Cleaning PC: Air Compressor

Dotsie~tmp

Dust is a problem I'm sure we all know. I usually use a can or air duster but they run out too quickly. Has anyone used a small air compressor to clean? Maybe like the type to inflate a car tyre? If anyone does have experience with using them i could use a recommendation.

Note: For anyone whose gonna try it, remember compressed air can be dangerous if aimed at skin and can damage PC components if pressure is sufficiently high. Don't let fans spin as you spray them. They become damaged.

Overheal

I would imagine an air compressor would generate a lot of static. Same for a vaccum cleaner. I reccomend extreme caution with either and much prefer the air-can.

keen

The hoover does the trick for me, have cleaned out at least 100 manky PCs with no problems.

Khannie

keen wrote: »

The hoover does the trick for me, have cleaned out at least 100 manky PCs with no problems.

Hoover in a winner for basic dust removal IMO. I find the compressed air a pain in the bum because it just moves dust around instead of removing it.

If you can turn down the power on your hoover, even better. This prevents you from snapping off little delicate bits with a very powerful one.

As overheal said though...be wary of static.

donmeister

yeah in regards to static,you can ground yourself by touching an unpainted metal object,like pc case isnt?because i used my vacuum on low power to clean my pc a while back and just grounded myself,is that okay?ive had no problems yet.....so far shud i say

extra-ordinary_

I don't know about home compressors, but the garage ones normally spray out an amount of water which wouldn't be too good. I've only ever used one for cleaning out an empty case.
Used a hoover once without issue on a PC - that wasn't mine!

Sherifu

Compressed air can with windows/doors open and case fully open would be the method i'd go for.

calex71

i picked up a wee usb powered hoover a few weeks back in the €2 shop
perfect for getting the crumbs out of the keyboard not very powerfull but does the job especially good for the inside as its not powerfull enough to suck up any parts . downside is its usb so lucky for me i have the xbox beside the pc i can run it from

Dotsie~tmp

Thx for replies i think ill go for hoover + can mix.

Loveless

Well I've cleaned out hundreds of PCs and we use an air compressor - but one that's fitted with a vapour trap, so that you're not blowing moisture from the air directly onto the m'board, etc.

Take both sides off the PC, no use cleaning one side and then finding more dirt underneath the motherboard afterwards.

Clean out the processor fan area first that's where most dirt gathers. Try and do this with the PC standing up, so that any loose dirt with fall to the bottom of the case, rather than back onto the motherboard.

Move up to the top then and blow out the tight areas above the power supply and CDROMs. Give the front of the floppy drive a quick blast aswell. Clean out the hard-drive bays, as there will often be fans getting clogged up at the bottom of the case, and that's where your cool air should normally be flowing from.

Give the power supply fan a good clean out aswell, it's sometimes as dirty as the processor fan. And then give any fans on the back panel and side panels a clean out.

Then clean out the areas around the video card/PCI slots and the RAM.
Give the processor fan another quick clean out then after the dust settles.

(Just is just my experience from years of IT work)


* A tip that a friend of mine does when cleaning fans with the air compressor, is to just put his finger on the fan when cleaning it, preventing the fan from 'whirrrring' up. Sometimes moving a large amount of dust around a PC will only serve to make the fans noiser, in which case you'll have to replace them anyway.


And watch out for these feckers

PogMoThoin

Compressors just compress air, therefore they do nothing to rid the air of the moisture it contains. All compressors have a bleed valve at the bottom of the tank to remove the water that builds up. Not a good idea to use a compressor, buy a can of compressed air instead