How do i properly clean Thermal Grizzly Condunaut?

Hello
I recently put this liquid metal on the surface of my GPU and CPU and also made a square of the size of each in the copper cooler.
The thing is that i shouldn´t put it on the copper coller, i think it has to much, i tried to clean it with 96gl alcohol but the "square strain" doesn´t disappear and i can´t see the copper.
I don´t want to scratch this, is there any chemical liquid to remove this?
any ideas on how to clean it properly?
Thank you in advance

 

Before rubbing with alcohol I recommend to use tape / painters tape to remove the chemical.

Copper discoloration is normal, and will not affect performance. But if you wish you can slightly rub the surface with 3M Finishing Pads,No 10144. Just a light rub will suffice.

Keep in mind that you will create a lot of dirt this way because you're partly removing the copper.

 

Jesus Christ......if i knew this i wouldn´t put it in the first place........look to the Thermal Grizzly email reply "acetone should help to clean most of the liquid metal. If you want to RMA a CPU and can't read searial number or batch anymore it can help to use a 10% solution of hydrochloric acid and swipe your CPU several times. Be careful though doing that and wear the approriate safety gear such as goggles and gloves." .... I´m not a chemist....isn´t there any other way of taking this out without scratching the surface? i saw this vídeo could this help? is this compound similar to the one used to take out scratches from cars?

 

Hydrochloric acid sounds nasty, but it isn't that bad. Definitely don't drink it. It is an asphyxiant and if you get some on your skin, just wash the exposed skin thoroughly, it shouldn't cause damage as long as you take care of it timely. Hydrochloric acid is sometimes called muriatic acid and you should be able to find some at a hardware store. Just use it in a well ventilated place.

Regarding the polish, it could potentially work. It likely works because there is something in the polish that the metal bonds to or that the thermal compound is soluble or partially soluble in. To know whether this would work in your case, you'd have to look at what's in it and how different the compound you use is from the one in the video. As to whether it is similar to the one used to take scratches out from car, you'd have to look at what's in the two compounds. My guess however would be that they are different given that they have different uses.

 

I know that Hydrochloric acid sounds nasty, in fact, it sounds very very nasty........Jesus.......my notebook has 2 weeks and i already ruined it.......my doubt is what´s the name on the compound in the video in Portuguese.......i can´t find anything similar, and with the name *Polishing*, i only know the car scratch remover, i´m going to take a picture of it and put it here to see if it matches this one

i found this one too, but the guy doesn´t say what it is, it seems isopropilic alcohool, but i find this so easy that i doubt it

 

Ok.......finally i have a solution......i used the polish method, i can tell you that the copper looks like a mirror now, after a couple of hours i clean it all, give me a lot of work........now let´s go for the CPU.........i only made a last clean with isopropyl alcohol just to be sure that even the polish that i used is cleaned also on the copper cooler..........but i can assure you that the "polish" method works.....

 

You don't have to go that much. Rubbing it with the finishing paper works just as well.

 

I don´t think so, i saw some youtube videos of people having everything scratched, even the CPU serial numbers, and the cooper cooler was a mess as well. almost losing the copper layer. But this was fine, the result was better than i thought and went well, it does give a lot of work, but if you want to avoid warranty issues, this is definitely the best way to do it

 

As you already have found out, the easiest way to clean "old" liquid metal is by using 1200+ grit sandpaper (polishing paper) and just sand it down hard. Before sanding, get as much off as you can with alcohol (or arcticclean or goo gone), and a cleaning cloth or paper first; since you don't want to have the sandpaper do unnecessary work. Then just sand it down with fine grit paper. It takes a few minutes and some vigorous scrubbing, but eventually you get a nice result.

And yes, you are supposed to "Tin" the heatsink surface (copper or nickel plated, but NOT ALUMINUM-NEVER use aluminum heatsinks with an aluminum base with ANY liquid metal, EVER) with LM, same goes for the underside of the CPU IHS, when delidding...tin that with LM also (gives lower temps).

