Cleaning Heatsink After Lapping

[slipbeezer]

Hi. First time ever to lap a heatsink :D - and I was wondering what to do once I am done. Some of the soap got into the fins part.

Is it ok to rinse water through it to get that all out? It's not a good idea to have dried soap in there, is it?
After that, how do you dry it out? Can you blow a blow dryer on it? I don't want any water in my case.

It was very hard to find all the grades of sand paper. Got 400 and 600 at a hardware store. Found the higher grades at an auto parts store. And they wouldn't sell one sheet either, so a whole pack of each one gets expensive. :(

I used 400, 600, 1000 and 1200 and had to leave out 1500 and 2000 grit, but oh well, it will have to do. :) It's much shinier than before.

If anybody knows how to clean and dry it, it would be great.

[Whyzman]

No, not a good idea to have soap in fins...

No, not a good idea to have water in your case...

Most heatsinks are extruded aluminum, or copper...rinsing with water should not be a problem. I would use a hair dryer to dry them off immediately after rinsing...I would remove it from my case before rinsing ;)

[Deagle]

Don't forgot to clean it with Isopropyl Alcohol preferably > 90%, which can be found at most drug stores. Make sure the base is flat, a lapped but slanted base is no good. Combine it with AS5 for best performance. :D

[slipbeezer]

Deagle: I'm really glad you told me about slanting. I have no idea if it's slanted or not, sure hope not. It's still running hot but less than it was (up to 62, even hotter once) Its between 53-56 C now.

What is AS5?


Whyzman: heya, you ever lapped a heatsink while it was still on the motherboard? ;)


Thanks. :)

[Deagle]

AS5= Arctic Silver 5, a thermal paste(best one IMO) use to transfer heat from the processor to heatsink. I use it on everything from vid card core, north/south bridge, and of course cpu. :D

[Whyzman]

LOL...no, physically impossible! :D

I'm curious though, how'd you get soap in the fins?