The day a server room AC failed at 2 PM in July and I learned the hard way about thermal paste on RAM

I was onsite at a small law office in downtown Portland when the temp hit 104 and the AC went out, and I had to pull three sticks of RAM from a smoking Dell PowerEdge to reseat them with fresh thermal pads because the old ones had literally turned to goo, and the partner just stared at me asking if I could save the billing records before the motherboard fried has anyone else had to MacGyver a server like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

torres.sage24d ago

Wrapped ice packs in paper towels and aimed a box fan at the server intake while I swapped the thermal pads.

the_jason24d ago

Three sticks of RAM, torres.sage and I both learned that lesson the hard way.

jennyp1923d ago

That ice pack trick is genius but risky. I used a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a coffee filter once. Worked just long enough to ghost the data off. Thermal paste on RAM is a nightmare I never want to deal with again.