That’s what I wanted to know, unfortunate but I appreciate an official statement.
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IIRC in the US the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for a company to void a warranty due to any aftermarket modification unless the company can prove that the modification is the cause of the warranty claim.
So if you’re in the US then I think the answer is no it won’t void the warranty. Other places will depend on local warranty laws and Framework’s policy.
Incorrect. Please read the verbiage of the Act before posting a “IIRC”. It’s dangerous.
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Wile I am aware stuff like that isn’t exactly legal in a lot of places it doesn’t really help me if they refuse the warranty anyway.
I’ll definitely hold off on the lm for a bit for now.
I will read over the act later, however from a quick search on ecfr.gov I see that “No warrantor may condition the continued validity of a warranty on the use of only authorized repair service and/or authorized replacement parts for non-warranty service and maintenance”.
That part I guess would depend on if replacing the thermal paste is considered maintenance by replacing with an unauthorized replacement part, however in the event that the thermal paste experiences pump out or dry out over time I think replacing it definitely counts as maintenance.
I will look into it more later.
Edit: Immediately after posting I found this statement from the Federal Trade Commission which seems to apply even without it being maintenance:
I’ll look at the exact wording of the act later, but given that both ecfr.gov and ftc.gov have interpretations along these lines I would be surprised if the actual act is dramatically different.
Bottom line, Liquid Metal is NOT designed to be used in the Framework Laptop 13 series, and should damage be caused by the modification to attempt to utilize Liquid Metal instead of the expected thermal paste, or by the Liquid Metal damaging nearby components, this would be considered CID and would not be covered under our Limited Warranty (please use regional-specific link if outside the US).
We have explained exactly why we use Liquid Metal for the Framework Laptop 16 in this blog post, crafted by our CEO and Founder. Usage and implementation of Liquid Metal is very specific, and improper application can lead to leakage which can cause damage.
To be clear, if you use Liquid Metal, and have it applied correctly/professionally, experience no issues or leakage, and have a non-related issue requiring warranty support, that warranty is still valid. If you attempt this, and cause issues due to the application of Liquid Metal, those issues and/or damage will be considered CID (Customer Induced Damage) and will not be covered under our Limited Warranty.
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Well yeah that wasn’t the question, I’m not gonna do a warranty claim for something I broke. I am more worried for cases like the still unexplained exploding mosfets or some other non lm related failures.Or something along the lines of the 11th gen rtc battery thing.
Now that is what I wanted to hear. Thanks, I really hope I’ll never need to deal with warranty but this is good to hear.
I have not actually owned a laptop with warranty for quite a while they were all either used or broken when I got them so if something broke it was on me anyway.
So far my survival rate for lm on laptops is 8/8 and 2/2 on gpus so I’m confident enough I won’t mess that up, and if I do it won’t be your problem.
So… There’s some liquid metal in our gear? Solid.
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What I am sure he meant to say, is that it voids your warranty if you screw it up. Which, unfortunately, 99% of the people installing it do.
You may not. You might do the best job in the world. 
For every you that will do it perfectly, there’s 100 people who will spill that shit everywhere, short it under every BGA chip, put some on their dinner…
Magnuson moss is an important consumer law. It ensures manufacturers can’t void the warranty for no good reason, and I’m glad it exists. It places responsibility on the manufacturer to prove that you did something stupid to damage your device.
My point in all of this… magnuson moss was never designed to be some sort of catch all, "i can do whatever i want to what i own and keep the warranty. It just means the manufacturer has to demonstrate that you broke it in order to void your warranty.
I am sure FW has seen enough sad cases of liquid metal failing to default to the response they saw above, as have I!
Changing your hard drive with an SSD properly is not warranty voidable.
Changing your iphone screen and putting the wrong screws in the wrong hole, drilling a hole through 3 layers of the board, is warranty voidable.
It is tricky, because the onus being on the manufacturer to be a detective and figure out what you did makes warranty difficult. This requires the person making the determination have a brain - which is difficult to ask of someone making $7.50/hr handling returns at some bottom-of-the-barrel, lowest priced ebay store. Even if the person handling the return has a lovely brain… for that salary… who would want to waste calories turning it on? I worked at modell’s sporting goods for $6/hr - I could give a crap less if the customer messed up the return. I made $6.
This is why warranty void if removed stickers are so convenient for manufacturers & vendors. It allows the return to be processed with the minimal amount of effort & engagement.
There is the concern that people will scam the manufacturer if they follow magnuson moss. In practice, most of the time when people break something, it comes from carelessness, ignorance, or lack of attention to detail. The same attention to detail necessary to properly cover their tracks & scam the manufacturer. 
I’ll be able to tell that they voided their warranty through negligence very quickly!
Framework doesn’t strike me as a company that will void your warranty over liquid metal. They will when it leaks onto the board though, and I would too. and that’s completely legal.
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The stuff definitely has to be treated with respect, I have seen enough carnage on the internet.
If I screw it up that’s on me, I just don’t want to be boned if something unrelated fails or a bios update bricks the thing or something.
Also if you never done it, what it (or just straight gallium) does to aliminium is pretty neat/scary to experience first hand (with scrap of course).
Also if you never done it, what it (or just straight gallium) does to aliminium is pretty neat/scary to experience first hand (with scrap of course).
Don’t get me started on people who put that garbage on top of current sense resistors to be able to get better overclocks. It’s so triggering.
You could solder a current sense resistor on top in parallel. These things cost 20 cents on mouser. People pay more money for liquid metal, pour it on, let it corrode their entire card… all to avoid spending $30 on a used pinecil or something. Infuriating.
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That was indeed a common big brain move back in the 10 series days.
That was what I did on my 1080ti, still runs. The liquid metal on that one was reserved for the core. That puppy could pull like 400W and have barely 20C above ambient die temps.
My new 7900 xtx probably needs the opposite of a shunt mod out of the box XD
Fascinating.
Would this make user-replacing the cooling system more complex?
Are the pads re-useable if you remove and refit the cooling? Or would the pad need to be replaced?
See you all took a page from the PTM mod for the Framework 13 ;3 just teasing :P. Though
I do hope there will be an option for more capable cooling in the future though, the heat pipes on the FW16 seem lacking compared to other laptops.
Would I be correct in the assumption that the metallurgy of the FW13 heatsink is not compatible with the liquid metal of the FW16’s factory premade thermal pad?
(Assuming the factory 16 pad was perfectly aligned in the 13, it would just eat into the heatsink)
Edit: Forgot to highlight that the U variant’s operating ranges are probably suboptimal for LM pad compared to the HS if you have to be IN the intended operating range.
It’s not alu at the very least, otherwise mine would be in some deep trouble XD
On a more serious note, just use ptm, gets you most of the way there without any of the risk.
The u performs pretty nicely with more cooling, I can do 45W sustained after I figured out how to get around the stapm limits with lm, unfortunately I only figured that out after I moved to lm so don’t know how close ptm gets to that, up to the 30W stapm limit ptm and lm are pretty much equal in my testing.
there’s also the multiple layers of engineered seal on the fw16 that are lacking on the fw13.
keeping the liquid metal in is kinda important.
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That’s the foam barrier in the thermal pad though if I’m looking at it the right way.
The extra seal around the chip itself can be done manually like you would in extreme overclocking/marine waterproofing.
If the question is if you can put conductonaut on it then that is yes, if you should is a whole other question XD.
Basically, but specifically using the FW16’s replacement pad. The little sheet and barrier is nifty.
Not that I need it, but my background in motorsports development has me curious.