Thermal Insulation tape for capacitors on motherboard?

[The Land of Smeg]

I am going to fit a Thermalright XP-120 heatsink on my new motherboard, which in case you didn't know, is an absolutely massive heatsink.

When I fit the heatsink in one way, it comes in contact with DDR DIMM 1, and the other way it gently comes in contact with some capacitors.

I don't want the memory damaged, so I don't want it facing the way which will interfere with the Memory Modules, and I have learnt that heat will significantly diminish the lifespan of a capacitor over time, even ones rated for 105*C, and it will especially diminish the lifespan when some of the heatpipes are touching it, which they are.

I was wondering, if such a product exists for Thermal Insulation(Maybe in a stickytape). Obviously it mustn't be conductive of heat or electricity, and it will need to fit between a capacitor/heatpipe(the heatpipe is part of the XP-120 heatsink) and make it so that none of the heat on the heatpipe transfers to the capacitor (or have minimal heat transfer).

If anyone knows of such a product, even if it isn't designed for PCs, but would work anyway. Or has any other advice on this problem, please help me.

Thanks!

 

[Bassyhead]

I wouldn't worry about the lifespan of those capacitors. 105C is hotter than boiling point, and you're unlikely that the heatsink will ever reach that temperature (hopefully). Sure, heat will decrease the lifespan of any electronic component, but by the time it becomes a factor your computer will be long obsolete.

I also don't think that using an insulator will keep the heat away from the capacitors. They will eventually heat up to the temperature of the heatsink. You want to remove the heat from the capacitors, not insulate them. If you're still concerned about the capacitors, you can desolder them and use short well insulated wires to draw them away from the heatsink, but of course you'll have to have soldering experience and the motherboard is easily damaged.

 

[imported_Condor]

Bassyhead is correct, for heat to be a problem with the caps, they would be the least of your problems. If you really want to be sure, you could use a microscope slide, fracture it to the size you need and let the friction hold it in place. You could also glue it to the cap with epoxy on the cap side as well. The heat will not be an issue.

 

[CycloWizard]

If you're really set on doing this, any epoxy should do the job. Like the others said though, the capacitors will heat up to the ambient temperature of the case or to that of the heat sink, depending on how much air flow you have in the case. If you have enough air flow, then they'll stay at ambient temperature regardless. In any case, I wouldn't worry about it much.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: The Land of Smeg
I am going to fit a Thermalright XP-120 heatsink on my new motherboard, which in case you didn't know, is an absolutely massive heatsink.

When I fit the heatsink in one way, it comes in contact with DDR DIMM 1, and the other way it gently comes in contact with some capacitors.

I don't want the memory damaged, so I don't want it facing the way which will interfere with the Memory Modules, and I have learnt that heat will significantly diminish the lifespan of a capacitor over time, even ones rated for 105*C, and it will especially diminish the lifespan when some of the heatpipes are touching it, which they are.

I was wondering, if such a product exists for Thermal Insulation(Maybe in a stickytape). Obviously it mustn't be conductive of heat or electricity, and it will need to fit between a capacitor/heatpipe(the heatpipe is part of the XP-120 heatsink) and make it so that none of the heat on the heatpipe transfers to the capacitor (or have minimal heat transfer).

If anyone knows of such a product, even if it isn't designed for PCs, but would work anyway. Or has any other advice on this problem, please help me.

Thanks!

Since it is almost impossible to attach a heatsink to a capacitor, the next best thing is to pump cold air on it; Like maybe keeping the Pc in the refrigerator or just do all of your work or play inside of the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory. Personaly I would not worry about capcitors what happend is history and manufacturers have learned and improved quality greatly. Now (most) they use some of the Industries best: Rubicon Capacitors. Believe me if they do or when they do go bad your pc equipment will be so far obsolite it wont be worth worrying about.
they should not

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Bassyhead
I wouldn't worry about the lifespan of those capacitors. 105C is hotter than boiling point, and you're unlikely that the heatsink will ever reach that temperature (hopefully). Sure, heat will decrease the lifespan of any electronic component, but by the time it becomes a factor your computer will be long obsolete.

