Question I bought a used 980 Ti off ebay and it smells bad, how to clean it ?

[adsoyo]

The listing said it was never used and it looks like that might be true. It's got the ACX 2.0 cooler on it and the heatsink fins look immaculate. The PCIe contacts also look untouched. The problem is the thing smells like hair conditioner or the cologne/ perfume smokers use to cover up their tobacco smell. Maybe a combo of the two? Point is, it stinks. I plan on disassembling the whole thing and I'm wondering if I can soak the heatsink and back plate in a bucket of something. I have baking soda, distilled water, and acetone on hand. Then for the fans and the shroud, what can I wipe those with to completely remove any potential odorous films?

 

[Lutfij]

Might want to look into a service near you that provide cleaning using an ultrasonic cleaner. Besides that you can tear down the card and wash the heatsink with a fine bristle brush and some soap. You should be wary to keep the thermal pads as untampered as possible. You will also need high quality thermal paste and some isopropyl alcohol when you're going to reassemble the card.

 

[LuKaWin10]

Use isopropyl alcohol to clean it. Repaste it too if you're disassembling it. Clean with soap, but you need to fully dry it, like 101%. But I think it is best, like Lutfij said, to find a service where they have an ultrasonic cleaner and to do the other things he said👍. You could even get PTM7950 instead of thermal paste but repaste the card with Arctic MX-6 paste.

 

[adsoyo]

Might want to look into a service near you that provide cleaning using an ultrasonic cleaner. Besides that you can tear down the card and wash the heatsink with a fine bristle brush and some soap. You should be wary to keep the thermal pads as untampered as possible. You will also need high quality thermal paste and some isopropyl alcohol when you're going to reassemble the card.

Just any old soap? I have thermal pads, paste, and alcohol swabs for reassembly.

 

[MJS WARLORD]

I dont know if a graphics card has the same sort of capacitors as a mobo but the smell you describe is similar to a capacitor going down on a mobo, so if you are planning on opening up the card then look to see if you notice any capacitors that look swollen as this is a sign they have failed.

 

[LuKaWin10]

Just any old soap? I have thermal pads, paste, and alcohol swabs for reassembly.

Yeah. That seems good, but be careful, dont destroy any of the PCI-E lanes, do not scrub to hard give it nice light scrubs, and for the NVIDIA chip itself, clean the silicon (is it called that?) with isopropyl alcohol, then reapply paste. Thermal pads are simple to put just be careful to put the right dimensions.

 

[LuKaWin10]

I dont know if a graphics card has the same sort of capacitors as a mobo but the smell you describe is similar to a capacitor going down on a mobo, so if you are planning on opening up the card then look to see if you notice any capacitors that look swollen as this is a sign they have failed.

Could be anything, and a failed cap as you said. He could just check the video card then see. Hopefully nothing is broken like a cap or an SMD component

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I’ve never done this but I’ve seen folks on YouTube claiming to use brake cleaner or wd40 type stuff and let it dry.

 

[LuKaWin10]

I’ve never done this but I’ve seen folks on YouTube claiming to use brake cleaner or wd40 type stuff and let it dry.

Yeah I've heard people had quite the success doing that.

 

[sonofjesse]

Get the electrical cleaner from Walmart (it won't hurt it if the card is NOT in the machine). Also if you can take the fan off and clean it that will help.

After that if you have a large airtight container put it in a bag or on top of baking soda (don't' let it touch) let it sit for 48 hours.

 

[rcald2000]

adsoyo, if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for the used 980 Ti?

 

[adsoyo]

adsoyo, if you don't mind me asking, what did you pay for the used 980 Ti?

$75 with shipping included for an EVGA superclocked unit with the ACX 2.0 cooler, whether it works is yet to be seen. I also ordered new replacement fans from a chinese seller for $13 with free shipping. My plan was to transplant the ACX 2.0 cooler + backplate onto my current EVGA superclocked reference cooler card but I'm having trouble finding a definitive answer if that will work. Not sure if they have a different BIOS or anything like that.

Thanks for the ideas everyone! I actually returned the smelly 980 ti because I found a crack on the pcb with severed electrical tracings. I have a new one on the way now. Between that and the weird smell, I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

 

[Eximo]

Electronics/Contact cleaner is generally just isopropyl with a some gas propulsion like butane. It evaporates quickly.

However, be aware that fluids can get under the memory chips and GPU and other surface mount components. So visually dry is not necessarily dry. Give it a day or two before reassembly.

As to the smell, I suspect it is Vape juice clinging to it.

 

[adsoyo]

Any thoughts on using a handheld pressurized steam cleaner for the backplate and heat sink? I wouldn't use it on the plastic parts.

 

[Gaidax]

Thanks for the ideas everyone! I actually returned the smelly 980 ti because I found a crack on the pcb with severed electrical tracings. I have a new one on the way now. Between that and the weird smell, I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

Smart choice, other than that - don't bother with doing all this cleaning like ever.

Even if you have thermal pads, nobody says they are actually of proper thickness, which is very important. Too thick and GPU won't make proper contact with cooler, too thin and they are useless.

As a whole all these ancient GPUs for a buck that look too clean to be true from some marketplace are instant sus. Bad smell is a sure giveaway. It's good you noticed that PCB crack, and I bet there is more when it comes from.

 

[caiox121]

have you tried opeining it and clean it from the inside? disassemble the gpu and start working on it. get some alcohol and with some cotton start cleaning it in a slow way. don't forget to change the thermal paste as well and that should do it

 

[adsoyo]

The new card is in much better condition than the first one but I still want any and all trace of the previous owner erased. After some more brainstorming I decided that instead of spending money on an ultrasonic or handheld steam cleaner, I would simply boil the aluminum heat sink in distilled water and scrub the backplate and fan shroud with mild soap.

Here's what the contraption ended up looking like:

https://imgur.com/EGcAx39

View: https://imgur.com/EGcAx39


I used a hiking pole across 2 cereal containers and picture hanging wire to suspend the heat sink in the water so it wasn't touching the pan, then once the water began boiling I let it boil for 10 minutes.

https://imgur.com/raUnU4S

View: https://imgur.com/raUnU4S


After 10 minutes I immediately dried it with my air compressor. The back plate, front plate, and fan shroud I scrubbed with a cotton cloth and a new cheap toothbrush using distilled water and my car wash shampoo.

https://imgur.com/lODS9jb

View: https://imgur.com/lODS9jb


Same as the heat sink, I immediately dried them with my air compressor after washing. As for the fans, I bought a set of brand new fans off ebay for $13 at the same time I bought the card.

https://imgur.com/5lG4mRw

View: https://imgur.com/5lG4mRw

https://imgur.com/GR7jXcZ

View: https://imgur.com/GR7jXcZ

https://imgur.com/DrNoK3k

View: https://imgur.com/DrNoK3k

https://imgur.com/XoQ5zrB

View: https://imgur.com/XoQ5zrB

https://imgur.com/VeV4eOH

View: https://imgur.com/VeV4eOH

https://imgur.com/Y80YZ9d

View: https://imgur.com/Y80YZ9d


Came out looking and working like new! I'm still using my old PCB, just swapped my reference cooler for the ACX 2.0.