This is pretty basic stuff (and we filmed it about a month ago), but maybe helpful to those who are concerned about 'stains' on the IHS. Watch our liquid metal corrosion test video for more details: ua-cam.com/video/cQaqUyKVIEE/v-deo.html
Pretty easy. Thanks for the video. Hope you get many views and likes. :) ohh and one more thing. Please make a video on how to properly insulate a motherboard for below ambient conditions. Just because it would be a nice video!
@@KEITHTB12345 I can do a vid on insulation. I run phase for daily (FX keeps below 0c under load on the core at 1.7 Vcore, block temps peak at -25c at the hottest at 500w load). Do you want a guide for GPUs or CPUs? I need to kill a Titan Xp, so I can do that one, or I already have the CPU insulated, and I'll just do a teardown since I need to snatch its cooler for the Titan (so I can make both videos no problem, but it takes a while to edit, so let me know which one you want first. If you do want me to make that video, sub to "Legit_Overclocking" to the link below and comment on one of the videos (like the FX Cinebench) and just ask for it. Also feel free to mention it several times, I sometimes forget... ua-cam.com/channels/Zp2Om_w_o0ry_FQhAUp-CA.html I do work a ton of hours, so it may be next weekend before I can film, and then the weekend after that for publishing (I have to drive over to McDonnalds for faster Wifi for uploads...).
@@KEITHTB12345 Since its October, I think I'll make a Halloween edition build, Titan Xp on phase with ThreadREAPER (was going to be SnowRipper, but I can phase it later for December Christmas Special) Edit: I'm thinking LN2 "fog" rolling over tombstone graveyard on the back of the GPU, and maybe blood red coolant pumping through my 4x GPUs to a skull reservoir with a hand ripping through the "ground" of the case. I just need to program some servos and animatronics to make this thing really legit. I love Halloween. Gotta work on my painting skills (or give it to my mom, she's an extremely good painter and loves Halloween too)
Best way is to get a credit card and make sure you smoosh it right in there in one swift motion. That way you have the best chance of shorting everything out and then having to go back to the store to buy a new everything. I mean by the time you get this stuff home it's already obsolete anyway so there's going to be some new hotness out when you go back. :) win win... except for your wallet, your wallet is on fire.
I friend just ask me to help him change the liquid metal from his gaming laptop and oh boy I had the perfect video to follow. We had a blast, instead of just cowering in fear in every step we where been careful and everything went pretty well. He only did not try the nail polish as that felt for him too risky, even with the proper explanation. Thank you very much for your hard work and sharing you amazing knowledge!
Hey Steve! Just wanted to let you know there is a method to dispense liquid metal compound from the applicator / syringe without the danger of it squirting everywhere. All you have to do is place your finger or thumb of your other hand between the collar of the syringe and the plunger, as you press down on the plunger it squeezes the thumb of your other hand as it goes down and this stops the plunger shooting into the barrel and the gallium shooting out. You can also put a collar around the plunger made of rubber tube or electrical wire insulation or paper tower, I even used cotton wool wrapped around the plunger stem once because it compresses at a steady rate. All the best to all of you guys at gamers nexus, from StAsh420UK.
If you want to get the surface really clean and smooth, I found a secret weapon: Weiman Glass Cook Top Cleaner and Polish. This stuff is used to finely polish glass top stoves and it works well on IHSes and cooler surfaces. I was actually looking around for some metal polish and didn't have any handy when I realized I had some of the Weiman stuff so I tried it and it worked very well, much better than just alcohol alone. You'll still have some of the staining unless you REALLY go at it for a long time, but I found that it got the vast majority of the job done in a fraction of the time. It has the added benefit of polishing the surface smooth.
You threw the motherboard in the bin? what a terrible method. I use the superior suction of my Dyson® vacuum to suck all the thermal paste out of sockets, works like a charm and only costs 5x the price of the motherboard, bargain!
Im sure someones already commented on this; for alcohol use "99% Pure isopropyl alcohol". RUBBING Alcohol has impurities and more oil percentage. 99% is a little harder to find, you may be able to get it online also if you live remotely.
