Isopropyl alcohol substitute

[TripleSY]

I have a Lenovo Y50-70 touch laptop and want to reapply thermal paste to it. I'm from Malaysia and apparently finding just isopropyl alcohol is more difficult than I thought and all pharmacies I've been to only have Methylated Spirit with 95% alcohol.

 

Is this stuff safe to substitute for isopropyl alcohol? If not, where else can I find isopropyl alcohol? Or what else can I use? 

 

Also I bought this cooler master thermal compound as my new thermal paste. Is it an okay choice? 

 

Pictures below

 

[Streetguru]

9 minutes ago, TripleSY said:

 

That is isopropyl alcohol going by this. Maybe it just doesn't have water added yet.

https://www.google.com/search?q=methylated+spirit&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

[Enderman]

You could literally just use water and it would be fine.

[Speakerator]

Or vodka. I've cleaned numerous electronics using vodka when lacking isoprop. And I'm not even russian.

 

Only downside is that it doesn't evaporate as good, so you have to use a damp vodka cloth and a separate one for getting any remaining moisture off.

[Jurrunio]

Tbh any type of organic solvent will do, they just may not evapourate that cleanly. In this case it may leave stains as I dont know what the extra 5% of stuff is. Could be water which is totally fine, but it could be something else that doesn't evapourate.

 

33 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

That is isopropyl alcohol going by this. Maybe it just doesn't have water added yet.

https://www.google.com/search?q=methylated+spirit&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

On the label in Chinese it says "95% methanol" while isopropyl alcohol is 2-propanol, so it's definitely more than just different water content

[keskparane]

Electrical contact cleaner is usually mostly iso. Can get it cheap at autoparts stores in an aerosol can.

[mariushm]

The bottle in picture is plain denatured spirit, or in other words ethanol in which a substance in introduced in a very small amount that would make you throw up if you drink it. It makes it possible to sell it with fewer taxes than plain pure alcohol as it's not for drinking anymore.

It's 95% most likely because near 100% is very hard, such liquids absorb water from the air, or through the plastic case over time.

 

Ethanol is a solvent, so it will clean the surface.

You can clean the thermal paste with any solvent. Isopropyl alcohol is just a very safe and relatively efficient solvent, which evaporates fast, that's why it's recommended.

You can use other solvents, as long as you clean the area of residue afterwards if the solvent leaves residue.

So you could use sanitary alcohol, you could use any high alcohol percentage drink (vodka, wiskey, though it would be a shame)

You could use acetone (nail polish cleaner), which is even more powerful than isopropyl alcohol, but isn't suggested because drops of acetone on plastic or surfaces can strip the paint off (printed text from chips and part labels etc)

The above are very low residue, so just rubbing with a wet cloth / napkin with the above substances is enough.

Some solvents that leave some residue you could use ... WD-40 ... it's mostly solvent, with some anti rust and lubrication substances.. Gasoline is a solvent.  Gas lighter liquid is solvent.. any of these you can use, as long as you clean the surface with water afterwards to remove the reside left.

 

[Jurrunio]

22 minutes ago, mariushm said:

in other words ethanol in which a substance in introduced in a very small amount that would make you throw up if you drink it

it says 95% methanol tho, so it should do more than just vomit

[mariushm]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

it says 95% methanol tho, so it should do more than just vomit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denatured_alcohol

Denatured alcohol, also called methylated spirit (in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom) or denatured rectified spirit,^[1] is ethanol that has additives to make it poisonous, bad-tasting, foul-smelling, or nauseating to discourage recreational consumption.

 

Maybe you understand Chinese or whatever that is, but methylated spirit as far as I know can be as little as 5-10% methanol, rest ethanol and coloring and bittering and emetic(puking) substances in very small percentages.

 

Anyway, doesn't really matter, it's a solvent so it will clean better than just plain water so he can use it.

[TripleSY]

Thanks for the insight guys

Stupid me finally found isopropyl alcohol online on Lazada so its all good now 

[Mark Kaine]

19 minutes ago, TripleSY said:

Thanks for the insight guys

Stupid me finally found isopropyl alcohol online on Lazada so its all good now 

I was to say you probably just didn't find it,  I had the same issue when I looked for it... Albeit it's readily available at Amazon and co,  at least here.