Cleaning Pc...

[TheSuspect]

So, in the area I live in, dust accumulates. A lot. So, I've taken a look into my case and found dust on the fan filters, graphics card backplate, psu, in between fans and on ssds and hard drives. Is there an effective way I could clean these components like a hair dryer or feather duster or something? And dust forms quickly where I am as I've said, so it should be usable often. I haven't done this type of thing before so I have no idea how to go about this...

[RollinLower]

cans of compressed air, or just an air compressor with a air gun, blow off everything and you're set!

[pwn_intended]

Canned air or an air compressor works well. You can use light brushes, but be wary of static if you go that route. If it is really bad, you may have to disassemble everything to get it good and clean.

[Edelrat]

I'd say completely take your PC appart and clean it. I do it every 1-2 months.

I love building PCs however.

If you aren't in that sort of thing I'd say canned air.

[manikyath]

1 minute ago, RollinLower said:

cans of compressed air

you know... those get stupidly expensive stupidly fast.

 

and after recently encountering these lovelies i'm glad to say i'm never buying a can of air again

 

the other night i had some dust-y smell coming from my heater (winter is coming, yesterday was the first day it's been on for pretty much the entire day) so i whipped out the datavac, and basicly in one motion blew out the entire thing, while the usual canned air solution would probably have taken half an hour and several cans.

 

well.. now imagine the same thing, but with the dust inside your computer

[RollinLower]

1 minute ago, manikyath said:

you know... those get stupidly expensive stupidly fast.

 

and after recently encountering these lovelies i'm glad to say i'm never buying a can of air again

 

the other night i had some dust-y smell coming from my heater (winter is coming, yesterday was the first day it's been on for pretty much the entire day) so i whipped out the datavac, and basicly in one motion blew out the entire thing, while the usual canned air solution would probably have taken half an hour and several cans.

 

well.. now imagine the same thing, but with the dust inside your computer

that's why i also suggested (and use myself) an actual air compressor with an air gun.

[manikyath]

Just now, RollinLower said:

that's why i also suggested (and use myself) an actual air compressor with an air gun.

air compressors tend to be just a pinch more unwieldly than something like a datavac, if you're gonna go the compressed air route, i'd suggest talking to a local diving shop asking if you can buy a small 300 bar bottle and if they can do refills.

[TheSuspect]

Just now, CUDA_Cores said:

-snip-

 

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

-snip-

If these work, would a hair dryer cut the job? I don't have a leaf blower, nor do I own a datavac.

[PigWithAMustache]

1 minute ago, CUDA_Cores said:

I clean the dust out of my PCs with a leaf blower. Yes, you read that right, a leaf blower. It's quick, effective, works Really fast and only costs me $25 for the price of the cheapest leaf blower at sears :

 

Thug life.

[Luc401]

9 minutes ago, MEOOOOOOOOOOOOW said:

I'd say completely take your PC appart and clean it. I do it every 1-2 months.

I love building PCs however.

If you aren't in that sort of thing I'd say canned air.

Every 1-2 months? Maybe in a dusty dirty environment. My server that runs 24/7 has been running for almost 8 months and theres little dust, this is in my basement which is not in use. My computer at school hasnt been cleaned in 11 months and theres only dust on the outside. Just clean it when it needs to be done.

[RollinLower]

3 minutes ago, manikyath said:

air compressors tend to be just a pinch more unwieldly than something like a datavac, if you're gonna go the compressed air route, i'd suggest talking to a local diving shop asking if you can buy a small 300 bar bottle and if they can do refills.

also a good suggestion! to be honest, anything that blows a good amount of air could help here  

2 minutes ago, TheSuspect said:

 

If these work, would a hair dryer cut the job? I don't have a leaf blower, nor do I own a datavac.

i wouldn't suggest using a hair dryer. those get hot, and eventough your system will probably be fine, i wouldn't suggest blowing hot air onto your rig.

that being said, i don't think a hair dryer gets hot enough to do any real damage, but still, i wouldn't risk it.

[manikyath]

Just now, TheSuspect said:

 

If these work, would a hair dryer cut the job? I don't have a leaf blower, nor do I own a datavac.

i'll put it like this:

 

i was in the same situation as you, and i was looking at the shopping page of my 3rd can of air thinking:

"i could spend another €15 on a can that'll be empty in a week, will smell horrible, not actually work very well, and will kill the enviroment... or i could spend ten times that, and get an infinitely reusable device with much more force behind it"

 

basicly, a datavac is a 600 watt vaccuum cleaner, in reverse, focussed on a tiny nozzle.

[Edelrat]

1 minute ago, Luc401 said:

Every 1-2 months? Maybe in a dusty dirty environment. My server that runs 24/7 has been running for almost 8 months and theres little dust, this is in my basement which is not in use. My computer at school hasnt been cleaned in 11 months and theres only dust on the outside. Just clean it when it needs to be done.

My environment is not especially dusty.

Is is more a preventive thing, than needing to do it. And I do it for fun

 

[Brennan Price]

Thick paint brush and blow it out with your breath?? that is what I always do if I cannot be bothered with doing a complete clean. If I do however feel up to it, I do it the same way but by taking the components out and cleaning every individual part with antibacterial (make sure to dry properly though). Good luck cleaning!!