specific advice about cleaning my pc case ( am autistic XD )

[Emfroms]

Hi there guys, I need an expert help with knowledge about how to clean my pc case safely. I am very wary of esds and I really do not want to stress over it and just do things properly. what do I need ? my case stays on cork "legs" I put beneath it, on a wooden desk with metal on rubber legs. desk seems well grounded. do I need to put an esd mat under my case as well for good measure? if so, what kinda mat I am looking for ? I want to use an air duster, is it safe ? I bought CompuCleaner Xpert, was this a good choice ? do I need an esd strap ? if so, how do I use it ? should I get rubber flippers and / or rubber gloves as well? XDDD etc. 

 

basically a "how to" about how to clean my pc, pictures of my situation below thanks ! ( I really need personal advice because I am panicking LMAO, dust wont wait for me XD )

[Emfroms]

lemme add my temperatures etc. 

 

I also got these fans, I want to put some of them as the ceiling fans for my build. I dont even know if I can do it with what I have hahahah but the price was good so I got them. XDD I already have tower cooler and four fans. 

 

[Average Nerd]

14 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

lemme add my temperatures etc. 

I'm guessing these are on idle?

21 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

I want to use an air duster, is it safe

Yes.

21 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

do I need an esd strap ? if so, how do I use it ? should I get rubber flippers and / or rubber gloves as well? XDDD etc. 

Switch your PSU off with the switch on the back and leave it plugged into the wall. That will provide sufficient grounding to the entire case, though from my experience grounding isn't all that important for cleaning your PC anyways.
Just make sure that you don't spin the fans with the air duster, as that causes strong wear on the bearings.

I have cleaned several PCs and laptops by just blasting them with compressed air, and they all survived it.

[Needfuldoer]

You don't need to stress out over grounding or isolating absolutely everything about your setup. The case is connected to the power supply's case, which is connected to the ground pin on your power cable (and therefore the ground on your outlets). That's more than enough.

 

2 hours ago, Emfroms said:

I want to use an air duster, is it safe ? I bought CompuCleaner Xpert, was this a good choice ?

Perfectly good!

 

The disposable duster cans are all basically the same stuff. Pick whichever one has the best price.

 

2 hours ago, Emfroms said:

do I need an esd strap ?

Nah.

 

2 hours ago, Emfroms said:

basically a "how to" about how to clean my pc, pictures of my situation below

Unplug the computer, take it outside, take the side panel off, then blow the dust out using your electric duster.

 

If you were using duster cans, you'd have to go in short bursts. (The "air" inside duster cans is actually a refrigerant, which has to boil back into a gas before the can will blow. That's why they get cold; the liquid sucks up that heat in order to boil back into a gas once the pressure in the can is low enough.) Since you've got an electric duster, you can go ham with it. Just don't mash the nozzle into anything, and hold the fans still so the blowing air doesn't spin them.

 

When the computer's clean, put the side panel back on, bring it back inside, and hook it back up.

 

It's actually pretty hard to cause permanent damage by dusting out a PC, unless you're using something like an industrial size air compressor.

Edited August 3 by Needfuldoer
Thought they bought duster cans...

[Spotty]

Those electric dusters are really good for cleaning PCs, I use one for dusting my PC. Take the PC outside to dust it, it will blow dust everywhere. As Average Nerd suggested hold the fans to stop them from spinning when you blow on them.

 

You don't need to worry about gloves or anything like that.

[Emfroms]

thank you all for your valuable feedback, I will talk to you more tomorrow. I have further questions hahahah. 

[Emfroms]

On 8/3/2024 at 11:58 AM, Average Nerd said:

I'm guessing these are on idle?

 

no, that was while watching youtube, browsing the net. possibly also music and / or some hd videos via vlc with sharpening and audio filtering. even after playing forza 5 the TNPIN4 goes up to 60-ish max and after Age of wonders 4 it reaches 78~ish max ( someimes over 80-82 but rarely, usually aow 4 for some reason ). gpu at around 56-60 usually, cpu much lower, and assemble point stable t below 56 usually. at idle it all goes even further down than what u seen. 

 

do I simply put a finger on a fan to stop it moving ? they are inside the case, I kinda do not want to shove my hands there hahahah. how xactly do I blow my pc ( oh my ~~ ) while keeping the fans safe ? 

 

I plan to only wipe dust on the surface around the case with my soon-to-arrive microfiber cloths when the pc is powered off. I will also only use the same cloths on the surface of the case when the pc is off. 

 

the floor beneath me feels rubbery but not sure if all kinds of rubber suits the role of grounding or even if that is how it works. I always have two fans in the opposite ends of the room blowng air for airflow in the summer too hahahah. and windows is often open. ( central Europe )

[Average Nerd]

7 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

do I simply put a finger on a fan to stop it moving ? they are inside the case, I kinda do not want to shove my hands there hahahah. how xactly do I blow my pc ( oh my ~~ ) while keeping the fans safe ? 

Either by holding the blades in place with your hands, or by blocking them with a screwdriver or similar object.

8 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

no, that was while watching youtube, browsing the net. possibly also music and / or some hd videos via vlc with sharpening and audio filtering. even after playing forza 5 the TNPIN4 goes up to 60-ish max and after Age of wonders 4 it reaches 78~ish max ( someimes over 80-82 but rarely, usually aow 4 for some reason ). gpu at around 56-60 usually, cpu much lower, and assemble point stable t below 56 usually. at idle it all goes even further down than what u seen. 

 

That's all still within reason.

[Emfroms]

1 minute ago, Average Nerd said:

Either by holding the blades in place with your hands, or by blocking them with a screwdriver or similar object.

