[SOLVED] Remove stock thermal paste

[harpsinuno]

Hi

I would like to remove stock thermal paste from cooler (pump) and processor.

Which is the best way to do it and which products?

 

[Eximo]

Paper towel, cotton swabs, any lint free cloth for the bulk. Then isopropyl alcohol 90%+ on another pass to get the remainder.

 

[kanewolf]

Plain white coffee filters make good lint free wipers for jobs like this.

 

[simmyx]

I use Noctua Thermal Cleaning Wipes

Otherwise use 70% Isopropyl Alcohol with some lint free wipes

 

[harpsinuno]

So, alcohol with 70 % or more than 90 %? Different opinions but both are differente products. One or the other?

Cotton swabs I have... And "hospital/nurse" compresses, do they work?

The same material for the AIO Cooler Pump and for the processor? I have Kraken Z73 cooler...

 

[kanewolf]

So, alcohol with 70 % or more than 90 %? Different opinions but both are differente products. One or the other?

Cotton swabs I have... And "hospital/nurse" compresses, do they work?

The same material for the AIO Cooler Pump and for the processor? I have Kraken Z73 cooler...

Either concentration of alcohol will work. 90% dries faster.
I don't know if I would use a compress. I would probably use paper towels before that and a coffee filter before paper towel. The key is just to keep lint off.

 

[harpsinuno]

Either concentration of alcohol will work. 90% dries faster.
I don't know if I would use a compress. I would probably use paper towels before that and a coffee filter before paper towel. The key is just to keep lint off.

Lint off... You mean no wires?

 

[kanewolf]

Lint off... You mean no wires?

No I mean fibers from the cleaning implement. You don't want fibers from the cleaning towel to be laying on the heatspreader or the heatsink. Those fibers disrupt the perfect smoothness which is what is desired. That provides the best heat transfer between the CPU and the heatsink.

 

[harpsinuno]

No I mean fibers from the cleaning implement. You don't want fibers from the cleaning towel to be laying on the heatspreader or the heatsink. Those fibers disrupt the perfect smoothness which is what is desired. That provides the best heat transfer between the CPU and the heatsink.

So, maybe cotton swabs and more than 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, if I can find it... Is it OK for both pump and processor?

 

[kanewolf]

So, maybe cotton swabs and more than 99% Isopropyl Alcohol, if I can find it... Is it OK for both pump and processor?

Don't over think. 90% or 70% are both fine. I have used old T shirt fabric. After 50+ washes, the are pretty lint free. Clean it, then wipe with a swab to clean any lint.

 

[harpsinuno]

I think I applied the new paste in an expected way. How do we know that the paste was spreaded in a good way? Because the cooler covers the CPU and we don't see anything after CPU and pump are "connected"... I would like to know if the paste exceeded the squared shape of the CPU.

 

[harpsinuno]

I think I applied the new paste in an expected way. How do we know that the paste was spreaded in a good way? Because the cooler covers the CPU and we don't see anything after CPU and pump are "connected"... I would like to know if the paste exceeded the squared shape of the CPU.

 

[lvt]

I think I applied the new paste in an expected way. How do we know that the paste was spreaded in a good way? Because the cooler covers the CPU and we don't see anything after CPU and pump are "connected"... I would like to know if the paste exceeded the squared shape of the CPU.

Make five small drops, four at the corners and one at the center, the paste will be evenly distributed under pressure from the cooler.