Cleaning off LM(liquid metal

Hello everyone. Am having problems cleaning off LM from my notebooks heatsink. I will attach an image showing the LM in the heatsink. It seems like it's dried off as I took the notebook apart but I didn't clean it off immediately and just let it stay. I tried to clean it off this afternoon but it doesn't seem to be working.

I use the Arctic clean 1 and 2 and non of that is making it come off.

Am going to try heating it up again to see if I can get it to go liquid. Any other suggestions welcome, thanks.

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My limited knowledge of this, is that LM bonds to copper to a certain degree.

When I removed mine for re-application I used a wire spin brush but I couldnt tell you if thats appropriate.

 

Yh I might have to try that, but yh, like you said, am not sure thats the best way

 

It works for the quick and dirty but I would consider lapping at that point to make sure your contact is flat.

 

If the surface is nice and flat then it is just cosmetical. I had mine dry up solid and only way I could make it flat was lapping the heat sink. Back to regular paste.

 

This.

A wire brush will mar the surface of the copper. Since compound is designed to fill microscopic imperfections, it's not the worst thing you can do, but the fact remains that this stuff is very difficult to completely clean off, and in a lot of cases, it will leave a kind of stain.

 

LM pro-tip: Use a cutting agent to remove LM from the heatsink or IHS. Meaning any metal polish or car cutting compound will polish off the top layer of exposed blemished copper.

Heard Brasso works...

Might not leave it spotless, but this is the best method of cleaning it off.

Best thing is to always approximate the size of the contact and use masking tape while applying LM to the HS and remove it after. Also saves you a bit of LM.

 

Wont masking tape dampen heat transfer?

and I cant get brass now so am guessing am gonna have to brush it with a spin brush then

 

Some of the gallium from the LM gets in and alloys with the copper. It doesn't affect heatsink performance.

Scratching up the surface with a wire brush or polishing off metal making the heatsink concave (increasing the gap that TIM has to fill) will though.

Just get some fine sandpaper to remove any crusty surface deposit, lap it back to flat, and let it be. It's a cosmetic stain.

 

Sorry you misunderstood. I mean when painting the LM, try to eye the size of the contact area on your heatsink and tape around the edges of that area. Paint the LM on onto the heatsink, use the tape as a guide and paint to the edge. Then rip the tape off when putting it all together. It will leave a nice square shape, helps avoid pump out, saves LM and makes it a bit cleaner.

Not brass, brasso is a cheap and popular metal polish.

 

I know it really gets to some people but the marks are not going to be seen so it's just something you have to live with when using LM.

 

Just wipe it hard and clean with 91% alcohol and a lint free cloth, or Arcticlean, until it is COMPLETELY smooth. Then reapply. Whether it looks copper or silver from oxidation doesn't affect performance at all. If you're REALLY OCD about that, you can use EXTREMELY fine grit sandpaper to clean it, a grit that is usually ONLY used for "Mirror finish" polishing, but do NOT overdo ANY sort of sanding on laptop heatsinks, because ANY amount you sand makes you pressure challenged on laptop heatsinks which are already pressure challenged to begin with. So be careful. As long as it is perfectly flat with NO hardened LM bumps or anything, then it doesn't matter what the color is.

 

You need to use those metal brush or similair to scratch it off.

 

<You need to use those metal brush or similair to scratch it off> Who would do that? Not me. The only solution to remove Liquid metal on copper is careful sanding with proper fine grain paper (+2000). The best cleaner you get is Indigo Xtreme Clean. It will clean up your HS and IHS / die better than any other cleaners on the market. Even after use of 99% isopropanol and the wipes/rags remains clean after full cleaning you will still manage better results with Indigo Xtreme Clean.

 

Or just chill about it and wipe it off and just put another layer on

 

I actually did this as well lol, works fine.

 

It's the easiest way and still gets decent results