Is 91% Isopropyl alcohol pure enough to remove thermal grease?

ShyGuy91284 · Aug 29, 2003

The best I can find at short notice (I need it off tomorrow) is 91% purity isopropyl alcohol to remove some thermal grease (I'm removing the stuff that came with an SLK-800a, and putting on AS3 once I arrive at college). Is that pure enough? Because the AS3 instructions say to use 99%, which is impossible to find right away.

Big_Baller · Aug 29, 2003

Not its not impossible to find, I just had to go to a different drug store to fine 99%. 91% is just fine. 70% is ok but I find that it dosn't clean as well or as fast. Go for it. Acetone and Denatured Alcohol are my favorites.

Spade · Aug 29, 2003

yeah its fine. youd also be fine with 70%.
on a side note, no im no expert on this.
but i have a working cpu after i used a toothrbush
to clean off the dielectric grease from it.
toothbrush + tap water.
and im typing /posting on it now.. so
youll probably be more then fine on 91 % alky

cheers

crull · Aug 29, 2003

"I just had to go to a different drug store to fine 99%. 91% is just fine. 70% is ok but I find that it dosn't clean as well or as fast. Go for it"

Yes what he said.

Your never gonna be able to remove all the old compound, no matter what grade alcohol you use. Once it gets in the microscopic hills and valleys, the only way to remove it all is too lap the heatsink.

ShyGuy91284 · Aug 29, 2003

Yeah, I know, I read the AS3 manual. But I figure AS3 can't hurt. Their method of using a plastic bag and just working it onto the heatsink sounds like it might work well for making good contact.

JDXNC · Aug 29, 2003

I use 50% from the dollar store and it seems to work fine.

Alacritan · Aug 29, 2003

It's not too common to find 99% isopropyl. A lot of pharmacies special order it because it's more expensive and not really necessary.

texasfit · Aug 30, 2003

I would not recommend using 70% alcohol due to its purity. The 91% would be much better and will clean deeper. Use a coffee filter on the last cleaning to be sure that there is no residue left from the cleaning.

Some drug stores keep 99% alcohol behind the drug counter. Ask - They might have it.

Kino · Aug 30, 2003

i once used 75% alcohol to remove the stock thermal pad thingie from my cpu when i was gonna change heatsinks, took quite awhile, but it cleaned off well
i used denaturalized alcohol the next time when i figured i had put 1 1/2 pounds of TIM on my cpu, and it was much faster than the isopropyl

anvil82 · Aug 30, 2003

Use goof-off to clean the heatsink.

texasfit · Aug 30, 2003

anvil82 said:
Use goof-off to clean the heatsink.

After the goof-oof, you should still clean it with alcohol.

sanford1 · Aug 30, 2003

The cheap isopropyl gasoline dryers (Iso-Dry) are pure anhydrous isopropyl alcohol.

tyshy · Aug 31, 2003

i used WD 40 to clean off the thermal pad from the heatsink....then cleaned it with 99% isopropyl afterward....altho im sure 91 or 70 would work too.

texasfit · Aug 31, 2003

tyshy said:
i used WD 40 to clean off the thermal pad from the heatsink....then cleaned it with 99% isopropyl afterward....altho im sure 91 or 70 would work too.

WD40 is a pentrating oil. It is not a good idea to use WD40 as it will penetrate into the heatsink base and would reduce the effectiveness of the bond between the surfaces.

bdunosk · Sep 10, 2003

FYI, a pencil eraser works wonders at removing AS paste from your CPU (not the actual dye).

okayfine · Sep 11, 2003

why do you have to clean it so much?

Susquehannock · Sep 11, 2003

95% Ethyl Alcohol works great for me.

And since they sell it at every corner Liquor store it's cheap
as well.
Just don't drink it! :beer:

Is 91% Isopropyl alcohol pure enough to remove thermal grease?

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