Can't you just put your mobo in the dishwasher to remove that thermal paste from the socket? If it works for Vaseline, it prolly works for thermal paste too :D
To remove the remaining "black staining" I would suggest using "silvo" . its designed to bring impurities up and out. As a detailer by trade i see that color in metals all the time and a couple applications of silvo should bring back to a chemically neutral state. Correct me if I'm wrong though.
@@TheBinklemNetwork Only thing i'd be worried about is how it gets those impurities out, is it bringing up a layer of metal, or just removing stuff on the surface? If it removes a layer of metal then that's some issues for cooling afterwards
I used thermal grizzly liquid metal between cpu and air cooler...gonna upgrade my MB this week...looks like alcohol and nail polish remover will be enough. Works well, though, no complaints. Most likely will re-apply after installing new MB.
just a tip here What could be easier? Simply palm of your hand and let the warmth of your body heat do the work! The melting point of gallium is 29.76 C (85.57 F), so it will readily melt in your hand or in a very warm room. Expect this to take around 3-5 minutes for a coin-sized piece of metal. or You can supercool liquid metal and then collecting it with a vacuum cleaner or gentle scraping
TRUE! PCBs are aleo washed in special dishwashers when produced... just use a CLEAN Dishwasher, special cleaning stuff and demineralized water, and off you go. Also, i used to clean chandeliers (yeah we had old ones in the house we bought) in the dishwasher... make sure everything is ABSOLUTELY dry afterwards and switch it back on.. :)
don't know how common it is to get tim in the socket but Der8auer claims he is cleaning of Vaseline from motherboards by washing in the dishwasher, if it is not usable it could be an idea to test ( dry it with hot-air before powering and take out bios battery)
Read a forum once in the last few months, searchable by google and they recommended a chemical which ended up being in Lime Away Toilet Bowel Cleaner. I tried it, it worked better at lifting the left overs alcohol left behind. So yeah hope it helps? It did work for me.
Mr. Nexus, TLDR: Steve, try Fitz Polish to remove old liquid metal on nickel-plated copper (maybe copper too) Old, caked-on liquid metal comes off of Nickel-plated copper pretty well using "Fitz Polish." You might already know of Fitz Polish If you've ever gotten a delidding kit from Rockitcool, since they include it for cleaning off the die once all the solder is off. Acetone (which works well on liquid metal that's not all dusty looking & old), isopropyl alcohol, rubbing compound (ya, for a car--derp), & even scraping it off with a razor blade did not work well for me. Well, the razor blade removes the LM for the most part but scratches up whatever you were trying to get LM off of in the process. It also makes a big mess of dark gray dust. Anyway, I can only vouch that it works on nickel-plated copper--I haven't tried it on copper. It might be worth your time to check it out if you ever wanna revisit this.
Thanks for the education. Hopefully when I do 'go nuts' and OC the crap out of my gear I won't destroy it by following your - and others- advice in how to mitigate issues and problems with liquid metal etc.
I bought the copper ihs for my 7700k and wanted to do liquid metal between ihs and cooler. Yeah it didn't want to spread and spilled into the socket on my z170 mobo 😱😡🤬. Mobo has been through hell as my wife accidentally dropped something on the socket and bent like 12 pins right after I just got done cleaning the liquid metal out of it. Must of got it all cleaned up and pins straight as everything still works fine going on for about 8 months now.
@@frankzappa3156 3 times really as I found a bent pin when I switched from the 6700k to 7700k in my main system. I have a new z270 mobo to replace when and if I need to. It's definitely a survivor, so I've kept it so far. Lol
@@Tsiikki nope cpu was in socket. When I went to spread it with the non lint qtips it just wasn't spreading, more or less moved like liquid (water) and dripped right into top of socket. Only thing I'm thinking it could've been was the surface of the copper IHS from rocketcool. Not sure if it needed to be prepped or something a certain way but I'm never trying that again with that IHS. The stock IHS worked fine with it spreading on the top. The underside of IHS spread perfectly just like normal.
9:23 the reason it squirts all over the place is because that;s not the applicator tip, that's the "sucker" tip. if you guys used the right tips that wouldn't happen. Not sure why no one ever reads the instructions.
