Why does nobody talk about the cheap thermal paste in those off-brand power bricks?

I had a customer's laptop charger from a 2021 Dell model fail completely last Tuesday because the paste inside had dried into dust, which I only found after cracking open the brick itself with a T5 screwdriver, so has anyone else found a good replacement paste for these tiny components?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelab622d ago

Oh wow, that's a new one for me. I've seen plenty of swollen caps and fried mosfets in those cheap bricks, but never thought to check the paste. Makes total sense though, they're cutting every corner. I once took apart a no-name phone charger that was getting crazy hot, and the whole inside was just a mess of glue holding things down. Probably the same kind of junk thermal material.

jennifer_west2d ago

Totally get what you mean, @angelab62! I found a cheap power strip once that used literal cardboard as an insulator, which is just wild.