Removal of CPU thermal grease

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goldmelts

goldmelts

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
76
Location
Astralasia
HI all,

What is the best way to remove thermal greese in bulk from CPU's.

I understand you can incinerate. I have tried ethanol and elbow grease. Seems to do the trick. Is there an easier way for the small refiner?
 
I use alcohol and elbow grease.

Some types of heat sink compound contain silver.

Steve
 
To recover the silver possibly in the thermal grease would
you recommend wiping it off on a paper towel and incinerating?
 
glorycloud said:
To recover the silver possibly in the thermal grease would
you recommend wiping it off on a paper towel and incinerating?
Click to expand...

That sounds like it would work.

Steve
 
lazersteve said:
glorycloud said:
To recover the silver possibly in the thermal grease would
you recommend wiping it off on a paper towel and incinerating?
Click to expand...

That sounds like it would work.

Steve
Click to expand...

Take a bowl of alcohol with a tooth brush, clean the grease off and let the alcohol evaporate and process the remains.
 
It was a hard job to clean the 100'ish processors.

Some were white thremal grease that came off easily with ethanol. Others were hard pruple stuff that needed to be scraped off with a razor. Hard work but most of them are all clean. Only a few to go.
 
Thread bump.

I have a piece of copper plate (quite thick) that was attached to an aluminium heatsink on my old Apple Mac G3 (or G5, I forget). I was intending to use it to drop silver.

Sitting there peeling off the white thermal compound from one side (the side that goes against the aluminium), then I turn it over to remove it from the other side (the side that sits on the powerpc processor) and, woah - that stuff is silver coloured.

Schwerter's solutions didn't change colour, so maybe this lot is aluminium based?

It would be interesting to find out the silver content of this stuff...

http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm

With the price of silver bounding up daily right now, there might be some old stock sitting in a computer shop somewhere that lets you buy the silver in it below spot.
 
Consider that it is common for Beryllium oxide to be included in these thermal compounds. Your other likely sources for Beryllium in electronics would be Beryllium oxide doped resistors and BeryllCopper (considered good for electronics). Washing hands of thermal compound is not very effective as degreasers and soaps have little effect unless the compound is mixed with dust. Oils dissolve the stuff which includes most oils in foods. I dont think Beryllium oxide will react with HCL or other acids you would use for PM's, but BeryllCopper will produce Beryllium chloride which I'm sure is quite absorbable.
 
Bongstar420 said:
Consider that it is common for Beryllium oxide to be included in these thermal compounds. Your other likely sources for Beryllium in electronics would be Beryllium oxide doped resistors and BeryllCopper (considered good for electronics). Washing hands of thermal compound is not very effective as degreasers and soaps have little effect unless the compound is mixed with dust. Oils dissolve the stuff which includes most oils in foods. I dont think Beryllium oxide will react with HCL or other acids you would use for PM's, but BeryllCopper will produce Beryllium chloride which I'm sure is quite absorbable.
Click to expand...

Bongstar420?
Really?

Jim

Considering he has revisited the board and has not changed his name, he has been banned.

Harold
 
I've asked him to PM Noxx so that he can get his username changed.

Apparently he missed the read section of the forum before signing up:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=19242
 
jimdoc said:
Bongstar420 said:
Consider that it is common for Beryllium oxide to be included in these thermal compounds. Your other likely sources for Beryllium in electronics would be Beryllium oxide doped resistors and BeryllCopper (considered good for electronics). Washing hands of thermal compound is not very effective as degreasers and soaps have little effect unless the compound is mixed with dust. Oils dissolve the stuff which includes most oils in foods. I dont think Beryllium oxide will react with HCL or other acids you would use for PM's, but BeryllCopper will produce Beryllium chloride which I'm sure is quite absorbable.
Click to expand...

Bongstar420?
Really?

Jim
Click to expand...
Very popular number. :roll:
Ken
 
Drewbie said:
It would be interesting to find out the silver content of this stuff...

http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm

With the price of silver bounding up daily right now, there might be some old stock sitting in a computer shop somewhere that lets you buy the silver in it below spot.
Click to expand...
Here is a good report on how much silver there is in thermal greases.
http://www.overclockers.com/silver-thermal-pastes-buyers-beware/

Göran
 
Lou said:
I've asked him to PM Noxx so that he can get his username changed.

Apparently he missed the read section of the forum before signing up:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=19242
Click to expand...

With marijuana legal in many states now would that name still get him in trouble? I wonder if that rule was for federal or local/state laws. :)
 
This is a forum not a State or Federal Governing Body and so Noxx can have what ever rules he wants in place.
 
Smack said:
This is a forum not a State or Federal Governing Body and so Noxx can have what ever rules he wants in place.
Click to expand...

I never said he couldn't, but since his rule is :

Code: 
 It should not, in any way, reflect illegal or sexual activities,...

I was wondering if that name violated his rule since it's no longer illegal in lots of states.
 
It's not legal in many States. Your thinking of Medical Marijuana for which you would have to have a prescription. You must have missed the last time we discussed this issue.
 
In case you guys missed the news "Pot" is Not legal in Canada, where this forum owner lives.
It has nothing to do with anything legal in the USA
 
goldmelts said:
HI all,

What is the best way to remove thermal greese in bulk from CPU's.

I understand you can incinerate. I have tried ethanol and elbow grease. Seems to do the trick. Is there an easier way for the small refiner?
Click to expand...

409 cleaner takes it off quickly with a tooth brush. Might work in larger quantities with agitation.
 

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