Best way to remove stock P4 heatsink tape?

[solrak]

I used the stock heatsink that came with my P4 2.6 along with its thermal tape.

I thought it was good enough, but I keep reading that I really should have used thermal compound like Artic Silver Ceramique.

What is the best (safest/most effective) way to remove the tape that is now stuck to my processor and heatsink?

 

[WarCon]

I use Mineral Spirits, but products like Goof off or goo-gone work just fine also. After I get the pad completely off both I use Isopropyl Alcohol to finish cleaning the heatsink and heatspreader.

 

[HiTek21]

i scraped off the thermal pad using some kind of plastic scraper, then i used some rubbing alcohol to remove all the stuff I couldn't scrape off.

 

[solrak]

Thanks guys.

I bought some goo gone, used it then, then wiped it clean with iso alcohol.

Since Goo Gone is flamable, should I take any extra steps to ensure none is left on the cpu or hs?

The other thing is that no matter how much I wiped and wiped the heatsink (and I'm talking over 20 applications of Goo Gone), a dark gray residue always came off on the paper towels I was using.
The processor wiped with no residue after about 2 applications of Goo Gone.
Although I can't visibly see any sticky stuff anymore, does this mean I still need to keep cleaning?
Or is the material the hs is made of just like that?

 

[WarCon]

Yeah your probably creating and removing aluminum oxide. I think your probably ok to clean with the isopropyl when all that you can see is gone.

 

[solrak]

Thanks for all your help.

Btw, I'm kind of a worry wart...
Do you think I really messed up the cooling effectiveness by using the thermal adhesive?

 

[WarCon]

No, you will be just fine as the thermal pad that comes on the Intel heatsinks as actually pretty effective. The minimal amount that will be left in the microgrooves in the metal won't noticably effect your cooling using that heatsink.

BTW you probably won't notice more than a few degree Celcius difference if any (depending on your application). Like I said Intel's thermal pad is pretty decent.

 

[solrak]

Great!

Thanks for un-worrying me.

Except now I'm thinking I shoulda stayed with the thermal pad. J/K!!

Again, I really appreciate your help guys.

 

[Amorphus]

goo gone was a bad idea, though. it has various oils in it. it will put a cramp in your temps (but not by much, don't worry about it).

make sure you clean with rubbing alcohol that is AT LEAST 90% by volume. the best I could find personally at CVS was 91%, but there is 95%, 99%, etc. out there. I've tried using 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, but that just turned out to be annoying. =)

 

[modestninja]

I've got some 100% that my girlfriend's dad hooked me up with (it isn't available in general retail, he got it b/c he does some fine electronic work.) Anyway, that stuff works awesome for cleaning my comp, and allows me not to worry about F****** something up (I only need to get nervous when my room temps start getting hot and I accidently leave the metal container in the sun -- I can just image the explosion...).

Anyway, I think there was a point that I was going to make, but I lost it... Oh well.

 

[solrak]

Aaaah!!

I used 70% iso alcy and goo gone....

Of course, this is the first time anyone's told me that Goo Gone wasn't a good idea. :/
It did get everything off very quickly.

I guess I'll go find some 90% minimum iso alcohol and clean the proc and hs several times again, just to make sure I'm doing as much as I can.

Lol. Now I really think I should have just left the thermal pad alone.

Thanks for the info.

 

[WarCon]

Yeah, sorry I steered ya wrong on the goo-gone.... I was thinking Goof off and Goo-gone were similar, but I didn't realize the Goo-gone was an orange oil cleaner. It does clean off the waxy pads well though......

I use the 70% Isopropyl all the time and as long as you use it with a lint free cloth and then wipe off the drying alcohol. The other 30% is water and should evaporate without leaving a residue, the higher % alcohol's just evaporate faster and the highest ones (rated for electronics use) can actually be poured on the components without much chance for harm. Since I don't pour the alcohol on my heatsink or heatspreader, but instead put it on the lintfree rag and clean with it, it works just fine.

 

[solrak]

No problem Warcon.

I'll just make sure I go over the hs and cpu with alchohol another 20 times.