What's the purpose of these thermo pads?

[aG738]

Sorry for asking a stupid question, but I cannot figure out what these grey thermo bars/pads are - thermal insulation pads or heat dissipation pads.

This is the the Samsung Plasma Y-sustain board. I need to replace a few capacitors and had to remove one of these pads as it covered the mounting holes. My questions:

1. What's the purpose of these pads, insulation or heat dissipation?
2. Where can I find these? I have checked mouser, element14 and rs-online, but could not find anything similar.
3. Do I really need to restore the pad I removed?

Thanks!

[madan1]

Re: What's the purpose of these thermo pads?

Look like silicone thermal pads ( used for heat transfer ). I've seen them used on the top of the IC and on the bottom - on other other side of the PCB, under the IC. I've seen them also used as spacers, which seems to be the case with your PCB.
You can find them in different thicknesses and sizes. Usually computer parts shops have those stocked up.

[Tvbob]

Re: What's the purpose of these thermo pads?

There used to help damped noise, humming.
You should be able to reuse them.
They are not necessary.