Trying to determine if socket is damp

Last night I noticed a little thermal paste on the edge of the socket during a cpu swap; right in the space between the socket edge and pins. Don’t believe any of it got on the actual pins. So, I just dabbed the edge of the socket with a couple Q-tips dipped in 91% isopropyl alcohol. It’s been over 12 hours of letting the socket dry just in case. But, the pin pattern in the top corner right by dimms A through B looks damp. (I have another board with the same socket where those pins right around there have square rather than a rounded border)

Does this look dry or wet?


That could be water damage, not sure at all.

Here’s what another board with the same socket looks like.

You only used little isopropyl alcohol you’re fine, where would the water come from?

There’s no water on there. I just want to make sure the isopropyl in the socket evaporated.

Oh definitely, would have evaporated rather quickly

Alcohol evaporates quickly, this is why it’s diluted with water (also for effectiveness and safety purposes). After 12 hours, all the water should have evaporated. You essentially waited overnight. That’s the rule of thumb. However, that area in the upper right looks strange. Are those pins bent?

Nope. I think it’s just the arrangement of pins creating patterns in the socket.

The only reason I’m worried is I have a small cup of isopropyl sitting out over night that didn’t evaporate. Wish I had a high quality magnifying glass for inspecting the socket. Won’t be turning the computer on for another day anyways since I’m doing a couple more flushes of the loop, and going to let the system run overnight to bleed as much air as possible.

If you look at the images of the other posted socket that one has a broken pin in the top left.

Surface area to volume issue here. There’s no way the alcohol from a cotton swab would be left after 12 hours.

If you’re really worried about it, get ahold of some compressed air (canned or air compressor with a hand nozzle) and blow it out. Moving air across a liquid surface aids in evaporation.

I think it has probably evaporated. (was more like 5 cotton swabs worth of isopropyl) If I put the cpu in will any left continue to evaporate while testing the loop?