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isopropyl alcohol purity for cleaning

G

groovepapa

Member
how vital is it to use 99% isopropyl alcohol when cleaning thermal grease off a heatsink and/or cpu head? all I have here is 70%, can I use it, or do I need to make another trip back to the store?

TIA
 
I saw a picture in a guide of sorting out the HS, and the label on the bottle said 70%.
I don't know what % the stuff I used was (got it from a chemist, no label beyong "Isopropyl Alcohol"), but it was fine.
 
cool, thanks guys...I figured it was okay...but this is my first time building a whole system, CPU and all, so wanted to make sure.
 
Originally posted by: MDE
70% is fine, but 91% gets the job done faster.
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And don't worry about getting 99%, since some states/localities don't even sell it. I've still never seen anything higher than 91% available for sale at any store. Of course, I don't leave Pennsylvania very often either. 🙂
 
Alcohol sucks for removing thermal PADS. They're fine for thermal grease. But for thermal pads, I use acetone or non-acetone nail polish remover, melts it off immediately. Alcohol is like trying to wash it off with water... doesn't work.
 
Originally posted by: virtualgames0
Alcohol sucks for removing thermal PADS. They're fine for thermal grease. But for thermal pads, I use acetone or non-acetone nail polish remover, melts it off immediately. Alcohol is like trying to wash it off with water... doesn't work.
Click to expand...

Yep, lighter fluid works as well (naptha).
 
Originally posted by: virtualgames0
Alcohol sucks for removing thermal PADS. They're fine for thermal grease. But for thermal pads, I use acetone or non-acetone nail polish remover, melts it off immediately. Alcohol is like trying to wash it off with water... doesn't work.
Click to expand...

I got a vaguely soft plastic scraper to get off most of the pad, then removed the traces with alcohol.
Mroekd pretty well, but the alcohol wasn't all that great, didn't take too long though.
 
Go to a hardware (not computer) store and ask for denatured alcohol solvent.

It's 99.9% alcohol and is really good at removing ANYTHING.
 
Originally posted by: Jojo7
Go to a hardware (not computer) store and ask for denatured alcohol solvent.

It's 99.9% alcohol and is really good at removing ANYTHING.
Click to expand...

what if i put a match to it?:evil:
 
I would never use only 70% but thats just me I guess. I always use the 99.9% isopropyl alchohol its not like you have to go that far out of your way to get it, they sell it in the same place as the 70% stuff.
 
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