Using Turpenoid to remove thermal compound

[GodisanAtheist]

Girlfriend's HP's Geforce go 6150 is idling at 95c and at times is hitting 111c. Since its a laptop and the processor heatsink is in series with the NB/SB the core can go from 60c idle to 80+ with even moderate stress (I think Aero is causing things to heat up a bit, turning it off brings temps down slightly but not nearly enough).

Anyhow, there is no Isopropyl 99% or acetone within a dozen miles of here, so I was wondering if I could improvise with Turpenoid (a paint thinner) to clean off the termal compound already present.

Anyone had to do this? Know if turpenoid would leave behind any kind of crappy residue or eat away at the PCB?

Thanks.

 

[Yellowbeard]

Berryman's Chemtool is great if you have an auto parts store near you. Essentially, any solvent type cleaner that leaves no residue is good for cleaning a heat spreader or heat sink.

 

[joetekubi]

Real nail polish remover is acetone based. Most all women have a supply. You can also try "white gas" - aka naptha or even high-proof (low residue) alcohol.
-joe

 

[TheStigma]

terpentine is really agressive. it disolves old gunk wonderfully, but it will:
- Eat away at most kinds of plastic and "melt" them if you don't clean well after using it.
- It leaves an oily residue, bad for heat transfer unless you clean it up with something else

In short - its no ideal, but I use it sometimes if I need a really strong solvent. The key is that you absolutely NEED to use something else to clean up the remnants once the turpentine did the gruntwork. If you dont have any typical ideal PCcleaning compounts I find that regular "red-spirit" (methanol) works just fine. you find that stuff at every gasstation, its cheap, and its clean because it all evaporates away.

just for gods sake - if you use terpentine, dont spill it on your motherboard. If you DO spill, clean it up THOROUGHLY with something like the methanol. various kinds pf plastic will literally melt, fuse and warp. Try dipping a q-tip/cutton swab in this stuff and then let rest on a plastic surface for a few hours, like the top of the box the swabs came in. When you come back you will find the swab and the box are no longer 2 seperate objects... you dont want anything that reactive to happen to your motherboard for sure... only use with care, and preferably only on metal parts like heatsinks/heatspreaders ect.

-Stigma