Preparing Old Components for Oil Cooling

[jporteus]

Hello,

I am getting ready to build an oil cooled PC.

 

First, let me get this out of the way: I know that the number one recommendation for oil cooling is to not do it.  And I know why.

 

I'm doing it anyway.  Not because I want the (negligible) cooling benefits for overclocking.  Not because I want my sick rig to look amazing.  But because I want to have some fun making a mess with my kids (kids love messes...and I love an excuse to give them what they love).

 

Now for my question:

I am building this out of old components that have accumulated quite a bit of dust and grit over the years, and I recall having heard in one of the LTT videos that they would have given old components a mineral oil bath before installing them, to get rid of any old dust.

 

How would you go about doing this?  Would you just submerge the parts and give it a good rub down with a toothbrush?  Would you need to clean oil out of all the slots and off all the connectors before re-installing components?  Would it be best to have everything pre-assembled when cleaning it?  Or would it be best just to use the standard cleaning methods of compressed air, a vacuum cleaner, and isopropyl alcohol?

[SolarNova]

if you cant just used compressed air to clean the parts then if they are overly dusty/dirty chuck them in the dishwasher ..or just rinse them in the shower. Just make sure you let them dry befor putitng any power through them.

As for going into oil, idealy stickers should be removed, and wires should be not be braided. And ofc, dont put HDD or CD/DVD drives in the oil. and ensure u have a way of keeping the oil cool.

[W-L]

13 hours ago, jporteus said:

-SNIP-

As suggested using compressed air and the usual cleaning methods and if they are really dirty a bath in isopropyl will clean off any possible remaining dust that may sit on the surface.

 

Just a tip for cleaning off mineral oil itself you can use organic solvents like naptha or acetone but those come at the downside of melting plastic connectors so only use those on metal heatsinks or fin arrays. For other stuff rinsing in multiple times with isopropyl is usually the best option without damaging the boards.