Question I got some thermal past on my Ryzen 7 1700, what should I do?

Apr 9, 2019
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I got some thermal past on my Ryzen 7 1700, what should I do? Some also got onto the socket but not inside of it. Here are some photos: https://doc-08-2s-docs.googleuserco...HdupSKO282T?h=13464929861805655466&e=download https://doc-10-2s-docs.googleuserco...P0JpjE2r8q6?h=13464929861805655466&e=download

Update: I got the thermal past off the top and sides of the pins but not the bottom, should I be worried still? And also, should I clean out the CPU socket? The thermal paste is Arctic Silver 5 so it’s NON CONDUCTIVE
 
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nicholas70

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You can't leave the thermal paste on the pins or the socket. You will likely run into issues if you do. I would try filling a spray bottle with rubbing alch 90%+ hold the board upside down and spray the socket to try and get the paste off. Whatever you do don't do anything that might force it down into the socket or you could end up SOL.
 
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Apr 9, 2019
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That wo
You can't leave the thermal paste on the pins or the socket. You will likely run into issues if you do. I would try filling a spray bottle with rubbing alch 90%+ hold the board upside down and spray the socket to try and get the paste off. Whatever you do don't do anything that might force it down into the socket or you could end up SOL.
will the alcohol ruin the socket. And could I use something other than a spray bottle
 
Alcohol will not ruin the socket. You could also take the battery off and run it through a dishwashing cycle if you have access to a dishwasher. Just leave it to dry for a couple days, and get as much off before you let it dry.
No. Just no.

Clean it out best you can by hand without harming any pins, since you used a non conductive paste you should be okay assuming you can still make proper contact.
 
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nicholas70

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If you have a squirt gun that could also work. Some achl bottles also have small openings so if all else fails you could just give it a good squeeze. The whole idea is to use the pressure behind the liquid to wash the compound away from the socket.
 
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No. Just no.

Clean it out best you can by hand without harming any pins, since you used a non conductive paste you should be okay assuming you can still make proper contact.
I mean, last resort, but as long as you don't use soap, just hot water it should be ok. As long as you get all water off before you put power back to it.

But yes, I do see this was a bad suggestion. I apologize.
 
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Karadjgne

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Not a bad one suggestion at all. Ppl have been doing that for years, especially if vamping up a seriously dirty mobo. The hot water doesn't harm anything as such, the only harm comes later when impatient ppl rebuild before making sure the board is completely and fully dry inside any sockets, such as cpu, ram, pcie.

Just don't forget to remove the cmos battery, and hot water wash only, no soap and no heat dry cycle. After that, let the board sit for a couple of days, use hair dryer, let sit in the sun etc.
 
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Apr 9, 2019
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Not a bad one suggestion at all. Ppl have been doing that for years, especially if vamping up a seriously dirty mobo. The hot water doesn't harm anything as such, the only harm comes later when impatient ppl rebuild before making sure the board is completely and fully dry inside any sockets, such as cpu, ram, pcie.

So hot water is the best option? Even over alcohol
 
Not a bad one suggestion at all. Ppl have been doing that for years, especially if vamping up a seriously dirty mobo. The hot water doesn't harm anything as such, the only harm comes later when impatient ppl rebuild before making sure the board is completely and fully dry inside any sockets, such as cpu, ram, pcie.
I knew it wasn't terrible, but it got downvoted anyways.
So hot water is the best option? Even over alcohol
If you use hot water you have to be very careful. Ensure everything is dry before you even think of power it up. Alcohol dries out quickly, water not so much. And it may be helpful to have some compressed air to help get it out of the crevices.
 
Apr 9, 2019
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I knew it wasn't terrible, but it got downvoted anyways.
If you use hot water you have to be very careful. Ensure everything is dry before you even think of power it up. Alcohol dries out quickly, water not so much. And it may be helpful to have some compressed air to help get it out of the crevices.
If I were to use got water I wouldn’t rush anything, I would probably wait a full day. Oh and how would I use the hot water on the socket? There any videos to help me with this?
 
Error on the side of caution and wait several days. Use canned or compressed air and get into all cracks and crevices. There s a few vids on YouTube about using this method. I would just Google it you'll get more results that way.

Also I would only use the water method as a last result. Try other easier methods first. I can't see the pics, so how much is actually in the socket?
 
Apr 9, 2019
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Error on the side of caution and wait several days. Use canned or compressed air and get into all cracks and crevices. There s a few vids on YouTube about using this method. I would just Google it you'll get more results that way.

Also I would only use the water method as a last result. Try other easier methods first. I can't see the pics, so how much is actually in the socket?
I’d say there are 25 of the socket holes that have thermal paste around them, so not that much
 

Karadjgne

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Depends on exactly where the paste is. You don't want to use a toothbrush on the pins, the fibers in the brush are stronger that the pins, and will bend/break them. For flat surfaces, a small artists paint brush and paper towel siphon is better. For the cpu lid, a coffee filter.

Just try not to soak anything, and have a lot of patience.
 
