Rubbing alcohol and video cards

[Jeff7]

I have a video card whose original heatsink is attached to the core with thermal epoxy (Creative brand vid card). Would soaking the card in isopropyl alcohol for a few days accomplish anything, or might that damage the card? I do of course know that running the card while it's still wet will cause many transistors to die early deaths; I just want to know if the soaking itself could damage any components.

[KilrB]

I twisted the heatsink off and then used finger nail polish remover to get the Frag tape off my VooDoo3 3000. IT worked really well. Might take off the epoxy just as well.

I've seen acouple pics of guys taking a flat blade screwdriver and placing a piece of plastic(like a credit card) between the card and the screwdriver to pry off the heatsink.

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Soyo 6BA+4
P3 700@980 1.89v w/ AlphaPEP66, 60mmDelta7200rpm
Creative Labs GeForce2 GTS 32meg
128MB KingMax PC150 CAS222
Maxtor 20GB ATA66 7200RPM
Sound Blaster Live Value

[Jeff7]

I'm just a bit wary of trying to pry the heatsink off; the epoxy is fairly firm, and is covering the entire GF2 core. Twisting or prying may either break the PCB, or possibly pop the Geforce2 chip right off the board.

[mx-6*]

I think that the best bet is to heat it up real good by playing games with the fan on the chip off. Then shut down the computer real fast and try to pull it off.

Make sure to ground yourself though.

Anyway, it worked everytime I have done it and I actually have a tnt2 card that the hs fell off on its own after I put a fan on it!!

[Deanril]

Well Ive done this actually on my GeForce DDR from Creative Labs........

Stick the sucker in the Freezer for 30-60 minutes,then pull out and try to twist a bit,I actually had to use a small flathead screwdriver.

But if you look closely,there is a couple of good pry points where you wont mess anything up.

Then pop goes the wheesle and you are looking at a core.

Finger nail polish to clean it up then figure a way to atatch the new HSF.

I used thermal tape worked Dandy,but If I had it to do all over again,I might have just superglued it.

Good Luck dont be scared man,Be brave we know you can do it!!

[Jeff7]

So far, heating it to very hot (maybe 150F - very painful to touch the HS) and then trying to pry or twist it off - no luck. The thing won't even budge. It's sitting in the freezer now; hopefully that will help a bit.

[Jeff7]

Using a hammer on computer parts - for once, it has done good.



While the card was still cold from a stay in the freezer, I put a small screwdriver through the hole that you can see on the bottom right of the pic, and tapped it with a hammer. Heatsink popped right off. I just hope nothing got damaged. Phew!

[Deanril]

we knew you could do it!!!

[K6-III]

Good job.

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Gimme my TriLevel Cache

[Jeff7]

I'm just glad that I still have a video card, and not a nice new (expensive) keychain.

[Happy--Gaymore]

good job

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[Cyrix MII 266]

Hey Jeff7 your talking about me right?




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"Gordon arent you supposed to be in the test chamber's over an hour ago?"

[This message has been edited by Cyrix MII 266 (edited 12-23-2000).]

[Jeff7]

Yup

I saw your thread on that; I'm just surprised that the thing toasted itself; it had a heatsink on it; should have just locked up. Strange.