What is the best way to remove dust from your pc?

[Tweep]

I have a Corsair Carbide 300R chassis and a lot of dust has built up inside the case and on the CPU fan. Is it safe to use a can of compressed air to clean it or is there something better to clean it with and how should I clean the CPU fan?

Is there an easier way to clean the front dust filters without removing the front panel and putting the whole thing under a tap?

 

[Batista]

Dont use compressed air, it only pushes the dust furthur into the components.Use a vacuum cleaner with a small attachment.

 

[Lord Flacko]

Use a portable battery powered vacuum designed to do this job or try using compressed air.

 

[AstroTurf]

Dont use compressed air, it only pushes the dust furthur into the components.Use a vacuum cleaner with a small attachment.

Never found a vacuum cleaner that works.

Been doing this since the 90's and compressed (dry) air is the only real solution.



Make sure the air is dry (If at work we have an air drier built in, when doing it at home I empty the tank via it's sump to check that it is dry).
Do not use to much pressure, just enough to move the dust.
Make sure the fans can not move by stopping them with a pen, pencil, chopstick or similar (or fingers for those that are easily accessible) as them spinning to fast can damage them.

Then just blow the dust away.

If there is oil or grease on the board, fans or heatsink use contact cleaner to remove after you have finished blowing the excess away with the compressor.
Once it is 100% dry you can give it another blow with the compressor.

Air blowers also work to an extent but you do not have the fine control or pressure needed to get into pci/ram slots that you have with a compressor.


Most vacuums simply do not have the power needed to get rid of all the dust.

 

[pcdoc]

Dont use compressed air, it only pushes the dust furthur into the components.Use a vacuum cleaner with a small attachment.

Utter rubbish you can use a can of compressed air or a high speed industrial blower, also a soft paint brush can be used with care. Would also suggest removing heat sink & fan from CPU. Clean with rubbing alcohol dry and replace with new heat paste. Do not touch motherboard with your hands unless you have a anti static strap on your wrist

 

[Drifter]

That ^^^^^

 

[Batista]

Utter rubbish you can use a can of compressed air or a high speed industrial blower, also a soft paint brush can be used with care. Would also suggest removing heat sink & fan from CPU. Clean with rubbing alcohol dry and replace with new heat paste. Do not touch motherboard with your hands unless you have a anti static strap on your wrist

That is utter rubbish.I have touched many mothers boards and never have they gotten shocked

 

[Batista]

 

[AstroTurf]

Yea, tried those.
They are handy but limited (unless you want to take the PSU apart every time you blow it out as one example).

 

[kayvee]

That is utter rubbish.I have touched many mothers boards and never have they gotten shocked

Dude, some understanding lacking here. I believe pcdoc was referring to ESD from your body causing potential damage to components on the motherboard.

As to the OP's question, clean & dry compressed from a compressor, with a variable hand nozzle works better than any vacuum cleaner, providing the necessary care is taken with excessive fan rotation.

 

[Lord Flacko]

On second thoughts with using a vacuum cleaner won't it create a static build up ?

 

[Archer]

Do not touch motherboard with your hands unless you have a anti static strap on your wrist

Enlighten us as to how a anti static strap on your wrist grounds you? Or is the strap grounded somehow? In which case you'd realise, all you need to do before touching electronics, is ground yourself to get rid of any excess charge, which is easily done by touching a metallic part of your case, if the PSU is installed and plugged in with a cable that is earthed. And hey presto, no need for those wrist straps

 

[Joka69]

Never found a vacuum cleaner that works.

Been doing this since the 90's and compressed (dry) air is the only real solution.



Make sure the air is dry (If at work we have an air drier built in, when doing it at home I empty the tank via it's sump to check that it is dry).
Do not use to much pressure, just enough to move the dust.
Make sure the fans can not move by stopping them with a pen, pencil, chopstick or similar (or fingers for those that are easily accessible) as them spinning to fast can damage them.

Then just blow the dust away.

If there is oil or grease on the board, fans or heatsink use contact cleaner to remove after you have finished blowing the excess away with the compressor.
Once it is 100% dry you can give it another blow with the compressor.

Air blowers also work to an extent but you do not have the fine control or pressure needed to get into pci/ram slots that you have with a compressor.


Most vacuums simply do not have the power needed to get rid of all the dust.

Agreed! I pop down to my local petrol station and use the Compressed air, they don't mind.

 

[Venomous]

Utter rubbish you can use a can of compressed air or a high speed industrial blower, also a soft paint brush can be used with care. Would also suggest removing heat sink & fan from CPU. Clean with rubbing alcohol dry and replace with new heat paste. Do not touch motherboard with your hands unless you have a anti static strap on your wrist

This,

Air can be used.

As Astroturf pointed out, just make sure the fans cannot turn.

 

[kayvee]

Agreed! I pop down to my local petrol station and use the Compressed air, they don't mind.

Exercise care with this, if your local petrol station is anything like mine, more water comes out of it than air. They have never heard of refrigerant driers, inline filters or condensation collectors.

 

[Electric]

If you use petrol station air then just put a sock on the front to catch any water.

 

[Batista]

Dude, some understanding lacking here. I believe pcdoc was referring to ESD from your body causing potential damage to components on the motherboard.

As to the OP's question, clean & dry compressed from a compressor, with a variable hand nozzle works better than any vacuum cleaner, providing the necessary care is taken with excessive fan rotation.

Im trolling today leave me be

 

[henry1103]

I normally use a soft paintbrush to get rid of the dust that's clinged onto the fans and heat sink.
Then once the dust is loose, I put some old sock over the hole of the vacuum cleaner and use that. most of the dust will cling onto the sock. Normally do this once a month, and usually takes around 20 min on my machine

 

[Joka69]

This,

Air can be used.

As Astroturf pointed out, just make sure the fans cannot turn.

Do not use to much pressure, just enough to move the dust.
Make sure the fans can not move by stopping them with a pen, pencil, chopstick or similar (or fingers for those that are easily accessible) as them spinning to fast can damage them.

Thanks for pointing that out, never thought of that actually!

Exercise care with this, if your local petrol station is anything like mine, more water comes out of it than air. They have never heard of refrigerant driers, inline filters or condensation collectors.

Yeah, definitely! I always make sure to put my hand in front to feel 1st for a bit, making sure no water comes out.

 

[CataclysmZA]

I use a Ryobi leaf blower plugged into a wall socket. Quick, short blasts of air gets most of the dust out and then I clean the heatsins and fans with sable hair paint brushes. You don't have to make everything completely spotless, unless you're OCD about that.