Finger print on heatsink

[fragzzone]

I removed E6600 CPU a while ago to apply new
artic silver 5 that was on the way, I cleaned up
good with high purity isopropyl alcohol...

A month has passed until I have the opportunity to
reasemble PC and now Im looking at a dark finger print
in one side of stock heatsink fan, I cleaned again but
it wont come out... Im using same cleaning
solution with a lint free coffee filter and as I rub and
rub filter is comes out spotless, no sign of old stock thermal paste
but finger print remains... will that have some effect
on temperature? print looks like it has penetrated heatsink,
do I have to scrub it with something else or just leave it?

I dont want to burn CPU, what should I do?

Thanks in advance!

 

[yiranhu]

What kind of fingers can do this to metal? Must be some kind of Kungfu master... Well finger prints (which has oil) is not great but it also doesn't cover much area at all. So it doesn't really matter as far as heating is concerned. Are you seeing a high temperature or something?

 

[fragzzone]

Originally posted by: yiranhu
What kind of fingers can do this to metal? Must be some kind of Kungfu master... Well finger prints (which has oil) is not great but it also doesn't cover much area at all. So it doesn't really matter as far as heating is concerned. Are you seeing a high temperature or something?

Yes I know it sounds weird, it looks more like it was burned to metal...
I wish I had camera now so I can upload picture, maybe tomorrow.
What happened was that I cleaned cpu and heatsink from stock paste before
storing cause I knew I would be applying new artic silver 5 for a while, so probably
I must of placed finger on heatsink copper. The crazy thing is that after a month I opened box again and find the print and it dont come out now after hard rubbing with isopropyl alcohol and I dont know if it might harm my system.
I have not assembled yet because of that.

 

[lxskllr]

Don't worry about it. As long as you've cleaned it with a solvent you'll be fine.

 

[Idontcare]

It is corrosion. Unless you want to physically polish the corrosion away you are stuck with it.

 

[fragzzone]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It is corrosion. Unless you want to physically polish the corrosion away you are stuck with it.

It does not feel grindy, looks more like a tatoo on heatsink... I surely hope I can take a picture tomorrow so every1 can see.

 

[Nickel020]

Yeah, it's corrosion. I had the same thing happen to one of my heatsinks, fortunately someplace that doesn't touch die. I don't think it's gonna have an effect on the heatsink's performance though.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: fragzzone

Originally posted by: Idontcare
It is corrosion. Unless you want to physically polish the corrosion away you are stuck with it.

It does not feel grindy, looks more like a tatoo on heatsink... I surely hope I can take a picture tomorrow so every1 can see.

I have someone's nice thumbprint on the copper surface of my vapochill LS, the part that mates to the CPU. It too does not feel "grindy", rather it is quite smooth to the touch. I left it, hasn't bothered me none. But the discoloration is corrosion.

 

[myocardia]

People, he's talking about copper. That's not corrosion, it's oxidation, just like what's on the penny in your pocket. And fragzzone, if you want to remove it, remove it just like you remove all other oxidation on copper or brass-- with Brasso. Just make sure you reclean it with alcohol, before applying the AS5. Or, you could always just leave it alone, it won't affect your temps any.

 

[WoodButcher]

Originally posted by: myocardia
People, he's talking about copper. That's not corrosion, it's oxidation, just like what's on the penny in your pocket. And fragzzone, if you want to remove it, remove it just like you remove all other oxidation on copper or brass-- with Brasso. Just make sure you reclean it with alcohol, before applying the AS5. Or, you could always just leave it alone, it won't affect your temps any.

OHH BOY,,,,,
thanks myo. When I started reading this I giggled, by the time I got to your reply I was into a full blown fit.
ROFLMAO
I consider myself a carpenter but I've done quite a few years of coppersmithing throughout my 30 year career, roofs, gutters, flashings, plumbing and the like. So many times I've had clients ask how to keep their copper shiny that I bought the smallest container of "Brasso" I could find and offer it up every time.
Imagine 200' of gutters and a 2 oz bottle of brasso!
op- don't sweat the fingerprint,,,,,,,

 

[fragzzone]

10x Everyone for the feedback, I'm really satisfied...
I guess I'll just leave it as it is!

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: myocardia
People, he's talking about copper. That's not corrosion, it's oxidation, just like what's on the penny in your pocket. And fragzzone, if you want to remove it, remove it just like you remove all other oxidation on copper or brass-- with Brasso. Just make sure you reclean it with alcohol, before applying the AS5. Or, you could always just leave it alone, it won't affect your temps any.

Oxidation = Corrosion

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

yep.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Lapping the heatsink would also remove it (after quite a while), but it's probably not worth the effort. It shouldn't really affect it - more of a cosmetic thing.

When I removed the heatsink from a friend's Dell, the entire bottom of the heatsink was oxidized. Some parts were even starting to get the greenish tint that copper gets when exposed after a while (Statue of Liberty, for example). It really looked like someone over at Dell had ate their lunch on this thing, played a game of Rugby with it, took it skydiving, and left it in the lion cage at the local zoo.

I learned two important lessons from that thing... #1 - lapping is very beneficial, and #2 - lapping gets annoying after the first 30 minutes.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: Idontcare
Oxidation = Corrosion

Actually, they're aren't the same thing; they're just related. Oxidation is the first step of the process. It isn't corrosion until the metal starts to become damaged. So, technically, what's on his heatsink is only oxidation, not corrosion.