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Can you clean a processor with white spirit?

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Cpassimple -  

Hi, while changing the motherboard, I messed up the job and got thermal paste on the processor (Ryzen 5800x) and the socket.
Since I only have White Spirit on hand, I would like to know if I can use it with a brush or if I should just stick to plain water?
Thanks

Ryzen 3600 / AIO TDP 420Watts / b450 Tuf gaming: 32Go 3200MHz Ripjaws: 500Go Samsung 840: 11 To 7200Tpm
X300 Toshiba: RTX 3070 Phoenix: Aurus AP850GP 80+ Gold Gigabyte: Antec Nineteen Hundred

4 answers

  1.  fabul Moderator

    Hello,

    Water is better.

    If you had had some alcohol it would have been perfect.

    1. epango

      "Water is better"

      Are you serious?

    2.  fabul Moderator
      @epango

      Water and elbow grease, I forgot to mention the elbow grease.

    3.  fabul Moderator
      @fabul

      I don't know White Spirit, but it seems similar to mineral spirits from what I'm reading.

      In other words, it reminds me of paint thinner.

      I wouldn't use that.

      Water is "cleaner".

    4. epango
      @fabul

      It's a misplaced joke. The people reading you may believe they can actually clean their CPUs and motherboards with water. Which would be a disaster.

    5.  fabul Moderator
      @epango

      Water followed by rubbing works, it's no joke.

      It's better to finish dry, to dry well.

      I prefer water to lighter fluid in any case.

  2.  Cpassimple Author

    It's true that I'm thinking about the 11-gram tube of Kryonaut, but I'm not considering alcohol in case of an accident.

    I'll gear up for next time.
    Thank you.

    Ryzen 3600 / AIO TDP 420Watts / b450 Tuf gaming : 32Go 3200MHz Ripjaws : 500Go Samsung 840 : 11 To 7200Tpm
    X300 Toshiba : RTX 3070 Phoenix : Aurus AP850GP 80+ Gold Gigabyte : Antec Nineteen Hundred

    1.  fabul Moderator

      You're welcome,

      @+

  3. henry

    Hello

    It's not meant for that, but there is often alcohol in the home medicine cabinet.

    You have to be very careful not to contaminate the pharmaceutical bottle at all; the products in the PC are probably toxic, so take a little alcohol that will never be returned to the pharmacy bottle.

    Under the same name, alcohol from the pharmacy and alcohol from DIY are not exactly the same; we couldn't do the reverse, using isopropyl alcohol from DIY for medical purposes. And neither of them is drinkable; it's yet another type of alcohol that is found in beverages.

    In the toolbox, a professional also has gloves to avoid poisoning himself because he handles the products repeatedly and multiplies the doses of toxic substances.

    1.  Cpassimple Author

      I bought 1 liter of isopropyl alcohol

    2.  fabul Moderator
      @Cpassimple

      Last advice, keep that very far from the fire, don't smoke...

    3. epango

      They made you incur unnecessary expenses. You could also have used the ethyl alcohol sold in supermarkets.

    4.  Cpassimple Author
      @fabul

      Ahah! Yes, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the advice about alcohol anyway.

    5.  Cpassimple Author
      @epango

      I don't know. It is recommended to use a modified alcohol rather than pure alcohol. At most, I could replace the thermal paste with pure alcohol (without spilling on the PCB) but I have also ordered some good paste in quantity.

  4. epango

    If you have removed the heatsink for cleaning, you will indeed need a new thermal paste.