Best way to clean a dusty PC?

[VillaiNPC]

what the title says

[Vx0x]

A can of compressed air

[Vx0x]

Or possibly something like a leaf blower

[A Silver]

Canned air and I use a tooth brush for the hard to reach places on the front "grill" on my case

[KingCollins]

Remove as many panels you can. 

Remove as many fans you can.

 

Buy a can of compressed air to deal with the actual PC.

Buy a multi-pack of microfiber cloths (the ones they use for car detailing) and clean the fans with them.

 

Maybe the heatsink needs a clean also (But only consider if you have termal paste to re-install)

[SeanAngelo]

6 minutes ago, VillaiNPC said:

what the title says

canned air would be ideal

 

but i personally use an air compressor

[EnergyEclipse]

 

1 minute ago, Vx0x said:

Or possibly something like a leaf blower

Probably not the best of ideas, as considering you can just get a can of compressed air for £1 in pound land it makes a bit more sense

[KingCollins]

I have a super dusty room, I clean my PC once a month. 

[Pickstock]

4 minutes ago, EnergyEclipse said:

 

Probably not the best of ideas, as considering you can just get a can of compressed air for £1 in pound land it makes a bit more sense

am i the only one who feels weird in paying money for air?
I normally use an air compressor at work, but have done it just with vacuums

[KingCollins]

4 minutes ago, Pickstock said:

am i the only one who feels weird in paying money for air?
I normally use an air compressor at work, but have done it just with vacuums

I usually only use a vacuum if I can't see the heatsink or the motherboard 

 

But yeah, buying compressed air is madness, try and use a compressor for free.

[Beef Boss]

11 minutes ago, Pickstock said:

am i the only one who feels weird in paying money for air?
I normally use an air compressor at work, but have done it just with vacuums

Yeah canned air is foreign for me. It's literally just air. I'd buy a cheap air compressor to get by, and then there you can pump up your car tires, bike tires... Get a rechargeable can haha

[Pickstock]

So vacuum time for this?
 

(pulled from a computer i got given to me for parts, unknown origin)

[Guest]

Can of compressed air, they are generally cheap. I wouldnt recommend using an air compressor or anything that outputs high air pressure because you could potentially damage a component in your system. For cleaning the heatsink to remove the thermal paste, 99% Isopropyl alcohol is a good cleaning solution.

[SCHISCHKA]

13 minutes ago, Pickstock said:

am i the only one who feels weird in paying money for air?

canada has been selling canned air for human consumption to china for some time. it started as a joke but the air is actually that bad over there. Theres also those crazy oxygen bars.

[SCHISCHKA]

you need homer simpson for that level of cake.

[Pickstock]

1 minute ago, BadluckBrian said:

Yeah canned air is foreign for me. It's literally just air. I'd buy a cheap air compressor to get by, and then there you can pump up your car tires, bike tires... Get a rechargeable can haha

I am thinking about making a small rechargeable thing out of a used fire extinguisher and a shroter (sp) valve. In case i cant be bothered disconnecting the computer and taking it out to the shed.
Or even use a cheap bike pump to charge it up.

[Pickstock]

1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

canada has been selling canned air for human consumption to china for some time. it started as a joke but the air is actually that bad over there. Theres also those crazy oxygen bars.

they do that from Tasmania in Australia, its meant to have some of the most un polluted air in the world.

[unknownmiscreant]

@TheBeastPC, @BadluckBrian, @EnergyEclipse, @SeanAngelo, @KingCollins, @A Silver, @Vx0x. Please correct me if I am wrong, But I am fairly sure that the "canned air" you are all referring to is actually an organic solvent, not compressed air as you get from an air compressor. If you pull the trigger with the can upside down it comes out as a liquid.

This video shows what happens when the liquid from the can is tipped into water.

I think the solvent has the advantage of not causing static problems, but its quite expensive for me, around $10US a can. So I just use a vacuum cleaner.  I have never had any issues. But mind you, most of the dust in my PC gets caught in the radiator and dust filters.

32 minutes ago, Pickstock said:

I am thinking about making a small rechargeable thing out of a used fire extinguisher and a shroter (sp) valve. In case i cant be bothered disconnecting the computer and taking it out to the shed.
Or even use a cheap bike pump to charge it up.

Good idea. I might do something like that. Mind you I already have something that could be used for that purpose, but its more intended for launching pointed bits of metal at high velocity.

[Pickstock]

54 minutes ago, unknownmiscreant said:

 

Good idea. I might do something like that. Mind you I already have something that could be used for that purpose, but its more intended for launching pointed bits of metal at high velocity.

you need the velocity and the volume.
My old man said that the fire extinguishers he has at work filled with water already have a valve on them for recharging with a normal air compressor.
Just need to get the water out of it and good to go.

[A Silver]

2 hours ago, Pickstock said:

So vacuum time for this?
 

(pulled from a computer i got given to me for parts, unknown origin)

This really hurts to look at

[NvidiaIntelAMDLoveTriangle]

https://www.amazon.com/Metro-ED500-DataVac-500-Watt-Electric/dp/B001J4ZOAW

 

 

Best way.

 

[AncientNerd]

If you are going to use an air compressor make sure of two things,

1) make sure it is grounded, the act of compressing air will generate static electricity. Back in the late '90s I blew up a couple of boards blowing them off with an ungrounded compressor when the tip touch the board and sparks ensued. 

2) use a compressor that you can control the output, a friend of mine (again in the late '90s) used an unregulated compressor to clean the insides of a seismograph and the d@mn thing was strong enough that it damaged some of the caps and stripped a few traces. The seismograph never worked again, now we got some really cool parts off of it including some killer magnets so it wasn't a complete loss but we were hoping for an actual seismograph.  

[gcubed]

Power Washer. Will even take care of those pesky metal traces on PCB's.