Sorry man, I can't agree with washing any complex electronic in water, regardless of how dry you get it afterwards. There is no way you can guarantee you've gotten ALL water out of everything even using compressed air or a warming unit. All it would take is a very minute amount of water still in one of the DIMM or CPU sockets, or a PCI slot, or in a seam on a solid cap or something else, IDK, anything, and poof, end of story as soon as you apply voltage to it.

There's a reason they created electrical contact cleaner and it's not because they just like putting stuff in spray cans.

My advice would be to clean as much of it off and out of stuff as possible, upside down wherever there is a chance of paste going down INTO something, using isopropyl alcohol and a soft bristle brush, and then finish it off with a can of mass airflow sensor cleaner which is even gentler and faster evaporating than electrical contact cleaner. It's INTENDED for use in cleaning crap off the heated wire sensor inside a mass airflow sensor unit, which is probably a bit more delicate than a motherboard.

I sure as hell wouldn't put it in a dishwasher if for no other reason than the fact that most dishwashers, unless it is brand new and has never seen a load of dishes before, is likely to be contaminated with microscopic bits of food and grease from previous washings that have not yet been flushed or filtered out of the unit. If you've ever looked inside the bottom of a dishwasher, or torn one apart for repair, and seen the areas where crap accumulates and doesn't make it out of the machine, you'd probably never eat anything off of a dish that was washed in one again. Things aren't as clean as they appear and while the final rinse does get a good amount of that off, that crap could get stuck in a slot or socket during the washing process, in addition to the aforementioned water itself.
 
Apr 9, 2019
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Depends on exactly where the paste is. You don't want to use a toothbrush on the pins, the fibers in the brush are stronger that the pins, and will bend/break them. For flat surfaces, a small artists paint brush and paper towel siphon is better. For the cpu lid, a coffee filter.

Just try not to soak anything, and have a lot of patience.
Ok thanks for the help
 
Apr 9, 2019
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You use half the tube of paste on the cpu?
No it was hella stupid, I got a new cooler the kraken x72 so I took off my old one that pressed down on it so hard that it just went onto the sides, without me knowing I took it out of the socket to clean the cpu and the shit got all over. I’ve cleaned the cpu but the socket is next, wish me luck.
 
Apr 9, 2019
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Sorry man, I can't agree with washing any complex electronic in water, regardless of how dry you get it afterwards. There is no way you can guarantee you've gotten ALL water out of everything even using compressed air or a warming unit. All it would take is a very minute amount of water still in one of the DIMM or CPU sockets, or a PCI slot, or in a seam on a solid cap or something else, IDK, anything, and poof, end of story as soon as you apply voltage to it.

There's a reason they created electrical contact cleaner and it's not because they just like putting stuff in spray cans.

My advice would be to clean as much of it off and out of stuff as possible, upside down wherever there is a chance of paste going down INTO something, using isopropyl alcohol and a soft bristle brush, and then finish it off with a can of mass airflow sensor cleaner which is even gentler and faster evaporating than electrical contact cleaner. It's INTENDED for use in cleaning crap off the heated wire sensor inside a mass airflow sensor unit, which is probably a bit more delicate than a motherboard.

I sure as hell wouldn't put it in a dishwasher if for no other reason than the fact that most dishwashers, unless it is brand new and has never seen a load of dishes before, is likely to be contaminated with microscopic bits of food and grease from previous washings that have not yet been flushed or filtered out of the unit. If you've ever looked inside the bottom of a dishwasher, or torn one apart for repair, and seen the areas where crap accumulates and doesn't make it out of the machine, you'd probably never eat anything off of a dish that was washed in one again. Things aren't as clean as they appear and while the final rinse does get a good amount of that off, that crap could get stuck in a slot or socket during the washing process, in addition to the aforementioned water itself.
Ya i was thinking that sounded a little weird to put it in the dishwasher
 

Karadjgne

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I've done it in the dishwasher, once. Had a no-name storm hit with a 20' tidal surge on a client's house, seriously nice pc was totally flooded out and covered in saltwater and mud. Washed everything but the hdd and optical, even washed a Corsair AX psu, case, ram, gpu... Took 2 weeks to do everything, 2 day rebuild, but worked like a champ afterwards. No other way I could see getting saltwater out of every cranny.
 
Here's a wild thought, not an actual recommendation but more like a theory. If the dishwasher was fully degreased and all traps and filters cleaned out first, and then run through a couple of cycles to get everything out of it, and THEN you filled it with isopropyl alcohol, THEN it might not be the worst idea as the iso alcohol would evaporate quickly after you took it out especially if you blew it off gently with compressed air.

I don't know what kind of damage the iso alcohol might do to the seals on the dishwasher though, and twenty bottles of it would be sort of expensive, at roughly two bucks a bottle. There are sonic cleaners with special solutions used for this sort of thing by facilities that do this regularly, not specifically to motherboards I wouldn't think but still. They exist. I've never heard of any legitimate procedure using a dishwasher to clean an electronic device.

Could it work, sure. It COULD. It could also be disastrous. I think I'd rather take my chances getting as much off as possible and then running it that way than washing it in a machine. Maybe it's just me, IDK.