Scratched Heatsink

R

RobertoIsRad

n00b
Joined
Jan 29, 2008
Messages
52
I've got a swiftech apogee GT waterblock that got scratched somehow. I've googled a few how-tos on lapping but would like to hear other people suggestions on how they do it
 
Get a piece of glass, different grits of sand paper, I like to use wet-dry sandpaper (this'll depending on how bad the scratch is), and all you need a flat service.

I usually start off with pouring a small bit of water on the sandpaper and adding a few drops of liquid soap. Depending on how bad the base is I then would start lapping the base using 400 or 600 grit wet-dry sandpaper, move to 800 grit wet-dry, and then I usually finish off with 1000 grit wet-dry sand paper. I sometimes use 1200 or 1500 grit wet-dry but 800 or 1000 grit should be good enough to finish off with. (Whenever I changed the grit of sandpaper I always redid the task of adding a bit of water along with a few drops of liquid soap.)

Although polishing is not necessarily you could do so if you want a nice mirror finish.
 
Don't polish, it adds chemicals to the bottom of the heatsink that will reduce thermal transfer, and it's not like anyone is going to stare at the bottom of your block after you install it.
 
Quite true which is why I don't polish after lapping as its not all about how shiny the base is, its more about how flat it is.
 
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