Axle Grease as Replacement for thermal Grease!

tombance

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Jun 16, 2002
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Before now I have been running my computer with no thermal grease whatsoever. Its a p3 750 and only outputs 25watts of heat so it will run fine without it. However now ive started to overclock my temps have gone upto 44c (not that high but could be lower). So I thought well why dont I try normal axle grease. I put it on in the normal way and lo behold, 30c idle and about 35c max (compared to about 55c). Im pretty happy with this and until it gets any higher I dont really need to buy any proper stuff :)

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....
 
I would not recommend this to anyone...... while you don't have problems now, Axle grease melts when it gets hot, and becomes quite liquidlike, and since your CPU sits sideways, the grease can run off the CPU and into the circuitry of your motherboard..... bad bad idea.
 
Axle grease has a high melting point as compared to most greases, as it's made to withstand the friction of the bearings and heat transmitted by the break rotors of cars. I always though of trying it. It should have near-perfect thermal characteristics, especially metalic greases like lithium based axle grease, but the fact that it conducts electricity has always scared me.

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It should have near-perfect thermal characteristics, especially metalic greases like lithium based axle grease, but the fact that it conducts electricity has always scared me.
Think about it. The reason Arctic Silver is such a good thermal compound is it contains actual silver. That should conduct electricity pretty well.

The thing about axle grease that would worry me is the possibility of chemicals leeching into the cpu. For instance, benzine will be absorbed through your skin into your bloodstream when coming in contact with oil-based materials like grease and gasoline. What affect this will have on a cpu I don't know. Maybe a cpu will get cancer? :smile:

To start press any key. Where's the "any" key? --Homer Simpson.
 
This is a King Kong of BAD ideas, you may be OK now but you will not stay that way, High temp axle grease will melt completely and run off of the die itself, this grease is not made for electrical components because it will conduct electricity, and will actually burn if it gets hot enough leaches and shorts out electrical components, not to mention the corrosive characteristics to the substrate material. Of course if you're just looking for an excuse to buy yourself another computer keep running it, its just a matter of time.Ryan






Details, Details, Its all in the Details, If you need help, Don't leave out the Details.
 
Ok, first of all the grease doesnt conduct electricity (I tested it), and also if it did it wouldnt matter as long as it stayed on the die or the cpu. The grease im using is special high melting point stuff, so it will not either melt or go liquid at 35c (thats room temperature in some areas). Ive just checked the core and it is all in the exact same place, none has seeped out etc. The only danger as I see it is the idea that it could go 'through' the silicon into the core, which I really dont think could happen.

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....
 
Actually a die-electric grease is not only recommended but required in automotive uses especially in the distributor, applied between the ignition module and the mounting surface. I think the die-electric grease would have been a better choice, if you are determined to take this route, which obviously you are. I guess my only real concerns are the seemingly gullible people that appear at THWG from time to time like the genius that microwaved his processor, that will miss the high temp part, and run out to their storage room looking for a cheap fix to their cooling solution, and grab whatevers on the shelf to grease up their processors with. Oh by the way 35c is 95f (thats room temperature in some areas), NOT!!! Ryan






Details, Details, Its all in the Details, If you need help, Don't leave out the Details.
 
Hey, who knows it could be room temperature in the desrt :S
Anyway yeah I get your point, I dont plan on keeping this proc for much longer anyway, and if it does crap out ill either get a whole new system or just a new p3. Yeah I do hope no-one tries to like grease up there whole comp, although it would be funny :)

My sig's faster than yours, and it overclocks better too....
 
you know, when i was looking for somthing to unlock my xp with, the guy at the autmotive store told me to try that dialectric goop, it doesnt conduct worth crap. i stuck my multimeter on it and it dont conduct anything! maybe it has a slight resistance that is stronger than the current an ohm meter puts out.

how do you shoot the devil in the back? what happens if you miss? -verbal
 
do you guys know what a dielectric is?? it's put between the metallic parts of a capacitor, for instance, because it doesn't conduct electricity and increases capacitance by lowering the voltage between the two plates of the capacitor, while having the same amount of charge on the plates. it's non-condusive, that's the bottom line!! the guy at the automotive store is an idiot, he shouldn't recommend things to people if he has no idea of what he's talking about. sorry to bring this to the front of the forum again it's not really that important...