Weird crust on the CPU Cooler's base?

[TheWorldSmith]

Hey guys. Long-time reader, first-time writer. (For several-several years now.)

I've had a Google for this kind of thing, as well as having searched on YouTube, but have found nothing. (Except for a weird experiment involing Galium as a thermal paste?)

My landlord built his computer for the first time yesterday, and while it seems to be idling at 48 degrees Celsius (after about an hour of sitting in the BIOS) on an A10-7700k , there seems to have been some kind of crusty-growth around the base of his Hyper 212? He assured me that he only used the Coollaboratory Liquid Pro on the contact-area for the CPU and did not apply it to the entire base.

Knowing him, I believe what he's claimed, and I'm completely stumped. I've built quite a few computers previously and have never seen anything like this.

The computer seems to be cool enough for operation, and is working perfectly fine, but him and I are just curious as to whether or not there may be some unforeseen long-term complications?

Images of the... Stuff...

 

[greens]

It is thermal paste... Once clamped down it oozes out the sides sometimes, he certainly applied more than a rice grain sized drop.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Looks like too much thermal paste was applied , usually will make temps higher , All you need is a pea sized dot.

 

[Spectre694]

yep I agree with greens it looks like what happens when some thermal paste squeezes out and mixes with some dust.

 

[TheWorldSmith]

I thought it was an excessive amount of paste at first, although it doesn't seem like it's just squeezed-out and is over the top of the base of the cooler?

This crust is all-over the base.

In the case that he's lying to me, what do you guys recommend? Should I grab an alcohol wipe and scrub it and the CPU cooler clean, then re-apply the correct amount of paste?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

It needs to be cleaned up, and reapplied.

 

[Ecky]

Sorry to say, but your landlord has destroyed his heatsink. The Hyper212 has an aluminum base holding copper heatpipes together, and CL LP is a gallium alloy. Gallium reacts with aluminum and destroys it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaMWxLCGY0U

 

[Ecky]

It's funny that on CL's site, the only thing they have to say about their liquid metal TIMs is:

It is liquid at room temperature (like mercury), but it is absolutly nontoxic and has a high moistening ability for several materials apart from aluminum. The Coollaboratory Liquid Pro is especially recommended for nickel-plated copper.

And,

Please notice that the Liquid Ultra is not suitable with the usage of aluminum surfaces.

http://www.coollaboratory.com/product/

 

[TheWorldSmith]

Hey all.
Without first-reading what Ecky reported, I can confirm that the Liquid Pro reacted badly with the Aluminium elements of the CPU Cooler.

I'd taken the computer home to clean off the paste and reapply it, and after a moment of water in my kitchen sink, the aluminium base broke apart. I'm going to post some pictures for other folk's reference. Thanks for you help, guys!

The CPU looks to be undamaged, and the compound doesn't look like it's landed anywhere else on the motherboard or in the case - and isolated incident.

The pictures...
http://imgur.com/a/cJxn5

If anybody else comes here looking for advice on a similar issue right after apply the paste, clean it off immediately, and hopefully it won't be too late.