[plug] [OT] CPU plate cleaning

[Ari Finander]

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Caston <caston at arach.net.au>
Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 20:13:30 +0800
To: plug at plug.linux.org.au
Subject: [plug] [OT] CPU plate cleaning

> The Celerons been moved around a few times and has some thermal compound
> gunk that I think should be cleaned from it to start a fresh. Do I just
> use IPA or what?

For the remains of a thermal pad, I use a razor to gently scrape off most of it. I then follow this up with a little polishing with an acetone dipped rag. I do this for CPU and heat sink. Generally, to get any fibres left over from the rag, I polish the CPU die and heat sink with an alcohol swab (I have plenty, unfortunately) of the type you buy at a chemist for pre-injection cleansing. I use the same procedure for cleaning off thermal paste, except I skip the razor blade step: it's unnecessary. 

I then apply a small amount of thermal paste (usually arctic silver or arctic alumina for CPUs over 200mhz). I put my finger inside a small lunch bag and gently spread the thermal paste. It should just cover the CPU die. Do NOT put too much on, or it will contribute to overheating (and could, theoretically, become conductive between points on the CPU surface away from the core if you're using a silver based compound).
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