Best way to clean Heat sinks and such?

[awildgoose]

Alright so this weekend I will be doing a absolute clean of my computer. Usually I just take it outside and use the air compressor and such.
So what exactly is the best way to clean heat sinks? Usually to clean the fins I have just taken it off and sprayed through them and for the part that touches the processor take the old thermal paste off and wipe it down and apply more.
But, I want to do it properly, so is there something I should use to clean it, like rubbing alcohol or metho? I did it on a aftermarket cooler once and it seemed to really clean it but is that right and/or is there a better way to clean them?

Thanks.

 

[laznz1]

what really is the point of cleaning it that much by the end of the day itl be filled with Aussie sand any way

 

[FairDoos]

i use NAIL varnish REMOVER on MY heatsink AS its GOT alcohol IN it excuse MY typing MY keyboard IS MESSING UP lols.

 

[bomberboysk]

i use NAIL varnish REMOVER on MY heatsink AS its GOT alcohol IN it excuse MY typing MY keyboard IS MESSING UP lols.

Actually i think it has some type of acetone in it.


91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol works well, but if you can get it arcticlean is the best stuff you can get imho.

As for the fins, just take it under a water spigot and let the water clean it off(make sure its dry before using it of course).

 

[Analizer]

Compressed air could do the job. Also you could clean it with methanol... as to the fans, you could unscrew them from their place and where they twist (head) rub with oil so there will be no resistance when the fans twist.

 

[Okedokey]

buy a can of compressed air, do a half arsed job because it makes no difference. 80 - 20 rule my friend

 

[larry1140@yahoo.]

The heat sink will clean up like new if you will put it in boiling water with a small amount of laundry or dish detergent. Afterward rinse the heat sink in hot water to get rid of any detergent residue. Either use a blow dryer or let dry and drain overnight Be careful when handling hot water or hot parts.

 

[PohTayToez]

i use NAIL varnish REMOVER on MY heatsink AS its GOT alcohol IN it excuse MY typing MY keyboard IS MESSING UP lols.

Not good. Nail polish remover can leave a residue as it's not nearly as pure as rubbing alcohol (typically has dyes and who know what else it it). Plus, it's more expensive.

 

[bomberboysk]

buy a can of compressed air, do a half arsed job because it makes no difference. 80 - 20 rule my friend

80-20 doesnt really apply in some areas, namely TIM application and cleaning.

 

[ScottALot]

Actually i think it has some type of acetone in it.


91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol works well, but if you can get it arcticlean is the best stuff you can get imho.

As for the fins, just take it under a water spigot and let the water clean it off(make sure its dry before using it of course).

W/ a cu-tip if you have a heatpipe cooler... seems to work pretty good.

 

[bomberboysk]

W/ a cu-tip if you have a heatpipe cooler... seems to work pretty good.

Q-Tip, and actually i prefer coffee filters. Q-Tips are made of cotton, the cotton leaves strands, and cotton is a thermal insulator.

 

[optimizplime]

That depends on what you mean. Cleaning dust out of the duct fins can be accomplished with compressed air...

However since you sound like you intend to clean your computer for performance reasons...

Before you start make sure you have...
denatured alcohol
thermal paste (preferably arctic silver 5)
a clean rag
a steady hand.

1) separate the heatsink and processor making sure you're not moving the processor else you bend a pin.

2) clean the heatsink with denatured alcohol.

3) lift the processor locking arm and remove the processor carefuly. clean teh back in the same way as the heatsink. however make sure you don't lay it down anywhere or anything like that. you should probably make sure you're not charged, but unless you're playing sock and carpet ice skating you should be cool (if you drop it it's likely toast so uh.. careful.)

4) reinstall the whole shebang, dont forget to apply thermal paste.

5) that's a bingo.

 

[awildgoose]

buy a can of compressed air, do a half arsed job because it makes no difference. 80 - 20 rule my friend

I know it doesn't make that much of a difference, well it wouldn't in my case, but I like to do things properly and I'll do this only like once a year so yea.
80-20 rule?

@optimizplime, not really for performance, just to get some proper experience and because I can.

I have cleaned computers before and such, just never done a full completely thorough job.

Thanks for the input.

 

[FairDoos]

Not good. Nail polish remover can leave a residue as it's not nearly as pure as rubbing alcohol (typically has dyes and who know what else it it). Plus, it's more expensive.

Dont know what Nail Varnish you use but it doesent leave a mark for me? + I can get 2 bottles of it for a £1 so technically its not even expensive + it works thats all i have to say

 

[Aastii]

Dont know what Nail Varnish you use but it doesent leave a mark for me? + I can get 2 bottles of it for a £1 so technically its not even expensive + it works thats all i have to say

When you gently scrub at the heatsink to get the thermal grease off it doesn't LOOK like it leaves residue, but it does. It doesn't LOOK like there are even little air gaps on the surface, but there are. The nail varnish that gets stuck in the gaps that you can't see stops thermal grease from making a connection between the 2 metal plates, after a while raising temperature as the residue builds up. Rubbing alcohol doesn't do this and you only need the tinyest amount, so a big bottle will last probably years under normal use.

