Re-using thermal compound

[andrew726]

my friend and I are debating Whether it is okay to re-use thermal compund (thermal grease of some type.. came with my TT HSF) after using it for a while. i didnt think it is ok to do it, be he said its alright.. who is right in this?

[GrahamGarside]

It's recomended not to but I've taken heatsinks off several times, being careful not to contaminate it and re-installed with little to no change in cooling. As long as the compound hasnt dried up.
This doesn't apply to ceramanique though

[dolanenwindrift]

Right on GG. Basically if there is enough compound there and it's not all gunked up it's not a problem to reuse. On the other hand, if you have new HS compound on hand, I'd go ahead and clean the old stuff off (I use isopropyl alcohol and GREAT care heh) and apply new stuff.

[GrahamGarside]

With phase change pads it's not too bad to re use them, I've done it with intel stock coolers, after a couple of hour burn in things are back to normal

[dsio]

one exception to the pad thing is Athlon XPs. Becuase you can rarely line up the die correctly (there is usually a hole in the pad where the die was) if its even a mm off then it puts a tilt on it and you end up with large amounts of air between the die and HSF. you can tell this is from experience :/ RIP Duron 1300.

on intels / A64s it doesnt matter though.

The other one is arctic silver, as its designed to set after 72 hours of heating. It still works after that but never comes close to the performance that arctic silver users expect from it.

People list a heap of donts for PCs... most are made by worry warts. "Wear a grounding strap" "dont re-use thermal goop" "be gentle with add-on cards (anyone who has installed a sound blaster 16bit ISA card without using a mallet deserves a medal)" "use a 480W PSU with 6800 cards......"

i re-use thermal goop while wearing a woolen sweater in a plastic chair and then insert my geforce 6 by standing on it, then connect my 300W PSU to it.

LIVE ON THE EDGE!!!

[andrew726]

Originally Posted by dsio

LIVE ON THE EDGE!!!

some of us dont have the money to replace something if it goes :/

[mashakos]

Originally Posted by dolanenwindrift

Right on GG. Basically if there is enough compound there and it's not all gunked up it's not a problem to reuse. On the other hand, if you have new HS compound on hand, I'd go ahead and clean the old stuff off (I use isopropyl alcohol and GREAT care heh) and apply new stuff.

what products contain isopropyl alcohol ? I have the problem of removing thermal paste and would like to know where to get this iso stuff (I'm retarded I know )

[GrahamGarside]

Most chemists will probably sell it. Nail varnish remover will sometimes do in a pinch depending on the type.

[cloasters]

Isopropyl alcohol is also referred to as rubbing alcohol, and perhaps methyl alcohol, denatured alcohol or wood alcohol. It's cheap at your local chemist aka drug store.

I guess it's possible that Muslim countries don't approve of the stuff. It'll make you blind if you drink it. Or kill you.

[mashakos]

Originally Posted by cloasters

Isopropyl alcohol is also referred to as rubbing alcohol, and perhaps methyl alcohol, denatured alcohol or wood alcohol. It's cheap at your local chemist aka drug store.

I guess it's possible that Muslim countries don't approve of the stuff. It'll make you blind if you drink it. Or kill you.

ha ha. btw the word alcohol is derived from arabic as muslim scientists discovered the chemical common in all intoxicating drinks.

Originally Posted by me

So I guess muslims aren't as clueless about alcohol as I seem to be!

I meant to say early muslims. Also, since muslims discovered alcohol, they'd know the difference between alcohol and a bottle of wine.

I guess it's possible that Muslim countries don't approve of the stuff. It'll make you blind if you drink it. Or kill you.

I can't believe you said that! If you said that in a conversation you know how it would turn out? Let me give an example:

brodifacoum is also referred to as Rat poison. I guess it's possible the Chinese don't approve of the stuff. It'll make you blind if you drink it. Or kill you.

You get what I'm saying? You just made a people sound retarded!!

