Using an Electric Air Duster to Clean My PC

[J03tz13l]

Hello, I recently bought a chinese electric air duster and I was wondering if it could damage my PC when I use it to clean it. I heard that spinning the fans too fast could fry some components, but is there another way of causing damages with its use? Is it safe to use this device? What precautions or instructions should I follow?

[Fasauceome]

3 minutes ago, J03tz13l said:

I heard that spinning the fans too fast could fry some components

Put a screwdriver or some other rigid object in the fans, to prevent them from spinning, an easy solution. 

 

Otherwise you have nothing to worry about. Happy spring cleaning!

[Hinjima]

8 minutes ago, J03tz13l said:

Hello, I recently bought a chinese electric air duster and I was wondering if it could damage my PC when I use it to clean it. I heard that spinning the fans too fast could fry some components, but is there another way of causing damages with its use? Is it safe to use this device? What precautions or instructions should I follow?

I use an electric air duster myself and its great! As mentioned above, just hold the fans in place and you are good to go

I usually do it outside when the weather is nice, dont want all the dust inside
 

[J03tz13l]

Just now, Hinjima said:

I use an electric air duster myself and its great! As mentioned above, just hold the fans in place and you are good to go
 

Doesn't  it generate some kind of static, that may damage components like motherboards?

[Hinjima]

3 minutes ago, J03tz13l said:

Doesn't  it generate some kind of static, that may damage components like motherboards?

No. Vacuums will do that but compressed air / electric air dusters will not.

Otherwise the air the fans would pull through would cause static as well right?

 

I have been using compressed air / electric air dusters for over 20 years, every 2-3 months to clean out my PC's and Consoles.
Not a single issue to report. Even let some fans spin ( Modern fans / motherboard will discharge, was more a problem 15 years ago )

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

No. Vacuums will do that but compressed air / electric air dusters will not.

Otherwise the air the fans would pull through would cause static as well right?

There are anti-static fan blades.

https://www.breeza.com/2015/11/30/why-anti-static-fan-blades/#:~:text=In the case of a,create a static-electric charge.

[Hinjima]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

There are anti-static fan blades.

https://www.breeza.com/2015/11/30/why-anti-static-fan-blades/#:~:text=In the case of a,create a static-electric charge.

Of course, these are industrial fans that move A LOT more air than a 120mm fan

[Godlygamer23]

Just now, Hinjima said:

Of course, these are industrial fans that move A LOT more air than a 120mm fan

Fans generate static charge. In the case of a computer though, the amount is so low, and the air becomes so diffuse that it probably doesn't matter - certainly not enough to interfere with normal operation or cause issues over time. Basically, if a computer starts having functional issues, likely no one is going to say "oh I bet the fans caused it from the movement of air!" Maybe, as you stated in the quote, if the fans moved a ton(and perhaps literally a ton) of air, then it would be necessary to control it.

[Hinjima]

5 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Fans generate static charge. In the case of a computer though, the amount is so low, and the air becomes so diffuse that it probably doesn't matter - certainly not enough to interfere with normal operation or cause issues over time. Basically, if a computer starts having functional issues, likely no one is going to say "oh I bet the fans caused it from the movement of air!" Maybe, as you stated in the quote, if the fans moved a ton(and perhaps literally a ton) of air, then it would be necessary to control it.

Absolutely. It also depends on where you are in the world of course. I know JayzTwoCents living in Claremont has major issues with static electrcity.. Everything he touches he gets zapped! while me living in cold Norway has no issues.

 

[CommanderAlex]

19 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

Put a screwdriver or some other rigid object in the fans, to prevent them from spinning, an easy solution. 

An easier solution I use is my fingers....

 

Obviously, I put them in there before I get the blower nozzle on the fans and they start to spin, NOT when they're already spinning and jamming my fingers in there lol. 

[Godlygamer23]

4 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

Absolutely. It also depends on where you are in the world of course. I know JayzTwoCents living in Claremont has major issues with static electrcity.. Everything he touches he gets zapped! while me living in cold Norway has no issues.

 

I'm a little confused though on why a vacuum cleaner causes static electricity, but an electric air duster doesn't. 