I also don't think that using an insulator will keep the heat away from the capacitors. They will eventually heat up to the temperature of the heatsink. You want to remove the heat from the capacitors, not insulate them. If you're still concerned about the capacitors, you can desolder them and use short well insulated wires to draw them away from the heatsink, but of course you'll have to have soldering experience and the motherboard is easily damaged.

Moving the capcitors away from the CPU is an open invitation for cpu mistakes, errors, and Blue Screens of Death. They are located right next to the CPU for a reason (i don't want to explain now). So unless you are an IEEE member dont fool with it or worry about it since people (not me) smarter than you have already thoght this through.

 

[Bassyhead]

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: Bassyhead
I wouldn't worry about the lifespan of those capacitors. 105C is hotter than boiling point, and you're unlikely that the heatsink will ever reach that temperature (hopefully). Sure, heat will decrease the lifespan of any electronic component, but by the time it becomes a factor your computer will be long obsolete.

I also don't think that using an insulator will keep the heat away from the capacitors. They will eventually heat up to the temperature of the heatsink. You want to remove the heat from the capacitors, not insulate them. If you're still concerned about the capacitors, you can desolder them and use short well insulated wires to draw them away from the heatsink, but of course you'll have to have soldering experience and the motherboard is easily damaged.

Moving the capcitors away from the CPU is an open invitation for cpu mistakes, errors, and Blue Screens of Death. They are located right next to the CPU for a reason (i don't want to explain now). So unless you are an IEEE member dont fool with it or worry about it since people (not me) smarter than you have already thoght this through.

I have seen people add a couple inches of wire to their VRM capacitors many times to make room for a large HSF without any problems. I don't believe an inch or so of extra length to the VRM capacitors will harm anything as they are usually spread out over a couple inches anyways on the board, especially if there's a lot of them in parallel. I am not a power design expert, but I am a computer engineer and I have soldered since I was 7.

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: Bassyhead

Originally posted by: Googer

Originally posted by: Bassyhead
I wouldn't worry about the lifespan of those capacitors. 105C is hotter than boiling point, and you're unlikely that the heatsink will ever reach that temperature (hopefully). Sure, heat will decrease the lifespan of any electronic component, but by the time it becomes a factor your computer will be long obsolete.

I also don't think that using an insulator will keep the heat away from the capacitors. They will eventually heat up to the temperature of the heatsink. You want to remove the heat from the capacitors, not insulate them. If you're still concerned about the capacitors, you can desolder them and use short well insulated wires to draw them away from the heatsink, but of course you'll have to have soldering experience and the motherboard is easily damaged.

Moving the capcitors away from the CPU is an open invitation for cpu mistakes, errors, and Blue Screens of Death. They are located right next to the CPU for a reason (i don't want to explain now). So unless you are an IEEE member dont fool with it or worry about it since people (not me) smarter than you have already thoght this through.

I have seen people add a couple inches of wire to their VRM capacitors many times to make room for a large HSF without any problems. I don't believe an inch or so of extra length to the VRM capacitors will harm anything as they are usually spread out over a couple inches anyways on the board, especially if there's a lot of them in parallel. I am not a power design expert, but I am a computer engineer and I have soldered since I was 7.

I have been soldiering since I was young too (not kidding). There is a reason why they are located right smack up against the cpu. The further away you move them, more signal noise gets in to the CPU's power lines. The capacitors are their to provide line noise filtering from entering the CPU. The further away they are the more noise that gets in to them after the power has been cleaned. Clean power is essential for stable operation. So do not move them and leave them where they lie. Also by desoldering parts from the motherboard will void the warrenty, so don't even try to return it when things go bad. $$$

 

[Mark R]

Don't forget that the VRM caps are under a lot of stress, and they themselves produce some heat. Because of this you should not insulate them.

In fact CPU heatsinks are generally designed so that the airflow through the heatsink blows over the caps to stop their self generated heat, and nearby heat from the transistors, from building up.

 

[SuperTool]

I would think long and hard before moving the bypass caps. You are increasing the inductance and resistance of the path from the capacitor to the package, which will increase L*di/dt noise and IR drop from the capacitor to the package. Modern CPUS that have large current switching, and low voltage levels are more sensitive to these sorts of voltage changes.