Anyone know how to clean stained aluminium?

Goose · 17 Aug 2020 at 12:10

I have a Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler thats been sat on my desk for about a year and I thought it was about time i try and sell the thing. After inspecting it has various stains on it that are both light and dark in colour as well as chalky looking stains in between the fins. I'm wondering if might have spilled some liquid on it at some point without realising.

I did my best to photograph the thing. Pictures here.

I'd be grateful for any advice.

Thanks

Armageus · 17 Aug 2020 at 12:24

Polish with Silvo (or Brasso if you can't easily get Silvo) - just ensure all the polish is removed, as can sometimes react with certain metals/compounds.

Goose · 17 Aug 2020 at 12:45

Armageus said:
Polish with Silvo (or Brasso if you can't easily get Silvo) - just ensure all the polish is removed, as can sometimes react with certain metals/compounds.

Thanks for the suggestion. My only concern would be how to make sure the polish is removed from in between the fins.

Armageus · 17 Aug 2020 at 12:48

Goose said:
Thanks for the suggestion. My only concern would be how to make sure the polish is removed from in between the fins.

Cotton bud might fit in between the fins

iraiguana · 17 Aug 2020 at 20:13

1) Soapy water
2) brillo pad and soapy water
3) polish, followed by soapy water.

Work up the risk list.

BigBoy · 18 Aug 2020 at 00:04

Remove all electronic parts put in dish washer, was on hott at setting. Clean with Silvo (as stated above) then wash on hottest setting again with no soap/tablet.

Let it dry then Profit!

Merlin5 · 18 Aug 2020 at 00:28

An ultrasonic cleaner might work but probably too big to fit.

Psycho Sonny · 18 Aug 2020 at 06:26

Vinegar.

I cleaned up my weights using vinegar and they came out like new after a scrub. They were cast iron though.

I dipped them in a bucket of vinegar. I bought 20 litres of the stuff off amazon I was selling weights for over £5k during the start of the pandemic worth £1k pre pandemic so I didn't care about the few quid on a massive amount of vinegar.

For a heatsink you should only need a litre or so.

I gave them a good scrub with a brush. Re dipped and repeated as necessary.

I found out about vinegar on YouTube so maybe type into YouTube best way to clean aluminium / copper and watch some videos.

Goose · 19 Aug 2020 at 16:04

My dad has a Dremel i could borrow, do you think that would be suitable for polishing a CPU cooler? I bought some Silvo to polish by hand but I would have thought a Dremel would be quicker, I just dont know what type of polishing wheel or compound to use with it.