I made an XP-L 3D triple using only Arctic Ceramique 2 on the copper spacer and MCPCB. Is there anything to look out for? Decreased heat transfer? I saw that when I screwed in the bezel, everything would rotate slightly with it. Could that cause any problems?
I use it for almost everything, even triple XHP builds. If there is a downside to ceramique, I haven’t noticed it. (except that its very messy)
Haha oh man, it was VERY messy! Lol
Does the o-ring go before, or after the lens?
I think that the thing to look out for is the same thing as always: be careful not to break the legs on the optic. If the legs break you’ll instantly dedome all 3 LEDs. The bond wires may or may not stick around at that point, so you may have 3 dead LEDs. The less the assembly tends to rotate, the better.
None of that comes from my own experience, but others have indicated in the past that this can be a problem.
That’s actually one of the reasons I prefer ceramique, it allows the whole mcpcb to spin a little bit, less stress on the legs. The silicone wire has no problem with a half rotation.
I don’t own any “Ceramique 2”, I only have “Ceramique” (the older formulation). What I have is pretty thick stuff at room temp vs many other types of TIM so I thought the issue was worth bringing it up. FWIW I have yet to complete a triple build myself.
Seconded, when the optic/lens touches the o ring I twist another 1/4-1/2 turn until its snug and call it a good job, the mcpcb stays still while the pill compresses it all. You have to be careful with the LED wires, when I install them I twist them up counter clockwise so the clockwise action of the last turn will only loosen the wires a bit, and nothing gets broken.
I don’t trust having the Oring sandwiched between the lens and the optic for water tightness. Not only that, you have to have the lens on the optic or else at high temps/amps the O-ring compression with the heat off the leds will warp the optic.
That ceramique is good stuff but it’s nasty lol, a little dab will do yah! If you slop it and it gets in the threads it will cause a short, like thermal epoxy, it conducts heat, not (necessarily) electricity.
I’ve been using cute –3 optics for several years and the legs are definitely the weakest link, broken way to many and dedomed xre’s in the process before it was a thing to do. Press down on the lens while tightening the bezel and don’t crank on it. Remember to press on it when removing the bezel as well. Use just enough goo to get full coverage and work it in by pressing and twisting back and forth before placing the lens.