Dust removal with air compressor

[Lightning]

I have tried canned air, and I have tried that datavac thing, but it's not strong enough. I need something more powerful like this: https://www.amazon.com/Tcisa-Portable-Compressor-Digital-Inflator/dp/B071R5FQG4/

I have trouble cleaning out all the crap in between my heatsinks and the mesh.

I did some research and I read that using those industrial air compressors can damage my PC because the tank may have some water from condensation. Does anyone have any experience with this?
 

 

[Fred Castellum]

I personally have a datavac and it's always done a great job at cleaning out my PC. 

 

I have used a auto repair shops, air compressor before to clean out the dust and haven't had any problems. However the risk of water condensation is true. 

 

Since you have a datavac you should also have the different nozzles it comes with, try using the small nozzle that funnels more air in one location. That should be strong enough to get dust out of your heatsinks.

[NoRomanBatmansAllowed]

ff there's condensation leave it out for a few days/hour to dry and you should be fine.

[Riddler356]

i always thought the reason you shouldnt use air compressors is the risk of blowing off something like a capacitor or whatnot (of course only applys to the people that dont have common sense to put more distance because it is more powerful)

 

[kb5zue]

I use an air compressor with 125psi and no problems.  To confront the possibility of moisture in the compressor, just blow it out in the air for a few seconds before using it on your computer.  The moisture will get blown out of the tank during that initial burst of air.  More than likely, you can watch the moisture blow out the end of the hose when doing so.  Then it will be fine to use on your machine, but like previously stated, don't get too close because of the high pressure air.  You don't want to run the risk of blowing something loose.  And hold the blades on your fans when blowing them out too.  That high pressure air can make the blades on your fans spin like crazy increasing the chance of messing up the bearings in the fan or inducing voltage back in to the system.  Yes, spinning fans from blown air can induce voltage.  For example, take a fan and put a voltmeter across the leads of the fan then blow it crazy with an air compressor.  Then you can see exactly what happens.

[MWrathDev]

1 hour ago, Lightning said:

I did some research and I read that using those industrial air compressors can damage my PC because the tank may have some water from condensation.

True but technically that shouldn't be an issue for you.

Physically take your sinks and rads out of the case and then use the compressor on them when they're not near your components. Shouldn't be too much effort as long as you don't have a custom loop, and should also allow you to replace your thermal paste at somewhat regular intervals.

Usually i do a `deep clean` once every 8-12 months, as long as you do a regular `lite clean` (once every week or fortnight) in between those deep clean sessions, it should be enough.

As for the lite cleans, datavac should work fine, in fact if it doesn't that's probably a sign that either your case isnt filtered well enough or the surrounding environment is a horrible place to keep a PC so you might wanna either shift the tower to a better location or do something to improve the environment, maybe look into air-purifiers/de-ionizers or something.

Also i tend to use vacuum cleaner + windex (exterior), then cleaner + elbowgrease (interior vents / some components), then datavac (interior). Reason being is because if you use air tools on the interior from the get go, all you're doing is blowing dust around inside the case without actually removing any of it, kinda like how teenagers clean their room, they don't clean it they just move the mess around, usually into the closet.

[LogicalDrm]

If the dust you are dealing with is too much for normal solutions and requires more force, consider not using air at all. But actual manual labor. Swiping and scrubbing parts with microfiber cloths, paper towels, maybe soft tootbrush or paint brushes and such.