Is acrtic silver conductive?

[lasershark1]

I bought some heat sinks and arctic silver epoxy to attach them to my pololu drivers, and after assembling them I noticed I spilled some of the epoxy down the side of the driver chip and its spread across a few contacts. Is it conductive? Did I just ruin 2 drivers?

[Will Winder]

I found this on the Arctic Silver web page.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silv ... hesive.htm

Negligible Electrical Conductivity:
Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive was formulated to conduct heat, not electricity. NOTE: Even though Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive is specifically engineered for high electrical resistance, it should be kept away from electrical traces, pins, and leads. The cured adhesive is slightly capacitive and could potentially cause problems if it bridged two close-proximity electrical paths.

[lasershark1]

God dammit. I think I just blew 2 motor drivers then. Nice. Because THOSE are cheap.

[JimHung]

Arctic Silver offer a thermal grease removal product that will help you clean off the spilled paste, or you could pick up some 99% Isopropyl Alcohol from the drugstore (don't bother with anything lower than 99%, it could well be electrically conductive itself). Using a soft cloth (preferably cotton to help avoid electrostatic discharges), dab a small amount of the alcohol and try and remove the excess from the pins, or if it's particularly heavy perhaps try a very soft bristled toothbrush (I've had luck with this in the past removing similar material from SMT pcbs).

Hope that helps,

Jim

[JCPhlux]

(don't bother with anything lower than 99%, it could well be electrically conductive itself).

In the past after cleaning a part I put it in a container with rice ... uncooked and let it sit over night.

[JimHung]

(don't bother with anything lower than 99%, it could well be electrically conductive itself).

In the past after cleaning a part I put it in a container with rice ... uncooked and let it sit over night.

Definitely a good idea, you want to make sure the board is totally dry and has no remaining short circuits before powering it up!

Jim