Heat conductive compound

[FunGus]

On Christmas Eve, my wife smelled smoke coming from our boiler room. Sure enough, there was a very slow leak coming out of a hot water pipe directly above the boiler's electronic aquastat. The water was creating a spark that was melting the electronic board. I shut everything down and repaired the leak however the aquastat was ruined. I called a plumber and a few hours later, a new one was installed. As I watched the plumber replace the part, I saw that he was applying a silver heat compound to a temperature sensor. It looked just like "Arctic Silver" but it came in a much larger plastic envelope. The heat compound came with the new aquastat and the packaging also included product literature for the chemical paste. It is called "Honeywell 107408 heat conductive compound". I immediately wondered if this compound could be used for computers. If this is the same stuff, then there is no need to pay $7 for a 3.5 gram tube if you can pay almost the same for a 4 oz can. Of course, when spending $1000 (or more) on a new computer, there is no point in being cheap over a $7 tube, especially if the substitute is inferior. And really, how much heat compound does one need? If you read the specs offered by "Arctic Silver", it looks as if it is superior to the more generic "heat compound". If so, then why risk your investment just to save a few bucks. In any case, I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this matter.

Here are some links:

Arctic Silver manufacturor's website: http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm
Arctic Silver: 3.5 grams sold by mwave: http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=BA19642&RSKU=BA19642
Amazon.com: Honeywell 107408 heat conductive compound (grease) 4 oz container
http://www.amazon.com/Honeywell-107408-conductive-compound-container/dp/B0006UPMZM