Accidentally spilled thermal paste on my motherboard, what should I do?
Asked by
TechieTurtle42
I'm building my first PC and I accidentally spilled some thermal paste on the pins of the M.2 connector. I tried cleaning it off with hand sanitizer that has ethanol and a toothbrush, but now I'm hearing that I should've used isopropyl alcohol instead. It's also tough to remove all the paste from the motherboard. What's the best way to handle this situation?
Answers
It's usually not a disaster as long as the paste isn’t conductive. Just focus on getting the connectors clean. If you don’t have isopropyl alcohol on hand, it’s okay to wait until you can get some. When you do, it’ll make the cleanup a lot easier!
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I’d recommend checking what type of thermal paste you used. If it’s one of the non-conductive types, you're likely fine. Hand sanitizer might not be the best cleaner. Using isopropyl alcohol should help wipe away what's left.
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Don't stress too much about it. If the thermal paste isn't conductive, it won’t damage your PC if you leave some behind. But yeah, definitely clean it up with isopropyl alcohol and a soft brush if you're able. It makes things look neater too!
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Definitely use isopropyl alcohol, preferably 99%. It’ll do a much better job of cleaning up that thermal paste compared to hand sanitizer. Just make sure that your thermal paste isn’t electrically conductive; if it isn’t, you should be in the clear.
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Just make sure to remove as much of the thermal paste as you can. Using isopropyl alcohol is a good idea. If you’re feeling adventurous, there's even an option to wash the motherboard in a dishwasher, just be careful with that!
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