Hi Steve some times the IHS it self is not perfectly flat , der8auer lapped his cpus and IHS to get better contact so it can remove the thin coat but as he said cpu lapping should not be done since it might damage the cpu it self.
mine wasn't liquid anymore and alcohol did nothing. (i had to send my mb back to be replaced) and unfortunately ther was hardly anything left in the tube of Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut. its not great now hits hot weather and it hits 95C in prime with the Noctua NH-D15. guess i have to sand a little. for now i am happy i have a computer after weeks it took them to replace the motherboard. maybe for long term its is better to go with a more "normal" paste
I find tiny bits that don't want to stick to the que tip is a pain. I just use some electrical tape to lift those then go with alcohol to remove any stickyness
thinking about roughness of the surfaces, would it make a considerable difference to have the CPU/IHS at a specific roughness? If you used some sandpaper of different grit sizes would you achieve different cooling results with liquid metal?
Hello, I'm Spanish, and I don't know English, I'm writing to you using a translator. To clean the copper you use acetone, but I don't know what you use for the CPU, what is it?, you can use acetone too? Thank you.
Looks like i'm the only one for whom the phrase "Someone once told me.." is followed by "the grass was much greener.. ..on the other side" Anyone watch As Told By Ginger in the 90's?
i was wondering about the ic graphite thermal pad. I'd like to see video about it made by gamers nexus where the pad would be tested in between the silicon and ihs as well as in gpu.
Steve, you said that it is not advisable to use nail polish on the dye due to the presence of other chemicals in it. How about if one were to use pure acetone?
afaik metal doesn't dissolve in acohol, so i suspect what's going on is the rubbing alcohol keeps everything clean, and super clean liquid metal has much more ability to wick into paper
He mentions the kit is 70% alcohol "same as what we just used". I've been using 99.8% Isopropyl for thermal paste, is that too strong? I have another bottle diluted to 50% with demineralised water for more general cleaning.
I know that's probably a dead board you used as a prop, but for people who put TIM or LM in their CPU socket by accident (oops!) you can use ultrasonic cleaners to do the dirty work for you and most, if not all of it will be removed as it's a loose and / or soluble material. Don't try this at home kids; Request assistance with a reputable entity who do component repair with their more expensive and powerful machinery.
By the time you ship it to him the TIM would be dry. Soluble still, but you want to have it serviced while "Wet", so try to keep it moist with solvents which will not destroy plastic or destroy still-functional contacts, so it won't take _quite_ as long to clean up when you eventually find somebody to deal with it.
as someone who had to clean the CPUs and bus coolers off 30+ builds recently... ROLL your Qtip as you clean and save yourself some matierals - just a little pro tip; don't rely on your cleaning solution - your tools are just as important especily if they are disposable. wear gloves, not compound.
i tried acetone but it really didnt work... it was on there for a few years tho.. i had to use a razor blade and a scotch brite.... it would not come off. (yes the ihs now looks like a old vinyl record)
Hey noobie here. After a year would you just replace the copper IHS being that they are $13? At what point would you be worried about the condition of the copper IHS?
You're not going to get all of it. It's not a stain, per-se. What's left after thoroughly cleaning is a nickel-gallium or copper-gallium alloy. The chemical composition of the bare copper and/or nickel plating has changed at a molecular level.
Kind of a random question but did your shipping cost on the mod mats ever settle back down or are you still paying extra from when the tariffs were announced?
