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How do I clean the heatsink compound off my CPU?

Z

Zincq

Senior member
I'm changing to a new heatsink, and I heard it was a good idea to clean the heatsink compound from the previous heatsink before installing the new one. I don't have any thermal grease, so the chip looks pretty clean already, except for the compound stuck around the core. How would I go about cleaning this off? I've pressed it with my fingernail and it seems pretty stiff to me, I have no clue as to how to wipe this off. Help me! 🙂
 
Saliva?!? WD40?!? Well, I don't have the latter currently - but how would saliva do? I'm weary to use water since I know it's conductive and it will definately mess up the CPU when I turn it back on - so I have that same theory for salive right now. Maybe I need to learn how this compound works - and how applying saliva will ease it off. Really? Saliva?!? heh.
 
Water is OK as long as you dry it well before powering it. If the core is clean, I wouldn't worry much about the runs on the chip itself unless it's too thick and starting to run on the bridges. In this case, get a toothpick and a piece of rag and remove as much as you can. You can also use a little water to dilute it. If the thermal paste is conductive, AS-I, you want to clean it as much as possible.
 
Water is OK as long as you dry it well before powering it.

hehehe.. I would hope everyone here knows that... lmao, I can't imagine someone saying, oh it's still wet. I guess I could still put it in without any risk of shorting something..

if such a person exists on these forums.. well I don't know what I'd do..
 
saliva? on AS2? whoa. LOL. Is there anything stronger than alcohol? AS2 just sticks there and it sucks when it gets between crevices.
 
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