anyways, it's not a light bulb and those traces aren't where everything is going through.

I spent my money on a copper shim (instead of loctite/defogger kit/conductive pencil) I have no concerns about cracking the core. I have been overclocking since the days of when the 'miracle' was a celeron 266 going to 400 ...I think I have some experience

 

[hatboy]

RacerX - I'm not sure why you refuse to believe that graphite will wear out. Did you not read all the posts saying that it actually has? If you want to do a shoddy job and end up with a cpu that may spontaneously not overclock at any time, then by all means, go ahead and keep using graphite. I guess some of us just feel a bit better knowing that our cpus are more reliable than that. To me, it's worth the small amount of extra money.

 

[Assimilator1]

hear ,hear

 

[RacerX]

So what if it wears out? Is it going to destroy your system? I don't think so
Just re-apply it and get on with things.
I used to use nail polish to cover the leads on P2-300's to get them to volt up high enough (to run at like 508) ...then I found out scotch tape worked just as easily.
Hmm I am maybe going to have to coin a new phrase like 'anal-overclockers' ...don't take this too seriously anyways I am just providing a rebuttal point of view