be aware that acitone is a mild etching process. it will remove your discoloration but its also introducing an atomic level inconsistancy in your surface finish. if you have previously lapped your die then, as previously mentioned in the video, this is not suitible for you. Lapping should largely be considered bear silicon in nature and you shouldn't use harsh chemicals or techniques unless you want to further risk the investment of the chip you are "cleaning". best practices are in your hands though. a previously lapped CPU should not be lapped beyond spec recomended in practice - be aware that is 3rd party testing; anything you do after that /further/ voids your warranty. if you are feeling brave however. black represents a change in material. question is if its an oxidation or an alkiline staining. Oxidation impeeds most thermal/electrical conductivity and increases (at the molcule level) pressure on the heat sync. while alkilization staining is an equaly mixed bag - which I am no where neare qualified to vouch for. Mostly its just discoloration - as far as I know; please if anyone knows better than me in the chemistry circle, chime in... by all means, save me from myself. disclaimer: I failed HS chemistry but scored at the graduate level (college) in summer school, so I'm still a bit dazzled by the array of information - don't ask me. ask an athority who has industry access... Gnex? any better explination? maybe a chemistry colab might be necessary. :shrug:
You sign up for YT notifications, so that's not us. We don't send email notifications, so also not us. Announcements in the Discord are in the Discord only, they aren't pushed.
This is pretty basic stuff (and we filmed it about a month ago), but maybe helpful to those who are concerned about 'stains' on the IHS.
Watch our liquid metal corrosion test video for more details: ua-cam.com/video/cQaqUyKVIEE/v-deo.html
Pretty easy. Thanks for the video. Hope you get many views and likes. :) ohh and one more thing. Please make a video on how to properly insulate a motherboard for below ambient conditions. Just because it would be a nice video!
@@KEITHTB12345 I can do a vid on insulation. I run phase for daily (FX keeps below 0c under load on the core at 1.7 Vcore, block temps peak at -25c at the hottest at 500w load). Do you want a guide for GPUs or CPUs? I need to kill a Titan Xp, so I can do that one, or I already have the CPU insulated, and I'll just do a teardown since I need to snatch its cooler for the Titan (so I can make both videos no problem, but it takes a while to edit, so let me know which one you want first.
If you do want me to make that video, sub to "Legit_Overclocking" to the link below and comment on one of the videos (like the FX Cinebench) and just ask for it. Also feel free to mention it several times, I sometimes forget...
ua-cam.com/channels/Zp2Om_w_o0ry_FQhAUp-CA.html
I do work a ton of hours, so it may be next weekend before I can film, and then the weekend after that for publishing (I have to drive over to McDonnalds for faster Wifi for uploads...).
1.7v 24/7 hmm..
Note not all nail polish removers have acetone in them.
Couldn't you use a solder removing device to suck up the larger drops of liquid metal?
@@KEITHTB12345 Since its October, I think I'll make a Halloween edition build, Titan Xp on phase with ThreadREAPER (was going to be SnowRipper, but I can phase it later for December Christmas Special)
Edit: I'm thinking LN2 "fog" rolling over tombstone graveyard on the back of the GPU, and maybe blood red coolant pumping through my 4x GPUs to a skull reservoir with a hand ripping through the "ground" of the case. I just need to program some servos and animatronics to make this thing really legit. I love Halloween. Gotta work on my painting skills (or give it to my mom, she's an extremely good painter and loves Halloween too)
Steve, that's not enough thermal paste in the socket.
WHY CAN'T WE EVER MAKE YOU HAPPY?!
And tacos, throw in some tacos
Should have used the spread method to make sure it was all covered.
According to The Verge, it's always good PC building practice to apply more thermal paste than the manual tells me to.
Best way is to get a credit card and make sure you smoosh it right in there in one swift motion. That way you have the best chance of shorting everything out and then having to go back to the store to buy a new everything. I mean by the time you get this stuff home it's already obsolete anyway so there's going to be some new hotness out when you go back. :) win win... except for your wallet, your wallet is on fire.
Sorry, could you run through the steps for cleaning TIM from a CPU socket one more time? I didn't quite catch it.
Be kind, please rewind.
The bin did catch it ;-)
Loved the stream last night, Steve!
Thank you! Lots of fun for that one.
"or like everytime linus uses liquid metal" wow the shade
Steve really knows how to trigger PC enthusiasts in a matter of seconds. That intro got me like damn
I friend just ask me to help him change the liquid metal from his gaming laptop and oh boy I had the perfect video to follow. We had a blast, instead of just cowering in fear in every step we where been careful and everything went pretty well. He only did not try the nail polish as that felt for him too risky, even with the proper explanation. Thank you very much for your hard work and sharing you amazing knowledge!
