frag tape, rubbing alcohol? - U.K translation please

Hi,

what are the U.K equilivalent of these things please?

Wayne ][

"Frag tape" is thermal tape, a double-sided tape used for attaching
heatsinks etc. I'm not sure of the etymology of "frag" tape, but I suspect
that it came out of some unnatural mating of overclocking and FPS gaming.

"rubbing alcohol" is isopropyl alcohol, aka isopropanol. Actually, the stuff
sold as "rubbing alcohol" (traditionally, for use in a rubdown after
exercise) in the US contains water, so it's probably less than ideal for use
as a cleaning solvent. It may be difficult to get the 100% stuff at the
corner pharmacy (chemist). Acetone may be better, but it's a more vicious
solvent. (Acetone dissolves many plastics quite quickly.) Acetone is
regarded as toxic, unless it is sold as nail polish remover. ;-)

I've used paint thinner (mineral spirits), although it isn't exactly
cleanroom stuff.

HTH.

Bob Knowlden

Spam dodger in use. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

"Wayne Youngman" <> wrote in message
news:bir95h$a4s$...
> Hi,
>
> what are the U.K equilivalent of these things please?
>
> Wayne ][
>
>

"Bob Knowlden" wrote
> "Frag tape" is thermal tape, a double-sided tape used for attaching
> heatsinks etc. I'm not sure of the etymology of "frag" tape, but I suspect
> that it came out of some unnatural mating of overclocking and FPS gaming.
>
> "rubbing alcohol" is isopropyl alcohol, aka isopropanol. Actually, the
stuff
> sold as "rubbing alcohol" (traditionally, for use in a rubdown after
> exercise) in the US contains water, so it's probably less than ideal for
use
> as a cleaning solvent. It may be difficult to get the 100% stuff at the
> corner pharmacy (chemist). Acetone may be better, but it's a more vicious
> solvent. (Acetone dissolves many plastics quite quickly.) Acetone is
> regarded as toxic, unless it is sold as nail polish remover. ;-)
>
> I've used paint thinner (mineral spirits), although it isn't exactly
> cleanroom stuff.


Hi,
thanks for reply. O.K so that rubbing stuff is *isopropyl* I have bought
that before from the local chemists (Boots). but you say that is not ideal?
can I ask them for 100% Isopropy without being arrested as a terrorist?. I
need something to help clean some old heatsink gunk off, it looks almost
like hardened plastic (glue gun?). I just bought some Akasa heatsink
cleaner but I think that's for stuff like ArticIII.

Acetone is nail polish remover? that stuff that stinks, are you suggesting
that will be a good thing to clean old heatsink compound off with? lol you
learn something everyday here!

The frag tape was suggested as a good way to attach a heatsink to the NF7-S
south bridge which by default is bare. I have some Artic Thermal Epoxy but
I'm not sure if I wanna make a permanent fixture, hence frag tape, dunno if
I can find that in the U.K?

thanks,

Wayne ][

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 23:31:50 +0000 (UTC), "Wayne Youngman"
<> wrote:

>"Bob Knowlden" wrote
>> "Frag tape" is thermal tape, a double-sided tape used for attaching
>> heatsinks etc. I'm not sure of the etymology of "frag" tape, but I suspect
>> that it came out of some unnatural mating of overclocking and FPS gaming.
>>
>> "rubbing alcohol" is isopropyl alcohol, aka isopropanol. Actually, the
>stuff
>> sold as "rubbing alcohol" (traditionally, for use in a rubdown after
>> exercise) in the US contains water, so it's probably less than ideal for
>use
>> as a cleaning solvent. It may be difficult to get the 100% stuff at the
>> corner pharmacy (chemist). Acetone may be better, but it's a more vicious
>> solvent. (Acetone dissolves many plastics quite quickly.) Acetone is
>> regarded as toxic, unless it is sold as nail polish remover. ;-)
>>
>> I've used paint thinner (mineral spirits), although it isn't exactly
>> cleanroom stuff.
>
>
>Hi,
>thanks for reply. O.K so that rubbing stuff is *isopropyl* I have bought
>that before from the local chemists (Boots). but you say that is not ideal?
>can I ask them for 100% Isopropy without being arrested as a terrorist?. I
>need something to help clean some old heatsink gunk off, it looks almost
>like hardened plastic (glue gun?). I just bought some Akasa heatsink
>cleaner but I think that's for stuff like ArticIII.
>
>Acetone is nail polish remover? that stuff that stinks, are you suggesting
>that will be a good thing to clean old heatsink compound off with? lol you
>learn something everyday here!

>The frag tape was suggested as a good way to attach a heatsink to the NF7-S
>south bridge which by default is bare. I have some Artic Thermal Epoxy but
>I'm not sure if I wanna make a permanent fixture, hence frag tape, dunno if
>I can find that in the U.K?
>
>thanks,
>
>Wayne ][
>

Use acetone or similar to remove the old hard pads/paste off first, then
use isopropyl for final cleanup.

