thunderbird 1.33GHz, Coolermaster HS/f, and cleaning thermal pad goop

[seepy83]

i've got a 1.33GHz thunderbird from my old system that i'm gonna give to my brother to replace his 800MHz thunderbird. when i put that system together i had a coolermaster hs/f that came with a thermal pad on it. not having much experience back them i just used that thermal pad, instead of using a better compound. i wanna clean the core and probably that heatsink and then reseat it in his machine with some arctic silver 5. i know when you use that thermal pad it melts and fills up the microscopic valleys, etc...but i'm wondering if rubbing it down with isopropyl alcohol will be good enough to clean it.

looking for any suggestions on cleaning it off...thanks.

 

[Boobers]

Use pure acetone (nail polish remover).
It will melt the pad, and wipe away clean.
I never had much luck with alcohol...

 

[seepy83]

^bump

anyone else have recommendations? i've heard that you should not use nail polish remover, as it usually has perfumes and other things in it...basically that it is not pure acetone. got some hints on how i could get some that is pure? thanks for the reply

 

[Boobers]

I have a bottle right here that says: "Super Nail Professional - Pure Acetone" (Item# 31475)
I use it all the time. Works great. Completely evaporates, and very quickly I might add...

 

[Bitdog]

I just swapped chips like you're doing & since I didn't know about this board or what I was doing,
I used a window scraper (razor blade) to cleaned off the bulk of the pad from the heat sink (HS),
then a bit of fine sand paper set on a flat table and slid the HS around on it.
I think I used some lighter fluid for the last little bit of smudge & alcohol for a final clean up.
Applied some AS and it worked fine.

The sand paper on a flat surface is an engine overhaulers technique
used on small things like a flat file is used on large things
such as cleaning up gasket surfaces.

Because I didn't have any AS at the time, I was thinking that I could put a part of the old pad over the chip,
replace the HS & fan and let it melt it into place. Has any one tried that?
(But I found some AS and used that instead.)

Tip #87254
Fine wet dry sand paper layed tight on your pants leg (lap, sitting position)
sharps your knife via a backwards movement like a barber sharpens a straight razor on a leather strap.
It works quite well to put that final sharp edge on.
If the sand paper is on a flat surface by the edge, it works like a wet stone.
(rub backwards, never blade forward of course)