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Isopropyl alcohol question

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April 7, 2014 11:15:24 AM

I have a pot full of 70% isopropyl alcohol. Since I don't have a compressed air spray, do you think I can wipe the alcohol on my GPU's PCB, fans and heatsink? They're dusty. Will it damage the PCB? What percent is recommended for use in electronics? Also tell me your experiences on problems like this one.

Thanks.

More about : isopropyl alcohol question

April 7, 2014 11:20:52 AM

For doing a full wash, I only use 99.9999% iso. I'm only use 70% stuff for thermal paste or other things, but I wouldn't dump 70% over a board.
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April 7, 2014 11:22:35 AM

I have had it happen never had any issues ever I usually use %99 but once my fiancee got me 70 and it was still fine, I generally wipe the dust off with the isopropyl mix ever time i change the thermal paste. If you are going to do not dump it like getochkn said
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April 7, 2014 11:26:52 AM

I wanted to put some alcohol in some toilet paper and swipe the paper all over the PCB carefully.
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April 7, 2014 11:34:57 AM

70% should be fine, assuming the other 30% is pure water. Isopropanol forms a special kind of solution with water called an azeotrope. This basically means that it takes the water with it when it evaporates so you won't leave the boards damp or anything.

I've exploited this a few times to dry things off quickly, such as when I washed a heatsink in a bowl of soapy water to get sticky cigarette smoke residue off of it. Having rinsed off the soap with clean water, I didn't have time to wait for it to dry naturally before putting it back in the PC so I sprayed it liberally with 99.9% IPA then waved it around a bit and it was dry in under a minute.

Hope this helps,
Stephen
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April 7, 2014 12:14:16 PM

In which parts of the GPU's PCB I shouldn't let any water?
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Best solution

April 7, 2014 1:56:06 PM

if you have water on it, DRY it asap then make sure its dry before you plug it back in, tap water has many impurities that will conduct water and thus damaging your investment... always make sure its dry before you put it back in
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April 7, 2014 2:16:14 PM

bad_eyes83 said:
if you have water on it, DRY it asap then make sure its dry before you plug it back in, tap water has many impurities that will conduct water and thus damaging your investment... always make sure its dry before you put it back in

But IPA does not contain tap water.. Or does it?
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April 7, 2014 2:23:39 PM

Isopropyl alcohol is miscible in water, alcohol, ether and chloroform. Yes there is ater on the bottle some companies put the ingredients on. but non the less if it dry then you are good to go so make sure it was never powered while cleaning, I have seen people do that and once its dry plug it back in
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