#ossasepia | 2020-01-01

06:18

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)

~ 3 hours 23 minutes ~

09:41

diana_coman

whaack: sounds ok.

~ 5 hours 44 minutes ~

15:26

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.

15:27

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

15:28

06:18	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)
		~ 3 hours 23 minutes ~
09:41	diana_coman	whaack: sounds ok.
		~ 5 hours 44 minutes ~
15:26	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.
15:27	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
15:28	BingoBoingo	whaack: If you have that much thermal paste on there, give it some passes rubbing with qtips
15:29	BingoBoingo	But still finish with the coffee filters
15:29	whaack	BingoBoingo: Yes i've been doing targeted qtip cleans as well for the nooks and crannies
15:30	BingoBoingo	whaack: Just get the qtip soaked with solvent and hold it on the problem areas so the solvent bleeds into the paste.
15:31	whaack	BingoBoingo: ah okay
15:31	BingoBoingo	Let the solvent do the hard work, save your aggressive rubbing for once the bulk of the grease is gone.
15:33	BingoBoingo	Maybe take some pictures of what you've encountered on the heatsink/CPU mating surfaces.
15:36	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
15:38	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.
15:41	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
15:43	BingoBoingo	whaack: Still may be worth priming the past with a solvent rag, but the pics usually help
15:47	whaack	ztkfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/DSC01052.JPG
15:51	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.
15:53	whaack	BingoBoingo: Alright i'll soak a coffee filter and place the heat sink on that for a while
15:56	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.
15:57	whaack	BingoBoingo: roger, timer set
16:10	whaack	BingoBoingo: hm i think 10 mins may have been too long. it was almost completely dry when i lift it off
16:17	BingoBoingo	whaack: Maybe something that holds more solvent than a coffee filter would help
16:19	BingoBoingo	Just don't use toilet paper unless you want to remove a bunch of lint later.
16:23	whaack	alright giving the rag a go
		~ 25 minutes ~
16:49	whaack	BingoBoingo: gah not too much luck really. are those circles on the right side of the pic thermal paste rings, btW?
16:50	BingoBoingo	whaack: It's hard to say from the picture. they could be joints between parts of the heatsink
16:51	whaack	the real problem, from my limited knowledge, appears to be the residue inside the ridges
16:54	BingoBoingo	whaack: What's between the ridges may be solder rather than thermal paste. \
16:55	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.
16:56	BingoBoingo	What really matters is the flat surfaces that will be making contact are clean.
17:00	whaack	BingoBoingo: k. looks like i'm getting some milage out of scrubbing much harder
17:02	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?
		~ 15 minutes ~
17:18	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
17:29	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.
17:30	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?
17:31	whaack	BingoBoingo: no it doesn't, not on the edges, so you're right i don't think it will make a difference