how to wipe off hard dust from motherboard ?

[Yaxir]

Hi guys. 

 

so i was cleaning dust from my PC, using compressed air and i saw that some part of the dust just did not go away, despite continuous air spray on them

 

I would like to ask what would be the safest option to clean such dust spots ?

 

can i use a soft tissue paper ? or alcohol swabs that are available from the pharmacy ?

 

I am attaching some pics of my setup, so that you guys have a better look of my PC and suggest anything that would help me in cleaning the hard to reach spots. These are pictures of spots like PSU slot, which i have cleaned, ram slots, whose dust won't go away, dust on capacitors, CPU cooler and ICs. as well as dust on GPU. 

 

Let me know if a pic doesn't' make sense and i will explain.

 

P.S : Should i remove my hard disk before cleaning? I have not cleaned the side of the PC where the HDD is as i am worried that the dust might damage the data in the HDD ? i know it sounds ridiculous, but please let me know if this is indeed a risk or not ?

 

 

Edited June 16, 2020 by Yaxir
pic edit

[jaslion]

Use a paintbrush.

[TetraSky]

A paint brush with soft bristle. And a toothbrush for the tighter spaces.

Don't be too rough, you can damage the components otherwise.

[Void Master]

Just now, TetraSky said:

A paint brush with soft bristle. 

and a vacuum or compressed air to get it out the way.

[Yaxir]

1 minute ago, jaslion said:

Use a paintbrush.

alright,

 

is it safe ? even for fragile stuff like GPU fans ?

[Yaxir]

2 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

A paint brush with soft bristle. And a toothbrush for the tighter spaces.

Don't be too rough, you can damage the components otherwise.

oh dear, i'm a scaredy cat when it comes to damaging anything ( electronics are expensive here )

 

so, can you tell me which components should i be super extra careful around ?

[Void Master]

1 minute ago, Yaxir said:

oh dear, i'm a scaredy cat when it comes to damaging anything ( electronics are expensive here )

 

so, can you tell me which components should i be super extra careful around ?

Basically you should always be careful...

but if you do it gently then there is no need to worry, motherboards are a lot more durable then they used to be.

[TetraSky]

5 minutes ago, Yaxir said:

oh dear, i'm a scaredy cat when it comes to damaging anything ( electronics are expensive here )

 

so, can you tell me which components should i be super extra careful around ?

Mainly the motherboard. I think from the pictures the GPU has a back plate so that should be good. Really, unless you go hard at it, you should be fine.

IMO, you should just take everything, except the motherboard and CPU, out of the case. (this include the CPU heatsink... IF you have spare thermal compound, otherwise DON'T.)

This would let you give everything a more thorough brushup, without having cables and parts in the way, which may make you apply more force in tighter spaces.

[ki8aras]

1st of all, jesus christ how did it gather that much dust

secondly,paper towels and isopropyl alcohol will be your best friends in this case

[Yaxir]

1 minute ago, ki8aras said:

1st of all, jesus christ how did it gather that much dust

secondly,paper towels and isopropyl alcohol will be your best friends in this case

its my fault, i didn't clean it as i was scared i might damage something during cleaning ( notice the theme of this post ? ). Also, my case isn't the best and i am going to try to find a better case when i have the budget.

 

but now that i am looking for a PSU replacement, i have gathered enough courage to clean it.

 

can you mention exact concentration of alcohol ?

 

i have a pharmacy which probably sells alcohol swabs, but i have heard that different concentrations of alcohol can have different effects and might even damage your system.

 

so, i'd like to know the safest concentration ( like 99% alcohol) to use on my motherboard

[ki8aras]

1 minute ago, Yaxir said:

its my fault, i didn't clean it as i was scared i might damage something during cleaning ( notice the theme of this post ? ). Also, my case isn't the best and i am going to try to find a better case when i have the budget.

 

but now that i am looking for a PSU replacement, i have gathered enough courage to clean it.

 

can you mention exact concentration of alcohol ?

 

i have a pharmacy which probably sells alcohol swabs, but i have heard that different concentrations of alcohol can have different effects and might even damage your system.

 

so, i'd like to know the safest concentration ( like 99% alcohol) to use on my motherboard

99% is the safest imo(linus says the same because he keeps using it all the time)

[Yaxir]

5 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Mainly the motherboard. I think from the pictures the GPU has a back plate so that should be good. Really, unless you go hard at it, you should be fine.

IMO, you should just take everything, except the motherboard and CPU, out of the case. (this include the CPU heatsink... IF you have spare thermal compound, otherwise DON'T.)

This would let you give everything a more thorough brushup, without having cables and parts in the way, which may make you apply more force in tighter spaces.

i see. well, i don't have thermal paste but i will be replacing it soon.

 

as for the GPU, its a Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 .

 

I am scared of removing the GPU, as the board has one of those retention latches on the x16 slot. i am just scared i might damage something during removal. 

 

is there a safe way to remove the GPU ? 

 

otherwise i fully agree, removing the stuff will give me more space to operate.

[Yaxir]

1 minute ago, ki8aras said:

99% is the safest imo(linus says the same because he keeps using it all the time)

lets see if i can find it !

