Arctic alumina alternative?

Buck91

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As the title implies are there any decent, and more cost effective, alternatives to arctic alumina? Going to be swapping emitters in my old Fenix l1t and l2t again and my old tube is no good. Saw the following two on amazon for a fraction of what AA costs. Any thoughts?

10g Thermal Conductive Silicone Plaster Viscous Adhesive Compound Cooling Glue For LED GPU Chipset Heatsink https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072MSXHJD/?tag=cpf0b6-20


Thermally Conductive Adhesive Electrically Insulating Epoxy 2 Part Thixtropic AA-BOND 2153 2.5g https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HTGUUBW/?tag=cpf0b6-20
 

HarryN

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Take a look at on-line electronics suppliers for items like that, not amazon. Digikey, newark, allied, mouser, etc.

If you are installing an led already mounted on a star board, consider to use a thermal pad rather than paste. Bergquist is an example supplier and they are sold in sheets or pre-cut sizes.

Both approaches require hold down pressure to work.

In terms of shipping, I don't know anyone that pulls parts and ships them out faster than digikey if that is important to you. I regularly buy parts from all 4 of those listed as well as some others.

As an example, thermal pads pre-cut for star boards are less than $0.50 at digikey.
 
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id30209

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It's great adhesive, fast curing and non electric conductive. Since arctic alumina is so expensive here in Europe, we had to found some cheaper solution.
 

DrafterDan

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I've recently switched away from thermal adhesive, and just use paste. Currently still running through a tube of Artic Alumina left over from modding a computer.
 

DIWdiver

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Take a look at on-line electronics suppliers for items like that, not amazon. Digikey, newark, allied, mouser, etc.

If you are installing an led already mounted on a star board, consider to use a thermal pad rather than paste. Bergquist is an example supplier and they are sold in sheets or pre-cut sizes.

Both approaches require hold down pressure to work.

In terms of shipping, I don't know anyone that pulls parts and ships them out faster than digikey if that is important to you. I regularly buy parts from all 4 of those listed as well as some others.

As an example, thermal pads pre-cut for star boards are less than $0.50 at digikey.

Maybe not faster, but Mouser is almost as fast as DigiKey and is often cheaper. Both ship same day, but I think Mouser's cutoff time is earlier. For really small orders, First Class Mail delivery from DK is about as cheap as it gets.
 

Buck91

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Rapid led had great pricing and shipping wasn't terrible.

According to arctic silver website, AA is discontinued; looks like the future might bring some experimentation.
 

datiLED

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I use a 50/50 ratio of 0.3 micron aluminum oxide powder and Devcon (30 minute) 2 part epoxy. It is easy to work with and provides excellent adhesion and thermal transfer.
 

Nitroz

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I use a 50/50 ratio of 0.3 micron aluminum oxide powder and Devcon (30 minute) 2 part epoxy. It is easy to work with and provides excellent adhesion and thermal transfer.

That's funny I do something similar and have never had any issues.
 

Icarus

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I use a 50/50 ratio of 0.3 micron aluminum oxide powder and Devcon (30 minute) 2 part epoxy. It is easy to work with and provides excellent adhesion and thermal transfer.

I used the same mix but only for potting. For attaching the LEDs I always used AA Epoxy but it's almost impossible to find now and crazy expensive.
 
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