Gap Issue -2

First, I want to say something before getting into the main subject. After the previous post, I got several people emailing me with the great worry about getting a bad unit. Actually, the gap does not exist on every unit. If your HDX 1000 runs smoothly without glitch or freezing, it is probably working just fine. You really don't need to take the risk to open the box.

We have received the silicon pad and the thermal paste from Digitech, to address the gaping issue. However, the thermal paste is in a huge tube package. We cannot easily take a small portion out of the tube to send out! So, we have ordered some small-sized thermal paste from Internet. You can see the gap closing kit that we plan to ship out in the below picture. Supposedly, you don’t need the silicon pad. Most machines should have the silicon pad installed in the correct position. After opening the machine, if you see the pad installed in the wrong position like lordy's description here, you can first try to rotate the cover by 180 degree and see if the silicon pad can go to the right position. Remember, the cover is in true square shape and can still be installed after the rotation. If the rotation step cannot bring the silicon pad back to the right position, you can re-install the pad provided in the gap closing kit.



We will be happy to ship the kit to any HDX 1000 owners who want to apply the solution in US and Canada. Please send the request to my email address (howard_chang”at”amperor.com) with the following shipping information.

1. Full name.
2. Ship-to address.
3. The serial number of your HDX 1000.

If you are outside of US and Canada, and did not buy your unit from us, please contact Alex at hdx1080.com for the help.

Before I get into the “un-official” thermal paste applying procedure, let me state some facts so you can make your own decision on whether you want to do this on your machine or not.

1. Alex at HDX1080.com reported that less than 0.0001% of the owners raised a supporting ticket concerning gaps wider than 1mm. It is true that some owners don’t know and don’t follow this topic. It is also true that not every HDX 1000 has this gaping issue. If your unit is working without freezing or glitch, more than likely, it is just fine. You don’t need to get into panic mode and open your unit.

2. Alex at HDX1080.com does not recommend people without previous hardware modification experience to open the box. If you experience freezing or display glitch issue, please first update the firmware. If you still experience the issue after updating the firmware, please contact your reseller.

OK, the following is the “un-official” thermal paste applying procedure. It is “un-official” because I cannot get an official procedure from Digitech. It is just what I use on my unit.

1. Open the cover (un-screw 4 screws circled by red)



2. Detach the two daughter board cables. Unscrew the two screws. Carefully remove the daughter board.



3. Un-screw the 6 screws which hold the bottom piece of the case to the walls.
4. Un-screw the 2 screws which hold the bottom piece of the case to the PCB. The bottom piece should come out easily.



5. Apply thermal paste onto the heat sink of the CPU.



6. Put the bottom piece back to its position. Install the two screws on the main PCB to better hold the bottom piece to the PCB. (You don’t need to put all the screws back.) Un-screw the two screws on the main PCB. Remove the bottom piece. Check if there is any thermal paste on the silicon pad. If so, you have successfully bridge the gap. If not, apply more thermal paste onto the heatsink.



7. Re-assemble the unit.

Please note that the front panel LED indicator and the IR sensor stand up high on the daughter board. You need to be careful not to short or damage the long legs of the two parts in the disassemble process.




Let me know if you have any questions.