*Actually got a SMALL SPOT of thermal paste inside of the CPU recently.*
*I was SO GRATEFUL, that I was able to slowly get it out.*
0:17 Oh good I have a similar problem... 0:21 Oh dear.
John Hutchins 😂
i wanted to see you guys try to fix that motherboard so bad
Hey Steve! Just wanted to let you know there is a method to dispense liquid metal compound from the applicator / syringe without the danger of it squirting everywhere.
All you have to do is place your finger or thumb of your other hand between the collar of the syringe and the plunger, as you press down on the plunger it squeezes the thumb of your other hand as it goes down and this stops the plunger shooting into the barrel and the gallium shooting out. You can also put a collar around the plunger made of rubber tube or electrical wire insulation or paper tower, I even used cotton wool wrapped around the plunger stem once because it compresses at a steady rate.
All the best to all of you guys at gamers nexus, from StAsh420UK.
can approve that. done it the same way
If you want to get the surface really clean and smooth, I found a secret weapon: Weiman Glass Cook Top Cleaner and Polish. This stuff is used to finely polish glass top stoves and it works well on IHSes and cooler surfaces. I was actually looking around for some metal polish and didn't have any handy when I realized I had some of the Weiman stuff so I tried it and it worked very well, much better than just alcohol alone. You'll still have some of the staining unless you REALLY go at it for a long time, but I found that it got the vast majority of the job done in a fraction of the time. It has the added benefit of polishing the surface smooth.
IHS in cup of hot hot water with a little rubbing alcohol and blue shop rag ? Love the content keep up the good work!!
You threw the motherboard in the bin? what a terrible method.
I use the superior suction of my Dyson® vacuum to suck all the thermal paste out of sockets, works like a charm and only costs 5x the price of the motherboard, bargain!
Im sure someones already commented on this; for alcohol use "99% Pure isopropyl alcohol". RUBBING Alcohol has impurities and more oil percentage. 99% is a little harder to find, you may be able to get it online also if you live remotely.
Walmart
Can't you just put your mobo in the dishwasher to remove that thermal paste from the socket? If it works for Vaseline, it prolly works for thermal paste too :D
fanastic practic guide about clean of LM, i dont have buy LM why was worried for this, thanks
Ok, now do one on how to remove Liquid Metal from a thermometer
... and everytime Linus uses liquid metal... Shots fired 😂😂😂
To remove the remaining "black staining" I would suggest using "silvo" . its designed to bring impurities up and out.
As a detailer by trade i see that color in metals all the time and a couple applications of silvo should bring back to a chemically neutral state.
Correct me if I'm wrong though.
After three years of no correction in the comments... I will try :)
@@TheBinklemNetwork Only thing i'd be worried about is how it gets those impurities out, is it bringing up a layer of metal, or just removing stuff on the surface? If it removes a layer of metal then that's some issues for cooling afterwards
First time I ever needed a tutorial about cleaning xD
This video immediately makes me think of Jason from Byte my Bits. He was so worried when delidding his CPU
Your intros never cease to amaze
Hmmmm. Interesting info on the copper application.
The first 25 seconds grasped me for the entire video.
I used thermal grizzly liquid metal between cpu and air cooler...gonna upgrade my MB this week...looks like alcohol and nail polish remover will be enough. Works well, though, no complaints. Most likely will re-apply after installing new MB.
Still waiting on that pixel art Steve! keep the great content coming.
That Harris Teeter brand nail polish remover, Mr.Fancy over here lol
Lol big spender
just a tip here
What could be easier? Simply palm of your hand and let the warmth of your body heat do the work! The melting point of gallium is 29.76 C (85.57 F), so it will readily melt in your hand or in a very warm room. Expect this to take around 3-5 minutes for a coin-sized piece of metal.
or
You can supercool liquid metal and then collecting it with a vacuum cleaner or gentle scraping
Many thanks for PERFECT explanation
Don't throw that away! According to Derbauer you could have just chucked it in the dishwasher!
lol yea I heard it and I was like WTF ?
@@eliadbu blew my mind. In my mind was always: water+electronics= never.
