Trojan Zombie

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Leythos" <[email protected]>


| Most of the dust we find in computers appears to be from construction
| being done in the areas, dirt from the bottom of shoes that gets stirred
| up as people walk across a floor and then pet/people hair.

| Placing the computer above 20" seems to eliminate 90% of the dust
| problem caused by floor traffic.

It is amazing how much dirtier the inside of a chassis can get when it sits on a carpeted
floor.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dustin Cook" <[email protected]>

| And the cig smokers? That... cruddy stuff in the fins.


When I did work as a Value Added Reseller (VAR) I supported a NJ bank. They all smoked
around their AST brand computers. It was amazing how the colour of the plastic darkens
under cigarette tar and much dust is attracted and sticks to the surfaces.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Leythos" <[email protected]>


| We have a few manufacturing facilities that we support, some of those
| make parts by cutting metal - the oil in the air plays heck with the
| air-flow - it grabs the dust and just creates layers that can't be
| removed by blowing it, you have to turn things off and use a safe
| solvent to remove it...

I know what you mean. The atomized oil flocculates with the dust and creates a sticky
materiel that doesn't just attach to the surfaces but actually adheres to it.

 

[Leythos]

| Placing the computer above 20" seems to eliminate 90% of the dust
| problem caused by floor traffic.

It is amazing how much dirtier the inside of a chassis can get when it sits on a carpeted
floor.

I've been telling friends and customers, for decades, to keep computers
and anything with a fan at least 20" above the floor to keep from having
it collect dust.

 

[David Kaye]

It is amazing how much dirtier the inside of a chassis can get when it sits on
a carpeted
floor.

In my experience the dustiest computers are owned by families with young kids.
Young kids aparently shed a LOT of skin, and the dusty tends to be quite
oily.

Oddly enough, one of the cleanest computers I saw was an 8-year old Dell 8400
or 8300 or something in there, which was working fulltime in a metal shop.
The owner was careful about his own health and had installed an air lock kind
of thing (a small ante-room with a second door and intense weather stripping
on both doors).

The only thing odd I noticed was some red powder around the case. Very
puzzled I asked if he'd maybe spilled some kind of chemical. He thought about
it and then remembered that his kid had come in and was mixing powdered
Kool-Aid and had spilled the powder over everything.

 

[Dustin Cook]

(e-mail address removed) (David Kaye) wrote in

People have reacted in horror to seeing body shop people jump on
bumpers to straighten them, too, just like I react in horror when
someone starts a barbecue fire with a petroleum fire starter instead
of newspapers and kindling.

I have only stated what I've experienced about the fan blades. It was
a bitch taking the laptop apart and removing the mother board to get
at the bent fan blade. I couldn't very well charge for my time on
that one. As I recall I ate about 1 1/2 extra hours on that job, when
I lost a couple screws and didn't have replacements. I was all over
the carpet with my magnet trying to find them. I never used
compressed air again.

Oh God.. Okay, I've got to stop reading; I am getting a terrible mental
picture of some redneck in a backwoods shop someplace "fixin" a laptop.
LOL!

I'm not going to get terribly worried about "corrosion" of cheap sheet
metal enclosures and mouting bays from a the use of a feather duster
if removing the dust helps keep things from overheating. And no
circuit board is going to suffer from a once-over with a feather
duster, either, as long as it's grounded and I'm grounded.

hmm... Well, I hope you carry good liability insurance in the event your
sued for damaging someones equipment. God forbid you cause data loss
doing something stupid.

 

[Dustin Cook]

We have a few manufacturing facilities that we support, some of those
make parts by cutting metal - the oil in the air plays heck with the
air-flow - it grabs the dust and just creates layers that can't be
removed by blowing it, you have to turn things off and use a safe
solvent to remove it...

Yep. And don't you like how that oily goo seems to stick on everything
near the fan? Capacitors and transistors I have found are really bad
for it).

 

[Dustin Cook]

From: "Dustin Cook" <[email protected]>

| And the cig smokers? That... cruddy stuff in the fins.


When I did work as a Value Added Reseller (VAR) I supported a NJ bank.
They all smoked around their AST brand computers. It was amazing how
the colour of the plastic darkens under cigarette tar and much dust is
attracted and sticks to the surfaces.

if you noticed the cases darkening, I'm sure you noticed the power and
ide cables not looking the same anymore..?

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "David Kaye" <[email protected]>


| In my experience the dustiest computers are owned by families with young kids.
| Young kids aparently shed a LOT of skin, and the dusty tends to be quite
| oily.

| Oddly enough, one of the cleanest computers I saw was an 8-year old Dell 8400
| or 8300 or something in there, which was working fulltime in a metal shop.
| The owner was careful about his own health and had installed an air lock kind
| of thing (a small ante-room with a second door and intense weather stripping
| on both doors).

| The only thing odd I noticed was some red powder around the case. Very
| puzzled I asked if he'd maybe spilled some kind of chemical. He thought about
| it and then remembered that his kid had come in and was mixing powdered
| Kool-Aid and had spilled the powder over everything.


