15" MacBook Pro (SB) Thermal application/guide

[fr4c]

But would the thermal paste thickness stay constant in time, or will it get thinner/diffused away? I mean would a 1mm thick layer of thermal paste remain 1 mm thick 6/12 months later (of course, I know the concept of conservation of mass, but just curious if there might happen any kind of melting etc.)

The TP is not going to melt away and onto your logic board, but eventually will need to be replaced. Usually that equals the life of your computer, unless you take it apart/break the seal in which you will need to apply a new layer.

 

[ddoolin0]

Wow, you sure did clean them up nicely before re-applying. Can I ask your method (what solution/general items to use)? Is it okay to be firm when cleaning a chip? I attempted to clean my stock heatsink of pre-applied TP once and it still had some visible TP in the canyons.

 

[mac jones]

I feel sorry for anyone who tries to follow that.

Just thinking about doing this is making me nervous. I will probably do it but I can't go by those pictures.

Of course, no one is asking anyone to take the time to takes pictures and such. I sure as **** ain't gonna.

Well.....thank for what you did I guess. Geesh....all those screws

I suppose the stress of losing $$$$ makes it that much more fun. Gets the blood flowing.....

 

[ddoolin0]

LOL

What kind of a 'guide' is this?

I feel sorry for anyone who tries to follow that. FCS the images are even lit well or HD.

Maybe you should have just said.

"A couple piqs for you guys" or something.

(Sorry, but this is rather some serious stuff here)

Just thining about it is makeing me nervous. I will probably do it but I can't go by those pictures "

Of course, no one is asking anyone to take the time to takes pictures and such. I sure as **** ain't gonna.

Well.....thank for what you did I guess. Geesh....all those screws

Meh. He doesn't really need to write a guide. Your HD pictures and grandiose instructions are all here here.

I agree, though it's nice to know other people besides myself are ballsy (read: stupid, maybe) enough to take apart such a new toy and void our warranties. I believe there is some pro way to remove a warranty sticker that might be worth a shot, though.

 

[mac jones]

Meh. He doesn't really need to write a guide. Your HD pictures and grandiose instructions are all here here.

I agree, though it's nice to know other people besides myself are ballsy (read: stupid, maybe) enough to take apart such a new toy and void our warranties. I believe there is some pro way to remove a warranty sticker that might be worth a shot, though.

Warranty sticker? I thought there wasn't one.

I can't do it then. I've got to be able to sell this on Ebay eventually. I do full disclosure, so I can't say..."Oh by the way, I took it all apart and I THINK I got it all back together.......SOLD AS-IS." because the warranty is no good. Then again, no need to tell people if you improved it

 

[ddoolin0]

Warranty sticker? I thought there wasn't one.

I can't do it then. I've got to be able to sell this on Ebay eventually. I do full disclosure, so I can't say..."Oh by the way, I took it all apart and I THINK I got it all back together........As-is."

Is there not? I don't have my own MBP in my hands yet, will probably be another week. I just know my iPhone has one, so I was assuming.

How the hell do they know you opened it then!?

 

[ayeying]

It's not just sandy bridge... here's one from the Mid-2010 models.

 

[mac jones]

Is there not? I don't have my own MBP in my hands yet, will probably be another week. I just know my iPhone has one, so I was assuming.

How the hell do they know you opened it then!?

I'm inside these machines to some extent, all the time, and have never seen a warranty sticker, except maybe on the battery. But then again, I'm blind as a bat, so maybe there is a big yellow sign I don't see......don't know.

Anyway, I'm getting my 17" tomorrow. My last 17" (previous version) ran REALLY hot so it couldn't be much worse. These big one's aren't exactly lap friendly, so the heat's not such a big deal.

A 15" would be more wanting.

 

[ddoolin0]

I'm inside these machines to some extent, all the time, and have never seen a warranty sticker, except maybe on the battery. But then again, I'm blind as a bat, so maybe there is a big yellow sign I don't see......don't know.

Well, then now I'm definitely interested. If one can manage to take it apart and put it back together, they seemingly have no way of ever knowing it was ever done in the first place. Assuming you take the necessary precautions and such, this is never really that hard.

Yay. This made my day.

I noticed Apple products are usually custom fit and pretty tight. But it's made better by the fact that there's no damn plastic and getting it out and putting it back should be much easier. SWEET.

 

[ayeying]

Well, then now I'm definitely interested. If one can manage to take it apart and put it back together, they seemingly have no way of ever knowing it was ever done in the first place. Assuming you take the necessary precautions and such, this is never really that hard.

Yay. This made my day.

There are none unless you made it so obvious that it's not even funny anymore.

I've changed the thermal paste on a MacBook Air many times and went to the Apple store, even got the logic board replaced, heatsink replaced many times, etc. and they never said anything about me doing a custom job on the thermal paste.

 

[ddoolin0]

There are none unless you made it so obvious that it's not even funny anymore.

I've changed the thermal paste on a MacBook Air many times and went to the Apple store, even got the logic board replaced, heatsink replaced many times, etc. and they never said anything about me doing a custom job on the thermal paste.

Thanks for the tip. Exciting. This is a welcome change to my netbook in which the warranty had to be voided just to put in new RAM because they didn't bother using a RAM door and it was on the bottom-most layer of the components.

 

[dnkbro]

Wow, you sure did clean them up nicely before re-applying. Can I ask your method (what solution/general items to use)? Is it okay to be firm when cleaning a chip? I attempted to clean my stock heatsink of pre-applied TP once and it still had some visible TP in the canyons.

Use 91% isopropyl alcohol (try not to go any lower, the less water content the better) and coffee filter paper (it leaves no fiber residue).

