Chosen Solution
I replaced the motherboard in a 2.16 GHz MacBook Core 2 Duo and applied the thermal paste in a very thin layer. I have never worked with thermal paste before and I would like to know if I need to wait until it is dry to install the heat sink. Or can I install it right away? I could not find the answer in the thermal paste guide. First I put so much paste on the processor that I had several circuit shorts. I removed it and did it again. Now I am nervous. Thank you!
As long as the two surfaces with the newly applied paste are not separated again during re-assembly, it should be fine. I’ve never heard of having to wait for the paste to dry before either.
Thermal paste doesn’t dry out for years.