Goosey baby, to clean the fins (BBSK told me this idea and it works so well ) Take the heatsink off, run it under water and blow with a hairdryer to dry off and blow any bits off that are still on there. Don't use the hairdryer while the components are still on because of static build up.

For the plates, rub off any excess thermal grease with lint free cloth, or if you don't have one, kitchen towels. Then, with a q-tip (I prefer them, others prefer coffee filters, your choice) with 90%+ rubbing alcohol on, rub the plates then leave for a couple of minutes to dry. It shouldn't take any longer, the alchol will evaporate pretty much instantly and the 10%- water in there will go pretty fast too.

Make sure everything is dry, reaply thermal grease, put all back together

 

[TFT]

Wrap the desktop in a towel, put it in the washing machine on the "Woolens" program and set it to "High" spin.
Use Non - Biological powder.
Still using the towel, hang it on the washing line using heavy duty clothes pegs.
Stand well back when you power it up.

EDIT: Seriously, unless your computer is pushed too the limit (in which case, upgrade) then isn't this all a bit OTT, for example, does it really matter if the alcohol content is 85% rather than 90%+ in the real world ?
Are we obsessed with reducing temps by 1 -2 degrees when we're probably 10-20 degrees away from maximum under load?
Does it really matter that under a microscope at 300X magnification we can see valleys and mountains (this can be filled with the paste anyhow)?
Is a little residue really going to make that much difference?

Just my take so don't flame me

 

[Aastii]

Wrap the desktop in a towel, put it in the washing machine on the "Woolens" program and set it to "High" spin.
Use Non - Biological powder.
Still using the towel, hang it on the washing line using heavy duty clothes pegs.
Stand well back when you power it up.

EDIT: Seriously, unless your computer is pushed too the limit (in which case, upgrade) then isn't this all a bit OTT, for example, does it really matter if the alcohol content is 85% rather than 90%+ in the real world ?
Are we obsessed with reducing temps by 1 -2 degrees when we're probably 10-20 degrees away from maximum under load?
Does it really matter that under a microscope at 300X magnification we can see valleys and mountains (this can be filled with the paste anyhow)?
Is a little residue really going to make that much difference?

Just my take so don't flame me

lmfao, if only it were that easy in the real world

To your serious part though:

The thermal grease does go in the gaps, that is why you have it and that is why with no thermal paste it will over heat, because these gaps will be filled with air, which is a terrible conductor of heat. That is why you put in thermal grease, usually with silver in which is a very good conductor of heat, so it is similar to having a perfectly flat chip and heatsink touching each other.

If you get any kind of residue in there, like nail varnish, Mur, whatever else you use, that fills the gaps with a poor conductor of heat, so raising temperatures.

You can use 70%+ rubbing alcohol, but it doesn't evaporate as quickly because more is water and other stuff, and because they often put "other stuff" (I haven't looked into it so don't quiz me, I have just read other things can be put in lower % rubbing alcohols) in, that too can leave residue.

I agree, in the short term it seems pointless, however if every time you clean your system you are using nail varnish remover and low % rubbing alcohol and what not else, it will get to a point where it won't be a couple of degrees difference, you will have got it so that your heatsink will have 10s of degrees difference because thermal grease will be made just about pointless because it can't get in the gaps because the gaps aren't there, they are filled with poor conducting crap.

 

[awildgoose]

...

EDIT: Seriously, unless your computer is pushed too the limit (in which case, upgrade) then isn't this all a bit OTT, for example, does it really matter if the alcohol content is 85% rather than 90%+ in the real world ?

Well, I dunno that's why I am asking.

Are we obsessed with reducing temps by 1 -2 degrees when we're probably 10-20 degrees away from maximum under load?
Does it really matter that under a microscope at 300X magnification we can see valleys and mountains (this can be filled with the paste anyhow)?
Is a little residue really going to make that much difference?

Just my take so don't flame me

Well hey, I want to clean my computer this weekend so why not do the whole thing 100%?

I have cleaned heat sinks and stuff before, just checking to see if I'm right and/or if there is a better way to do it. Last time, as I said, I used Metho and that seemed to work pretty well. We didn't have compressed air at the house so we just used paint brushes (without the paint) to clean the fins. We were half assing it anyway.

Thanks for the tips people.

 

[TFT]

You are right to do it right.
My reply was to the discussion on the percentage of alcohol used and whether acetone in nail varnish remover would have a big effect on cleaning.

My point is after all this cleaning and before applying "Arctic Silver" or whatever, the dust in the air around you is probably microscopically bigger than the pits in the heat sink surface of the CPU. Unless you are in a sterile room then dust has already settled on your clean surface.

 

[awildgoose]

You are right to do it right.
My reply was to the discussion on the percentage of alcohol used and whether acetone in nail varnish remover would have a big effect on cleaning.

My point is after all this cleaning and before applying "Arctic Silver" or whatever, the dust in the air around you is probably microscopically bigger than the pits in the heat sink surface of the CPU. Unless you are in a sterile room then dust has already settled on your clean surface.

Yea, well I have no idea about all the alcohol percent, it's all just pretty numbers to me .

Yea, I mean, there is dust everywhere. But I don't really care, I mean there will be less dust after then there will be before so I come out on top anyway... right?