[Lowfer] Homemade IC chip heatsink

[Chris - KC0TKS]

Andy and the group,

My source for good, reliable, high-wattage heat sinks is old computers. 
The microprocessor heat sink from an old computer CPU is a nice chunk of 
aluminum with an attached fan. Great for a lot of our high-powered projects.

Chris - KC0TKS



Andy - KU4XR wrote:
> Nothing that's going to revolutionize the electronics world.
> The TDA7052B audio chip that I have been using as the PA stage
> for my current transmitter is a potent little chip. It has 
> built in Over Temperature protection circuits, and Over current
> protection.. It pretty much takes care of itself, and will shut 
> down if you try to push it past its internally set parameters.
> It is rated for 1 watt output, and at that level; it will get
> fairly warm to the touch, and start to back down its output.
> I did a search for IC chip heatsinks, and well, they are 
> available to purchase, but way too expensive.. I saw that all 
> they were was a " wrap around the chip " design, some were
> aluminum, some were a gold anodized plating.. Aluminum is a 
> very common material for a heatsink, so here is the experiment 
> that I tried, with a good success.. I still have lots of the 
> Aluminum foil tape for HVAC use, so I cut a short piece from the
> roll to start my experiment. I cut a very, very, narrow strip
> of the tape, and wrapped it lengthwise around the chip, making 
> sure that the tape did not touch any pins. I cut it long enough
> so that it would overlap itself, and I took the excess piece and
> folded it to itself, and then stuck it to the overlapped piece.
> A bad description I know, but the homemade aluminum foil tape 
> heatsink has done a very good job a transfering the chips heat
> into the air. Observations after the heatsink: The power output
> from the chip running at 1 watt now stays steady with no 
> fluctuation. Before; it would go up and down, especially when the
> heat, or air came on, but now it makes no difference. It surprised
> me what that little piece of aluminum foil did. Further observations,
> To keep it steady before the homemade heatsink; I had to blow air
> across it with a small muffin fan... Not now; - however, with the
> fan, I can get a sustained, steady output over 2 watts from the
> chip. It will go over the 200 Milliamp range of the meter, and
> stay there. Distorted as heck I'm sure, but the heatsink, and fan
> allowed the amp to generate more power, and hold it.
> I hope someone has found this to be at the least interesting reading.
>
> 73 to all:
>
>
>
> Andy - KU4XR - EM75xr - Friendsville, TN. USA
>
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