bet way to remove arctic silver thermal adhesive?

C

c1001

Gawd
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Oct 24, 2004
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anyone remove arctic silver thermal adhesive from after-market vrm heatsinks? I am trying to salvage and reuse prolimatech heatsinks from an HD 4890 i am no longer using. i know it is supposed to be "permament", but they look like they could be lapped clean.
 
Are you asking how to remove them from the card?? Or is that already done? If it's just taking the epoxy residue off the heatsinks just lap them with some sandpaper. If they're still on the card then a trip to the freezer and gentle twisting/razorblade-fu may be needed.
 
I'm not sure I understand why you asked the question and then answered it in the same post.

It's called adhesive for a reason, and is very stubborn. You're best solution is going to be to sand it off and then lap or semi-lap the contact surfaces before re-use.
 
if it was the AC epoxy thermal adhesive, it is made not to come off. epoxies in general have no solvent. if you did manage to get them off just do what you suggest and sand them off. for ram sinks it would be much easier then cpu/cpu heatsink.
 
don't even try!! the ram are barely held in by solder and you are going to yank the ram off!! NEVER try to remove heatsinks from ram that are held in by that stuff! TRUST ME!

Just buy new ramsinks and don't try to save money. You are better off selling the card and buying the ramsinks with some of the money you get.
 
Yoda4561 said:
Are you asking how to remove them from the card?? Or is that already done? If it's just taking the epoxy residue off the heatsinks just lap them with some sandpaper. If they're still on the card then a trip to the freezer and gentle twisting/razorblade-fu may be needed.
Click to expand...

I already had them twisted off.
Thx. I wasn't sure if sandpaper would be enough or I'd have to actually sand the epoxy off.

Blue Falcon said:
I'm not sure I understand why you asked the question and then answered it in the same post.
Click to expand...

If I could actually type, the question was the "Best" way to remove.
 
You could try burning it off, just got to wash the heatsinks afterwards. (This is if you are to lazy to sand)
 
Rub some vegetable oil into it and wipe off with a paper towel, or if you want to go the stinky toxic route, WD40.

Rinse with dish soap and water.
 
Man, there are so many people in here who think thermal adhesive is the same as your everyday ordinary thermal compound (aka 'thermal grease').

For instance, with thermal adhesive you could sit there with WD40 or veggie oil for about a billion years and not do a damned thing.
 
lint free towers work best but i ususally end up using TP or paper towels, try to get the big gunk off first with just the dry towel, then apply some rubbing alcohol to your tower and hit it again. Finish up with rubbing alcohol applied to cue-tips
 
To echo what others have said, normal solvents aren't going to work. Might want to get creative with some sand paper.
 
guys, he's talking about ADHESIVES not GREASE, grease you can get off easily, adhesive is GG, you need to sand that thing down.
 
Yah, the AS thermal adhesive in question is a two-part epoxy, you're not dissolving that without a VERY long soak in some really strong solvents. It's cheaper and faster to do it with sandpaper. Depending on how thick it is start with 120-400 grit to get the bulk of it off, then finish lapping to whatever you want.
 
Yoda4561 said:
Yah, the AS thermal adhesive in question is a two-part epoxy, you're not dissolving that without a VERY long soak in some really strong solvents. It's cheaper and faster to do it with sandpaper. Depending on how thick it is start with 120-400 grit to get the bulk of it off, then finish lapping to whatever you want.
Click to expand...

im convinced that concrete cleaner acid will dissolve nearly anything at its full concentration :eek:
 
I don't believe the OP can twist off epoxied on heatsinks without removing the RAM chips as well, so I'm willing to bet he didn't actually use epoxy. (believe me, I know, I've tried and lost cards like this) I'd try alcohol first. If that doesn't work (which, if it's actually epoxy, it won't) you should sand @ 600g wetted with soap, water and acetone.

Acetone dissolves consumer epoxies readily, but will also dissolve all the plastic on the board.
 
criccio said:
I believe he already twisted them off.
Click to expand...

I believe what Arcygenical was trying to say is that if it really were epoxy the OP used, it is not likely that he can remove the heat sinks without removing the ram chips it self, meaning the OP wasn't using epoxy/adhesives. BUT.... if he was using epoxy and managed to get the heat sinks off without ripping the ram apart, Arcygenical mentions to try said method with acetone and sanding.

EDIT: and yeah, acetone is your best friend next to alcohol when it comes to cleaning off organic stuff (plastics, greases, oils, etc)
 
munkle said:
You could try burning it off, just got to wash the heatsinks afterwards. (This is if you are to lazy to sand)
Click to expand...

Actually burning it off doesn't work, I've tried it before (me being lazy), thermal paste is able to withstand hundred degrees or so unless you get something 200'C + then the paste will just turn to liquid and drip off the HS.

Also never use turp or Meth to rub it off, doesn't work and just leaves a massive dark grey - black stain on your HS.
 
OP used massive finger strength to remove heatsinks without ripping off the RAM...Maybe OP had used the wrong mix of epoxy in the first place...Card was no longer part of this world anyway.
 
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