 

I don’t want to scratch the surface with sandpaper, I thank you for your advise, but I saw some YouTube videos with horrible results with that.
Then polish did the work, I just can’t tell if spikes of 70 degrees are fine when playing.
And yes I have a clevo P775TM1G, everything is copper, I notice that before doing this.
I just do want to lose the warranty cause I mess with this.....maybe I have to do the same to the GPU, I’m getting a max of 83 degrees when playing, when it supposed to be 80 I guess.....I have the laptop lifted in wood squares, so the air ca blow like a hurricane.....Jesus what a mess.....why did I try to lower the noise with mods and ...... I’m so regretting this......I really hope I don’t lose the warranty with this play around to give the forum more info on this particularly notebook.....

 

Please read my post again
You use POLISHING sandpaper. It will not scratch the surface.
It's used for making mirror finishes.
2000 grit is good for this (or higher).
I used it on my own heatsink. It is designed to REMOVE Scratches, not MAKE them.

 

Sorry im Portuguese and here sandpaper scratches surfaces, can you link me to the product that you're talking about?
Thank you

 

Just google 2000 grit (even 3000 grit) polishing sandpaper. I have no link.

 

found it, thank you very much

 

now the thermal grizzly is making my GPU crash after i cleaned the copper cooler only........i put it back again on the cooper cooler, same result, black screen or freezes image with colour pixel squares.....i removed all of it and put the thermal paste that came with it, i had to reapplied it cause i don´t have other......it gets to 90º playing Tomb Raider...........but didn´t have a single crash........what could be causing this?........what a headache this is......any ideas are welcome....thank you in advance...

 

Its very likely you made the same mistake as I and warped your heat spreader / contact plate because you didnt use a block ?

 

How come? I used tape, I only clean the area where the liquid metal was, and put the cooler back again, I didn’t spit into the electrical circuit, then just start giving me those problems. then I was forced to clean the Nvidia chip and put the Stock thermal paste. I’m using it without any crash, but I have 90 degrees when playing. I think that if I would have spit something to the wrong place the same would occur. How can I solve this, I mean, put the liquid metal again...

 

I dont really understand

First.

With what and how did you clean the liquid metal? Be specific.

 

Please learn proper preparation before using LM !!!

EITHER NAIL POLISH on the SMD resistors (3 coats), OR either Super 33+ tape (not super 88 and NOT GENERIC TAPE) or Kapton tape.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ZFNB2I/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1RYF7WY9L3HL5
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004WCCL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

or Cellulouse based transparent nail polish over the SMD resistors around the GPU (3 coats).
Nail polish is easy to find.

 

I used a polish compound to clean the metal from the copper cooler, like in the first video that i posted, then i only put the cooler and the crashes started, so i take out the LM from the Nvidia Chip with the same method.
In the end of each method, i passed also with ispropilic alcohol to clean the compound that could eventually remain, until i verified that nothing was dirty.
I repaste with the stock compound that came with the notebook; now i get higher temps like 90º but i have no crashes anymore since i clean all the LM.
I wonder what cause those crashes.....

Thank you for your reply, i´m just trying to understand it, you want me to put acetone on the chip before applying LM? or is a way to remove it? cause if you notice above, i posted a reply from Thermal Grizzly saying to use acetone or acid........i used the polish, it´s ok with that.....gives a lot of work on the coolers, but in the chips just get´s out very easy.
If it´s that, i thank you, if it´s another thing that you are trying to explain, please be more specific...i´m Portuguese and i don´t understand some chemist terms sorry.
Also i have already the Vinyl Electrical Tape covering all my GPU around the nvidia chip

 

Here's an example of insulation on a BGA CPU. You do the same thing for the GPU. This is VERY important on the GPU!



You don't have to do what this guy does. he uses nail polish **AND** tape. There is nothing wrong with this at all, but this is like trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer.
You should use 1 or the other.

For the GPU you want the entire around the GPU (small resistors) painted with 3 coats of Cellulouse Nail Polish (NOT ACETONE).
If you don't 'want to use nail polish, then you do the tape method that he explains in the video, except on the GPU, not the CPU.