One to remember for the road

I'm not offended cloasters, since I know you don't have a thing against me (or didn't before this post ). It's actually funny, one of those culture clash moments where everyone's awkward.
In muslim countries, alcohol that is made specifically for scientific or home use isn't banned. Only alcoholic drinks like Jack Daniels or J&B are banned. They aren't banned where I live so maybe I can get a bottle of Jack Daniels to clean my CPU heatsink next time .
I get what Isopropyl alcohol means now and I think I can ask for denatured alcohol at a drug store, thanks.

[Pandaz3]

Here in the US I bought a product called "Goo Gone" that removes the mucky stuff a lot easier, then I use the alcohol to make sure I got it all. I have used "Goo Gone" by itself with no ill effects. I bought it at a Office Depot or Staples type of store and have seen it elswhere. Works good.

[dsio]

Originally Posted by mashakos

ha ha. btw the word alcohol is derived from arabic as muslim scientists discovered the chemical common in all intoxicating drinks.

I meant to say early muslims. Also, since muslims discovered alcohol, they'd know the difference between alcohol and a bottle of wine.



I can't believe you said that! If you said that in a conversation you know how it would turn out? Let me give an example:



You get what I'm saying? You just made a people sound retarded!!

One to remember for the road

I'm not offended cloasters, since I know you don't have a thing against me (or didn't before this post ). It's actually funny, one of those culture clash moments where everyone's awkward.
In muslim countries, alcohol that is made specifically for scientific or home use isn't banned. Only alcoholic drinks like Jack Daniels or J&B are banned. They aren't banned where I live so maybe I can get a bottle of Jack Daniels to clean my CPU heatsink next time .
I get what Isopropyl alcohol means now and I think I can ask for denatured alcohol at a drug store, thanks.

I would imagine he was thinking muslin nations would be more strict about such things not because its a problem for them, but because they are less accepting of people that *would* drink the stuff. Every country and culture has its own portion of hardcore alcos / glue sniffers / chromers. In australia we just ignore them so they all go to the gold coast . I would imagine a country like the UAE would be less accepting of losers like that. Maybe not but its just the impression i get from some of my friends that are from the UAE.

[Toro]

Surgical Spirit will do the trick good as well i would imagine

[danrok]

Mix 1 part of spittle from a Yellow Baboon with 2 parts of oil from a female Sturgeon fish for the best compound removal solution.

[kellamne]

"Mix 1 part of spittle from a Yellow Baboon with 2 parts of oil from a female Sturgeon fish for the best compound removal solution."

Does it have similar effects on humans as alcohol??

[danrok]

Originally Posted by kellamne

"Mix 1 part of spittle from a Yellow Baboon with 2 parts of oil from a female Sturgeon fish for the best compound removal solution."

Does it have similar effects on humans as alcohol??

I'll have to mix up some more and test it out...

[Toro]

god bless you danrok, and all that sail in you

[Áedán]

The biggest issue I've seen with reuse of compound is from contamination where bits of dust/carpet hair/whatever end up in the compound. As you can probably imagine, it doesn't help the compound conduct heat!

Also, some of the older compounds tend to 'dry out', and when you seperate them, it's not possible to get a good join again.

[GrahamGarside]

Originally Posted by Áedán

The biggest issue I've seen with reuse of compound is from contamination where bits of dust/carpet hair/whatever end up in the compound. As you can probably imagine, it doesn't help the compound conduct heat!

Also, some of the older compounds tend to 'dry out', and when you seperate them, it's not possible to get a good join again.

As long as many don't settle it's not a huge issue, if you live in quite a dusty house though you should be careful. I usually put something over the cpu, like the the tube off a cd spindle and put the heatsink compound side down on top of 2 cd cases with the only contact being on the edges of the heatsink so as not to contaminate the compound

[weldzilla]

AS-3 or 5 is cheap, get some. A little goes along ways. If you are going to do this, then do it right. Your sytems are worth that at least. Are they not?

WZ