Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – Liquid Metal | Hacker News Reader

Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive – Liquid Metal

frame.work

31 pointssimon_weber10 comments

I'm happy to answer any questions folks have on this or other parts of the product.

Very impressed by what you've come up with - it will be brilliant not to be worrying about failed paste! I see the liquid metal pad is now in the store. How easy will replacement be if that's needed? https://frame.work/gb/en/products/16-liquid-thermal-pad-amd-...

We're writing a step by step replacement guide with videos, but it is pretty straightforward. You let the system cool, remove the heatsink, take off the solidified liquid metal pad using a sticker, apply the new liquid metal pad that comes attached on an alignment film, and reassemble. There is then a burn-in process to ensure the pad melts into place.

Under normal circumstances will this ever need replacing? Expecting this to be much better than paste, compared to 2-3 years for paste before conductivity drops, liquid metal should last 5+ years minimum?

How much more in percentage does it cost compared to paste? I know there are different kind of paste but just a rough estimate.

Is this the first in Laptops? It took years before Thermal Pad took off ( all because of enthusiast paying and companies discovered an market for it ). But AFAIK with liquid metal, companies were always talking about potential leakage. I thought it was at least a selling point that is worth market the hell out of it.

No, it’s unlikely you’ll ever need to replace the liquid metal. It is indeed substantially more expensive (e.g. dollars instead of cents) due to both the material cost and the extra process steps.

We’re not the first to do liquid metal in a laptop. Others have done earlier-generation liquid metals that are liquid at room temperature that have significantly more challenging design requirements. We’re one of the earlier ones to use this type of liquid metal pad that is solid at room temperature.

Fans have limited lifespan due to bearing and dust accumulation.

Are you saying I can replace fan and heatsink without also replacing the liquid metal?

Thank You. I am at least willing to pay $10-20 dollar more if it had this Liquid Metal Pad design.(Which I expect this number to fit the BOM + NRE + Margin ) I don't follow Framework extremely closely but I have yet to see this being pointed out in any of the HN discussions. May be worth market this feature a little more.

( I will surely mention this next time Framework comes up on HN )

> and fan noise to a minimum.

Have you done any tests to compare to the famously quiet MacBooks under similar workloads? To what extent is it possible to match that?

I've been waiting for what feels like a couple of years, and it still doesn't look like I can buy Frameworks in NZ. Real pity.

My coworker who bought the Framework 13 about 6 months ago just left, otherwise I'd ask him how he imported it. It seemed pretty straight forward at the time.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com