Removing Thermal Paste Easily?

[richard_uk]

Just dissasembling my older XP2400 system so I can sell the parts and of course, there's thermal paste all over the chip.

Does anyone know the safest way of removing it to make sure it doesn't cause any damage? I've always used a dry cloth before and it's done no harm 😛

I know I could buy special removal solvent, but I can't be bothered with the time nor the expense!

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[zarooch]

Just dissasembling my older XP2400 system so I can sell the parts and of course, there's thermal paste all over the chip.

Does anyone know the safest way of removing it to make sure it doesn't cause any damage? I've always used a dry cloth before and it's done no harm 😛

I know I could buy special removal solvent, but I can't be bothered with the time nor the expense!

Thanks in advance everyone!

well, if your dry cloth doesn't harms as you mentioned... then if it doesn't harms then its safe... which is your requirement "safest way"... so better use that cloth to remove it again... easy isn't it? giving answer from your own question!

 

[ethel]

I've always used perfume / after shave on a cloth to remove thermal paste - it's the only alcohol based thing that is usually to hand.

It seems to do the trick and leaves the chip smelling lovely

 

[richard_uk]

well, if your dry cloth doesn't harms as you mentioned... then if it doesn't harms then its safe... which is your requirement "safest way"... so better use that cloth to remove it again... easy isn't it? giving answer from your own question!

I know, but I won't get a chance to test the chip before I ship it off to someone else so wanted to make sure no damage was done!

I might use a bit of aftershave on the cloth as well, cheers ethel

 

[SidVicious]

Bad idea to use perfume or nail polish remover as those contain scented oils that won't evaporate along with the solvent, the oily residues may interfere or even react with thermal paste, on top of that, it's not professional nor smart to use products that were'nt meant to clean electronics.

Instead, use ~100% Isopropanol or contact cleaner.

 

[nukemaster]

last i saw they only sold it at 99%.... or did i get ripped off?

yeah that and some q-tips should do the trick..

 

[chuckshissle]

Get this one.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arcticlean.htm

Using this would be the safest and best way to remove the old thermal paste. You can use alcohol if you don't have any cleaner or just plain ol' water but don't drench the whole cpu or around it for it might damage something just use a slightly damp cloth. If the thermal paste is not dry then you can use dry cloth or tissue to remove it. Do not use acetone unless you are experience with it it works great but it can also melt/deteriorates plastics and other material/ components around the cpu.

By the way use this thermal paste, it's the best.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm

 

[benjamin]

I know I could buy special removal solvent, but I can't be bothered with the time nor the expense!

Use white spirit, then.

 

[richard_uk]

Cheers everyone, I'll find a little bit of white spirit on a cloth.

Also, I've used arctic silver 5 before, excellent stuff. But, has anyone used Coollaboratory Liquid Pro before? Supposed to be very good stuff?

 

[SidVicious]

last i saw they only sold it at 99%.... or did i get ripped off?

yeah that and some q-tips should do the trick..

Note that I mentionned ~100%, not 100%, 99% is close enough for this kind of use, as long as the 1% is'nt peanut butter, feta cheese or strawberry jam...

Joke aside, absolute chemical purity is extremely hard to achieve, they'll always be a small fraction of closely related but dissimilar molecules resulting from imperfections in the chemical reactions or impurities.

So no big deal, really...

 

[bigsby]

Yeah I noticed that too. A little while ago I was trying to get some thermal paste off of a really old Pentium I that was like glue, I tried pretty much every kind of rubbing alcohol in our house, and some thats not really for rubbing, and nothing worked. I scrubbed for half an hour with a cloth doused in rubbing alcohol with little improvement. I just gave up after that, if the thing can last a day with no kind of heatsink whatsoever and then have a blowtorch put to it for 30 seconds, it doesnt need thermal paste.

 

[SidVicious]

Guess why I recommend (and use) Isopropanol (Isopropyl Alcohol), it melt white thermal paste with ease.