[Beryllium Oxide] or Synth-DOA

[Harry Bissell]

Good News / Bad News
The bad news first. Beryllium Oxide is very toxic. Basically, if you inhale
the dust, you will feel fine for about an hour and then drop stone cold dead.
There is very little the doctors can do. You are "fucked".

The good news is, Beryllium Oxide is almost never seen outide of the sealed
packages of high power semiconductors (diodes, scr pucks, IGBT's in the 50A
range and up). I have never seen a thermal conductor for external use made of
Beryllia (another name for the same).

If you drill open a package listed above, for God's sake take precautions or
don't do it. Contact the maunfacturer to get info. A lot of new packages now
use Alumina (aluminum oxide) which is *almost* as good a thermal conductor as
Beryllia. 

If you are not absoultely careful, you will 
"be absolutely Icebox"

(I couldn't resist ;-)   Harry


"The Dark force of dance" <batzman at all-electric.com> wrote:
Y-ellow Y'all.
	I know Beryllium Oxide is damn nasty stuff. I'm pretty sure it is only
usually found as heatsink washers. Usually big fat T03 things. Pink in
colour if I'm not mistaken.

However I'm currently working with a heatsink of which the transistor
mounting bracket is kinda glued onto the heat-sink proper with A kind of
blue stuff. It's hard and brittle. It was once liquid but is now almost
like glass.

Things is. I accidently drilled into this stuff. It came up as a kind of
fine blue/glassy crystalline powder. Something like a fine blue sugar. I'm
a bit concerned about it knowing how devastating Beryllium oxide can be if
inhaled or ingested.

Anyone happen to know what this stuff is?

Thanks in advance.

Be absolutely Icebox.

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