Can i use conductonaut on my XPS15 L502X ?

Hi@All!

I have a XPS15 L502X running with a 2860QM 3,5 Quadcore, 16GB Ram and a GTX1060 EGPU.
My CPU is pasted right now with MX-4 2019 Edition, but i the temp under load can go over 90C°
Now i am considering pasting with conductonaut.

BUT two things:

1.) The heatsink is copper but i'm not shure what silverish material is that around the copper plates ?
Is it aluminium or plated copper or someting else ?

2.) I read that in general it needs perfect heatsinks in oder to work with metallpaste. So did anybody tried to use conduconaut on a Dell Laptop with a similiar heatsink ?

Please no warnings about metallpaste. I know the dangers and i know exactly how to apply it. I just want to know of other experiences with metal past on laptops and i wonder which material it is, because if its aluminium, then i may get some epoxy on the area around the copperplate.


Here is how the heatsink looks like:



Best wishes
Matthias Braun

 

I think you are heat soaking your heatsink, LM wont help you, given that there is only one small heatpipe.

And its aluminium around the cooper plates, you need to "seal" it with varnish.

 

Thank you senso for your answer!

What do you mean with "heat soaking" ?
Do you mean i used to much of the MX-4 ?
i pasted it really thin with small scraper.

What does LM mean ? Metallpaste ?
Yeah i will seal it with surface epoxy resin, i think....

 

I think they mean the limited heat pipes and radiator can only take on so much heat, and likely already absorbed as much heat as it possibly can (heat soak). If so, better thermal transfer won't help as the cooling system is already doing all it can do.

LM =liquid metal

 

Hm. I think i just have to try it out.
I'm not shure about that heat soaking, because
when the heat gets transfered to the heat sink more effectivly
with metal paste the heat sink gets simply more hot than before
so with the same fan speed more heat gets out of the Laptop, dont you think ?

 

Likely best method is getting a faster fan in the same housing

 

Is this possible with my L502X ?

 

Check the colatge and amp and look for other fans, then if you find a faster fan you will likely have to software control it for max fan speen or cut the pwm wire (if you have one, probably do)

 

Hi TheReciever
What is colatge ?
But it has to be exatly the same size... are there standards for this kind of fans or what ?

 

They meant voltage. I can't answer on the fans, I am interested to know how standardized they are too. I wouldn't think they create custom fans on every laptop, maybe the higher end ones but wouldn't think all of them. However, that being said, I wonder how easy it is to get a faster RPM, or higher CFM fan in these exact sizes?

 

i've seen people bend heat pipes then then use thermal epoxy to epoxy them to then existing heat pipe, might have to notch the bottom cover and put bigger feet on the bottom of the laptop.

Laptops fans are usually similar enough to fit one from a different model in if the pin out and voltage are the same. my M17x R4 has a fan form another unit but, you have to clip off the mounting tabs from the side of it first, almost double the CFM ...and noise.

 

Right, Porter... but the real question is: How to find out all of this stuff ?
If i search for a L502X there is never the RPM listed.
I did find out that is has 5V and 0.5A

Also: I WILL try conductonaut. I will isolate the aluminium and the contacts of the CPU and GPU with some nice epoxy resin and when its
hardend i will use a little more conductonaut so that even if the heat sink is not a perfect fit it will work best possible.
But i will investigate the FAN thing further. Sadly i cannot find any information in laptop fan standards and RPM of the fans etc..
I dont know where to start...

Any hint for me @Porter and Reciever ?

 

See this video.
I think the fan is NOT the limiting factor.
We will see... keep you updated!

 

There is no standard. When you are looking for better fans you are modding your laptop at that point, your goal is to maintain load on the header so as to not blow it but also get a higher output fan. Most fans arent designed for max fan speed for its power consumption but rather the aesthetic of the laptop itself (cool or quiet or some middle ground)

Dell tends to use similar connectors for most of their laptops but that isnt always the case, worse comes to worse you could just splice the cable or retrofit the cables into the existing connector.

There are 3 main points of concern in laptop cooling.

1. Fan CFM rating : amount of air moved
2. Heat exchanger (radiator/exhaust) : Where kinetic energy is carried i.e. heat, which is pulled off via air from the fan. This is sometimes referred to as "mass"
3. Heat pipes : Carries the heat from the contact plate to the heat exchanger, the amount of kinetic energy carried varies on size and design (ex. "traditional" vs vapor chamber). 1 heatpipe for a dual core usually suffices, 2 is where I would be comfortable. For reference, for my 4930mx I will likely have about 9 when I am done with with it.

Your goal is to determine what is the weakest point and work on that first, fans are the easiest methods since it typically doesnt require breaking down the rest of the heatsink which cant be easily undone.

 

@Reciever

Thats interesting. Will try the conducotnaut first with proper isolation of all parts like cpu and the contacts around cpu and gpu!
It should really make a BIG difference.

 

If the heat exchanger is your limit, then your peak temps will see no difference.

If that is the case but you use LM, then the time from peak temp to idle should lower a bit

 

We will see ;-)
I'm in for an experiment...

 

So guys i will use epoxy for isolating the contact on the CPU and the surrounding contacts on the motherboard...

I wonder if i also can use epoxy resin for isolating the aluminium body of my heat sink from the liquid gallium.
Just wrote a producer of epoxy if epoxy can withold liquid gallium for years and which type i should use for this two
purposes. Looking forward for this answer.

If i know which epoxy fits my needs best i will try to use conductonaut on my max tuned XPS15 L502X but only with a second replacement heatsink at hand
I think with the proper epoxy and some care and caution it should be possible to use conductonaut even if the heatsink itself is made of aluminium
IF the acutal heatplate is made of copper!

I KEEP YOU UPDATED!

 

Hi@All!

So i soon continue this experiment with the conductonaut paste and my L502x (now L702x) but i now have a question to all of you. Sadly my second heatsink is a little bit buckled / flexed in one area. Does this matter for the transportation of heat ? What function does the hollow inner of the heatsink has for thermal conductivity / function of the whole thing ?




And concerning the FAN discussion on this thread...

Here you see two different fans for the same Laptop (L702x)
One is brandnew, the other one is a used one.
I wonder which one of those is better and more effecitve. Anybody has any ideas ?
One of them has lager "Legs" as the other. Maybe this one can transport more air ?
But maybe its magnets are smaller so less power ? I dont really know, maybe someone
can comment on that difference ? Sadly on one of them there is no mentioning of how much
AMPS it needs. Zhe older one needs 0.4A, though.

 

Heatpipes have usually cooper and wax paste inside that flows inside them, there are also some filled with a low boiling point liquid and a wick to promote fluid flow inside them, being that kinked it wont work as well as it should.

 

Thank you i didnt know that.
I will try to unbend it.

Any ideas concerning the different FAN models ?

 

I did it!

BUT: I forgot to isolate the contacts on the cpu....
Didnt explode yet... i used very little so i hope it will stay so

Should i open my laptop again to isolate or can i leave it now ?
I dont think the conductonaut will spread now right ?
If it would it would have already.. Maybe i am wrong....

RESULTS:
Even under full load the fan only goes half speed....
And i never get more than 90C°!