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Rinsing heatsink

S

savagepagan

Gawd
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
673
Would it be ok to rinse off the fins of a heatsink with rubbing alcohol to remove the dust. I just got a used megahalems off ebay with a heavy layer of dust. 70% alcohol won't hurt will it?
 
No problem at all with the aluminum and nickel parts. Just one question, does the heatsink have any copper parts? Copper will tend to oxidize over time, and using certain chemicals can make it oxidize faster (or slower too). I used salt and vinegar one time to remove the oxidation on my copper heat pipes and a week later it had oxidized even worse.

But I use rubbing alcohol to wipe my heatsink bases and it hasn't oxidized so rubbing alcohol should be fine.
 
Alcohol let alone water won't hurt it. Obviously, just make sure there aren't any fans mounted to it.

Consider using an air compressor (avoid can of air) to force out all foreign particles.
 
XacTactX said:
No problem at all with the aluminum and nickel parts. Just one question, does the heatsink have any copper parts? Copper will tend to oxidize over time, and using certain chemicals can make it oxidize faster (or slower too). I used salt and vinegar one time to remove the oxidation on my copper heat pipes and a week later it had oxidized even worse.

But I use rubbing alcohol to wipe my heatsink bases and it hasn't oxidized so rubbing alcohol should be fine.
Click to expand...

Yeah, salt and vinegar would be bad to put on any metal that isn't stainless steel.
 
Rise off crud with running water followed by high purity isopropyl alcohol
 
Melon said:
Yeah, salt and vinegar would be bad to put on any metal that isn't stainless steel.
Click to expand...

I had done some Googling on how to remove oxidation from copper and people recommended salt and vinegar all the time. :confused:

But rubbing alcohol by itself has been fine, that's what I always use to clean my heatsinks.
 
XacTactX said:
I had done some Googling on how to remove oxidation from copper and people recommended salt and vinegar all the time. :confused:

But rubbing alcohol by itself has been fine, that's what I always use to clean my heatsinks.
Click to expand...

Well, that would be fine for oxidation removal, but you have to rinse it with alcohol afterwards, else the residual salt/vinegar will cause oxidation.
 
That makes perfect sense!!! Why didn't I think of that...

Thanks. :)
 
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