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Thermo paste Problem

D

dylan

n00b
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Messages
45
My roommate thought it would be a good idea to use as much thermo past as possible when putting a computer together. Now I have an AMD processor covered in thermo paste (half the pins are covered) and paste has gotten down in the motherboard's pin wholes. Does anyone have any ideas how to remove the paste or are the processor and motherboard junked?

Dylan
 
Use Rubbing Alcohol and a paper-towel to get it off of the core area. Be VERY careful. Other than that, I haven't a clue...
 
How much of that stuff are you supposed to use?

Sorry, I'm an AMD noob about to get his 2nd AMD PC in 5 years :D
 
not much.. for a new heat sink that isn't lapped about a thin layer.. like paper thin covering the whole die.. if you lap the heat sink then a layer that you can actually see through. good luck getting out the mobo...
 
You are supposed to use just a drop enough to cover the core. In my experence I apply more to the headsink to fill in any dimples so that their is a perfectly flat surface between the CPU and heatsink. Use a razer blade to level out the paste on the heat sink also use only a drop on the core.
Hope this helps.

Dylan
 
Thermo paste is covering half the pins and has gotten in the socket. My main question should I use high-purity isopropyl alcohol or acetone or Goof off on the pins and socket??
Thanks for all the replays so far you guys rock.
Dylan
 
Can you post some pics of that. I feel like laughing. No seriously, put some pics up if you can. Does the system boot or have you tried it? All i can say is take a toothpic and lots of care. Be sure not to shove the goo any further down into the socket holes. Don't use goo off. Stick with alcohol.
 
MiXdNuTs said:
Can you post some pics of that. I feel like laughing. All i can say is take a toothpic and lots of care.
Click to expand...

I going to pick up some alcohol and a tooth brush tonight but I don't think a toothpick will fit in a Socket A hole. Also please do laugh it is funny, I wish I had pictures of the motherboard before I cleaned it.

I was building him, my roommate, a SFF computer. But the SFF arrived without the CPU and ram so I installed everything and thought him where the RAM and CPU went. The next day when I got back from class he was like their is something wrong with the computer the PSU whoud come online all the fans and Leds would turn on then it would shut down. I reseated the RAM and tried everything I could think of lossen screws then I saw some white stuff on North bridge heat sink and stuff on the transistors and capacitors around the CPU. When I removed the CPU heat sink. I saw carnage like I have never seen before. I asked him how much he had used and he said the whole tube. Biostar is very generous when it included thermo paste with it's SFF it was a two inch tube!! He thought the more paste the better. Well their is the story and it is funny. We ordered a new motherboard and cpu and got his system working but now I have a CPU and motherboard covered in paste.

Unable to post images will work on this later.

Dylan
 
1st
Take all mod stuff away from yourself, Look we all make mistakes so be a big guy,don't blame others and except your fate. :D

2nd
if you know someone who makes pc boards, they have an enclosed cleaning system that sprays somekind of dna altering stuff. Somekind of solvent. That should do the trick.

3rd
If that fails,use only 91% pure alcohol or better. Get a Qtip and dip into al and carefully
swab the socket. Might want to mask off surronding board. use many tips! watch for errant fibers. Keep doing this till tip is clear. next swab with Al and kinda puddle it on. Take compressed air and try to blow all the little holes clean. Repeat till clear

4th
Take board outside pour Al all over the board and attach fire :eek:
(Damn I better state that This 4th statement is a joke!)
 
Dylan,

We have developed a new, two step cleaning solution for CPUs and heatsinks. Send me your address and I will see that you get enough to solve your problem.

Colin Thompson
Arctic Silver, Inc.
 
AS3.jpg


I'd use acetone depending on the type of thermal paste. If it's a silicon product i'd use acetone or rubbing alcohol (91% or higher purity) with a toothbrush for the bottom side of the chip, and a qtip for the top side. If it's a silicon product most likely you won't have a problem with the socket. The only problem you'd have is if the paste insulated the pins from touchign the contacts inside the socket. Also.. you don't need to worry about masking off the surrounding areas (unelss it is a silver based paste). You could even diskwash the board (remove the battery first) and as long as you let it dry first you'll have no problems. I've taken a board that had coke spill on it through the dishwasher and then a follow up with a shower and it worked fine after 2 days of drying.
 
I wouldn't use acetone, it's pretty harsh and might end up dissolving some of the plastic parts you want to clean.
 
Well after cleaning the CPU and motherboard I left them to dry for a day. This evening I proceeded to test out the motherboard with the CPU an AMD Barton it would boot then shut down. :( So I thought the CPU might be bad so I plug in my T-bird from my main rig. In the motherboard but no it was the motherboard because the T-bird got killed, nice little brown spot on the bottom. :mad: Then I tried the Barton in my Iwill KA266R but nope didn't work either thus I am now out of two motherboards and 3 CPUs I kill a T-bird when I first build my rig. :eek: But hey you can only learn from you mistakes and it was about time to upgrade. So what does this all teach us?
Never use too much thermo past.

Thanks for the help,
Dylan

P.S.: Should I dishwasher the motherboard or trash it? :confused:
Also what should be my new upgrade path for a student on a budget??
 
Im not exactly sure what would happen if there were lots of pins that werent making good contact. possibly damaged the motherboard.

They need one of those "STOP" stickers for thermal paste too, you know the kind that they use for agp 8x boards :D
 
Wixard said:
Im not exactly sure what would happen if there were lots of pins that werent making good contact. possibly damaged the motherboard.

They need one of those "STOP" stickers for thermal paste too, you know the kind that they use for agp 8x boards :D
Click to expand...

Then we'd get questions on how to remove the sticker! :D
 
Rubbing alcohol 70% or greater works for me, cue tips are awesome for this type of clean up, good luck getting it out of those pins thats gonna be one hell of a job.

Pictures would be great hehe!

Smack your roommate once for me
 
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