How to clean junk off GPU or thermal grease off Zalman?

klam · Post by **klam** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 5:45 am

Just wondering how you guys clean the original thermal pad on your GPUs before setting up an aftermarket heatsink?

Also, I set up my Zalman HP80C last night, but didn't do the best job possible (i.e. not everything aligns perfectly). I used the included Zalman thermal grease/paste, but I'd like to try to rebuild it tonight using my Arctic Silver 5. Any ideas on the most effective way to clean this stuff off?

Thanks.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 7:08 am

I always use acetone. Just don't get it on the PCB.

Post by **Rusty075** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 4:03 pm

Yup, acetone. Always.

Just do like Ralf says and be fairly careful with it. Think "Q-tip", not "mop"

Tyrdium · Post by **Tyrdium** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 6:22 pm

I don't know about for the Zalman in particular, but isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and a few tissues works fine for me for removing thermal grease from heatsinks.

klam · Post by **klam** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 8:36 pm

Worked great. I used 99% isopropyl alcohol to follow-up. I also took the opportunity to remove the residue thermal pad on the original heatsink. That was tedious... had to scratch and scratch with acetone.

Wedge · Post by **Wedge** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 9:18 pm

99% isopropyl alcohol with a Q-tip

Edit: ok i'm a nerd for being late and actually think I was helping.

Cerb · Post by **Cerb** » Thu Jun 17, 2004 6:38 pm

Rusty075 wrote:Yup, acetone. Always.

Just do like Ralf says and be fairly careful with it. Think "Q-tip", not "mop"

Yup. Acetone with a lens cloth or hard paper tower should do it just fine (hard paper towels generally don't leave too many bits behind, nor tear of sticky heatsink goop).
However, some compounds will be easier with alcohol.
Acetone usually gets them all, though. There have been some, usually retail pads for CPUs, that alcohol just would not do anything to.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:07 am

What's the thing that comes with arctic silver? Acetone?

After a few crashes I concluded my northbridge wasn't cooled properly so I decided to AS it. It turned out that the NB was GLUED!!!! on the NB with adhesive in addition to the spring clips. The AS-included liquid didn't do anything to it. I tried to dremel-brush it away, it didn't work. I tried dremel-sanding, ruining the HS in the process but naturally couldn't touch the NB with that!

That mobo is now dead for other reasons (first time I saw a copper line burn off a PCB) and I'm looking to buy a new one. How do I get rid of the sticky goop? Will alcohol do it?

Post by **Rusty075** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 6:13 am

It depends on what the adhesive actually is. If it's epoxy.... try a blowtorch.

For the realy, really bad plasticy, stuck-on, rock-solid stuff that clings to the base of a heatsink I will occasionally alternate between Acetone, alcohol, and WD-40. (Goop-off works good too). You should always follow with a good acetone-ing to remove the film that WD-40 or Goop-off will leave.

I do that only on the bare metal heatsink...never on PCB. Solvents like that can do nasty things to PCB. If the stuff is left on the chip on the board, be prepared to use lots of acetone or alcohol, and plenty of patience.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 7:53 am

I had to use a screwdriver to unstick the HS.

The Dremel brush also works - sort of. It did still leave a thin film on certain parts of the chip. I was too scared to use the aluminium brush though, it left huge scratches on the HS.

What's WD-40

jinu117 · Post by **jinu117** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 12:07 pm

Electric degreaser/contact cleaner. (the spray can one which evaoprates). less hassle cleaner than most methods, only thing is... the smell.. :p

shathal · Post by **shathal** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 2:28 pm

Acetone.

Again, a bit of a smell thing (open window helps a lot...)

Bosk · Post by **Bosk** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:31 pm

klam wrote:Just wondering how you guys clean the original thermal pad on your GPUs before setting up an aftermarket heatsink?

Also, I set up my Zalman HP80C last night, but didn't do the best job possible (i.e. not everything aligns perfectly). I used the included Zalman thermal grease/paste, but I'd like to try to rebuild it tonight using my Arctic Silver 5. Any ideas on the most effective way to clean this stuff off?

Thanks.

Isopropyl Alcohol and a lens cleaning cloth does the job for me

greeef · Post by **greeef** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 4:17 am

i use generic electronic solvent. Seems to leave things clean.

WD40 also has a load of oil in it, it's a catch-all clean/lubricate thing.

How to clean junk off GPU or thermal grease off Zalman?

How to clean junk off GPU or thermal grease off Zalman?

Re: How to clean junk off GPU or thermal grease off Zalman?