Who the heck glues the heatsink to the CPU? I'd say place it in the freezer in a zip-lock bag for a few minutes (I removed the heatsink from a broken VooDoo3 2000 PCI card successfully), remove it, and twist the heatsink around carefully until it breaks free. If not, use the blade again and see what happens.

Another method: use a heat gun for 10 seconds on medium heat.

Source: https://www.wikihow.com/Remove-a-Processor-Fu … d-to-a-Heatsink

Good luck, man.

Really depends on what glue was used.. Freezing can be used to make cyanoacrylate more brittle but could have no effect on epoxy, which would actually require heat to make it more viscous.. However if it can withstand the heat of a GPU without losing bond, you may be totally screwed.. That means you need some extreme heat to break that bond but a heat gun is something I would personally not resort to. You could try running a long torture test on the cpu then trying to twist the CPU off afterwards..

If you actually read the OP's post I'm pretty sure the heatsink is long gone and he's just trying to get rid of residual glue.

I would mount the CPU in a mobo and find a way to keep it from moving.
A dead board you don't care about would be ideal but do what you have too.

Then use the pictured kind of straight razor-scraper so you can really get at it and don't have to deal with odd angles, alignment or problems holding the blade firmly.
It's not easy or fast but if you keep working at it you'll get there.
.

Ah yep I should have mentioned that the CPU heat sink and fan have already been removed and im trying to remove the residual glue left over, the picture of the razor blade scraper is close to what I have already tried inside a socket to make it stay still and firm, but is there a chemical solution to use that will break down the glue?

GabrielKnight123 wrote:

Ah yep I should have mentioned that the CPU heat sink and fan have already been removed and im trying to remove the residual glue left over, the picture of the razor blade scraper is close to what I have already tried inside a socket to make it stay still and firm, but is there a chemical solution to use that will break down the glue?

The kind of glue varies.
I've run into some 486's where the glue just wouldn't come off short of mechanical means.
.. And I had access to all sorts of cool, mean & nasty chemicals through my job at the time.
You might not have the same glue I did though....

Try a strong acid and a strong base. If neither works you are probably stuck.

You could sand and then lap it but that could end up taking longer than scraping.
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PCBONEZ wrote:

You could sand and then lap it but that could end up taking longer than scraping.

Electric orbital sander with some 400 grit sandpaper. You should have the glue off in a couple minutes.

I used to lap CPUs and heatsinks manually and then got tired of it taking forever and so I started using my oribital sander. Works great and is way, way, way quicker than doing it manually.

Just turn the sander upside down, turn it on, and then move the cpu around on it and it should make super quick work of that glue. Of course you will probably remove the markings on the CPU, but if you want to get it off quick, that is the way to go.

You could also try some aircraft paint stripper.. or maybe some non-diluted citrus (lemon) essential oil, but not sure if that will work either. Just depends on the type of glue.

Hardware store tile departments usually have muriatic acid.
Get gloves and goggles while you're there.
Places that sell car batteries usually have sulfuric acid.
Ospho (a marine rust stripper) has phosphoric acid.
.
I would use the sander.
.

humans are equipped with tongues for a reason

PCBONEZ wrote:

If you actually read the OP's post I'm pretty sure the heatsink is long gone and he's just trying to get rid of residual glue.

I did read the OP and it was not obvious to me that the heatsink was already seperated.

"must of had a heatsink and fan glued on at some point of its life"
Is pretty clear to me.

PCBONEZ wrote:

"must of had a heatsink and fan glued on at some point of its life"
Is pretty clear to me.

How is that clear to you? That just says someone must have had glued a fan onto the CPU at some point, not that it was removed later. You are assuming.

Pure acetone will remove almost all glues, with epoxy being an exception.

It's worth trying acetone first, but I expect that in this case it is probably thermal epoxy.

Epoxy can be removed with heat.
I am an hobby machinist, and I use epoxy all the time for temporary fixtures and workholding.

It holds parts together really well, and when I have finished what I am doing, I simply boil the part in water for a minute or two and the epoxy turns rubbery and lets go.

This will work for pretty much any epoxy that is not designed for high heat applications.

I don't know if thermal epoxy is exceptionally heat resistant, but I doubt it is much different from regular epoxy.

I also don't know if it is safe to boil a CPU in water for a couple of minutes.

From examining the design of the CPUs in my collection, I expect that a 486 in a ceramic package would be absolutely fine, but maybe more experienced members could chime in?

appiah4 wrote:

PCBONEZ wrote:

"must of had a heatsink and fan glued on at some point of its life"
Is pretty clear to me.

How is that clear to you? That just says someone must have had glued a fan onto the CPU at some point, not that it was removed later. You are assuming.

I guess my English comprehension skills are better than yours then.

I'm not having an argument over an issue that is so minuscule and petty an ant wouldn't trip over it.

If something said in a forum by someone you don't know and will never meet upsets you THAT much then you really REALLY need to get a life.
.

I just let you know that I actually read it and when you pressed the point gave you my interpretation of the wording. In return you are insulting my language skills and telling me off with a ‘get a life’. You are the one having a meltdown and I am the one being upset in a forum? Take five and rethink.

appiah4 wrote:

I just let you know that I actually read it and when you pressed the point gave you my interpretation of the wording. In return you are insulting my language skills and telling me off with a ‘get a life’. You are the one having a meltdown and I am the one being upset in a forum? Take five and rethink.

ALL THAT WAS was a suggestion for you reread the OP.
Now you are crying like a little baby and wasting everyone's time.
.

just remove the glue with the suggestions provided, skip the nonsense.

also save the glue if you can for ralph wiggum

bjwil1991 wrote:

Who the heck glues the heatsink to the CPU?

Good question! 🤣

I would say Cyrix:

IBM:

Intel:

jamesbeat wrote:

I also don't know if it is safe to boil a CPU in water for a couple of minutes.

From examining the design of the CPUs in my collection, I expect that a 486 in a ceramic package would be absolutely fine, but maybe more experienced members could chime in?

I am not endorsing this. Just throwing some info out so the OP can make an informed decision.

[Revised here] Re: How To Remove Glue From CPU

A short dunk probably isn't going to hurt it - no promises.

If any one tries it make sure you let it dry for a very long time.
I might be wrong but those older ceramic packages look porous to me and you don't want water/moisture oozing out with it in your system.
.

jamesbeat wrote:

Pure acetone will remove almost all glues, with epoxy being an exception. […]
Show full quote

Pure acetone will remove almost all glues, with epoxy being an exception.

It's worth trying acetone first, but I expect that in this case it is probably thermal epoxy.

Epoxy can be removed with heat.
I am an hobby machinist, and I use epoxy all the time for temporary fixtures and workholding.

It holds parts together really well, and when I have finished what I am doing, I simply boil the part in water for a minute or two and the epoxy turns rubbery and lets go.

This will work for pretty much any epoxy that is not designed for high heat applications.

I don't know if thermal epoxy is exceptionally heat resistant, but I doubt it is much different from regular epoxy.

The stuff that gave me trouble looked and behaved like the glaze on ceramic tile.
It was extremely hard and resilient.
.