How to determine thermal pad thickness for an external nvme enclosure

[camner]

I've been doing some reading about thermal pad thickness in an extra enclosure, and the consensus seems to be that it needs to have a "Goldilocks" thickness. That is, if it's too thin and doesn't make contact with the underside of the enclosure, then heat will build up inside the enclosure and the thermal pad is all but useless. If it is too thick, the pressure on the SSD could cause damage to the SSD, and beyond that, the thicker the pad the less effective it is in transferring heat.

How can I tell whether a thermal pad is making contact with the underside of the enclosure? I imagine I could tell if it's significantly too thick by whether I encounter a lot of resistance when I close the enclosure.

Any helpful tips?

 

[assoc]

I had my pad go from stuck to the drive to stuck to the lid and that seems like a sign it’s in contact with both.

 

[camner]

I had my pad go from stuck to the drive to stuck to the lid and that seems like a sign it’s in contact with both.

True enough, but I’ve read in several places that you don’t want to go overboard with this and have too much pressure on the drive