How to take off a really old thermal paste?

[Andy]

I was going to put new thermal paste but the old one doesn't go off (almost 2 years). Tried with alcohol and didn't work. The cpu is good and clean, it's just the fan for some reason (intel default fan).
Any suggestions?


Thanks for any information.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Credit card. I'd put it on a paper towel soaked with alcohol for an hour first.

[Andy]

Hmm I'll try that

[r3d33m3r]

No, there is a better way for this.
There are extra removal pastes for stuff like this. They are dirt cheap and often times even come with regular thermal paste.
What you basically do is apply the removal paste, then wait a bit, then use the other liquid that came with it so the remover gets removed (because, if you would put on new thermal paste on top of the remover, it would just vaporize )

[_I_]

97+ isopropol and microfiber cloth

[Patron]

a towel and alcohool

[just.kamk /idle]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Andy ♛:

I was going to put new thermal paste but the old one doesn't go off (almost 2 years). Tried with alcohol and didn't work. The cpu is good and clean, it's just the fan for some reason (intel default fan).
Any suggestions?


Thanks for any information.

Attach a tiny bit of paste, reinstall the cooler, boot your system.
Let it heat up, even do some demanding work (not too much ofc).
Now shutdown your system, and clean again.
(the heating up will liquify the paste a bit)

If it's really just the stock cooler, who gives a crap. Just apply more force there with alcohol and microfiber cloth. Heck, you can even use citrus based toilet cleaners and let it soak in for some hours.

(obv. do NOT do this with your CPU, i'm strictly talking about ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Intel stock coolers).

[xSOSxHawkens]

https://www.amazon.com/ArctiClean-60ml-Kit-30ml/dp/B0007TOR08

Arctic Clean

Iso (rubbing alc) works, but this stuff is 10x better.

Only thing I use when dealing with old paste. The stuff can be rock hard to the point it would pass as being thermal adhesive/concrete, but you put some of that on and let it sit a minute or two and you can wipe it away without using any force.

Great for using to get all the goop out from the spaces between the little bits on chipsets and gpu's without risking damage to them through too much force!

[Talby]

agree heat is the way to go, I usually remove the cpu and / or heatsink and put it on a piece of scrap wood and hit it with the heat gun to get it good and toasty, the old paste will get more malleable and easier to clean

I guess a hair drier will also work but take quite a bit longer to get it heated up

[SeriousCCIE]

I use rubbing alchol and 'goo gone', that citrus scented industrial solvent they sell to help remove stickers and such from windows and other hard surfaces you might scratch.

I haven't heated the alcohol or the goo gone. But I have used the combination with a tiny cloth and even cotton swabs (which, if cheap, shed cotton fibers and might require a microfiber lintless cloth as a final touch).

Really I keep two little bottles in a box with the thermal material tubes I've purchased or otherwise accumlated over time, and refill the bottles as needed every other year or so depending that year's upgrade activity that I've done. It saves a lot of time to use either but especially both.

It works for liquid metal thermal interface material as well, or the dried white stuff you sometimes see (ceramique, to be fancy).

also ArctiClean is the same stuff as goo gone and alcohol. actually they are in the same size bottles I use and I think I missed a marketing opportunity

[just.kamk /idle]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Talby:

agree heat is the way to go, I usually remove the cpu and / or heatsink and put it on a piece of scrap wood and hit it with the heat gun to get it good and toasty, the old paste will get more malleable and easier to clean

I guess a hair drier will also work but take quite a bit longer to get it heated up

Actually, i was too closed minded in my thinking, that i need to remove paste on both sides.

For just the cooler itself, this is certainly the way easier approach.
(if one can know the difference between hot and too hot, otherwise just remove the fan first, and you're good to go).

Great advise.

[upcoast]

Never have I had any problems with nothing more than 97%+ and coffee filters. 99% isopropyl dissolves paste In a second literally.

Ps, always clean both cpu and hsf there's no excuse not to.

[aemeric]

Usually the best way to get old thermal paste off is with a light grade motor oil. Usually older pastes are a petroleum based product that has particles in suspension with a mix ratio to get the right consistency. I have used Amsoil synthetic motor oil to both revive old thermal paste (one drop from a dropper usually does it) and remove it to replace with ICI Diamond.

This way you are not forcefully scraping solids off the surface of a HSF or cpu. Comes off easier.

[Tristan]

โพสต์ดั้งเดิมโดย Firicel:

a towel and alcohool

That would do it