AHowes
Man. How often you guys doing all that? So when you prep it all.. you get to run for how long? One session and then need to clean it all up afterwards?
Depends. Items like KP Inferno socket heater really really help to keep condensation from forming to begin with. That limits the Amount of overall board wet-ness after a session. Also depends on the time between bench sessions and how long the Vaseline has been in place. It can collect crap over time and could potentially retain metals so you do need to clean and re-prep after a while.
You can limit the Vas from gather crap by using Serran wrap and placing it in a container.
With DICE: you usually don't get too much frosting of the board overall compared to LN2. Usually any condensation that does form won't have an easy Ingress point inbetween layers of the PCB or sockets. LN2 can frost over a much large part of the board/GPU.
With a board and DICE....I usually can get up to about 5-8 sessions before I'll clean it completely. I tend to use contact cleaner in the sockets before every session and re-apply Vaseline where needed.
With GPU's....I actually tend to completely clean them after a DICE or LN2 session. Reason being they'll be used cold 2-3 times at most and then done. Usually you'll figure out from the 1st good session where the card stands. Bad sessions like incomplete Condensation proofing/insulation....you'll be shutting down quickly. Maybe you can go again in 30min to an hour. If not, it's a tear down, check the mounting of the POT. See where you went wrong. Then clean it up and go at it fresh again another day.
Sometimes you need 2-3 sessions to really figure out a card or CPU. Experience is a huge factor here.
When you have the tools for complete board cleaning...it's a faster turn around. If all you have is hot water and EC spray cleaners...might be 4-5 days before you should try again. Not drying it out completely is a good way to kill stuff.
If running a chiller near 0 ambient (32F) you typically don't have socket/gpu area frosting. Stuffing the immediate area with blue shop towel is typically all you need. Keep the air out and basically it's just the block that forms condensation you need to worry about. The Dies themselves will be around the dew point or just above.