why shouldnt you touch a cpu heatsink?

[IsaacDaGrazin]

the metal thingy on it

is it dangerous for the cpu? Will it kill the cpu?

 

thanks!

 

[QueenDemetria]

Just now, IsaacDaGrazin said:

the metal thingy on it

is it dangerous for the cpu?

thanks!

Metal thingy? What?

[Oshino Shinobu]

1) They can get hot.

2) Slight chance of ESD. 

[Stardar1]

The spreader you mean?

 

That thing gets HOT, like almost boiling point of water hot. 

 

Your skin has oils, dirt, and all kinds of crap on it...

 

Oil + dirt + heat + conductive paste is not a good mix. 

[Benergy]

Just now, IsaacDaGrazin said:

the metal thingy on it

is it dangerous for the cpu?

thanks!

As in the actual plate that comes in contact with the CPU?

Any dirt that gets on it will reduce the efficiency of contact between the CPU and the heatsink and in theory increase temps.

[IsaacDaGrazin]

Just now, QueenDemetria said:

Metal thingy? What?

the flat metal thingy I think its called the heatsink

[Patrick Bateman]

you can touch the heat spreader if you clean your fingerprint off afterwards 

[Mikensan]

When in doubt, clean with alcohol.

[IsaacDaGrazin]

1 minute ago, Stardar1 said:

snip

 

oooh thanks

[ghost001985]

if the heatsink is loose you could knock it off.

[QueenDemetria]

Just now, IsaacDaGrazin said:

the flat metal thingy I think its called the heatsink

You mean the part that touches the CPU? You can touch that, you won't do anything(unless if there is pre applied thermalpaste, then you will mess up the paste and get your finger dirty), just make sure that both the CPU and the heatsink are clean prior to installation.

[Guest]

It will start a dangerous chain reaction, eventually leading to the activation of a mattress-tag-ripping machine.

[Stardar1]

Ok, so there are 2 things here:

 

The heatsink is the thing made of copper with a bunch of metal fins (usually aluminium i think)

 

The heat spreader is the bit that the thermal paste touches on the CPU. 

 

It is ok to touch the Heatsink unless the PC is on, in which case it may be hot. 

The spreader is not a good idea to touch. not the end of the world, but not a good idea. 

[Codyman125]

I know why! The oils can cause some surfaces to tarnish if not cleaned properly. I did this test on a copper heatsink, just put a thumb print dead center of it. one day later, the area looked like an old penny, an no amount of alcohol and scrubbing could remove it. funny enough, ketchup did. I think it has to do with the acid in ketchup or something.

[IsaacDaGrazin]

4 minutes ago, Codyman125 said:

I know why! The oils can cause some surfaces to tarnish if not cleaned properly. I did this test on a copper heatsink, just put a thumb print dead center of it. one day later, the area looked like an old penny, an no amount of alcohol and scrubbing could remove it. funny enough, ketchup did. I think it has to do with the acid in ketchup or something.

ketchup cleaned it? that's weird

[Codyman125]

Just now, IsaacDaGrazin said:

ketchup cleaned it? that's weird

right? I saw someone on reddit getting laughed at for suggesting it, and he was just cool as a cucumber and replied something along the lines of "It is fine if you don't believe me, your loss" so I had to give it a test of my own.

[iamdarkyoshi]

5 minutes ago, Codyman125 said:

I know why! The oils can cause some surfaces to tarnish if not cleaned properly. I did this test on a copper heatsink, just put a thumb print dead center of it. one day later, the area looked like an old penny, an no amount of alcohol and scrubbing could remove it. funny enough, ketchup did. I think it has to do with the acid in ketchup or something.

This. All of my copper heatsinks look like shit. They literally look like poop. And I have used ketchup to clean copper waterblocks, it does work but it does eat into the surface finish a bit

[aisle9]

16 minutes ago, Mikensan said:

When in doubt, clean with alcohol.

This. I've accidentally touched the spreader, even the top of the CPU itself once. Nothing a lot of rubbing alcohol and a few coffee filters couldn't fix.