Does the old thermal paste generate hardware problems? How to change it?

[master92]

Can a dry thermal paste generate hardware problems such as not having reflected the temperatures of the hashboards in the mining interface or not recognizing the cards? I kept my miner off for almost 1 month for lack of a fancooler which stopped working, after I bought the spare I started the problem that I recognized the temperature of some cards if and others, sometimes it shows almost all the "x" in your cards, however you know that the asics are not damaged since their count is kept at "40" for each card (it is an antminer s4) there are also occasions that shows all the chips in "o" but does not raise power, sometimes the restart and reaches 500 ghs, a while ago remove the dissipators and I realized that the thermal paste is very dry, I do not know if the previous owners changed it sometime or if it is the original pasta (if so and taking into account that the antminer s4 was released to the public in 2014 and it would be enough time with that thermal paste not?) After having put the heatsinks again (without changing the thermal paste since I still do not buy it) I turned on the antminer and it reached 2100 ghs and there it remained, as it had reset previously, I had lost its configuration with the pool so I put it back and when it rebooted it returned to the previous state, recognizing the temperature of some cards and not others, some people told me that this may be due to the thermal paste and that I have to change it, now brothers of the forum, is it possible that this problem is generating the thermal paste?

What would be the correct way to remove the old thermal paste from the chips without these being affected?

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[BitMaxz]

My guess its not a thermal paste issue i think the problem your temp detector is your problem i don't have antminer s4 but maybe it is the same as antminer s7 or s9 try to follow trouble shooting guide from bitmain here https://support.bitmain.com/hc/en-us/articles/220872007-Possible-problems-for-Antminer-Troubleshooting-for-S7-S9-L3-

[master92]

My guess its not a thermal paste issue i think the problem your temp detector is your problem i don't have antminer s4 but maybe it is the same as antminer s7 or s9 try to follow trouble shooting guide from bitmain here https://support.bitmain.com/hc/en-us/articles/220872007-Possible-problems-for-Antminer-Troubleshooting-for-S7-S9-L3-

thank you for your answer brother, here you attach two images of how it looks what I speak

https://image.prntscr.com/image/T6UFS2RdS5mSUoKwTH10sw.png
https://image.prntscr.com/image/4bj0UetsRAaFeaGpS575nA.png

I have never had problems with detecting the temperatures of the cards, I speak of the thermal paste because some people have told me that this may be the case and as it happened a month off, maybe the thermal paste finished drying (that's what I think) I ask if it is possible that this is what is generating the problem.

[MinerMEDIC]

Thermal paste conducts heat energy across the microscopic (air gap)surfaces of the processor and the heatsink. It is not water-based and should never dry out (but will eventually) when it does it loses its effectiveness. Don't use cheap paste that dries out relatively quickly.

[master92]

Thermal paste conducts heat energy across the microscopic (air gap)surfaces of the processor and the heatsink. It is not water-based and should never dry out (but will eventually) when it does it loses its effectiveness. Don't use cheap paste that dries out relatively quickly.

Does that mean that the problem can be caused by the already dry pasta? a while ago remove the dissipators I cleaned the dry thermal paste they had and then connect the miner after restarting a couple of times started working at its normal power 2000ghs, however, I know that if I restart it is possible to return to the previous state Could it be the thermal paste that is generating this problem? Thanks for your comment!

[MinerMEDIC]

Thermal paste conducts heat energy across the microscopic (air gap)surfaces of the processor and the heatsink. It is not water-based and should never dry out (but will eventually) when it does it loses its effectiveness. Don't use cheap paste that dries out relatively quickly.

Does that mean that the problem can be caused by the already dry pasta? a while ago remove the dissipators I cleaned the dry thermal paste they had and then connect the miner after restarting a couple of times started working at its normal power 2000ghs, however, I know that if I restart it is possible to return to the previous state Could it be the thermal paste that is generating this problem? Thanks for your comment!

You always want thermal paste to be still slightly gooey or at least not completely hard and it must also be free of bubbles. A new bead of thermal paste should always be applied after removing a heatsink to safeguard against the inclusion of air bubbles. That's just my two cents on thermal paste and heatsinks I don't know if it will solve your problem.

[master92]

Thermal paste conducts heat energy across the microscopic (air gap)surfaces of the processor and the heatsink. It is not water-based and should never dry out (but will eventually) when it does it loses its effectiveness. Don't use cheap paste that dries out relatively quickly.

Does that mean that the problem can be caused by the already dry pasta? a while ago remove the dissipators I cleaned the dry thermal paste they had and then connect the miner after restarting a couple of times started working at its normal power 2000ghs, however, I know that if I restart it is possible to return to the previous state Could it be the thermal paste that is generating this problem? Thanks for your comment!

You always want thermal paste to be still slightly gooey or at least not completely hard and it must also be free of bubbles. A new bead of thermal paste should always be applied after removing a heatsink to safeguard against the inclusion of air bubbles. That's just my two cents on thermal paste and heatsinks I don't know if it will solve your problem.

What is the best way to remove the thermal paste without affecting the chips? I noticed that the texture of the thermal paste that the chips already look like plasticine, thank you in advance.

[MinerMEDIC]

Thermal paste conducts heat energy across the microscopic (air gap)surfaces of the processor and the heatsink. It is not water-based and should never dry out (but will eventually) when it does it loses its effectiveness. Don't use cheap paste that dries out relatively quickly.

Does that mean that the problem can be caused by the already dry pasta? a while ago remove the dissipators I cleaned the dry thermal paste they had and then connect the miner after restarting a couple of times started working at its normal power 2000ghs, however, I know that if I restart it is possible to return to the previous state Could it be the thermal paste that is generating this problem? Thanks for your comment!

You always want thermal paste to be still slightly gooey or at least not completely hard and it must also be free of bubbles. A new bead of thermal paste should always be applied after removing a heatsink to safeguard against the inclusion of air bubbles. That's just my two cents on thermal paste and heatsinks I don't know if it will solve your problem.

What is the best way to remove the thermal paste without affecting the chips? I noticed that the texture of the thermal paste that the chips already look like plasticine, thank you in advance.

just clean it off Q-tip(or some other non- synthetic material ) and some alcohol don't worry about residue( it's supposed to be nonconductive ), just make sure your mating surfaces are nice and clean.

[leowonderful]

I typically clean thermal paste off with isopropyl alcohol or I use some liquid glasses-cleaner that contains isopropyl alcohol to remove thermal paste. You don't need anything expensive to get it off. I then use a paper towel to wipe it all off.