Hey, guys. Is it a good idea to dunk PC parts in isopropyl alcohol? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 weeks ago by Young_Gilgamesh@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I’ll be straight with it. I’m a smoker, I smoke inside, I have a PC that is also inside. I want to clean my PC thoroughly to buy it a few more years. I know about the q tip method, and the compressed air, and general methods of cleaning out gunk and junk from PC parts. But this boy is way too gunked up for a regular cleaning. So, I reckon, the easiest way to clean it is to dunk the dirtiest parts in a bath of isopropyl alcohol. I was considering acetone at first, but it’s way too strong of a solvent, and alcohol should be better at dissolving organic residues. Is this a good idea?

I hereby submit this query to the council, and await judgement.

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[-] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago

I see lots of “brush it, it’s fine” posts, but if you want to dunk your components, that’s a whole different story. Alcohol is certainly going to dissolve something like TIM or thermal pads; that might not be a problem.

But it might?

One thing very oldschool PC builders did is submerge their PCs in mineral oil for cooling. This liquid is more innocuous, AFAIK.

So you could get some in a plastic tray and dunk your components in it. I have no advice for getting the oil off though.

[-] palordrolap@fedia.io 1 points 3 weeks ago

mineral oil [...] innocuous

From an electrical standpoint, sure.

From the standpoint of making an enormous mess if it escapes, it's very much not.

[-] ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

The parts... Once oiled, always oiled. That shit is impossible to clean off.

this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2026

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