ceramic/mica wafers.... where to find?
 

im trying to find some small wafters that conduct heat well, but do not conduct electricity. I believe ceramic would work as this is what is on each side of a peltier. someone told me that these were mica though..
any ideas on what to you and where to get it would be great!

I thought it was pretty poor actually.

what about Arctic Alumina? it doesn't conduct

arctic alumina? isnt that a thermal PASTE? i need something solid

It's mica you're looking for, you get them from almost any electrical store (e.g. Radio Shack), they come pre cut for various transistors.

Some ceramics actually conduct heat very well. Alumina(Al2O3) is commonly used in electronic. Beryllium Oxid (BeO) is actually the best, it is used for RF power transistors. It handles high heat as well as high voltages. One drawback: its powder is toxic.
The plates of a peltier are made of Al2O3 for the most, sometimes contains BeO, or a mix of both.

Their thermal properties are

Al2O3 = 44 W/mk

BeO = 260 W/mk

For reference: Copper = 400W/mk

Other ceramics: Aluminum nitrides (AIN) or Silicon Carbide (SiC).

At the best, MICA is 1/10th of Al2O3.

Thermal Properties of Materials

actually i looked in radioshack and found NOTHING... if anyone knows how i could get some please let me know

it really doesnt matter what the material is i guess since i am hooking the voltage regulators from a fanbus to a water block
its not ALOT of heat.... but a decent ammount to require decent cooling

The Gel Company
Go to Plates -> notched Alumina = $40

LGC UK
This stuff is pricey!

Bailey Ceramic Supply
Kiln equipment, no exactly what you are looking for.

Digikey MICA insulator
aaaah, this is the good one. Look at Keystone MICA insulator for transistor mounting, I believe fig 3 or 4 is what you are looking for.

RadioShack do sell this stuff, I saw it. Ask them for a MICA insulator for transistor (most regulators come in a transistor package). It is a little kit that even includes a screw, nut and plastic insulator to isolate the screw from the regulator.

thanks!!! were the mica chips in the IC area?

At RadShack?
Yes.

water cooling regulators?! isn't that overkill, they should be fine with apassive heatsink.

They still get hot with passive cooling, especially without a hsf on the proc and/or chipet. Also cooling them down apparently gets more stable power and a better overclock.

Edward

yup thats why im water cooling them but the MAIN reason is because i will have one less thing to cool with a fan, and one less thing adding heat to the inside of my case.

So you're doing this to mobo regulators as well ?

my mobo is not on my list right now but i have been considering cooling the mosfets and the ram with water =)

Well, for the mosfets these mica/ceramic sheets can help... :)

Carefull with the MosFets.
They carry a lot of current, plus the signals that control them are very tight in timing.
A little heatsink glued on them should already be a great improvment (plus they don't get the heat from the CPU anymore if you are water cooled).
Cooling the RAMs should be possible.

Personnally, my next "target" is the PSU.

Look at BladeRunner's PSU. Hes' watercooling PSU mosfets. And those *do* transport high currents. So doing the same for motherboard mosfets shouldnt be a problem.