TRUE! PCBs are aleo washed in special dishwashers when produced... just use a CLEAN Dishwasher, special cleaning stuff and demineralized water, and off you go. Also, i used to clean chandeliers (yeah we had old ones in the house we bought) in the dishwasher... make sure everything is ABSOLUTELY dry afterwards and switch it back on.. :)
It was already dead
don't know how common it is to get tim in the socket but Der8auer claims he is cleaning of Vaseline from motherboards by washing in the dishwasher, if it is not usable it could be an idea to test ( dry it with hot-air before powering and take out bios battery)
Thank you for posting. Helped me a bunch man. Appreciate it.
Read a forum once in the last few months, searchable by google and they recommended a chemical which ended up being in Lime Away Toilet Bowel Cleaner. I tried it, it worked better at lifting the left overs alcohol left behind. So yeah hope it helps? It did work for me.
www.overclock.net/forum/63-other-cooling-discussions/1588116-thermal-grizzly-conductonaut-73-w-mk-11.html
and then this guy who you trust Steve: ua-cam.com/video/2SrIamuQjeA/v-deo.html
Mr. Nexus,
TLDR: Steve, try Fitz Polish to remove old liquid metal on nickel-plated copper (maybe copper too)
Old, caked-on liquid metal comes off of Nickel-plated copper pretty well using "Fitz Polish." You might already know of Fitz Polish If you've ever gotten a delidding kit from Rockitcool, since they include it for cleaning off the die once all the solder is off. Acetone (which works well on liquid metal that's not all dusty looking & old), isopropyl alcohol, rubbing compound (ya, for a car--derp), & even scraping it off with a razor blade did not work well for me. Well, the razor blade removes the LM for the most part but scratches up whatever you were trying to get LM off of in the process. It also makes a big mess of dark gray dust.
Anyway, I can only vouch that it works on nickel-plated copper--I haven't tried it on copper. It might be worth your time to check it out if you ever wanna revisit this.
RIP motherboard
f
It actually ended up framed for wall art!
you can put your hardware in the dishwasher, Just take out the battery from the mainboard and you're good.
Thanks for the education. Hopefully when I do 'go nuts' and OC the crap out of my gear I won't destroy it by following your - and others- advice in how to mitigate issues and problems with liquid metal etc.
This is slowing becoming my favorite tech channel. Its certainly the realist
I use the 2000 grit then 1000 grit, 300 grit, 80, then re apply method, works like a charm!
lol...that grit stepping is not advised, unless you're doing rust removal on something you plan to throwaway!
Great video, thank you Steve!
I bought the copper ihs for my 7700k and wanted to do liquid metal between ihs and cooler. Yeah it didn't want to spread and spilled into the socket on my z170 mobo 😱😡🤬. Mobo has been through hell as my wife accidentally dropped something on the socket and bent like 12 pins right after I just got done cleaning the liquid metal out of it. Must of got it all cleaned up and pins straight as everything still works fine going on for about 8 months now.
@@frankzappa3156 3 times really as I found a bent pin when I switched from the 6700k to 7700k in my main system. I have a new z270 mobo to replace when and if I need to. It's definitely a survivor, so I've kept it so far. Lol
Frame it when it finally dies 😂
How in the hell you spilled it to socket? Did you take the CPU out and applied it over the MB? Tell us how it is possible!
@@Tsiikki nope cpu was in socket. When I went to spread it with the non lint qtips it just wasn't spreading, more or less moved like liquid (water) and dripped right into top of socket. Only thing I'm thinking it could've been was the surface of the copper IHS from rocketcool. Not sure if it needed to be prepped or something a certain way but I'm never trying that again with that IHS. The stock IHS worked fine with it spreading on the top. The underside of IHS spread perfectly just like normal.
The opening joke got me :D
9:23 the reason it squirts all over the place is because that;s not the applicator tip, that's the "sucker" tip. if you guys used the right tips that wouldn't happen. Not sure why no one ever reads the instructions.
