Arctic Silver 5 Drying Properties?

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:07:44 -0700, Dave S
<drsjunk RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:

>I applied a thin layer of Arctic Silver to the cpu in preparation of
>installing an Arctic Freezer Pro 64. Now the installation will be
>delayed due to a broken part.
>
>If I leave the base of the cooler on the CPU will the thermal compound
>remain soft enough to use in a week or two, or should I scrape it off
>now and apply another coat when I'm ready to mount the cooler once the
>part arrives?
>
>Thanks.

It will not dry out, the liquid synthetic base ester
(assuming AS3 or 5, not 1 or 2) is not so much unlike
synthetic motor oil. If you leave the CPU against the
cooler that is fine. If you were to leave it out in the
open, uncovered and exposed to dusty air then it would
become slightly contaminated (whether that matters much
depends a lot on how dusty the environment).
 >> Stay informed about: Arctic Silver 5 Drying Properties? 

kony wrote:
> On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:07:44 -0700, Dave S
> <drsjunk RemoveThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I applied a thin layer of Arctic Silver to the cpu in preparation of
>> installing an Arctic Freezer Pro 64. Now the installation will be
>> delayed due to a broken part.
>>
>> If I leave the base of the cooler on the CPU will the thermal compound
>> remain soft enough to use in a week or two, or should I scrape it off
>> now and apply another coat when I'm ready to mount the cooler once the
>> part arrives?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> It will not dry out, the liquid synthetic base ester
> (assuming AS3 or 5, not 1 or 2) is not so much unlike
> synthetic motor oil. If you leave the CPU against the
> cooler that is fine. If you were to leave it out in the
> open, uncovered and exposed to dusty air then it would
> become slightly contaminated (whether that matters much
> depends a lot on how dusty the environment).

You might very well be correct, but for the cost of replacing the
thermal compound (~1/10 of a cent?), I would err on the side of caution.
 >> Stay informed about: Arctic Silver 5 Drying Properties?