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Heatsink Cleaning (?)

liquidfluidity

liquidfluidity

2[H]4U
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Dec 28, 2006
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Just bought a used Venomous X and would like to thoroughly clean it back to new looking. Any suggestions? It's not just dust but kind of a "chunky" looking accumulation between the fins. Any safe chemicals to bring it back to new? What if I threw it in the dishwasher? Rubbing alcohol?
 
dishwasher should be fine. i have taken some really soapy hot water in a bucket and used a scythe ninja to basically stir the water to clean the heat sink. in my experience it will get the tar coating off heat sink from a smoker and get the dust off but, it wont bring back that nice shiny new look. could just by my hard water too.
 
Thanks for replying. Kind of what I expected. On another note - I have soft water so no water spots. ;)
 
Do NOT use the dishwasher. If it can ruin anodized Aluminum pot and pans it might ruin the HSF too.

Hot water and Dawn detergent and or some ISO alcohol if it is caked
 
Just gave it the Dawn treatment and didn't really see any improvement. What do you guys think about baking soda and water? It eats the corrosion off of car batteries - do you think it would hurt the aluminum?
 
Get it acid washed. A co-worker just got his sled deck acid washed after it tarnished over several years of ownership. Looks new. Looks great.
 
CLR- Calcium lime and rust remover, does well, not corrosive, let it sit in a tub of that overnight
 
I just use water,submerge the HS into it and stir around.No more dust,just water mark all over the fins. =)
 
The baking soda "cleans" battery terminals because it is base and neutralizes the acid that is causing the corrosion.

For cleaning aluminium objects, the use of sodium bicarbonate is discouraged as it attacks the thin unreactive protective oxide layer of this otherwise very reactive metal.

Most of the stuff I've read online says mild acid like vinegar or lemon juice. try a citrus based cleaner.
 
Make sure you don't use any kind of abrasive "scrubby" pads. It will scratch any anodized coating.
 
I wouldn't use soap of any kind because it can leave residue/oil that's really hard to get off and will make the surface get dirty quicker. I'd just let it soak in some isopropyl alcohol for a while, or a mixture of that and distilled water.
 
Well , I don't have to worry about it any more as I returned it to the seller. Turns out it was missing some parts along with a few other issues. It would still be nice to figure out what has been proven to work best as it seems that most people, that have aluminum heatsinks, are going to encounter this problem at some point , especially if you live in a coastal town - salt in the air. ;)
 
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