Question How to clean transistors?

[Andriokz]

Longstory short, friend had a 6700k with a thin layer of "grime" on the bottom where the contacts are. It doesn't look like thermal paste and it was sitting out so who knows. I have some electrical contact cleaner from WD-40 and some 91% Iso, but I've never cleaned contacts before, only the lid with a q tip + Iso.

 

[LORDPrometheus]

First of all those are not transistors that is the LGA IE the interface between the motherboard and the CPU. you must be certain to absolutely never use any sort of physical cleaning method unless you are extremely careful or you will break the motherboard socket. as for cleaning use 91% Iso. let it sit then rinse with more Iso until the grime is gone then let dry.

 

[Karadjgne]

Wait. Transistors? As in the underneath of the cpu itself? Or inside the socket.

I'd not use the contact cleaner. The iso will be fine, it'll discolor the pcb, but that's only cosmetic. Just don't soak it, a qtip will work, just don't use pressure, time and patience will work better

 

[Andriokz]

First of all those are not transistors that is the LGA IE the interface between the motherboard and the CPU. you must be certain to absolutely never use any sort of physical cleaning method unless you are extremely careful or you will break the motherboard socket. as for cleaning use 91% Iso. let it sit then rinse with more Iso until the grime is gone then let dry.

Wait. Transistors? As in the underneath of the cpu itself? Or inside the socket.

I'd not use the contact cleaner. The iso will be fine, it'll discolor the pcb, but that's only cosmetic. Just don't soak it, a qtip will work, just don't use pressure, time and patience will work better

Sorry, I meant contacts. Edited the main post. The contacts of the CPU have the grime, wasn't sure if they needed special treatment other than the gentle touch.

 

[LORDPrometheus]

Sorry, I meant contacts. Edited the main post. The contacts of the CPU have the grime, wasn't sure if they needed special treatment other than the gentle touch.

That's fine. And yes just a very gentle touch and nothing that leaves any sort of residue. Contact cleaner like what you have is literally just isopropyl alcohol in a can under pressure so the much cheaper and stronger bottled stuff is best.

 

[Andriokz]

That's fine. And yes just a very gentle touch and nothing that leaves any sort of residue. Contact cleaner like what you have is literally just isopropyl alcohol in a can under pressure so the much cheaper and stronger bottled stuff is best.

Yeah, I'll be sticking with the 91%. There's no physical damage to the contacts from what I can so hopefully this works out.

 

[dudio]

I don't think I'd use qtips on the pins of a cpu. Qtips can easily catch on and tug the pins a bit, possibly enough to put the pin just enough out of alignment as to make cpu installation a possible problem.
I'd use a very soft toothbrush.
Also, be careful about using WD40 contact cleaner as it is designed more for automotive connections, not home electronics and may have other properties not suitable for your cpu. Isopropyl alcohol should be fine. Shake off any excess when done, and let dry fully.

 

[Karadjgne]

Intels dont have pins, they have little gold nubs. The pins are in the socket. It's amd that insists on using pins on the cpu.

 

[CompuTronix]

An old engineers trick is to use a soft pink eraser. Although the contact pads are gold plated for the best possible conductivity, even gold will tarnish, given time and humidity.

A soft pink eraser will gently clean the contacts to like new conditions with negligible abrasion. In addition to Intel CPUs, this also works on any male edge connectors such as PCIe cards, memory modules, NVMe drives, etcetera.

Wipe the contact surfaces with alcohol, then when dry, use the eraser. Just be sure to keep your work well clear of female connectors to protect any exposed slots such as on a motherboard. When finished, use a clean brush to remove eraser residue. Also, never touch any contacts with your fingers, as the oil from your skin will cause the contacts to tarnish and attract dust.

CT

 

[CountMike]

I always clean contact surfaces with clean printing/photocopy paper and eventually isoprpyl alcohol, leaves no residue and abrasive just enough to take grime and light oxidation off.