How to remove memory heatspreaders?

Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
edited December 2003 in Hardware
I'm trying to remove these heatspreaders

mushkin.jpg

I've loosened off most of the glue, but I can't manage to find a technique or tool to remove them. If anyone has any tips please help.

Comments

  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Put them in the freezer. Many have had success of that. May i ask why? Get them cooler i guess?
  • Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
    edited December 2003
    See what chips I have, they run cooler without them.
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    You already know the chips but i agree, the memory runs cooler without the spreaders. The chips is Winbond BH5 on those.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Um, the black clips need to be worked off, or cut at the top of the two clips (top edge of black clips). Freezing the glue, after you cut the top edges of teh two balck clips, might let you unlock the spreaders. They do overlap, first to remove is the bottom side. the clips are black anodized psring steel, probably, and will be difficult to cut. Expect you will end up destroying the heat spreader assembly taking them off, and you will need to bend the spreader halves probably to get them off, progressively wedge tham off if the freezing does not destroy the glue that you can work on them while ice cold and get the spreaders off, but the clips need to be off to have that work. Good luck, this would be interesting to remember for me if it works. Be very careful how you pry things apart, you will probably need to do this. At a guess, they used epoxy, you need an epoxy remover to dissolve it if that is the way you are going to do it that way, and I do not recommend it to be done inside or without being aware that you will probably delaminate the surface (green) of teh sticks in the process, adn that epoxy removing chemicals are very volatile. Unless you have to do this,stop with the clips if after cutting them you cannot then freeze and have the spreaders come easily apart. You would do better to fit a fan to suck air past spreaders, IMHO, like a 40 mm fan used to cool HD trays. THOSE you can get, at Cyberguys, and it would be easier to make a fan bracket out of asmall metal L bracket than to take the spreaders off.

    John-- whose favorite motto is "There's more than one way to skin a skunk, and one is VERY messy, so find the other way if you can." That means, think first, use minimum resistance way to solve problem, which is to cool RAM modules themselves more rather than less. Not saying wrong, just not likely to work that way due to design of spreaders and glue used. Think of BASIC goal, see how things can be made to do what overall goal says is a need, back off when one way looks real hard, and get creative.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    that's the exact ram I have ...but 2x256
  • Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
    edited December 2003
    I managed to figure it out. Just took a little bit of elbow grease and a screwdriver.
  • SimGuySimGuy Ottawa, Canada
    edited December 2003
    Lucky Mushkin owner... :D
  • TheLostSwedeTheLostSwede Trondheim, Norway Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    I HAD a pair of 512 sticks, but one of them was bogus and i sent them back.

    It was BH5 right?
  • Al_CapownAl_Capown Indiana
    edited December 2003
    Yea.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Yup, gentle with screwdriver works, curl them back. Thank heavens they did not use real strong adhesive.

    John.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Now you are the proud owner of lifetime warantee memory without a warantee! I always thought the heatspreaders on the top end Mushkin were a lot better than the others.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited December 2003
    Most people here are out buying new memory before their memory hits one year old... If that.
Sign In or Register to comment.