Ethyl alcohol to clean my cpu paste

[Yiannis_15]

Hello guys is it OK to clean my cpu with ethyl alcohol 96%? It's clean alcohol from pharmacy

 

[Wolfshadw]

Any alcohol over 90% is good for cleaning the thermal paste from the CPU and Heat Sink. You're good to go.

-Wolf sends

 

[JamesSneed]

Yes that will work fine. Pour some on a coffee filter and wipe away.

 

[Yiannis_15]

can i clean it with the cloth i have for my glasses? and some cotton swamps(ear cleaners)

 

[Wolfshadw]

I've always used cotton balls without issue.

-Wolf sends

 

[TJ Hooker]

Do you mean isopropyl alcohol? Ethyl alcohol is ethanol, the kind you drink. Although I imagine using some Everclear would work too.

 

[Yiannis_15]

Do you mean isopropyl alcohol? Ethyl alcohol is ethanol, the kind you drink. Although I imagine using some Everclear would work too.

 

[Yiannis_15]

No its ethyl alcohol that's it name with 96% alcohol

 

[Yiannis_15]

It's name

 

[TJ Hooker]

Huh, from what I remembered the kind of alcohol you get in a pharmacy was isopropyl. Guess I'm mistaken.

 

[JamesSneed]

Huh, from what I remembered the kind of alcohol you get in a pharmacy was isopropyl. Guess I'm mistaken.

No you are not mistaken both isopropyl and ethyl are pretty common. The local Walmart here carries both in the pharmacy section. Anyhow high percentage alcohol and not rubbing alcohol which typically means oils were added is good enough.

I use a coffee filter since I have them, they are cheap, and they don't leave any lint behind. Anything that doesn't leave lint or pieces of itself behind will work.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Huh, from what I remembered the kind of alcohol you get in a pharmacy was isopropyl. Guess I'm mistaken.

No you are not mistaken both isopropyl and ethyl are pretty common. The local Walmart here carries both in the pharmacy section. Anyhow high percentage alcohol and not rubbing alcohol which typically means oils were added is good enough.

OK, makes sense, I did know that drugstores sold isopropanol, just didn't realize they also sold ethanol. Anyway, I'm pretty sure "rubbing alcohol" is synonymous with isopropyl/ethyl alcohol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol

 

[JamesSneed]

Huh, from what I remembered the kind of alcohol you get in a pharmacy was isopropyl. Guess I'm mistaken.

No you are not mistaken both isopropyl and ethyl are pretty common. The local Walmart here carries both in the pharmacy section. Anyhow high percentage alcohol and not rubbing alcohol which typically means oils were added is good enough.

OK, makes sense, I did know that drugstores sold isopropanol, just didn't realize they also sold ethanol. Anyway, I'm pretty sure "rubbing alcohol" is synonymous with isopropyl/ethyl alcohol. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol

Rubbing alcohol is either they just brand it that way to generally say it has other stuff in it other than just isopropanol or ethyl hence why you don't use it to clean CPU's. The most common thing in rubbing alcohol is methyl salicylate (Wintergreen oil) but if its not that it almost always has an oil of some sorts.

FYI: Ideally you would use 99 isopropyl alcohol since water is added to dilute the lower percentage versions.