Cleaning up inside

[Patty]

I'm currently refurbishing an old computer. The computer was used at a work
place and the inside of the case and all the cards are coated with a fine
brown dust. I've tried using compressed air, but the brown dust just stays
on the cards. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to removed this
(it appears to need to be wiped off rather than blown off using compressed
air). If I just leave things as they are, will there be a higher risk of
heat on the boards? This is a very old system, just used for menial tasks
by the company. It's an old M5ATB motherboard (I think) using an AMD K-6
300Mhz CPU. The company would still like to use this computer (since, as
you can tell, it's not in the best environment) and it can still do the
tasks it needs to do. My concern is whether they'll have any additional
problems because of this dust issue. Thanks for any help...

Patty

 

[jeffc]

I'm currently refurbishing an old computer. The computer was used at a work
place and the inside of the case and all the cards are coated with a fine
brown dust. I've tried using compressed air, but the brown dust just stays
on the cards. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to removed this
(it appears to need to be wiped off rather than blown off using compressed
air). If I just leave things as they are, will there be a higher risk of
heat on the boards?
Technically.

This is a very old system, just used for menial tasks
by the company.

The computer really doesn't know what it's used for If you can gently
remove with a cloth a little of the gunk off the bigger chips, that might be
helpful. Sometimes if something goes wrong in your computer, you can remove
and reseat memory and cards. But the flip side of that is that when you
knock around memory and cards, things can start going wrong in your
computer. So the moral of the story is that in this case, be gentle because
"if it ain't broke don't fix it" probably applies.

 

[Patty]

The computer really doesn't know what it's used for If you can gently
remove with a cloth a little of the gunk off the bigger chips, that might be
helpful. Sometimes if something goes wrong in your computer, you can remove
and reseat memory and cards. But the flip side of that is that when you
knock around memory and cards, things can start going wrong in your
computer. So the moral of the story is that in this case, be gentle because
"if it ain't broke don't fix it" probably applies.

Yes, I realize that the computer doesn't know or care what it's used for.
Just explaining why they want to get this one working properly again rather
than buy a new one. ;o) The video card did die already (I'm wondering if
it was because of this dust problem, but I was not the one who troubleshot
it so I have no opinion on why it died.) I was just wondering about the
possibility of cleaning it up a bit better for the future without having
concerns of introducing static electricity to the boards in the process.

Thanks for your reply. I am also a believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix
it" and I may just let it go and see what happens. ;o)

Patty

 

[Patty]

The computer really doesn't know what it's used for If you can gently
remove with a cloth a little of the gunk off the bigger chips, that might be
helpful. Sometimes if something goes wrong in your computer, you can remove
and reseat memory and cards. But the flip side of that is that when you
knock around memory and cards, things can start going wrong in your
computer. So the moral of the story is that in this case, be gentle because
"if it ain't broke don't fix it" probably applies.

Yes, I realize that the computer doesn't know or care what it's used for.
Just explaining why they want to get this one working properly again rather
than buy a new one. ;o) The video card did die already (I'm wondering if
it was because of this dust problem, but I was not the one who troubleshot
it so I have no opinion on why it died.) I was just wondering about the
possibility of cleaning it up a bit better for the future without having
concerns of introducing static electricity to the boards in the process.

Thanks for your reply. I am also a believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix
it" and I may just let it go and see what happens. ;o)

Patty

 

[Gary W. Swearingen]

helpful. Sometimes if something goes wrong in your computer, you can remove
and reseat memory and cards. But the flip side of that is that when you
knock around memory and cards, things can start going wrong in your
computer. So the moral of the story is that in this case, be gentle because
"if it ain't broke don't fix it" probably applies.

Amen, to all of that.

Blowing off loose dust seems to be widely down without problems, but
I've read (in some newsgroup, IIRC -- google might find it) cautions
that even that can be problematic. I've forgotten the details but it
had to do with static electricity building up on the nozzle as the air
flows out. Ensuring that you don't touch anything might avoid the
problem. For the same reason, brushing components sounds dangerous to
me; brushes, especially synthetic ones, are notorious for generating
static, generally.

A layer of dust is mostly just going to cause things to run hotter
than normal. It's hard to say how much, but lots of computers run
with lots of dust, so it doesn't seem to be much to worry about as
long as you don't let it get really bad or run your case real hot.

If the CPU heat sink is very bad, you could kill two birds with one
stone by removing it, cleaning it, and replacing it with new, good
thermal goop, if you suspect that old, cheapo goop has dried out and
so lots much of it's heat conductivity.

 

[Phisherman]

I pefer not to physically touch any component. Computer parts are
fragile. A few quick bursts of clean canned air over the components
every 6-10 months is all that's needed. I dust off all the fan blades
and hold a fan blade with a wooden stick to prevent it from spinning.
I will wipe the bottom of the case once a year with a damp paper
towel.

 

[Bill Turner]

I've forgotten the details but it
had to do with static electricity building up on the nozzle as the air
flows out.

_________________________________________________________

When I was working in the aerospace industry, I tried to duplicate the
problem of static buildup from an air nozzle, but never could. I know
there are special static-safe nozzles which use a tiny amount of
radioactive material to ionize the air, thereby making it slightly
conductive, but I never saw a real need for them.

Perhaps in a very low humidity environment there could be a problem, but
as I say, I ran many experiments and never observed any measurable
static at all. Of course, air from a compressor is notorious for having
moisture in it and this no doubt helped dissipate any static present.
Air from a can would not have the moisture present, so there might be a
problem there.

 

[Walter]

..

I will wipe the bottom of the case once a year with a damp paper
towel.

Ahh! How sweet of you. Do you change its' nappy too. roflol

 

[Al Dykes]

The computer really doesn't know what it's used for If you can gently
remove with a cloth a little of the gunk off the bigger chips, that might be
helpful. Sometimes if something goes wrong in your computer, you can remove
and reseat memory and cards. But the flip side of that is that when you
knock around memory and cards, things can start going wrong in your
computer. So the moral of the story is that in this case, be gentle because
"if it ain't broke don't fix it" probably applies.

Blow out the fans, and the power supply with a can of compressed air.
Power it up with the cover off and make sure all the fans
start easily. IMHO fans are the first thing to go on an old system.

A vacuum cleaner can generate lots of static. Don't use it.

 

[jeffc]

I pefer not to physically touch any component. Computer parts are
fragile. A few quick bursts of clean canned air over the components
every 6-10 months is all that's needed. I dust off all the fan blades
and hold a fan blade with a wooden stick to prevent it from spinning.

I like to let the fan go - that whirring sound is kewl.

 

[Gary W. Swearingen]

I like to let the fan go - that whirring sound is kewl.

I try to avoid doing that, so I don't risk harm to the bearings from
running faster than they're designed for or maybe throwing oil away
from where it belongs. I don't actually know that it's harmful, but
the keen sound isn't worth the risk to me.

 

[Dave]

Compressed air can generate a lot of static electricity and kill static
sensative components. It can also drive abrasive dust into areas that don't
like it, eg floppy drives and under chips, etc. Some hardrives also have
vents in them that don't like dust driven into them

A natural fibre paint brush can be used sucessfully to clean the insides of
the computer, touch it to a bare metal part of the chassis every few
strokes.

Dust left on the insides of a computer can kill it. It worse when used in a
humid area. The damp dust will corode the "legs" of the chips on the
boards, killing the computer. The moisture can also corode the tracks on
the boards as well.