In this picture you can see the nail polish at the bottom. It's much easier to see the "shine" reflection on the CPU however.





http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-guide-results.797373/page-278#post-10615763

 

Ok, now I understand, the thing is that I have a 8700k, and is to small to have tape, so here I only put the LM on the top of the CPU. I putted also on the copper cooler, but then I noticed high temp and just remove that layer from the cooper cooler with the polish method and clean it with the isopropyl alcohol in the end.
Regarding the MXM GTX, well this one is big enough to have that black tape and was already there from factory. To clean it I put just normal tape on top of the black tape and clean it carefully, it came out easy no big problem.
Now the crashes only started when I remove it from the cooper cooler only, I just put it back again on the top of my first thermal grizzly applying.
Yesterday I had thermal grizzly on the top and on the Nvidia chip and it was fine, I just had 83 degrees max when playing, I just don’t understand why the removal from the cooper cooler started this crashes

Thank you once again for your explanation

 

Listen, man.
YOU REALLY need to do your research and study up before you short circuit your motherboard with liquid metal.
That black tape around the GPU is NOT 'insulating tape'. It's not even tape. That tape offers NO protection whatsoever!
And no, you don't put NORMAL tape around the GPU resistors. Only kapton tape, Scotch Super 33+, or 3 coats of transparent nail polish.

Why are you trying to do all this stuff without doing your research?
there are so many webpages, so many videos on how to prep grizzly conductonaut or Liquid Ultra. Even guides on this very forum. Many of them. Yet you're choosing to ignore them, doing it your own way then complaining that you short circuited your GPU....

do your research man.
I told you EXACTLY what you need. EXACTLY.
Now please take some time, read and watch videos, and learn. So you don't wind up destroying your hardware.

Also look at Mr Fox's video in the link I gave above too.(NOT the GT73VR video, but the one in the forum link).

Foam dams (polyurethane i think is the material, but a VERY VERY compressible and light foam) foam are recommended as 'wall barriers' (not required but its a good idea) to stop any "tiny drops" of LM from ever escaping and getting on the PCB (where it CAN destroy something). like this material:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MXDJFCB/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AEF8AWXR95D0

You also need to make sure your heatsink has a VERY BALANCED, tight fit, because some users have had LM "shift off" partly off the GPU when they hard bumped or dropped their laptop, causing super high temps or worse.....

 

Be sure you completely removed the polish compound. Use sandpaper +2000 grit and sand with Isopropyl 99% or similar. The polish compound being more lik a fat film on top.

 

Ok My Friend I'm going to do it as you say. So I removed the tape from the GPU and I notice that the thermal compound (not the LM condunaut), I think is kryonaut, the one that came with it from factory, was spread trough the tiny pins around the chip. I think this is the problem. I cleaned it with isopropil alcohol, now I'm going to buy the dark tape and the nail polish and I'm going to apply it again and see what happens.

I thank you for your explanation and I'll feedback as soon as possible

 

For the temperature issue, I'd possibly guess that a warped heatsink might be responsible. When LM has stopped working for me in the past, the metal went 'crusty' each time - it was pretty obvious what the issue was. Leaving the LM 'stain' on the CPU die and heatsink didn't seem to make any difference to temps.

TBH, I can't help feeling that given the warranty concerns and general sense of terror that your posts are infused with, you might be better served with IC Diamond or another non-metal paste.

 

I think what is being stated here is that one should be careful with liquid metal. Since it is conductive in nature, any soldered joints, parts, electrical components can be short circuited if the liquid metal oozes or leaks onto a surface in which you did not intend.

Since you say you've covered 'all my GPU around the nvidia chip' with Vinyl Electrical Tape, you might be OK. However, it is possible the liquid metal seeps under the tape, and is still causing a short circuit and potential damage. In cases like this, a lot of people coat their components with a non-conductive nail polish. This way, if the liquid metal does manage to ooze to somewhere it should not, the components are still protected.

