Need advice how to remove heatsink with artic silver epoxy bond

[dinos22]

Hi Guys

I got a motherboard with a Swiftech copper heatsink on northbridge that's been epoxied with artic silver epoxy

i tried to warm it up a little and gently move from side to side to remove it of the NB heatsink from an X38 chipset motherboard but it ain't moving at all

can someone give me some advice what i could do to remove it

The motherboard seemed to have died on me recently so need to remove the heatsink to put the original crap back on to put it through warranty

here is the pic of the NB heatsink

[TheMysticWizard]

That stuff is pretty tough. I assume it's pretty equal to the Artic Alumina Adheasive.

I recently tried to remove the RamSinks off my 7950gt and killed the card in the process. I tried running it until it was hot, they wouldn't budge. I tried Freezing the card in the freezer, they wouldn't budge. I finally tried a razor blade and slowly slid it between the chip and the sink, cracked the ram chip. Luckly BFG still took it back and sent me a new card.

It seems others have had the best of luck with the freezer method, where you place the item in the freezer for 30 minutes and then use a twisting motion to break the heatsink loose. Just be careful... It didn't work for me.

Goodluck.

[dinos22]

i've got an LN2 tank in the benchroom so will just pour some over it

no need to wait 30 minutes lol

[STEvil]

put some pressure on it while cooling it with the LN2.. should snap free pretty easily.

otherwise heat it up to around 100c...

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

Yeah LN2 would do the trick.

For those without LN2, use an air duster, turn it upside down and spray the liquid onto the sink for 5 seconds or so. It will get super cold, more than a freezer.

[dinos22]

GREAT THANKS GUYS

[Gogeta]

For those without LN2, use an air duster, turn it upside down and spray the liquid onto the sink for 5 seconds or so. It will get super cold, more than a freezer.

Great idea, thanks for mentioning this. The freezer method has always seemed to work better than heat, but it doesn't work 100% of the time. Cheers.

[situman]

Wrap it tightly in foil and cerame wrap. Freeze it overnight. Slowly use the tip the knife and gently pry it off. When epoxy freezes it gets hard and brittle. You can even pop it off by hand if u didnt use too much in the first place.

[EvilBellyLint]

Yeah LN2 would do the trick.

For those without LN2, use an air duster, turn it upside down and spray the liquid onto the sink for 5 seconds or so. It will get super cold, more than a freezer.

Have suggested this very method in the past.
Cold always works better than heat when breaking a thermal bond.


EBL

[swaaye]

I want to hear an actual success story here. AS epoxy is hardcore stuff. I've ruined a vid card and a mobo trying to separate that stuff. I don't use it unless I am positive I will never have to remove the heatsink. Even if you do manage to break the bond, you'll probably have to sand away the leftovers because it's solid epoxy resin basically.

Another way to stick a heatsink to something is to use regular paste and then hot glue the heatsink to some nearby object or the board. Hot glue is quite strong stuff, as long as it doesn't get too hot and melt. I doubt most heatsinks get that hot considering low-temp hot glue is about 120C. Hot glue is super easy to remove too. Note that I haven't actually tried this yet, but it came to me in a "moment of clarity" the other day as I was pondering the uses of magical hot glue.

[awhir]

the X38 has a ihs so you could try a rayzor.

[cozwin]

the X38 has a ihs so you could try a rayzor.

im a little confused how you put a y in razor when its no where near z or a lol

[Monkeywoman]

pour pain thinner on it. i do it all the time. i once even soaked my mobo wtth that stuff cuz i spilled my STG1 thermal paste lol works like a charm

[[XC] 2long4u]

What kind of v-reg heatsinks are thoes?

[dinos22]

LOL check it out guys

[Deux]

Wow the first IHSless X38 board. Too bad it was dead already.

[Demo]

Why is the X38 chipset THAT big as compared to the P35's micro sized chip?

[Morais]

LOL check it out guys

LOL how did you put it back?

[dinos22]

couple of drops of superglue

[AriciU]

Heh. That made me remember my old 3500+ AthlonXP + AS5 sitting under the same heatsink for 3-4 years. I pulled hard on the heatsink and managed to rip the whole socket

[003]

i've got an LN2 tank in the benchroom so will just pour some over it

no need to wait 30 minutes lol

Thats perfect. I was going to recommend spraying it with an upsidedown can of compressed air but ln2 is even better.

[dinos22]

btw guys

in case you try this i would not rip off the IHS had i wedged a blade between the sink and IHS and gently gave it a wedge but i didn't want to scratch it that's all

[Monkeywoman]

no IHS means better temps. id leave that off if i were u.

[dinos22]

no IHS means better temps. id leave that off if i were u.

the mobo was dead prior to removal already

[CyberDruid]

SO you meant to pop the lid? Or it just happened. Anyway glad to have learned about this as I have a GTS 640 I need to revert to stock and RMA.