Should I / Can I use Rubber Washers here?

[Soul Hacker]

I bought a new heatsink and fan combo, and one of the reviews said the foam on the backplate is not enough to keep the metal backplate from touching the back of the motherboard and blowing it.

There aren't many reviews on this combo I bought, it's the Thermaltake's Silent Frio 12. I couldn't find anyone else who experienced that problem and the foam is like, a quarter inch thick or so? It feels like it's more than enough but .. figured I'd throw this question out before I go to bed ..

The person said they put rubber washers between the backplate and the motherboard to prevent the problem they complained about.

So, my question is .. if I found some thin ones and fit them inbetween .. prolly gonna snip them to slide them over the screws, and let pressure hold them .. cause I am not taking that plate off and having the whole assembly fall off, that was a bitch and a half to get in there, I am not doing that again unless there's a metaphorical gun to my head.

So the questions are, I guess ..
1: Is the foam enough? It sure seems like it is .. foam that squishy seems silly to put in a warm PC but I'm sure Thermaltake knows what they're doing.
2: Would the rubber washers be safe, and more so, a worthwhile additional measure?

Just curious about this stuff, to make a call on going out and buying some when I get up. Hope someone's up this early with some answers!

 

[Chayan4400]

I bought a new heatsink and fan combo, and one of the reviews said the foam on the backplate is not enough to keep the metal backplate from touching the back of the motherboard and blowing it.

There aren't many reviews on this combo I bought, it's the Thermaltake's Silent Frio 12. I couldn't find anyone else who experienced that problem and the foam is like, a quarter inch thick or so? It feels like it's more than enough but .. figured I'd throw this question out before I go to bed ..

The person said they put rubber washers between the backplate and the motherboard to prevent the problem they complained about.

So, my question is .. if I found some thin ones and fit them inbetween .. prolly gonna snip them to slide them over the screws, and let pressure hold them .. cause I am not taking that plate off and having the whole assembly fall off, that was a bitch and a half to get in there, I am not doing that again unless there's a metaphorical gun to my head.

So the questions are, I guess ..
1: Is the foam enough? It sure seems like it is .. foam that squishy seems silly to put in a warm PC but I'm sure Thermaltake knows what they're doing.
2: Would the rubber washers be safe, and more so, a worthwhile additional measure?

Just curious about this stuff, to make a call on going out and buying some when I get up. Hope someone's up this early with some answers!

Don't bother. Thermaltake is a reputed manufacturer, and a basic fault like that is certainly not going to go unnoticed in the design process. It's more likely that that person got a faulty unit, or did not install it correctly. Don't worry, the heat-sink is fine.

EDIT: I found the review you were talking about - the fact that the Cooler moves around easily and twists around even when screwed down immediately throws a big red flag. This tells me that is was probably a fault in installing it on the user's part, or a bracket that was faulty.

EDIT 2: Hmmmm, seems like more people have had issues. Not really sure what's going on here, but none of the reviews seem to point out any problems. I'm still going to say that it's user error, but do be very careful when installing. Don't use the rubber washers, they have potential to melt if the heat-sink gets hot, and can raise the heat-sink off the CPU a little impeding heat transfer and possible in the long run leading to overheating.

 

[Soul Hacker]

I assumed this person either got unusually thin foam or did not install it correctly. But I agree, the bracket does not hold the heat sink in place at all. I encountered the same issue, quite honestly, there's nothing to hold any of the newer heatsinks in place at all. I'm not sure why they are all being made this way now.

To be clear, the bracket applies alot of pressure and DOES hold the unit there, yes. But you can easily gently nudge it and see it moves very easily. Hell, you can try to hold it down using the bracket and easily wiggle it on the table before you ever even try installing it to see what I mean.

I seated the heatsink and tried my hardest not to move it .. though, sadly, it got shifted around more than I'd like while I struggled with the bracket to the point of throwing my screwdriver. (Common sense prevented this, don't wanna hit my dog by accident ..)

Once the bracket screws were started and it was on there officially, the thermal paste .. being the sticky stuff it is, appears to be gripping the heatsink unit, so I secured the bracket screws and tried not to move it any more while placing the fan on the unit.

All and all, the really sad thing about these is, these brackets could be easily designed to fit these units much better and much more securely. I wish I understood why they don't do it.

The unit is already installed, hence why I specifically said I would not consider taking the unit apart unless absolutely necessary, it's in there now. I was just wondering whether this might be a safe additional precaution to assure there are no issues.

By and large, like I said: I believe Thermaltake knows what they're doing. They're a reputable manufacturer. I was just looking to see how someone else might feel about it.

Sadly, just got my second random BSOD on this machine and now I appear to be missing files, or atleast missing correct file paths, or something .. but that's an issue for another forum topic to be started this evening when I wake up. For now, it is off to bed with me, thank you for the reply.

 

[Chayan4400]

That is very interesting; looks like there is a design flaw indeed! If you are really worried, you could probably contact Thermaltake about the issue and get a refund. Then you can buy another HSF and be confident that nothing will short out.