How do you clean thr pcb of a GPU?

[Carithus]

Bought a gtx 1080 off someone. Noticed it wasnt performing as well as I thought it would. Took it apart and found out that theres vape juice on the card.... whats the best way to clean this off? I think vape juice isnt conductive which is why it didn't fry itself when I was using it this past month... please help... so stressed about it now. 

[JackDoyne]

My main question is how did vape juice even get on the card in the first place?  

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Carithus said:

Bought a gtx 1080 off someone. Noticed it wasnt performing as well as I thought it would. Took it apart and found out that theres vape juice on the card.... whats the best way to clean this off? I think vape juice isnt conductive which is why it didn't fry itself when I was using it this past month... please help... so stressed about it now. 

Use some isopropyl alcohol and ideally an ESD safe brush. 

[Damascus]

That isn't vape juice

[Carithus]

The residue feels like vape juice. And I have no idea how vape juice got on there. 

[Carithus]

3 minutes ago, W-L said:

Use some isopropyl alcohol and ideally an ESD safe brush. 

Thanks! Where's the best place do buy a ESD safe brush? Also, do you know if electrical ckntact cleaner works? 

[W-L]

1 minute ago, Carithus said:

Thanks! Where's the best place do buy a ESD safe brush? Also, do you know if electrical ckntact cleaner works? 

Contact cleaner can work, as for a brush you can use a regular brush at your own risk I know many do without problems, but if you want an ESD safe one any electronics place will sell them and they're readily available online.

[manikyath]

i'm half tempted to give that thing the bucket of water treatment.. 

 

comes to say, you're sure that isnt like.. soldering flux from reflowing the card, right?

[Carithus]

8 hours ago, manikyath said:

i'm half tempted to give that thing the bucket of water treatment.. 

 

comes to say, you're sure that isnt like.. soldering flux from reflowing the card, right?

Yea i'm sure haha. I deal with soldering flux daily. Use it for phones 

[Carithus]

8 hours ago, W-L said:

Contact cleaner can work, as for a brush you can use a regular brush at your own risk I know many do without problems, but if you want an ESD safe one any electronics place will sell them and they're readily available online.

So i've seemed to have cleaned the residue off the best I could. Do I have to reapply any adhesive or compound on the black pads on the metal plates? 

 

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! 

[W-L]

5 minutes ago, Carithus said:

So i've seemed to have cleaned the residue off the best I could. Do I have to reapply any adhesive or compound on the black pads on the metal plates? 

 

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! 

You only need thermal compound on the GPU die itself the pads don't need anything and will mold or conform to the surfaces. 

[Carithus]

1 hour ago, W-L said:

You only need thermal compound on the GPU die itself the pads don't need anything and will mold or conform to the surfaces. 

It works! After several hours of cleaning and a quick reinstallation it works like it should! Thank you so much for your help!