[Elecraft] Thermal Interface, pads vs. grease question?

[Andrey Stoev]

Hi,
Soon I will be finishing up my KPA100, just waiting for some missing =
parts.
 My question is about  the thermal pads used for the transistors in the =
final stage (Q1 and Q2).
The kit comes with some thermal pads to serve as a thermal interface =
between the transistors and the heatsink. My question is: can i use a =
thermal grease, such as Arctic Silver III (http://www.arcticsilver.com/) =
instead of thermal pads. As far as i know Arctic Silver contains pure =
micronized silver and it has very low thermal resistance and very high =
thermal conductivity (>9.0 W/m-K - way better than the zinc oxide grease =
("the white stuff") which is ~0.735 W/m-K)  I asume, it would be better =
thermal conductor than the supplied pads. The electric conductivity of =
the compound should  not be a problem, since the emiter ciruit is =
grounded anyway. Better thermal interface will improve the heat =
transffer and will provide the PA transistors with better cooling and =
more accurate temperature readings from Q3. Is there any potential =
problems or something that i am overlooking and is it safe to experiment =
with it?

Thanks and 73s

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