That's all still within reason.

I simply ended the thread because I find Your answers satisfactory guys  I will later this week make a thread about how to install my additgional fans lmao. 

[Emfroms]

just to be thorough, this is right now. browsing and watching videos online. I noticed the gpu goes up to 77 after all when I play aow 4 lol. that game somehow heats the machine up lmao. more than Forza which is amusing. 

 

[Average Nerd]

16 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

just to be thorough, this is right now. browsing and watching videos online. I noticed the gpu goes up to 77 after all when I play aow 4 lol. that game somehow heats the machine up lmao. more than Forza which is amusing. 

 

These temps are completely fine, there is nothing to worry about here, though your CPU temps are minimized for some reason.
The temps you want to pay attention to the most are GPU and GPU hotspot as well as CPU package.

[Emfroms]

42 minutes ago, Average Nerd said:

These temps are completely fine, there is nothing to worry about here, though your CPU temps are minimized for some reason.
The temps you want to pay attention to the most are GPU and GPU hotspot as well as CPU package.

I always minimize them to see what is hottest usually without scrolling. cpu just doesnt really heat up. maybe because I have tower cooling. the highest values are from aow 4 earlier today. 

[Mark Kaine]

I'd be way more scared about the 115% cpu than esd (i worked is electronic prototyping,

/smd,  esd usually isnt an issue  - even though we had like 3 different protections against it, we barely used one, no esd related defects ever)

 

 

with these vac cleaners you have to be more wary of knocking out small parts more than anything imho.

 

On 8/3/2024 at 11:27 AM, Emfroms said:

should I get rubber flippers and / or rubber gloves as well? XDDD etc.

i think you should maybe read up about how esd and grounding works, because anything with rubber is something you want to avoid as much as possible when working with electronics

 

I'd be personally also vary about this specific setup  - it doesn't look super wobbly but it does a little bit tbh... tldr just because you lifted it up a little doesn't protect it from discharge,  the discharge usually comes from persons touching something, even if it was free floating (lol) it'd still be exposed to that "risk" (maybe I'm misunderstanding the whole setup though?)

 

 

Pro tip: for building and cleaning a pc, try to always have a hand or arm touching the case, that way you're "grounded" and discharge can't occur. 

 

it's also recommended to have wooden floor instead of carpet  (carpet is the worst) 

 

*actually vinyl type floors are the worst ~

[Emfroms]

37 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

I'd be way more scared about the 115% cpu than esd 

That reading was during a full scan test, done five consecutive runs with pc doctor. Never happens in normal use. 
 

i have vinyl floor ........ lmao. Ps how t f my cpu run at over 100 lmao. I didnt even notice.

 

i consider my cpu and motherboard my two main possible bottlenecks rn tbh. I also need an internal wifi card tbh lel.

 

and yes u misread the setup there. I read ( somewhere else ) and heard on Linus sctually that carton is a good insulator, so tried to separate the case from the surface. Cuz cork is basically the same shet no ? But thiccer. I am probably wrong. 

[Mark Kaine]

39 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

and yes u misread the setup there. I read ( somewhere else ) and heard on Linus sctually that carton is a good insulator, so tried to separate the case from the surface. Cuz cork is basically the same shet no ? But thiccer. I am probably wrong. 

ok, but that was my point,  yes, its an insulator, but it does *nothing* against discharge on the motherboard... hence my example of a free floating case... same thing, doesn't stop theoretical damage on the motherboard.

 

this just makes it more wobbly... imho...

 

the truth is, as said esd is usually not a problem with modern pc parts (they all have some kind of protection against this) it remains a risk, sure but a very very small one 

 

now, vinyl floor types are actually bad..  i see why you would be concerned,  maybe use a wrist-strap , but use it properly,  needs a mat and both needs to be connected properly... i mean idk, personally i would just change my floor (i did actually! ) but yeah, a esd strap would work here too, i guess.

 

 

46 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

how t f my cpu run at over 100

yeap.

 

 

people will probably tell u its not a problem... maybe that's true on intel with their turbo boost shenanigans... no idea, i don't use intel,  too inefficient.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

[Emfroms]

15 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

personally i would just change my floor

Not an option financially. Mat would go under the case or under myself XD ? Or both. And nope, it s actually less wobbly. I do not half way this shet. 

[Mark Kaine]

Just now, Emfroms said:

Not an option financially. 

figures. still the tldr is: esd typically not a problem,  and those "feet" dont do anything*, eh maybe better ventilation i guess.

 

 

the layman explanation is the board is already not connected to the case electrically,  so insulating the case doesn't do anything to protect it, does that make sense?

 

 

this is like esd on a car, it has "rubber feet" (tires) yet... the esd you cant get is quite hefty... 

[Emfroms]

2 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

 

the layman explanation is the board is already not connected to the case electrically,  so insulating the case doesn't do anything to protect it, does that make sense?

Got cha. So maybe it s a better idea to utilize them under, dunno, my power hubs.  Both to stabilite them on surfaces and to insulate maybe. Probably similar situation. A case and insides are pribably separated. 

[Mark Kaine]

3 minutes ago, Emfroms said:

Got cha. So maybe it s a better idea to utilize them under, dunno, my power hubs.  Both to stabilite them on surfaces and to insulate maybe. Probably similar situation. A case and insides are pribably separated. 

yep, but it does make possibly sense for ventilation. 

[Emfroms]

Not only my hairy internal electricity driven human body is shet for electronics, my floors are shet too hahahah lmao. Welp. ( but I am 99% sure I said nonsense just now about ky bod so dont even comment on that hahahahah pls )