Cleaning a cpu fan.

[Captainfrogly]

My cpu fan had a lot of dust on it. Should i take the cooler off and clean it? If i do, will i need to re apply any thermal compound?

[ANIMAL_ORIGIN]

What's the cooler you have?

[CoolBeans]

Just remove the fans, so you don't have to reapply the thermal compund.

[EmoRarity]

If you get away with just taking the fan off then I do see a need to remove the whole cooler. 

[OneGun]

Can of air duster will work wonders..

[Benjio]

Just hold the fan blades so they don't spin and blow it out with a shop-vac, that's what I do anyway.

[upliftsleet1974]

A good can of air will work wonders for you!

[mgsstar]

I usually just get a can of compressed air and blow between the fins and on the fan to remove the dust. I do not replace my thermal compound when I am cleaning it because I do not remove the heatsink off my cpu.

[Gullerback]

an old toothbrush works wonders for caked stuff that just refuses to come off

[Hoppa]

The intel stock heatsink can have its fan removed without removing the heatsink.

It's kind of tough to un-clip it from the heatsink, but you should manage.

 

Use a damp paper towel or cloth to manually remove the dust from the underside of the blades.

 

The same method can be used on other fan/ heatsinks.

[TheProfosist]

Use some canned air and spray away. If you can take the fans off first go for it. If its not possible please at least hold the fan blades still.

[ictdude1]

Just hold the fan blades so they don't spin and blow it out with a shop-vac, that's what I do anyway.

never use a vacuum it can cause static and damage your pc

[TheProfosist]

never use a vacuum it can cause static and damage your pc

 

Yes static it es bad. An air compressor without a filter is just as bad too because of water build up...

[N7_Zer0]

Datavac ED500 Duster

 

http://www.amazon.com/Metro-Vacuum-ED500-500-Watt-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW

[ictdude1]

Yes static it es bad. An air compressor without a filter is just as bad too because of water build up...

i use an air compressor ..im my opinion the best way

[LogicalDrm]

Unplug pc first before all. If dust is just light, compressed air is enough and you can use vacuum with low power to keep dust from fallin back to case. Just don't get it too close to hardware. If dust is so thick air isn't enough I use soft toilet paper to clean if from fan blades. You can remove fans and blow dust away from heatsink but most of fan is concentrated to fan.

[Benjio]

never use a vacuum it can cause static and damage your pc

 

Isn't that only if you "suck" not "blow" the air? This is what I do at the computer shop I work at, did it to hundreds of computers, never damaged one.

[ictdude1]

Isn't that only if you "suck" not "blow" the air? This is what I do at the computer shop I work at, did it to hundreds of computers, never damaged one.

there is always a first and a vacuum always sucks?

[Benjio]

there is always a first and a vacuum always sucks?

 

I said a shop vac, they have have the ability to blow out air instead of sucking it in. If you have one it will save you a lot of money from having to use canned air...

[ictdude1]

I said a shop vac, they have have the ability to blow out air instead of sucking it in. If you have one it will save you a lot of money from having to use canned air...

no ;( they dont have shop vacs in the uk :(

[Mentalguy]

no ;( they dont have shop vacs in the uk :(

ya they do, just need to look

[JordanMac]

take it apart as much as you can and spray with some compressed air(canned air). reapply the thermal paste and re assemble.

[ictdude1]

ya they do, just need to look

YES ! I JUST FOUND THEM ON AMAZON