 

alcohol is a tricky mention where i'm from ... hopefully the pharmacy will have it

 

( will lower concentrations be dangerous, asking in case 99% isnt available ? )

[ki8aras]

Just now, Yaxir said:

i see. well, i don't have thermal paste but i will be replacing it soon.

 

as for the GPU, its a Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 .

 

I am scared of removing the GPU, as the board has one of those retention latches on the x16 slot. i am just scared i might damage something during removal. 

 

is there a safe way to remove the GPU ? 

 

otherwise i fully agree, removing the stuff will give me more space to operate.

apply force on the x axis to unmount the latch and then pull the gpu in the opposite direction

[ki8aras]

Just now, Yaxir said:

lets see if i can find it !

 

alcohol is a tricky mention where i'm from ... hopefully the pharmacy will have it

 

( will lower concentrations be dangerous, asking in case 99% isnt available ? )

they shouldnt damage anything unless you use a lot of it(even then i dont think it will harm anything)

[TetraSky]

5 minutes ago, Yaxir said:

I am scared of removing the GPU, as the board has one of those retention latches on the x16 slot. i am just scared i might damage something during removal. 

 

is there a safe way to remove the GPU ? 

Just... Push the retention latch down? You should hear something click or at least feel from the pressure that it's no longer "locked". After that, you can lift the card up gently. If it doesn't come out, abort and check where it's stuck. If it seems stuck where the latch was, recheck the latch.

[Mamonos]

Put the socket cover on and then throw it in the dishwasher (without adding soap/detergent)

[akio123008]

26 minutes ago, Yaxir said:

alright,

 

is it safe ? even for fragile stuff like GPU fans ?

Haha well the least fragile component of the GPU are probably the fans. Worry more about small components on the PCB.

 

Also I wouldn't take the whole thing apart, just try and clean with a paintbrush or any of the other tools mentioned while leaving everthing in the computer. Dust is no reason to remove parts from the PC and reinstall them, that just adds unnecessary risk and it's pointless as you can clean most things without removing them from the case.

 

 

[Yaxir]

20 minutes ago, ki8aras said:

they shouldnt damage anything unless you use a lot of it(even then i dont think it will harm anything)

alright. will try to find swabs of highest concentration possible 

 

thanks !

[Yaxir]

19 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

Just... Push the retention latch down? You should hear something click or at least feel from the pressure that it's no longer "locked". After that, you can lift the card up gently. If it doesn't come out, abort and check where it's stuck. If it seems stuck where the latch was, recheck the latch.

ah, alright !

 

its like a springy latch ! i thought it was similar to the Ram latch

 

phew, ok

 

going to try it tomorrow.

[Yaxir]

18 minutes ago, Mamonos said:

Put the socket cover on and then throw it in the dishwasher (without adding soap/detergent)

i'm not sure if dishwasher is entirely a safe option

 

also, i don't have a dishwasher appliance, so ...

[Yaxir]

15 minutes ago, akio123008 said:

Haha well the least fragile component of the GPU are probably the fans. Worry more about small components on the PCB.

 

Also I wouldn't take the whole thing apart, just try and clean with a paintbrush or any of the other tools mentioned while leaving everthing in the computer. Dust is no reason to remove parts from the PC and reinstall them, that just adds unnecessary risk and it's pointless as you can clean most things without removing them from the case.

 

 

Hmm ...

 

the GPU is something i don't wanna touch actually. but if removing it means more operating room, i might go for it.

 

i would like to clean it from outside. do you think spraying in some of the compressed air from the top (where the heatsink pipes are visible, as seen in the pictures) and through the front fans of the GPU, ought to help clean some dust from GPU ?

 

or should i just leave the dust alone, which is present on the GPU's backplate, heat sink pipes and some in the fans ?

[TetraSky]

20 minutes ago, Yaxir said:

i would like to clean it from outside. do you think spraying in some of the compressed air from the top (where the heatsink pipes are visible, as seen in the pictures) and through the front fans of the GPU, ought to help clean some dust from GPU ?

Yes, as long as you hold the fans and don't let them spin uncontrollably. 

[jaslion]

When using a brush just use it like you would be painting. Not too rough not too gentle nothing can go wrong really. Like I use a very hard bristle ancient paintbrush and I'm not really gentle yet have never had issues. For alcohol I recommend isopropyl. 90% or up is best but honestly 70% and up works too as long as you don't use too much and let the components dry for a couple hours without power.

[Yaxir]

18 minutes ago, jaslion said:

When using a brush just use it like you would be painting. Not too rough not too gentle nothing can go wrong really. Like I use a very hard bristle ancient paintbrush and I'm not really gentle yet have never had issues. For alcohol I recommend isopropyl. 90% or up is best but honestly 70% and up works too as long as you don't use too much and let the components dry for a couple hours without power.

don't have a PSU atm ( previous one had a loud af fan and was old, so just threw it out )

 

going to let the PC dry for the whole day or two 

 

i'll let you know that i'll be using alcohol swabs or wipes ( as those are the only things, closest to alcohol, available here ). hopefully they'll be safe ?

 

thanks for the information, its quite reassuring and helpful