Heat management for high-power boards

[Alan]

I’m exploring different methods to keep high-power boards cool when they’re under load. Besides the usual heat sinks and fans, what other techniques are people using? Things like thermal pads, copper pours, active cooling, or adjustments in layout? Let’s exchange ideas on what’s been effective!

 

[capacitorkid]

Putting copper and thermal vias close to hot areas really helps spread the heat fast. I've also found that even small changes to the layout can keep hot zones away from everything else and let air flow better.

 

[stev3wood]

I’m exploring different methods to keep high-power boards cool when they’re under load. Besides the usual heat sinks and fans, what other techniques are people using? Things like thermal pads, copper pours, active cooling, or adjustments in layout? Let’s exchange ideas on what’s been effective!

It's easy to forget that the board itself is your main heatsink! One trick I love is using naked copper areas.
Skip the soldermask entirely on large copper pours near hot components. The raw copper has way better emissivity than the soldermask, giving you a passive cooling boost via radiation.
if your budget allows, consider an MCPCB for the hottest parts (like LED drivers or high power converters). It's essentially a giant aluminum heatsink laminated to your circuit board