 

Isn't the charge caused by movement of air? Both a vacuum and electric air duster use a compressor to move the air. Just in different directions. Does it matter in this situation with the electric air duster? Probably not. But I don't think it's correct to say there's no static charge being created. 

[Fasauceome]

1 minute ago, CommanderAlex said:

NOT when they're already spinning and jamming my fingers in there lol. 

You've got 10, at least 4 are probably spares

[CommanderAlex]

Just now, Fasauceome said:

You've got 10, at least 4 are probably spares

Fooor the most part yes. 

[Hinjima]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

I'm a little confused though on why a vacuum cleaner causes static electricity, but an electric air duster doesn't. 

 

Isn't the charge caused by movement of air? Both a vacuum and electric air duster use a compressor to move the air. Just in different directions. Does it matter in this situation with the electric air duster? Probably not. But I don't think it's correct to say there's no static charge being created. 

I dont know the exact science behind it.  Maybe its a video someone should test out.
But from what I have read previously regarding this.  In a vacuum cleaner, dust particles are drawn into the plastic or metal tube and it is these particles that cause the build up of static elecrticity.

[BillBill]

You can use clothespins on the fans. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

41 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

I usually do it outside when the weather is nice

You can see why its hard in the UK then.

 

I tend to instead have as much external air filtration on the outside of the case as possible, so I can clean with a Dyson handheld while the PC is on (its not powerful enough to slow the fans down much when running) and periodically remove the filter entirely to be a bit more thorough.

I know everyone says never use a vacuum, but its all about how careful you are about it.  Never use one on the components themselves.

 

I did long ago defy all logic and let a powerful vacuum spin a CPU cooler fan, it never worked again.   I was lucky it didn't backfeed and blow the motherboard.

 

18 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

I dont know the exact science behind it.  Maybe its a video someone should test out.
But from what I have read previously regarding this.  In a vacuum cleaner, dust particles are drawn into the plastic or metal tube and it is these particles that cause the build up of static elecrticity.

Agreed, I think its the particles gathering that transfer their static charge to the vacuum housing plastic.  Also they will rub up against each other on the way.  You can get quite a charge on bagless cleaners bins from the spinning contents.

[Godlygamer23]

29 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

I dont know the exact science behind it.  Maybe its a video someone should test out.
But from what I have read previously regarding this.  In a vacuum cleaner, dust particles are drawn into the plastic or metal tube and it is these particles that cause the build up of static elecrticity.

Okay, so conversely...The air moves through the plastic tube on an electric air duster, building up static electricity...the air then hits the dust particles, which causes the dust particles to hit other dust particles...causing additional static charge to build up, and then hit a component.

 

So basically, IMO at this point, an electric air duster WILL cause a static charge to build up. 

[Hinjima]

15 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Okay, so conversely...The air moves through the plastic tube on an electric air duster, building up static electricity...the air then hits the dust particles, which causes the dust particles to hit other dust particles...causing additional static charge to build up, and then hit a component.

 

So basically, IMO at this point, an electric air duster WILL cause a static charge to build up. 

I dont know the science behind it. All I know is that compressed air from a can and an air duster has worked for me without issues for 20+ years so I am sticking with it

I have never been worried about static.

I guess compressed air in a can would be the 'safest' option as that is the cleanest.

[Alex Atkin UK]

19 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Okay, so conversely...The air moves through the plastic tube on an electric air duster, building up static electricity.

The air itself is not building a static charge, its the dust you are sucking up that is by rubbing on the tube.

If you are blowing air, far less dust is passing through the tube so no significant charge is generated.

 

That said, before case filters were a thing I used to vacuum my PC just fine.  Its a greater risk, but not guaranteed to cause any damage.  Just as Linus and ElectroBoom demonstrated that even a directed static charge wont necessarily either, but it can degrade components so they fail sooner.

[J03tz13l]

Could static even affect components that are turned off?

[Godlygamer23]

5 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

The air itself is not building a static charge, its the dust you are sucking up that is by rubbing on the tube.

If you are blowing air, far less dust is passing through the tube so no significant charge is generated.