I've used paint/varnish remover to get off old stuff and then Window
cleaner for final cleanup.

Ed

Hi Wayne,
"Wayne Youngman" <> wrote in message
news:birc55$4hc$...
[snip]
> The frag tape was suggested as a good way to attach a heatsink to the
NF7-S
> south bridge which by default is bare. I have some Artic Thermal Epoxy
but
> I'm not sure if I wanna make a permanent fixture, hence frag tape, dunno
if
> I can find that in the U.K?

You might try tekheads, www.tekheads.co.uk or their partner site
www.extremecooling.co.uk
for heatsink tape.. not sure what section of the site has it offhand but I'm
pretty sure I've seen it
on there somewhere:-)

BTW you can access the extremecooling site via the tekheads site, its an
option on their
homepage near the top.

Cheers,
RD

As far as I know, no alarms will go off if you request 100% isopropanol.
It's less toxic, and less flammable, than acetone, and acetone is readily
available. (Avoid nail polish remover, particularly the stuff with oil
added. It may take off the old goop, but you'd have to clean off the oil.)

Methanol is also a good cleaning solvent, although it's probably more toxic
than isopropanol. (Ethanol is good also, although the best form would be
"absolute" ethanol. That used to be available in two forms: one was
distilled out of benzene [benzine], and contaminated with it. The other was
distilled from water; a liquor tax was levied on it, as it was potable
[preferably after dilution].)

I used paint thinner to clean up after scraping off the goo between the GPU
on an ATI 9700 Pro chip and its heat sink. (I also removed the "shim", and
applied AS Alumina.) Sadly, the core OC gain was less than I'd hoped, but
definite.

As to a UK source of thermal tape, I have no idea. 3M is one of the
manufacturers in the US; I imagine that they sell world wide.

Checking www.digikey.com (I doubt that they ship to the UK), I find thermal
tape from Bergquist in 10" (25 cm) square sheets, at prices from about $40
(US) to $60 in thicknesses of 0.005" (0.127 mm), 0.008" (0.2 mm), and 0.011"
(0.28 mm). (Thinner has less thermal resistance, but less ability to fill
gaps.)

Good luck.

Bob Kn.

"Wayne Youngman" <> wrote in message
news:birc55$4hc$...
> "Bob Knowlden" wrote
> > "Frag tape" is thermal tape, a double-sided tape used for attaching
> > heatsinks etc. I'm not sure of the etymology of "frag" tape, but I
suspect
> > that it came out of some unnatural mating of overclocking and FPS
gaming.
> >
> > "rubbing alcohol" is isopropyl alcohol, aka isopropanol. Actually, the
> stuff
> > sold as "rubbing alcohol" (traditionally, for use in a rubdown after
> > exercise) in the US contains water, so it's probably less than ideal for
> use
> > as a cleaning solvent. It may be difficult to get the 100% stuff at the
> > corner pharmacy (chemist). Acetone may be better, but it's a more
vicious
> > solvent. (Acetone dissolves many plastics quite quickly.) Acetone is
> > regarded as toxic, unless it is sold as nail polish remover. ;-)
> >
> > I've used paint thinner (mineral spirits), although it isn't exactly
> > cleanroom stuff.
>
>
> Hi,
> thanks for reply. O.K so that rubbing stuff is *isopropyl* I have bought
> that before from the local chemists (Boots). but you say that is not
ideal?
> can I ask them for 100% Isopropy without being arrested as a terrorist?.
I
> need something to help clean some old heatsink gunk off, it looks almost
> like hardened plastic (glue gun?). I just bought some Akasa heatsink
> cleaner but I think that's for stuff like ArticIII.
>
> Acetone is nail polish remover? that stuff that stinks, are you suggesting
> that will be a good thing to clean old heatsink compound off with? lol you
> learn something everyday here!
>
> The frag tape was suggested as a good way to attach a heatsink to the
NF7-S
> south bridge which by default is bare. I have some Artic Thermal Epoxy
but
> I'm not sure if I wanna make a permanent fixture, hence frag tape, dunno
if
> I can find that in the U.K?
>
> thanks,
>
> Wayne ][
>
>

"Wayne Youngman" <> wrote in message
news:birc55$4hc$...
> "Bob Knowlden" wrote

> Hi,
> thanks for reply. O.K so that rubbing stuff is *isopropyl* I have bought
> that before from the local chemists (Boots). but you say that is not
ideal?
> can I ask them for 100% Isopropy without being arrested as a terrorist?.
I
> need something to help clean some old heatsink gunk off, it looks almost
> like hardened plastic (glue gun?). I just bought some Akasa heatsink
> cleaner but I think that's for stuff like ArticIII.


Just use the Akasa cleaner, it should work on all types of thermal
compounds. I bought some last week and it removes all the gunk off a
heatsink in seconds.