 

[FEINT]

What were the tools needed to do this?

Just + screwdriver?

Torx?

Thanks for the photos and the write up!

 

[grayh0und]

What were the tools needed to do this?

Just + screwdriver?

Torx?

Thanks for the photos and the write up!

Tri-Wing Y0 Screwdriver
T6 Torx Screwdriver
Phillips #00 Screwdriver
Spudger

 

[ozred]

Definitely, so you should not attempt to do this unless you know what're you're doing, in the event that you damage something else in the process.


It pried apart pretty easily, but then again the MBP is only 2 days old. I can't imagine it being hard to take apart regardless as I've done this on Santa Rose/Penryn chipsets that's been running on stock factory gunk for a year or two.

How much time should I set aside to do this? (my first time)

 

[Phil A.]

Does this void the Apple warranty?

Not automatically (i.e. just doing it doesn't invalidate your warranty). However, if you mess it up and damage / break your computer, the warranty wouldn't cover it.
In other words, if you do it properly and don't damage anything, your warranty is fine. However, if you change the TP and your computer won't start up when you've finished, then your warranty won't cover it.
It makes sense really - warranties are to cover manufacturing defects, not failed mod attempts

I replaced the TP on my first gen MBA and it was pretty nerve-wracking the first time I turned it back on when I'd finished

 

[AppleMacFinder]

Cooling system question

I have a Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra, one of the best thermal interfaces available:
http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/produkte/liquid-ultra/
Much better than Arctic Silver 5, but it's a bit expensive - ~20$.

The only problem is that it is prohibited to use it if the heat sink is made of aluminum.

So, please, tell me, what the heat sink is made of?

 

[fr4c]

How much time should I set aside to do this? (my first time)

As much time as you need. iFixit has a guide to last generation MBP which is very similar to the internals of the 2011 refresh. The last thing you want to do is rip a ribbon cable or break a plastic connector, as they are small and delicate. Many guides tell you to use your fingers to lift some of these parts, but I find the best way is to use a small spudger tool as it gives you more accuracy and control.

I have a Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra, one of the best thermal interfaces available:
http://www.coollaboratory.com/en/produkte/liquid-ultra/
Much better than Arctic Silver 5, but it's a bit expensive - ~20$.

The only problem is that it is prohibited to use it if the heat sink is made of aluminum.

So, please, tell me, what the heat sink is made of?

I'm pretty sure the actual heatsink pad is copper, but I cannot confirm what the surrounding brace/structure is.

 

[ayeying]

I'm pretty sure the actual heatsink pad is copper, but I cannot confirm what the surrounding brace/structure is.

The surrounding is Aluminum. Aluminum is great at radiating heat, just not absorbing heat. Thats why Copper is used as the pad, it's great at absorbing but horrible (compared to aluminum) at radiating.

The heatsink itself is a mix of Copper + Aluminum

 

[ddoolin0]

The surrounding is Aluminum. Aluminum is great at radiating heat, just not absorbing heat. Thats why Copper is used as the pad, it's great at absorbing but horrible (compared to aluminum) at radiating.

The heatsink itself is a mix of Copper + Aluminum

Is this true for traditional heatsinks on chipsets, too? Just curious. They look like pure copper half the time, which seems stupid if what you say is true.

 

[bastienvans]

Thanks for the write up. It looks like this will be my next project. Cheers!

 

[AnomicsAcid]

Not automatically (i.e. just doing it doesn't invalidate your warranty). However, if you mess it up and damage / break your computer, the warranty wouldn't cover it.
In other words, if you do it properly and don't damage anything, your warranty is fine. However, if you change the TP and your computer won't start up when you've finished, then your warranty won't cover it.
It makes sense really - warranties are to cover manufacturing defects, not failed mod attempts )

I'm a tech in a computer repair shop and we are certified Apple technicians and we do warranty repair. I have to totally agree with the above. You can mod and change your TP if your comfortable enough with it without damaging anything. If you have problem with a part, i.e. logic board, the tech will take a look at it for any damage, corrosion, foreign objects, mis-handling, etc... and if none is found it will be replaced with a known good part, and the known bad part will be sent back to Apple. An authorized Apple repair shop will not deny a weekly check from Apple for fixing warranty computers. They will gladly do warranty work.

 

[C01E]

Why not just remove the three screws holding the superdrive in and then remove mobo/heatsink/fan all together saving you the trouble of having to deal with those tiny arse cables connecting the fans?

 

[AppleMacFinder]

Third heatsink

I'm pretty sure the actual heatsink pad is copper, but I cannot confirm what the surrounding brace/structure is.

The surrounding is Aluminum. Aluminum is great at radiating heat, just not absorbing heat. Thats why Copper is used as the pad, it's great at absorbing but horrible (compared to aluminum) at radiating.

The heatsink itself is a mix of Copper + Aluminum

Thank you for your help! I have also contacted CoolLaboratory, and they said that
these two heat sinks are made from copper, and chips' cover is not aluminum,
so I can use their liquid metal as a TIM for CPU and GPU.

The only problem remaining that I don't know what the 3rd and 4th heat sinks are made of:
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/fcEthvKik6FMxG6R.huge
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/jXmoiCi3PESmiLyM.huge

 

[kappaknight]

Quick Q to the OP, since you seem to know what's good, why AS5? I've read that's a bit old now and MX-2 and MX-3 are better suited now and are less risky as they aren't conductive if you make a mess. Just curious as I used to be a big AS5 fan when I had my first AMD build 10 years ago, but now just use MX-3.

If you're considering those two, why not the MX-4?