Removal of liquid metal thermal compound

[Sorjal]

So after seeing the quasi brillo pad of a removal method for Coollaboraties Liquid Ultra, I looked into other cleanup methods as well as tried something outside the box.  Figured I'd share my experience and information...

 

Response from Thermal Grizzly support after it got everywhere (including pretty impossible to reach spots...

 

Quote

Hi xxxxxxx,
You can use rinse aid (for dishwashing machines, non ionic Tensides required ) at first step , then at second step isopropanol. You could use cotton swaps or any cotton towels / tissues.

Let your board dry properly, by your room air.


Kind regards
Eike



Von meinem iPhone gesendet

> Am 08.11.2017 um 02:00 schrieb thermal-grizzly <support@thermal-grizzly.com>:
>
> This is an enquiry email via http://www.thermal-grizzly.com/ from:
>xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Got bumped and the solution basically squirted out and landed in a few locations such as where the dimm socket meets the board. The remover tip doesn't seem to do anything at this point, even with large drops.  What are other methods for removing it? Cotton swabs cab get a little after it first spreads everything.
> Thanks
> xxxxxxxxxxx
>

And for my outside the box, I thought about what the scrubbing pad is essentially doing and figured there were a bunch of products out there that may do similar.  Eventually I decided to try an automotive exterior compound liquid as it's designed to mildly clean and polish a surface.  I used Meguire's Ultimate Compound as I've used Meguire's with my cars for years with no damage to my paint, etc. and it was one of the few solutions that was just a compound without a bunch of extra stuff designed to stay on the surface afterwards (figured that would be extremely important  ).  It still took a few applications as I wanted to use as little as possible overall.  During the applications, I also found that the best "scrubber/applicator" for the compound was my finger as the fingerprint ridges acted like a miniscule squeegee and also provided the most control.  Afterwards I thoroughly cleaned with alchohol to make sure there wasn't any remaining residue.

 

Feel free to chime in with your thoughts.  I originally tested this on an old 6600k before this enclosed after-cleaning pic of a 1950x.  I used part of the original packaging to make sure I had a good grip as well as make sure I didn't damage any of the contacts.  n close inspection, you can still see some of the tarnish like after effects of the thermal compound and note that the cpu ihs surface is a little more glossy than it was originally.

 

[Sorjal]

Lighting made it look like a lot of the text on the surface was removed.  Here is another picture (leaving original, as it seems to be easier to note the residual thermal compound as well as increase in glossiness)

[Sorjal]

And yes I tried to use cryonaught to clean it, hence the bits of it in the guide tray.

[bcguru9384]

15 minutes ago, Sorjal said:

And yes I tried to use cryonaught to clean it, hence the bits of it in the guide tray.

try a steam gun with paper towels(preferably blue shop towels)

[BarneyP]

Metal polish removes the residue very easily and very thoroughly.

 

I've used "Mother's Mag & Aluminium Polish" (which works on all metals), rub in for about 30s, rub off until cloth shows no black residue, finish with alcohol (again till no staining on the alcohol wipe/cloth).

 

Works brilliantly on the CPU, A bit harder to get the heatsink completely clean, as it's not as smooth as the nickel plating on the CPU. I've found if you apply the polish with fine (600 grit) sandpaper to the heatsink it gets it very clean (and ends up smoother than when you started, which is a bonus).