Thermal Paste removal help

[blaster]

Agree strongly with Mr Wilson . Isopropyl Alcohol 99% 500mL have a bottle in front of me right now. For external use Only...hehehe. The coffee filter idea is also excellent ! I use polyurethane swabs (foam). We used them cleaning tape heads years ago on vcr's back in the day. They are lint free. This forum never ceases to amaze me with some terrific ideas .

 

[Perineum]

Has anyone else used brake cleaner?

 

[massornament]

Arcticlean!!! Best $5 you'll spend to deal with thermal paste removal! It smells amazing like oranges too. :thumb:

Arctic Silver ArctiClean 1 & 2 Thermal Surface Cleaner & Purifier 60ML Kit (2) 30ML Bottles - DirectCanada

:haha: ha... on a whim I bought the same stuff and it does work. And the orange smell is great too. (I sometimes worry about the fumes tho.) Not sure if I would buy again as I also use isopropyl alcohol, which is inexpensive and easy to find.

 

[massornament]

This forum never ceases to amaze me with some terrific ideas .

Very true... and this thread makes me realize how little I actually know about the composition of some pretty common products. (I never thought to ask what's actually in nail polish remover before :biggrin

 

[Master_Shake_]

I've used this for a decade or so....

Certified Brake Cleaner | Canadian Tire

Or 99% iso if it's a smaller job.

i use brake cleaner on heatsinks but not that crap, i use Red Stallion's brake cleaner takes everything off dries in seconds and leaves no residue.

and i have used nail polish remover on my cpus, does a great job too.

 

[Perineum]

I've used brake cleaner on motherboards where a DIY'er got a bit carried away with heatsink compound and had it all through RAM slots, PCIE, all around the cpu socket, etc.

I have not ever noticed any issue with any component after using it, even when I see the same parts years later due to upgrade....