SLP

"Wayne Youngman" <> wrote
> thanks for reply. O.K so that rubbing stuff is *isopropyl* I have bought
> that before from the local chemists (Boots). but you say that is not
ideal?
> can I ask them for 100% Isopropy without being arrested as a terrorist?.
I
> need something to help clean some old heatsink gunk off, it looks almost
> like hardened plastic (glue gun?). I just bought some Akasa heatsink
> cleaner but I think that's for stuff like ArticIII.
>
> Acetone is nail polish remover? that stuff that stinks, are you suggesting
> that will be a good thing to clean old heatsink compound off with? lol you
> learn something everyday here!

Don't use nailpolish remover Wayne - it's mainly Acetone but it has some oil
in it too & that spoils the thermal transfer compound's contact with the
heatsink. Stuff I use is Cellulose thinners from a modelling shop - Naptha
lighter fuel would work okay too...


> The frag tape was suggested as a good way to attach a heatsink to the
NF7-S
> south bridge which by default is bare. I have some Artic Thermal Epoxy
but
> I'm not sure if I wanna make a permanent fixture, hence frag tape, dunno
if
> I can find that in the U.K?

Trouble with frag tape is it isn't very thick - the Southbridge on all my
NF7s is very concave so only the four corners would be touching - not a lot
of use. If you want Arctic Silver Epoxy at lower strength so you can remove
it then add 50% thermal grease to it when you mix it - it takes a while
longer to 'go off' but it will eventually. That will lower the strength
enough that you can lever the heatsink off easily without damaging the
chip - that's how I fixed heatsinks on all mine. (The AS Epoxy strength
reduction method is mentioned on the Arctic Silver website BTW.)

Ciao...

[UK]_Nick...

Bob Knowlden wrote:
> As far as I know, no alarms will go off if you request 100% isopropanol.
> It's less toxic, and less flammable, than acetone, and acetone is readily
> available. (Avoid nail polish remover, particularly the stuff with oil
> added. It may take off the old goop, but you'd have to clean off the oil.)
>
> Methanol is also a good cleaning solvent, although it's probably more toxic
> than isopropanol.

http://www.poem.princeton.edu/MSDS/METHYL%20ALCOHOL.pdf

POISON! DANGER! VAPOR HARMFUL. MAY BE FATAL OR CAUSE BLINDNESS
IF SWALLOWED. HARMFUL IF INHALED OR ABSORBED THROUGH SKIN.
CANNOT BE MADE NONPOISONOUS. FLAMMABLE LIQUID AND VAPOR.
CAUSES IRRITATION TO SKIN, EYES AND RESPIRATORY TRACT. AFFECTS
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM AND LIVER.

SAF-T-DATA(tm) Ratings (Provided here for your convenience)
----------------------------------------------------------
Health Rating: 3 - Severe (Poison)
Flammability Rating: 3 - Severe (Flammable)
Reactivity Rating: 1 - Slight
Contact Rating: 3 - Severe (Life)

> (Ethanol is good also, although the best form would be
> "absolute" ethanol. That used to be available in two forms: one was
> distilled out of benzene [benzine], and contaminated with it. The other was
> distilled from water; a liquor tax was levied on it, as it was potable
> [preferably after dilution].)

I'm trying to figure out how ethanol, a hydrocarbon, is distilled from
non-carbon containing H2O.


> I used paint thinner to clean up after scraping off the goo between the GPU
> on an ATI 9700 Pro chip and its heat sink. (I also removed the "shim", and
> applied AS Alumina.) Sadly, the core OC gain was less than I'd hoped, but
> definite.
>
> As to a UK source of thermal tape, I have no idea. 3M is one of the
> manufacturers in the US; I imagine that they sell world wide.
>
> Checking www.digikey.com (I doubt that they ship to the UK), I find thermal
> tape from Bergquist in 10" (25 cm) square sheets, at prices from about $40
> (US) to $60 in thicknesses of 0.005" (0.127 mm), 0.008" (0.2 mm), and 0.011"
> (0.28 mm). (Thinner has less thermal resistance, but less ability to fill
> gaps.)
>
> Good luck.
>
> Bob Kn.

-
David Maynard stood up at show-n-tell, in , and
said:

>Bob Knowlden wrote:

<snip>

>> (Ethanol is good also, although the best form would be
>> "absolute" ethanol. That used to be available in two forms: one was
>> distilled out of benzene [benzine], and contaminated with it. The
>> other was distilled from water; a liquor tax was levied on it, as it
>> was potable [preferably after dilution].)
>
> I'm trying to figure out how ethanol, a hydrocarbon, is distilled from
> non-carbon containing H2O.

According to IUPAC, hydrocarbons consist of Carbon and Hydrogen, only.
Ethanol, is an alcohol.


<snip>

--
Strontium

"It's no surprise, to me. I am my own worst enemy. `Cause every
now, and then, I kick the livin' **** `outta me." - Lit