One of my pc's has a health check program, which supposedly checks the pc for problems. The last time it ran, it gave me a message that the pc should periodically be cleaned. I've been doing this with a vacuum, but they suggested a can of compressed air. Cans of compressed air are surprisingly expensive, so I started thinking of using my air compressor, or a politician.
Would an air compressor work? I'm wondering if I can set it low enough to insure the computer is not harmed.
Nah, you're not going to harm anything in the computer with compressed air.
You might try the blower end of your vacuum first. When you first blow your computer, you'll be convinced it just elected a new Pope.
Is the air from your air compressor dry and oil-free?
The air from a politician (of whichever party) might cause severe damage to your computer because of its high temperature.
Perce
i've used compressed air for decades. Just open her up, and blow away. Just use your head about how close you get. It doesn't take much to dislodge dust. You can get close to the power supply fan and the processor fan. I used a rubber tipped blow gun on a 150psi shop line. If you want to pussy foot about it, you can use the exhaust from your shop vac.
I'm going to have to disagree with the others. Do Not use compressed air from an air compressor.
First, there is often moisture in compressed air from you air compressor, and this small undetectable amount can certainly harm your computer.
Second, too much pressure can damage components.
Best bet, buy the expensive compressed air.
Bob-tx
Compressed air cans are not that expensive when you consider the amount you will use to clean your computer. As another has suggested, your vacuum can also work but let it run for a moment to get the crud out of the hose. You can then reconnect the hose to the suck side and remove loose debris
Periodic cleaning can work wonders. Mine was starting to make a humming noise a few months ago and I assumed it was a loose case connection. However, I opened it up and started cleaning one of the big fan cooled heat sinks on the graphics processor. I turned the machine back on and the buzzing was gone. I did have to remove the heat sink/fan assembly (simple latches) to get the rest of the lint out. The rest was easy and the machine was quiet afterwards.
RonB
Thanks!
I just got a reason to buy an air compressor. I have one that's older than I am, (I'm 66), but it's bit dangerous to operate.
Shop air compressors have oil and water vapor in them. Canned air doesn't.
You might consider an airbed pump, like this one from Coleman:
As for canned air, I know it's absurdly expensive. I used to get 'em fer about $2 can. Lately, I'm seeing $5-6 per can, even at Walmart. Yikes! OTOH, they last a longggg time. I have a tall can I've yet to empy after 4 yrs use. Another advantage, turned upside down, that canned air comes out as a liquid sub-zero refrigerant and greaseless PCB cleaner. There's even youtube vids on how to use 'em to remove small dents from yer car. Pretty handy tool to have around for $6.
nb
An option for your vacuum cleaner or shop vac hose is to reduce the outlet by duct taping the end down to 1/4 or less the open area, making more of a nozzle type end.
Sonny
The best procedure is to use the blowgun from your air compressor *and* your shop vac. Hold the shop vac hose down into the target area from one side and use the blowgun to loosen the dust and send it in the direction of the shop vac hose. This avoids most of the mess, otherwise do it outdoors and stand upwind.
Why does everyone think these PSs are so sensitive?
A little water vapor or oil will not do a thing to them. More dangerous would be static from air that was too dry. (vacuum cleaner) Don't touch the nozzle to the parts.
Moisture and oil in the compressed air will not harm a computer. What moisture there is will evaporate before you even finish closing up the computer case. Oil is an insulator and otherwise harmless if the minute quantities present in normal compressed air.
If you happen to own it, a leaf blower is a very convenient way of cleaning out a computer. It give a huge amount of air flow.
Art
That's what I do. But I tape a small 1/4" - 3/8" rubber or plastic hose to smallest vacuum nozzle. Auto vacuum or aquarium hose works. Biggest danger is static created by air flow, so be careful about grounding so you don't fry a components. Just don't touch components with hands. You are the ground, not the vacuum. That's been my experience, anyway.
But what you want is a set of cheap dollar store artist brushes. A 3/8" flat brush does most the work, so you can just get that. Dust get's grunged to parts, especially fan blades. Dislodge the dust with the brush first and you can suck it all up without even touching components with the vacuum attachment. Most of the dust will fall to the bottom of the case.
I've seen cans of compressed air shoot plenty of water vapor, so I'd trust a regular oil-less air compressor that's been cleared more than a can. But that's overkill for me. I have very big PC cases and can reach everything with a brush.
--Vic
There are a bunch of issues that probably aren't harmful in a typical circumstance...probably... but why take the chance.
Static electricity: Be careful what you touch when you're in there. High speed air flow can generate static electricity. I'd not use plastic nozzle from the air source. You don't know what they're made of. At least use a metal nozzle that you hold on to. Keep the pressure low.
This link talks about CO2, but may apply to canned air, which actually contains no air at all.
Resist the temptation to spin the fans up to 100,000 RPM. It can't be good for the bearings.
Be careful around electromechanical devices with exposed delicate parts. Floppy drives. CD drives are pretty robust, but 100PSI is powerful.
I've been using an air compressor (carefully) for decades with no incident.
I agree. The boards are washed with water (think: dishwasher). A little moisture isn't going to hurt anything. The only problem with oil is that it'll attract (capture) more dust. Be sure to throttle back the blast, though.
Compressed air can make a dusty, grimy computer look like brand new again.
I know computer pro's who regularly clean out computers with shop compressed air. I've done it myself for years. I've never known it to cause a problem. It often lowers the CPU temperature substantially once the heat sink isn't covered in fluff.
Just hold the fan blades so they don't spin up to supersonic speeds.
:)
Ross
Be careful when blowing compressed air near small cooling fans. I've had them fail soon after a blowout because dust got forced into the bearings. I usually open a window, put a fan in it exhausting the air from the room and then blow out the PC so that all the dust gets sucked out the window.
-- Bobby G.
Good point. If you hear them rev up and start whining like a New Year's Eve noisemaker then you've probably damaged the bearings. I've unfortunately had more than one PC fan fail right after a thorough cleaning. They should not be running during a cleaning. Vic's solution to use soft brushes is a good one. I've come across CPU heatsinks that were completely blocked off with pet hair. Floor mounted machines are particular susceptible to "hair blocks."
-- Bobby G.
Been doing it here for 15 years, hundreds of times, on dozens of computers without so much as one hint of trouble. I don't have an inline oiler, but since water sometimes comes out of the bottom of the tank I have to assume it is at 100% humidity.
I see the humidity as a good thing, as it helps to keep static from building up; don't know if that is true, but it's never caused me any trouble.
Do try and make sure you don't overspin the fans though, and obviously, do this outside.
Jon
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