Now I wonder if that's the result of malice, ignorance or some weird attempt to insulate for sub-zero cooling.

Maby dishwasher could work.
Or failing that find someone with a big ultrasonic cleaner.

Dish washer. Not a joke: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVuI-Fn27-U I once did this with a motherboard a cat peed on (not my cat, not my motherboard).

My suggestion, but do not hold me accountable: Use the shower head and some soap and rinse plenty. Keep the board upside down to dry on a towel on a radiator and use an air can or compressor on the socket to remove whatever residue might be left. Dry again, a hairdryer might do the trick (compresdors can spray water particles) and cross your fingers.

God Of Gaming wrote on 2022-04-12, 13:49:

Bought a DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR on ebay to do a 2005 build, but it was not posting, and all 4 debug leds were glowing red, whic […]
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Bought a DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR on ebay to do a 2005 build, but it was not posting, and all 4 debug leds were glowing red, which seems to mean its stuck on cpu detection. After disassembling the socket 939 with suspicious paste residue, was greeted by this sight:

Needless to say, the sight made my vision go dark with anger. After spending hours and lots of paste emulsifier and q-tips, I was only able to get it this clean:

sadly it's still not working, so I guess not clean enough, but this method doesn't allow me to do any better. Anyone had to deal with this nightmare before? Any idea what I can do here?

I'd pour a load of isopropyl into socket give it a good few minutes to soak then blast socket with compressed air, rinse and repeat till gone.

I think brake cleaner in a spray can will work, too. I've cleaned many parts with alcohol but some of the thermal paste will withstand alcohol quite good and brake cleaner often is the answer. All the parts I've cleaned (including total motherboards) with brake cleaner still work perfectly. Do make sure you let it dry and keep in mind that brake cleaner is very flammable 😉.

Thandor wrote on 2022-04-12, 14:54:

I think brake cleaner in a spray can will work, too. I've cleaned many parts with alcohol but some of the thermal paste will withstand alcohol quite good and brake cleaner often is the answer. All the parts I've cleaned (including total motherboards) with brake cleaner still work perfectly. Do make sure you let it dry and keep in mind that brake cleaner is very flammable 😉.

I second that, seeing this post reminded me as used brake cleaner loads on minging hard to work areas, just ensure there is no acetone in it.
I've used the below cleaner loads on PCBs, breaks down rock hard ancient paste fast as in can see it come apart as you spray.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/holts-aerosol-brak … equestid=358303

That's how it's supposed to be! Didn't you know?

These pictures are giving me nightmares STHAP!

The horror.

Quick evaporating contact cleaning spray usually works wonders on TIM residues. No need to bring in any heavier artillery. Personally I use CRC QD.

Brake cleaner as suggested above would work well too, it's very similar. It's not tested the same way on electronics/plastics though, so if you have a choice, go for contact cleaner.

Would avoid using water and/or detergent based cleaners for that job. It's not going to be very effective with greasy stuff like TIM, and it might lead to other complications. It's more of a last resort when there are salts or other inorganic fouling, that won't dissolve in hydrocarbon based products.

I guess they followed this tutorial

Good grief this looks terrible 😔

Ultrasonic bath

Kärcher ftw!

No, I like the isopropyl plus compressed air idea. If dishwasher doesn't cut it.

That socket, *shudder*... who does something so vile? Almost as horrible as the ads on youtube.

gordon-creAtive.com wrote on 2022-04-12, 14:10:

(not my cat, not my motherboard).

OK, good. In that combination, no one would get hurt.

Hmm the good old Hellmann's MajoX4 paste!

Alcohol in a spray bottle with nozzle adjusted to a stream and spray away. Force of alcohol will wash away the paste in deep cavities.

Cheers,

I would have dumped the board into trash bin. Not worth the time in my opinion.

If you want to give it another try then you could use technical gasoline and toothbrush. You would have to submerge the board in a large baking sheet full of technical gasoline and brush the socket clean.

Alcohol might not work. Gasoline, diesel fuel, better acetone - evaporates without residues.

Deksor wrote on 2022-04-12, 17:22:

I guess they followed this tutorial

Good grief this looks terrible 😔

The best part about that video is the use of mayonaise. 😁

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-12, 19:24:

Alcohol might not work. Gasoline, diesel fuel, better acetone - evaporates without residues.

Would not use Acetone on plastics tho =).

At this point you may as well desolder the socket and put a fresh one on there...