The worst are NOT home computers for families with kids. Families with pets. Especially
cats. Shedding hair is drawn into the system.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "David Kaye" <[email protected]>


| People have reacted in horror to seeing body shop people jump on bumpers to
| straighten them, too, just like I react in horror when someone starts a
| barbecue fire with a petroleum fire starter instead of newspapers and
| kindling.

| I have only stated what I've experienced about the fan blades. It was a bitch
| taking the laptop apart and removing the mother board to get at the bent fan
| blade. I couldn't very well charge for my time on that one. As I recall I
| ate about 1 1/2 extra hours on that job, when I lost a couple screws and
| didn't have replacements. I was all over the carpet with my magnet trying to
| find them. I never used compressed air again.

| And as for the feather duster, I go for what works for the least amount of
| hassle. Again, as an alternative I suggested the microfibre cloths available
| at any Walgreen's if you're squeamish about feather dusters.

| I'm not going to get terribly worried about "corrosion" of cheap sheet metal
| enclosures and mouting bays from a the use of a feather duster if removing the
| dust helps keep things from overheating. And no circuit board is going to
| suffer from a once-over with a feather duster, either, as long as it's
| grounded and I'm grounded.

This is quite a different situation. This lab has *numerous* Dell (notebooks and
desktops) and Panasonic ToughBook computers on benches that are running as well dozens on
the shelf. The lab is split into two parts. One part is mine for the maintence and
distribution of production computers. The other part is for the techical management
personnel using the notebooks in conjunction with our "highly spacialized" products (not
discussable).

The point is all of us are qualified engineers and some, like me, certified computer
technicians. Basically what you puport about your dust removal methodolgy as well as the
air bending fins/blades is frankly ..... I'll leave it at that I don't need to go
further.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dustin Cook" <[email protected]>

| (e-mail address removed) (David Kaye) wrote in
|
| Oh God.. Okay, I've got to stop reading; I am getting a terrible mental
| picture of some redneck in a backwoods shop someplace "fixin" a laptop.
| LOL!

| hmm... Well, I hope you carry good liability insurance in the event your
| sued for damaging someones equipment. God forbid you cause data loss
| doing something stupid.


Bwahahahahahahahaha.............

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dustin Cook" <[email protected]>



| if you noticed the cases darkening, I'm sure you noticed the power and
| ide cables not looking the same anymore..?

For sure... For sure...

 

[David Kaye]

hmm... Well, I hope you carry good liability insurance in the event your
sued for damaging someones equipment. God forbid you cause data loss
doing something stupid.

I have a good errors and omissions policy. I've never had to use it.

 

[David Kaye]

The worst are NOT home computers for families with kids. Families with pets.
Especially
cats. Shedding hair is drawn into the system.

Those must be the clients I avoid. I turn down clients I don't want to deal
with or who question my rate. I seldom deal with clients with pets of any
consequence.

 

[Leythos]

Yep. And don't you like how that oily goo seems to stick on everything
near the fan? Capacitors and transistors I have found are really bad
for it).

Worse yet, the case fans, since these are in areas without AC, draw it
in around the vents and then spray it all over the motherboard and
drives and such.... In most cases it's cheaper to buy another computer.

 

[ASCII]

The worst are NOT home computers for families with kids. Families with pets. Especially
cats. Shedding hair is drawn into the system.

Awhile back I came across what seemed a good deal on a Sony multi-disk CD
player in a thrift shop for around eight dollars, problem was that it would
start to play then go into a stuttering hang up. After opening it to have a
look see I found a cat hair (longhair white Persian) that had gotten caught in
the gear lube and wrapped around the laser head restricting its travel.
Removed it and did a thorough inspection to remove any others as well as
vacuum it out and it still works to this day.

 

[ASCII]

From: "Dustin Cook" <[email protected]>



if you noticed the cases darkening, I'm sure you noticed the power and
ide cables not looking the same anymore..?

Like that small Trinitron I once inherited from a neighbor with its brand name
escutcheon in a luxurious golden color, which when hit with the routine cotton
ball isopropanol cleansing reverted to the standard silver color. Of course
the screen colors popped back to their original brilliance as well.

 

[David Kaye]

Like that small Trinitron I once inherited from a neighbor with its brand name
escutcheon in a luxurious golden color, which when hit with the routine cotton
ball isopropanol cleansing reverted to the standard silver color. Of course
the screen colors popped back to their original brilliance as well.

Given the crap people have thrown at me about my practices might I mention
that iso alcohol is a bad choice for cleaning just about everything
electronics related because it's 30% water.

The only thing I use iso for is cleaning the gunk from the insides of
mechanical mice -- the rollers, trackball, etc.

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "David Kaye" <[email protected]>


| Given the crap people have thrown at me about my practices might I mention
| that iso alcohol is a bad choice for cleaning just about everything
| electronics related because it's 30% water.

| The only thing I use iso for is cleaning the gunk from the insides of
| mechanical mice -- the rollers, trackball, etc.


That is correct. isopropynal is isoprpyl alcohol and water. You should use isoprpyl
alcohol with the least content of water. That which you buy in a supermarket for cleaning
wounds has too much water. That which is commonly used in "Dry Gas" is safe.

But you can NOT say that that is is bad for "...cleaning just about everything electronics
related."

It is a "proper" cleaning fluid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "ASCII" <[email protected]>


| Awhile back I came across what seemed a good deal on a Sony multi-disk CD
| player in a thrift shop for around eight dollars, problem was that it would
| start to play then go into a stuttering hang up. After opening it to have a
| look see I found a cat hair (longhair white Persian) that had gotten caught in
| the gear lube and wrapped around the laser head restricting its travel.
| Removed it and did a thorough inspection to remove any others as well as
| vacuum it out and it still works to this day.

Yes, quite common.