My heatsink fell off

[rharms]

I upgraded my HR10-250 Tivo and to my surprise the heatsink on one of the chips fell off. I guess it must have been lose already....

I put some arctic sliver with and a few drops of glue on it. After a couple of hours I tested it and the heatsink stayed on the chip but I could move it so it was "sticky" rather than "stuck".

How should I proceed? How crucial is this heatsink?

[Dan Collins]

Generally, manufacturer's don't put heatsinks on chips that don't need them. You need to use a thermal adhesive to attach the heatsink. You can look for thermal tape (I think Radio Shack sells it) or use Artic Alumina Adhesive (cheaper than the Silver equivalent, and adequate for this job): http://www.directron.com/aluminaad.html

[rharms]

Thanks Dan. I bought the tape you suggested last night and it seems to work great!