This discussion has been VERY interesting. I might say that I have rarely ever applied heat sink grease under devices on heatsinks. Without even realizing the impact I stayed away from it because I never liked the mess it created. I can recall several instances in years long gone by of purchasing S100 boards that had oozing white paste literally gluing the regulators in place on the heatsinks that made such a mess that I would remove the screws and wipe all the stuff away.

This discussion brings to mind another subject of similar ilk. Many of you may have encountered the need to use a heat sink but needed to isolate the component electrically from the heat sink. How many of you remember the old mica insulators? How bad were they for thermal transfer characteristics? Who has tried the Bergquist type heat sink insulator pads? (ie see data here: http://rocky.digikey.com/WebLib/Be...00_PDF.pdf ). Do you think they are worth the money you pay?

Michael Karas