 

That said, before case filters were a thing I used to vacuum my PC just fine.  Its a greater risk, but not guaranteed to cause any damage.  Just as Linus and ElectroBoom demonstrated that even a directed static charge wont necessarily either, but it can degrade components so they fail sooner.

Sure, but air carries dust(which itself is a generic term, since 'dust' is just fine particles of various materials), which is the vehicle for the static charge. I find the claim that no significant charge being generated during air blowing with a duster to be dubious, because it itself is a subjective term when defining "significant". It may not "significant" for one component, but absolutely can be for another component.

 

As for the video that had Linus and ElectroBoom shocking computer components...there's one glaring issue with the video - it was a live system connected to earth, and even so, had a large area to dissipate over, so it very well could've been able to be directed to a ground pathway, thus the effect we saw was enough static charge passing through the components to cause issues, but not total failure.

 

Directed static charges absolutely can kill components. I'd like to see a similar test done with various computer components, but without being attached to any kind of ground...A CPU outside of its socket, a memory module or even a memory chip, etc. and see what the effects are. Even with the notion that it simply cause degradation sooner, the root cause of an early failure could still be attributed to a static discharge event that took place years ago, if the component was supposed to last 10 years, but only lasted 5, for example.

[Godlygamer23]

3 minutes ago, J03tz13l said:

Could static even affect components that are turned off?

Absolutely. 

It's not the components that's running. It's the high voltage, and the thermal stress that causes components to become damaged. The component being "on" or "off" makes no difference.

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Sure, but air carries dust(which itself is a generic term, since 'dust' is just fine particles of various materials), which is the vehicle for the static charge. I find the claim that no significant charge being generated during air blowing with a duster to be dubious, because it itself is a subjective term when defining "significant". It may not "significant" for one component, but absolutely can be for another component.

The point is that in open air, that dust is freely flowing and retaining its static charge, rather than causing a build up like it does inside a vacuum cleaner.
 

2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

As for the video that had Linus and ElectroBoom shocking computer components...there's one glaring issue with the video - it was a live system connected to earth, and even so, had a large area to dissipate over, so it very well could've been able to be directed to a ground pathway, thus the effect we saw was enough static charge passing through the components to cause issues, but not total failure.

 

Directed static charges absolutely can kill components. I'd like to see a similar test done with various computer components, but without being attached to any kind of ground...A CPU outside of its socket, a memory module or even a memory chip, etc. and see what the effects are. Even with the notion that it simply cause degradation sooner, the root cause of an early failure could still be attributed to a static discharge event that took place years ago, if the component was supposed to last 10 years, but only lasted 5, for example.

That was annoying, but to me the largest flaw is they did not take into account invisible damage that is not immediately apparent.

A surge wont necessarily stop a part from working, but it could degrade a trace causing it to run hotter than usual and burn out, or degrade insulation causing leakage currents.  Damage could take months or years to be apparent.

 

Its one reason I cringe every time I see a YouTuber handling the contacts on RAM/M.2 casually.  That and oils from our skin can cause inconsistent contact with those pads.

[Godlygamer23]

4 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

That was annoying, but to me the largest flaw is they did not take into account invisible damage that is not immediately apparent.

A surge wont necessarily stop a part from working, but it could degrade a trace causing it to run hotter than usual and burn out, or degrade insulation causing leakage currents.  Damage could take months or years to be apparent.

Yup. That's the biggest issue with ESD...the latent defects. I work for an electronics contractor for the DoD, so latent failures are a big issue. Because of the class of electronics we build, ESD is a HUGE issue. We have several things in place to control ESD - pretty much all tables are grounded, humidifiers are almost constantly running, etc. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

Yup. That's the biggest issue with ESD...the latent defects. I work for an electronics contractor for the DoD, so latent failures are a big issue. Because of the class of electronics we build, ESD is a HUGE issue. We have several things in place to control ESD - pretty much all tables are grounded, humidifiers are almost constantly running, etc. 

I feel like all precautions have kinda gone out of the window, the case side panel window in fact.  Since cases had those, RFI interference seems to no longer be something anyone cares about either.

 

PCs used to be in big metal grounded boxes for a reason.  I wonder if modern cases are actually tested to identify what frequencies they block?