Thermal Grease shelf-life of 24 months?

[jvroig]

Shelf-life: 24 months after manufacturing?

They are kidding right? This stuff is supposed to get stored for a long time.

 

[Ksyder]

Eh, what are you gonna do. The stuff can't last forever. I guess just hope what you are buying is fresh.

I'm sure making sure the tube is capped tight will help extend the life. And even after it is 2 years old, it will probably do the job but be somewhat thicker than it was originally.

 

[AlignThermal]

Packaging has a big impact on shelf life. There may be some separation of ingredients over time. The thermally conductive filler may settle and this will impact the thermal performance. If you buy material in a jar it is easily mixed and should be fine. This is not possible with syringe packed materials. More attention to shelf life is needed when the packaging does not allow the user to mix before use. A possible work around is to transfer all of the thermal grease out into a container where it can be mixed before use.

 

[jvroig]

Hey, thanks for signing up to chime in.

The shop nearby sells this stuff (that I linked to in the OP), but since this is a legacy product, the packaging is dated 2004. If the shelf life is 24 months after date of manufacturing, then this stuff is pretty much way beyond shelf life already.

I always thought thermal grease lasts for years and years with no problem. This is pretty much a surprise, I guess all I can do now is find a better product.

 

[43st]

I have a 5-6 year old syringe of AS-5 that is still completely consistent when applied and gives me 37° or so idle on a recent i7-920 build (w/ Dark Knight cooler). Which is right in line with expected temperatures from what I've seen.

I think if the stuff is falling apart in 2 years then you may want to look for a different product. Not to mention it's still degrading/separating after it's been applied as well.

 

[jjmIII]

I keep an empty AS5 tube around for just this reason. Pull the plunger out, and squeeze a new tube (that has been sitting around) into the old tube. It really gets it remixed this way.

 

[JasonSix78]

I always pull the plunger out of my AS5 and mix it around with a toothpick. It's been ~4 years since I bought and still does it's job.

 

[nitromullet]

I always pull the plunger out of my AS5 and mix it around with a toothpick. It's been ~4 years since I bought and still does it's job.

I imagine you should probably be using something a little less prone to leaving small particles of debris in your AS5 than a toothpick.

 

[DarkThinker]

I hope as hell this doesn't apply to my super awesome and now can't be found anywhere for sale Geil copper thermal compound.

I have 4 new sealed syringes left which I got from Newegg 3-4 years ago and I have full intention to apply my still sealed copper compound syringe in between the Phenom II 965 which the UPS man is bringing me tomorrow and my long time companion-heatsink, my Gigabyte 3d Rocket Ultra GT (which also can't be bought anymore anywhere it seems)