--------------

Edit:

I see from later posts that you seem to now understand what people were saying and that you did have some liquid metal that spread to where it was unwanted. Hopefully you can resolve the issue. We wish you the best of luck!

 

Ok...so after a hard work i manage to put 3 times in 30 minutes periods, being the last one of 1 hour, lacquer insulation in spray for electronica, ​

it´s like the nail polish, then i put Artic Silver 5 cause the store didn´t have Grizzly Kryonaut, it´s better to leave the LM.......and follow your instructions, and the video ones, i didn´t put the tape as mentioned.........i´m getting 90º.......15 days trying to figure out a way to drop this to the initial 80º that he had and i simply can´t........what I´m i doing wrong now......everything is clean, i triple checked, i bought numerous chemicals and another thermal paste and i can´t make this thing to drop.....i´m sure i don´t have any paste or LM in the conductores, now they are covered 3 times with the V-66.
I only start Tomb Raider for example and just let him on the initial screen, i only see with MSI afterburner, the temperature rising to the 90´s........in idle mode, or with Edge open, i get between 38 and 41º......i don´t know what else to do....

 

You didnt answer my original question.

Did you not use a block or did you just use your hands when applying force to the heatsink?

You very likely have a warped heatsink

 

I just scewed it, i didn’t press it, I checked the thermal paste and it’s well spread. Regarding the warped heatsink that you say, you probably have a point there, I notice when I put the LM, that the marks of LM on the cooler where nearly to points on a corner, the rest had nothing, so no contact, and the more I push for the fans, the temps praticly don’t change and maybe is that....gonna RMA cause this happens in bouth of them, and the LM layer was so thin that show me that, the thermal paste just spreads it’s way out, you couldn’t notice that, but you can see that are points that have less thermal paste pressed on it.

 

Did you use a block or did you use your hands.

 

I screwed with my hands, I didn't press or used anything else, but now I pressed with my hand and screwed it

 

When you removed the LM did you use block or did you use your hands

 

I used my hands, I polish it.......i guess this is our answer my friend.....warped heatsink.....f********

 

Well, thank you all for your patience and friendship, we don’t see so much people welling to understand a problem and help, I really thank you all and if you come to Portugal feel free to contact me to have a drink, any of you guys, all reply’s were extremely important for me, I hope it does serve to other users with the same problem.

Really, Thank You

 

Go get a block and some high grit sand paper and re-lap the heatsink

 

What do you mean “a block”? Can you link, cause in Portugal a block means a brick...

I’m sorry for the trouble, but when I Google only bricks appear

And my friend, just an update, now I pressed with my hand, and screwed it, and the temps are better, 85 degrees, but with the notebook lifted up from behind

 

a block, rectangle or square, anything with density and a more importantly, a flat surface to wrap around high grit sand paper to ensure you make the heatsink as flat as possible.

 

Then post pictures when first application is done (disassemble and check spread - before final application).

 

That just means you have poor contact at the very least

 

In regards to your CPU, perhaps you could get some ideas from this video -

But instead of lapping the CPU, you'll be lapping the heat sink.

 

@GENOCID - this kind of proactive manipulation of the heatsink/heatplate is what I was talking about, fiddling / wiggling to get better contact patch across CPU when loose, and pressing down on the cooling plate / assembly before screwing it down. Give an assist to the screws pulling it down.

Good work Al

 

Thank you all for your replys, I'm enlightened now, I only have one problem, where do I buy those squares? Or something similar? The sand paper is fine to get, but the block I can't find it; as I told you, block here means brick and I'm googling to try to find one but no luck, gonna try harder and as soon I have something I'll feedback right away.

Thank you very much for your help once again

Update: i found this https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/COPPER-Sheet-Plate-8-Different-Thicknesses-23-Popular-Sizes-/302204943332 I don't know if this are the blocks.
What thickness should they have?

 

You can use what you have. Small and flat enough and fits in you hand. Or search after similar like this www.performance-pcs.com-premium-heatsink-lapping-kit

 

Ok thank you very much