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Removing thermal pad residue

DT4K

DT4K

Diamond Member
I have an athlon 1700+ with the stock hsf. It was originally used with the thermal pad. Now I have removed the thermal pad and will be using arctic silver instead. After scraping away what was left of the old pad, i cleaned the core and the heatsink with alcohol. The core looks pretty clean, but the heatsink still seems to have a hazy residue on it. Is there something else that would work better than alcohol for removing this residue or should I lap the heatsink? I'm not overclocking, and I had decent temps even with the thermal pad, so I don't need to replace the stock heatsink. I've never lapped a heatsink, so can someone give me some basic instructions? What do I use?
Thanks
 
Hi Shanti, I had a similiar issue with Athlon XP 2000+ and generic heatsink that had a thermal pad. At the time of installation I didn't have any arctic silver so I just used the thermal pad. Well, the first time I powered up my computer, my temps were in the high 50s. Next day I got some arctic silver.

The problem was that the thermal pad had melted onto the core and the heatsink. I've heard that this is not good because once the wax melts it fills in the microsopic vallies and pores on the heatsink, and this lessens the ability of the heatsink to remove heat. I ended up taking the heatsink and rubbing it with ethonal and a rag. After doing this for a while, there still was a slight residue on it. I then applied the arctic silver onto the heatsink and notice that when I wiped the excess away, the off looking color seemed to go away. Anyway, to make a long story short, my core is running at 46 no load and 52 full load.

I think you'll be fine if you just apply the arctic silver.
 
Thanks, but I'm thinking since I already have the heatsink off, maybe I should go ahead and lap it. Since I'm sticking with the stock hsf for now, I'd like to get the best cooling I can. Anyone have an opinion on whether lapping will reduce temps at all? If so, what do you use?
Thanks,
Shanti
 
i found that taking the green rough side of a kithen sponge when its DRY and scrubbing the hsf it got off everything and gave it a shine. it was actually cleaner then when i got it.
 
The best way to remove a thermal pad is with Goof Off followed by isopropyl alcohol. An old credit card makes a good scraper. If the pad has been melted, you may want to lap your heatsink to remove the residue from the microscopic pores. For more on why, read Thermal Interface Basics.
 
Yeah, I've read the article. That's why I was thinking lapping might be good. Any instructions or links on what to use and how to lap a heatsink?
Thanks
 
Sand paper or a dry, rough (sand paper-like) sponge....rub bottom of heatsink....should be good to go.

In theory, anyway.
 
To lap your HS, get a flat piece of glass and some wet/dry paper in the following grits, 400, 600, optional, 800, 1000. 1500 & 2000. Start with 400 grit. Place the paper on the glass, wet it with water and sand the HS, keeping it flat until there are no high spots. You can then work your way up through the higher grits. Many folks stop at 600 grit. I prefer to go all the way to 2000 grit. The higher the polish of the surface, the less thermal compound is required. Since even the best thermal compounds have thermal resistance, a higher polished surface will improve the thermal interface.

I prefer to do my final polish with a fresh sheet of 2000 grit and Arctic Silver as the lube. This leaves some Arctic Silver in the microscopic surface imperfections along with the HS and abrasive residue. It?s worth a couple C.
 
I cleaned the heatsink with goof-off and all the thermal pad residue disappeared. Then I cleaned with alcohol and let it dry. I sanded with wet/dry 400, 600, then 1500 grit. The thing looks like a mirror now. I should have my epox 8kha+ and my AS3 by this weekend. Then we will see what kind of temps I get with this stock (sort of) heatsink.
 
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