INTRO = ABSOLUTE MAD LAD STEVE! RIP Asrock 😆
Hi Steve some times the IHS it self is not perfectly flat , der8auer lapped his cpus and IHS to get better contact so it can remove the thin coat
but as he said cpu lapping should not be done since it might damage the cpu it self.
Have you considered using a solder sucker?
mine wasn't liquid anymore and alcohol did nothing. (i had to send my mb back to be replaced) and unfortunately ther was hardly anything left in the tube of Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut. its not great now hits hot weather and it hits 95C in prime with the Noctua NH-D15. guess i have to sand a little. for now i am happy i have a computer after weeks it took them to replace the motherboard.
maybe for long term its is better to go with a more "normal" paste
I just hope AMD sticks with solder and intel goes back to it as rumors claim. Delidding is a huge pain in the ass.
you can remove thermal paste from inside the socket using brake cleaner
Essa porra parece mercúrio de termômetro, otimo video . Vlw
Yeah , a video NOT about RTX ! Finally !
You see Steve, that's what happens when you use TOO MUCH THERMAL PASTE!!!!
JKJK, love the deadpan humor, keep it up!
Liquid metal on laptops: good idea or not? Any chance it could slip into the motherboard when carried in a backpack?
Hahaha, that intro....I almost died while drinking coffee and couldn't stop laughing :D
I find tiny bits that don't want to stick to the que tip is a pain. I just use some electrical tape to lift those then go with alcohol to remove any stickyness
Great hook on the intro. Lol
You can remove the stains on nickel plating using a highly concentrated hydrochloric acid, Der8auer did a video on it recently
thinking about roughness of the surfaces, would it make a considerable difference to have the CPU/IHS at a specific roughness? If you used some sandpaper of different grit sizes would you achieve different cooling results with liquid metal?
Hello, I'm Spanish, and I don't know English, I'm writing to you using a translator.
To clean the copper you use acetone, but I don't know what you use for the CPU, what is it?, you can use acetone too?
Thank you.
When you build computers and your wife wonders why her nail polish and remover keep disappearing.
Someone once told me I was hot so I washed myself in liquid metal to cool down and I've been very shiny ever since.
*somebody once told me*
the world was going to roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
she was looking kind of dumb
Looks like i'm the only one for whom the phrase
"Someone once told me.."
is followed by
"the grass was much greener..
..on the other side"
Anyone watch As Told By Ginger in the 90's?
Some people say that Liquid Metal can last for years but I wonder how many applications it takes before the sponge effect stops?
*can you use a magnet to remove liquid metal?*
i was wondering about the ic graphite thermal pad. I'd like to see video about it made by gamers nexus where the pad would be tested in between the silicon and ihs as well as in gpu.
aside from arcticlean, zippo lighter fluids works like a charm to clean them too
Steve, you said that it is not advisable to use nail polish on the dye due to the presence of other chemicals in it. How about if one were to use pure acetone?
I see more videos of people removing Liquid Metal than the other way around.
Can you apply thermal paste between copper aio and cpu if was earlier treated with LM.
pls benchmark thermal paste vs liquid metal inside the socket thanks
afaik metal doesn't dissolve in acohol, so i suspect what's going on is the rubbing alcohol keeps everything clean, and super clean liquid metal has much more ability to wick into paper
He mentions the kit is 70% alcohol "same as what we just used". I've been using 99.8% Isopropyl for thermal paste, is that too strong? I have another bottle diluted to 50% with demineralised water for more general cleaning.
99% is fine
Denatured alcohol? Not no silicon itself, but on anything metal it should work like a charm.
Acetone didnt work for me to remove the black stains.. I had to user car polisher . Meguiar's swirl x did the trick. :)
use the sucktion tool that when you want to desolder stuff. i think that is useful tool. ppl doing delid probably all have that.
00:18 you can put your hardware in the dishwasher, Just take out the battery from the mainboard and you're good.
So I went and put the MB into the trash, not sure I did right. Please Advise
just learnt when selling my 5800x3d now that that black residue left is enough to void warranty, big bummer
So i want to clean liquid metal from my laptop
Can i use any cleaning alcohol or no?
Try a magnet wrapped in a microfiber cloth. Works great.
