If you have two AntMiner U3's where they both work fine on their own, I cannot imagine how thermal management would have anything to do with them not working fine when both are plugged in - unless both were put into an enclosed box together significantly raising each other's temps. Given the thermal mass involved, even that scenario seems unlikely to throw errors practically immediately.
It's not a "thermal management" issue. There are dielectric effects of having excess paste covering CCA components that should not be covered. I didn't believe it either but the results are real.