Old burnt heatsink termal compound (white grease) removal

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cari \(MS-MVP\)
  • Start date Start date
Hello
I just got a 2nd hand 6 yo PC,PIII 800 133 (Coppermine-FC PGA).So I took a
heatsink off the CPU and found out that there's
old solid white burnt grease on a die,heatsink bottom and CPU body.What
should I do,how I can remove that off the CPU die?
Or just leave there as is?
Cleaning the heatsink is not a big deal,but CPU die...
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
Alon
 
Hello
I just got a 2nd hand 6 yo PC,PIII 800 133 (Coppermine-FC PGA).So I took a
heatsink off the CPU and found out that there's
old solid white burnt grease on a die,heatsink bottom and CPU body.What
should I do,how I can remove that off the CPU die?
Or just leave there as is?
Cleaning the heatsink is not a big deal,but CPU die...
Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I've always cleaned them with the alcohol prep patches doctors use to
sterilize skin. It works very well.

You can probably get the same result from a bit of isopropyl alcohol
on a paper towel if you don't have a convenient source of those
patches.
 
Thanks for your help!

I decided NOT to mess around with a CPU core,just cleaned the
heatsink.Better be safe,than sorry.

Al
 
Hi,

After you have removed the heatsink from the CPU, it is advisable to clean
out the old hard thermal paste (which had already dried and hardened on the
CPU surface as well as on the base of the heatsink) by using a cotton ball
damped with a very small amount of isopropyl alcohol . After the old hard
thermal paste have been removed from the surface of the CPU and the base of
the heatsink, apply a new film of thermal paste to the surface of the CPU
before re-attach the heatsink. It is to ensure the base of the heatsink to
have a perfect contact with the CPU for cooling.
 
xtberia said:
I am from Kolkata, India, and would appreciate very much if someone
could please tell me where to procure the following items in Kolkata:

1. Thermal compound/glue for use between processor and heat sink.
Click to expand...

Computer supply store.

2. Isopropyl alcohol.
Click to expand...

Pharmacy/Drug Store
 
Perhaps you are unaware this is not a local chat room or business
directory for your town. This is a worldwide accessible newsgroup for
the discussion of hardware issues relating to the Windows XP operating
system.
Are you sure my friend that you reside in Kolkata? The reason for
asking this question is that either you are not a resident of this
city, or you are plain guessing.

Let me tell you that the first item is not to be had in any major
computer stores across the city. While the latter cannot be bought from
any pharmacy or a drug store, as you have pointed out.

Both these items can be had at Brabourne Road. For the curious, please
browse through chemical shops at Old China Bazar.

I was given this information by an old acquaintance of mine who happens
to be a chemist by education, and a consultant by profession.

Hope this helps those who are in the same quandry as I was. I shall
keep this thread upto date with my experiences in using thermal grease
and isopropyl alcohol.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you are unaware this is not a local chat room or business
directory for your town. This is a worldwide accessable newsgroup for
the discussion of hardware issues relating to the Windows XP operating
system. Please do not bother with a reply or continue with any thread
updates.
 
xtberia said:
Perhaps we should be equally aware that we need to contribute in order
to help others. As you quite rightly pointed out that this is a
worldwide accessible newsgroup for the discussion of hardware issues
relating to the Windows XP operating system, the mere enrichment of
this thread/post with added inputs cant be a distraction. After all, we
never know when this post could probably help you in your times of need.
Click to expand...

Isopropyl alcohol is not the most effective cleaner in any case.
You could go to a lot of trouble, to find some, and then be
disappointed in its cleaning properties.

The nice thing about alcohol, is it won't damage the
components on the motherboard. Alcohol is used to remove
solder resins, and is part of cleaning agents used in
electronics. In North America, alcohols like this are
readily available, as "rubbing alcohol", which is used
for external medicinal purposes. At one time, this might have
been 99% (denatured?), but now you might see 70% solution on
the drug store shelf.

There are non-polar solvents which are a better match for
thermal paste, but the thing is, they may also attack or
damage components in the area. Such compounds could be safe
to use on the heatsink by itself, but if used on a processor,
you should be careful not to get any on the pins or contact
area.

To give an example of solvents designed to remove thermal
paste, there is a kit here. This kit really cleans.
By comparison, our use of alcohol only serves to smear
around the thermal compound. Most of the cleaning action
with alcohol, comes from abrasive effort with the cleaning
cloth. This stuff, on the other hand, actually dissolves
the old material.

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ArcticSilver/ArctiClean

I have never used ArctiClean, nor seen it for sale in local
computer stores. Our computer stores do carry thermal compounds,
but no cleaner.

Another example of a cleaner, is "Goo Gone". Its usage is
demonstrated here.

http://www.xbox-scene.com/articles/thermal-compound.php

The MSDS for "Goo Gone" is here. It contains PETROLEUM NAPHTHA
and CITRUS OIL.

http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~jsmith/MSDS/GOO-GONE STAIN REMOVER.htm

A number of thermal paste products, use boron nitride particles
as the thermally conductive solid mixed in a carrier. I don't know
if there are any readily available materials, that happen to have
boron nitride.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boron_nitride

Paul
 
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