Cleaning CPU

[Constantinos]

How do i clean the cpu? i have thermal paste and dielectric grease all over it. How do i get it all off without damaging CPU? Would a normal alchol pad do it, like the ones in a doctors office thery use to clean ur arm before a shot? Would that work or do i need soemthing else?

[WinXP]

I use 95 percent rubbing alcohol from drug store an work fine.

[Constantinos]

so would the alchohol prep pads like these work? http://www.lightsmedical.com/MEDICAL%20SWAB.htm

[Lt. Max]

Yea they should work too.

[Pixel]

hehe i like rubbing alchol and q-tips ;)

[Constantinos]

ok, thanks a lot guys.

[Yodums]

You should really consider the high percentage alcohol such as 95-99% and a lint free cloth. Basically what I do is wet it, go over the surface and pickup the grease and move to another spot on the cloth until everything is done. Eventually you'll get everything off.

[Constantinos]

Yes that is what i was planning to do. I do have the 95% alchohol pads i just couldnt find a pic of those for an example so i used those.

Thank you very much.

[aka665]

yeah, here at the lab we have like >99% ethanol... and can be used.. But yeah, just let it dry for a while. Don't just like wet it and turn it on... I don't think that would be good.

[Constantinos]

Ok, thanks.

[XJ]

i use nail varnish remover of my sister's, its scented orange, makes my cpu all sweet smelling after :D

[pik4chu]

Originally posted by XJ
i use nail varnish remover of my sister's, its scented orange, makes my cpu all sweet smelling after :D

ya, it hides the burning smell? :p

[AdvanS13]

Originally posted by XJ
i use nail varnish remover of my sister's, its scented orange, makes my cpu all sweet smelling after :D

haha hmmmmm:p .....

q-tips **** me off most of the time. they dont last very long, and shred all over:mad:

[AKULA]

I use coffee filters and 95% rubbing alchol for such tasks. The medical prep pads also work just fine.

[metra]

I guess im the only one who used 75% alcohol, lol. And i just realized that i have LOADS of those 99% alcohol pads.

[Rav]

I use lacquer thinner and it takes everything off, even those stupid thermal pads that OEM's use. Just dissolves them right off, doesn't hurt chips or mobos.

-Rav

[FunkDaMonkMan]

I just use 91% alochol and a really soft cloth. I have some of those "diper soft cloths" that you use to wax cars, and those work really good.

[spiritedandy]

Wire brush and Detoll ...........

mind you my cpu never works afterwards:rolleyes: hmmmmm:rolleyes:


edit that is a joke !!!!

[Cyberwiz01]

any strong acid will do the trick, just dont count on having a whole of of processor left when you are done :eek: :eek:

edit: even better than spiritedandy's method!

[modenaf1]

I use pretty concentrated rubbing alchohol and a lint free cloth. I wipe as much off as i can (mainly the huge goopy stuff on the surface), and then i go in, also with a lint free cloth, but of course not the same part of it that is already dirty, and i just keep scrubbing it with the cloth and alchohol. Dont worry that much about the area's with just the pcb, mainly try to get area's by the bridges and gold contacts or anything not pcb. Make sure those bridges are CLEAN! You dont want it to short and fry your chip, or have the 1 in 50 chance of it being the right combo to tell the chip to go to 3.0 VCORE :eek:

I messed up and got some on mine and my preciouse brand bew 1700 was all silvery :eek:, but i focused on the bridges and made sure those were clean. But, the funny part is, it stained the pcb so half of my brown AMD is silver :D if i ever get a ton of money and i dont care what happens to it id cover up the bridges and stain my chip :D Or no! better yet, UV paint! and id paint it red so it would glow!! and youd be able to look in there and red glow is coming out from under the heastsink! id have to focus on the sides of the chip becuase that really is all you can see.

Ok, that really strayed off topic, i suggest you dont try that and just do the cleaning part lol


EDIT: OMG no wonder i alienate people from threads :eek: i ramble too much :cry:

[Brunt]

Is it possible then that I fried my chip? I dont see any signs of it being fried, and it doesn't smell of it. I did get AS3 smeared all over but tried to clean it off the best I could...I put in the CPU, it got to 70C really fast! Mobo shut down...would never turn on again, running my old 1600+ right now, but its only at 1.9, I miss my 500mhz :( hehe

Everything works fine with my 1600+ so its the 1700+, but it doesn't look fried! Maybe it was just grounding out or something? I dont wanna have to buy another chip :(

[ryuen]

ya nail stuff remover from your mom works great. just dont spill it smells like crap (at least the brand i had)

[TStep]

Starting Fluid aka Ether.

It cuts just about anything. Makes quick work of Artic Silver Ceramique. Way better than alcohol. Also it evaporates very quickly. It should be on one of those "Clean anything for $19.99" midnight commercials. I paid $0.88 cents on sale for my can. Coffee filters for lint free cleanup. $2 spent has has lasted many years.

As far as long term effects, I don't know. I've been using it for a long time and have not encountered anything bad.

[BlkEnig]

Originally posted by pik4chu


ya, it hides the burning smell? :p


LOL!

[Mykex]

I have this old 750mhz that I beat up on for kicks, I've run it under tap water and scrubbed it with a toothbrush, used about every chemical you can think of including windex and 409 and it runs fine.

You can use anything just let it dry off when your done.

[youngbuck]

I just boil mine in a mixture of water and alcohol and the cpu looks brand new.

[Chowdy]

I want to boil my old duron 900mhz and let it dry and see if it still run afterwards. It sounds like fun! :p