I know that's probably a dead board you used as a prop, but for people who put TIM or LM in their CPU socket by accident (oops!) you can use ultrasonic cleaners to do the dirty work for you and most, if not all of it will be removed as it's a loose and / or soluble material.
Don't try this at home kids; Request assistance with a reputable entity who do component repair with their more expensive and powerful machinery.
By the time you ship it to him the TIM would be dry. Soluble still, but you want to have it serviced while "Wet", so try to keep it moist with solvents which will not destroy plastic or destroy still-functional contacts, so it won't take _quite_ as long to clean up when you eventually find somebody to deal with it.
The liquid metal scratched the surface of my chip. Is no longer mirror smooth. What should I do?
as someone who had to clean the CPUs and bus coolers off 30+ builds recently... ROLL your Qtip as you clean and save yourself some matierals - just a little pro tip; don't rely on your cleaning solution - your tools are just as important especily if they are disposable. wear gloves, not compound.
Hey Steve - any possibility of using a magnet ... I haven't tried it yet but seems logical
You know - etch-a-sketch theory
i tried acetone but it really didnt work... it was on there for a few years tho..
i had to use a razor blade and a scotch brite.... it would not come off. (yes the ihs now looks like a old vinyl record)
Hey noobie here. After a year would you just replace the copper IHS being that they are $13? At what point would you be worried about the condition of the copper IHS?
You're not going to get all of it. It's not a stain, per-se. What's left after thoroughly cleaning is a nickel-gallium or copper-gallium alloy. The chemical composition of the bare copper and/or nickel plating has changed at a molecular level.
sand papers, 800, 1200 or 1500 and 2000.
Kind of a random question but did your shipping cost on the mod mats ever settle back down or are you still paying extra from when the tariffs were announced?
10/10 Intro!! 😂
Is it okay to use denatured ethanol instead of isopropyl alcohol?
In theory if you clamp down the IHS couldn't you use a magnet?
be aware that acitone is a mild etching process. it will remove your discoloration but its also introducing an atomic level inconsistancy in your surface finish. if you have previously lapped your die then, as previously mentioned in the video, this is not suitible for you. Lapping should largely be considered bear silicon in nature and you shouldn't use harsh chemicals or techniques unless you want to further risk the investment of the chip you are "cleaning".
best practices are in your hands though. a previously lapped CPU should not be lapped beyond spec recomended in practice - be aware that is 3rd party testing; anything you do after that /further/ voids your warranty. if you are feeling brave however. black represents a change in material. question is if its an oxidation or an alkiline staining. Oxidation impeeds most thermal/electrical conductivity and increases (at the molcule level) pressure on the heat sync. while alkilization staining is an equaly mixed bag - which I am no where neare qualified to vouch for. Mostly its just discoloration - as far as I know; please if anyone knows better than me in the chemistry circle, chime in... by all means, save me from myself.
disclaimer: I failed HS chemistry but scored at the graduate level (college) in summer school, so I'm still a bit dazzled by the array of information - don't ask me. ask an athority who has industry access...
Gnex? any better explination? maybe a chemistry colab might be necessary. :shrug:
Should've been a 3 second video with one phrase "very carefully"
What to do when you get liquid metal under vRAM chips
we can remove liquid metal with alcohol on 10th intel cpus? while delid??
I tried cleaning my cpu and cooler but it is not smooth and I cant get it any cleaner.
If you cool the ihs could you then chip the liquid metal off?
10:45 if that doesn't work take it outside, spray a bunch of alcohol on it and blast with compressed air
Can't you just hold the IHS under the faucet with hot tap water?
wow, now that I joined the discord I'm getting youtube notifications, emails and announcements.
You sign up for YT notifications, so that's not us. We don't send email notifications, so also not us. Announcements in the Discord are in the Discord only, they aren't pushed.
sorry you mistook my comment, I'm glad I'm basically unable to miss GN videos!
Ha, got it. Thanks! Sounded like you were annoyed with notifications and wanted to make sure you knew it wasn't us doing it!
Far from that, I'm glad every time notifications from GN pop up!