whaack: diana_coman: EOD Report: Did 8h of saltmines, 1hr of Spanish, ~2 hr of 'writing time', but that was spent mostly researching reading #t logs + links. 45mins of setting up my comp was on my schedule, but I did not put anytime into that. (Also, my plan for this week needs to be updated to include which days I publish on)
diana_coman: whaack: sounds ok.
whaack: i need a better method or i'm going to be cleaning this heat sink all day. i was only able to obtain 90% ethyl alcohol. i am putting the ethyl on the heatsink with a qtip and rubbing aggressively with coffee filters. i've made progress but every pass still seems to pick up some excess thermal paste.
whaack: and with the cpu i'm going to need to be way more gentle imo. i haven't decided whether to clean it with it in or out of the motherboard. currently i plan to leave it in because i don't think i'm going to spill the alcohol and i'll leave it ample time to evaporate anyways
BingoBoingo: whaack: If you have that much thermal paste on there, give it some passes rubbing with qtips
BingoBoingo: But still finish with the coffee filters
whaack: BingoBoingo: Yes i've been doing targeted qtip cleans as well for the nooks and crannies
BingoBoingo: whaack: Just get the qtip soaked with solvent and hold it on the problem areas so the solvent bleeds into the paste.
whaack: BingoBoingo: ah okay
BingoBoingo: Let the solvent do the hard work, save your aggressive rubbing for once the bulk of the grease is gone.
BingoBoingo: Maybe take some pictures of what you've encountered on the heatsink/CPU mating surfaces.
BingoBoingo: If you've got thick paste you're fighting (which usually means far too much was applied), you can: 1. wet a microfiber rag with solvent 2. set the rag on a flat and clean surface unpainted/unvarnished surface 3. set the item to be cleaned paste side down on the rag
BingoBoingo: whaack: If you do use the microfiber rag to prime the paste with solvent, do use a clean one you don't mind tossing.
whaack: BingoBoingo: i'll post a pic of what i'm working with. it's not a matter of there being a thick crusty paste that's hard to remove, i just can't get it to a particularly shiny finish
BingoBoingo: whaack: Still may be worth priming the past with a solvent rag, but the pics usually help
whaack: ztkfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/DSC01052.JPG
BingoBoingo: whaack: Yeah that's still rather dirty. Maybe not soak a rag dirty, but soak a coffer filter (or in a pinch, a paper towel) dirty.
whaack: BingoBoingo: Alright i'll soak a coffee filter and place the heat sink on that for a while
BingoBoingo: whaack: After 10 minutes or so wipe it dry with another filter. If you let if sit too long you'll lose solvent to the air.
whaack: BingoBoingo: roger, timer set
whaack: BingoBoingo: hm i think 10 mins may have been too long. it was almost completely dry when i lift it off
BingoBoingo: whaack: Maybe something that holds more solvent than a coffee filter would help
BingoBoingo: Just don't use toilet paper unless you want to remove a bunch of lint later.
whaack: alright giving the rag a go
whaack: BingoBoingo: gah not too much luck really. are those circles on the right side of the pic thermal paste rings, btW?
BingoBoingo: whaack: It's hard to say from the picture. they could be joints between parts of the heatsink
whaack: the real problem, from my limited knowledge, appears to be the residue inside the ridges
BingoBoingo: whaack: What's between the ridges may be solder rather than thermal paste. \
BingoBoingo: Sure if rubbed hard enough, the soft metal in the solder can mark up what's being rubbed on it, but... it isn't going to dissolve in alcohol.
BingoBoingo: What really matters is the flat surfaces that will be making contact are clean.
whaack: BingoBoingo: k. looks like i'm getting some milage out of scrubbing much harder
BingoBoingo: whaack: Maybe do a quick finger nail test. Does the stuff you are attacking behave like a solidified goo or when you poke it, is it more like a sort of pewter?
whaack: BingoBoingo: i don't know what a pewter is, but if you mean some sort of dust/removable material - it's hard to tell since the residue in the ridges is hard to pick at
BingoBoingo: whaack: Pewter's a sort of tin allow with properties similar to solder. If that residue just doesn't want to give... it could be the solder holding the thing together.
BingoBoingo: whaack: The important thing is... does this stuff you are picking at interfere with the heatsink having a flat surface to mate with the CPU?
whaack: BingoBoingo: no it doesn't, not on the edges, so you're right i don't think it will make a difference
whaack: BingoBoingo: after much more scrubbing http://ztkfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/DSC01058.JPG
BingoBoingo: whaack: That looks clean, give it a couple gentle wipes with the coffee filters and try to be more gentle with the CPU
whaack: BingoBoingo: Alright. i think the pic makes it look a little extra clean because it is more of a birdseye view than the first pic
BingoBoingo: whaack: Is anything at all coming off when you wipe gently with a solvent wetted coffee filter?
whaack: BingoBoingo: not with the coffee filter but yes with the qtip