Using the wave soldering process to attach motherboard chipset heat sinks

A method of assembling an electronic device, comprising:

• mounting a heat producing component to a substrate;
• positioning a layer of thermal interface material on to the heat producing component such that the thermal interface material is disposed on the substrate;
• aligning a heat sink including the at least one mounting pin over the thermal interface material such that the thermal interface material is sandwiched between the heat producing component and the heat sink, and further the at least one pin is disposed over the substrate for soldering the at least one pin to the substrate;
• reducing the viscosity of the thermal interface material by preheating the thermal interface material in a wave soldering preheater to cause the thermal interface material to wet the component to thermally couple the heat sink to the heat producing component;
• and
• attaching the sink in a fixed position on the heat producing component and the substrate by soldering the at least one pin onto the substrate while the thermal interface material is still hot.

A method of assembling an electronic device, comprising:

• mounting a heat producing component to a substrate having at least one mounting hole therein;
• aligning a heat sink having at least one mounting pin to the substrate with each of the mount pins inserted into a mounting hole;
• positioning a thermal interface material between the heat producing component and the heat sink;
• and
• reducing the viscosity of the thermal interface material and securing the heat sink in a fixed position on the substrate by exposing the device to a wave soldering process to cause the thermal interface material to wet and thermally bond the heat sink and the heat producing component and to further solder the at least one pin to the at least one mounting hole.