Thermals after repair: paste, heat pipes, and sudden throttling

After board work, “fixed then overheats” is common (NLCRC bench note). Mechanical - Heat-pipe assembly must sit flat; missing pads or wrong screw order create hot spots. - Replace dried paste; do not mix liquid metal onto aluminium heat sinks not designed for it. Electrical vs thermal - A shorted sense or stuck fan PWM looks like overheating in software. - Confirm fan spin at POST and in stress; clean dust from fins. Customer-facing - Explain that a repaired liquid-damage unit may need thermal follow-up after a week of use. Include model, whether fans spin, and stress temps if you have them.