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Laptop fan cable touching top of heatsink and ssd.

C

CaramelDonut

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Jan 20, 2025
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I recently opened the heatsink on my laptop to respread its liquid metal. To do so I had to remove the fans and accidentally forgot to put the fan cables under the heatsink as it was originally. Is the fact that now the cable is touching the ssd, and the top instead of the bottom of the heatsink a problem? Pics related are how it looks like currently.
 

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Also, because it may not be clearly evident from my word choice, I should mention that the cable was already touching the heatsink, just the bottom instead of the top (also pretty sure it was touching the ssd as well).
 
It’s shouldn’t be an issue, though I do believe it would be best to run the cable under the heat sink and ssd.
 
It's fine. I wouldn't sweat it at all.
 
When designing electronic equipment, the maximum operating temperature for standard PVC insulated wire is +70°C.
https://www.invt-networkpower.com/Blog/info.aspx?itemid=332

For high temperature circuits I used PTFE, rated at +200°C, but it's difficult stuff to strip due to the slippery nature of the insulation.
https://www.heatsensecables.co.uk/media/1747/ptfe-wires-ul1199.pdf

If a PVC insulated wire was touching an M.2 drive running in permanent throttle mode, this might exceed the temperature rating of PVC very briefly. It would take many hours (probably weeks/months/years) at sustained temperatures up to +100°C, before any signs of degradation became apparent in PVC.
 
He already resolved the issue.
 
If you want some peice of mind. Buy some Kapton tape and stick a small strip across where the cable is making contact with the heatpipe. Kapton tape is heat resistant and wont impact the heatsink from performing any differently then it was before.

It just adds a barrier between the cable and heatpipe
 
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