How do you keep your PC clean?

[Richard Dower]

Is it like just getting in there and removing the hardware + elbow grease?

Just wondering if there is an easier way to do it, every 3-4 weeks i crack
open the box and clean a part of it, be it fans or PC parts.

How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

 

[Larc]

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 23:39:58 -0000, "Richard Dower"

| Is it like just getting in there and removing the hardware + elbow grease?
|
| Just wondering if there is an easier way to do it, every 3-4 weeks i crack
| open the box and clean a part of it, be it fans or PC parts.
|
| How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

I find aerosol "canned air" very helpful. Case fans do tend to
collect dust beyond the ability of a few puffs of air to get rid of,
so I remove those and clean them with paper towels and cotton swabs
slightly dampened.

This chore is done each time I have to go into the case for something
or about once per quarter, whichever comes first.

Larc



§§§ - Change planet to earth to reply by email - §§§

 

[Al Smith]

Is it like just getting in there and removing the hardware + elbow grease?

Just wondering if there is an easier way to do it, every 3-4 weeks i crack
open the box and clean a part of it, be it fans or PC parts.

How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

My own practice is to ignore the dust until I install a new card
or drive. Then, if the dust is thick enough, I peel away patches
of it with my fingers. Otherwise, I just leave it alone, until the
next card gets installed.

 

[Jon Danniken]

Is it like just getting in there and removing the hardware + elbow grease?

Just wondering if there is an easier way to do it, every 3-4 weeks i crack
open the box and clean a part of it, be it fans or PC parts.

How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

I clean off the fins of my heatsinks each spring (before the summer heat),
but otherwise I just leave it alone. Maybe if it gets really bad I'll blow
it out, but that's only once every couple of years, if at all.

Jon

 

[Spajky]

How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

sealed case with excelent but low airflow thru it & some positive air
presure 95% of time inside case with a filter on intake fan ...
I clean it just once a year ... see setup on my site ...

 

[Ed Medlin]

Is it like just getting in there and removing the hardware + elbow grease?

Just wondering if there is an easier way to do it, every 3-4 weeks i crack
open the box and clean a part of it, be it fans or PC parts.

How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

Take an air filter (furnace type) and cut to size and use Velcro to attach
it over the intake fans. Make sure to clean it once in awhile. This won't
completely stop the problem, but helps a whole bunch. Scotch-Brite also
works well as a filter.

Ed

 

[Doug]

Well, if you like me, I plan on having a PC probably for the rest of my life
in one form or another... Also I work on many PC's and cleaning is just
part of it if the case is to be cracked. So I personally thought it best to
just make a more expensive 1 time purchase to take care of just this. I
went to the local Wall-Mart and bought one of those 10 Gal portable air
tanks, went to the automotive section and bought an inline air cleaner/air
dryer and pressure regulator and did my 5 dollars worth of attachments and
badda bing. I usually just run about 25 PSI and blow it all out. When I
get low, I merely go refill it off my main compressor. OR you could just
run to the gas station and refill.

Those cans of "Canned Air" I think are a HUGE rip off, wont' do that
anymore. Really, unless your house or PC space is exceptionally dusty, you
shouldn't have to do this more then maybe 1 every 6 mo's to a year.

Hope this helps in some way,

Doug

 

[Woodsy]

Well, if you like me, I plan on having a PC probably for the rest of my life
in one form or another... Also I work on many PC's and cleaning is just
part of it if the case is to be cracked. So I personally thought it best to
just make a more expensive 1 time purchase to take care of just this. I
went to the local Wall-Mart and bought one of those 10 Gal portable air
tanks, went to the automotive section and bought an inline air cleaner/air
dryer and pressure regulator and did my 5 dollars worth of attachments and
badda bing. I usually just run about 25 PSI and blow it all out. When I
get low, I merely go refill it off my main compressor. OR you could just
run to the gas station and refill.

Those cans of "Canned Air" I think are a HUGE rip off, wont' do that
anymore. Really, unless your house or PC space is exceptionally dusty, you
shouldn't have to do this more then maybe 1 every 6 mo's to a year.

Hope this helps in some way,

Doug

Hey Doug,
I like your idea, and can be dual purpose in a "out of reach of the compressor" flat tire.
A pump up sprayer from a hardware store or wally world works good also,
about $30US. A deck or chem sprayer, nozzle is easy to shorten, and gives a valve
at your thumb, with a small spray pattern for delicate work. Uses the air from the
enviroment you are working in,could spit water if conditions are right,but I have never
had that problem.

 

[Guest]

Is it like just getting in there and removing the hardware + elbow grease?

Just wondering if there is an easier way to do it, every 3-4 weeks i crack
open the box and clean a part of it, be it fans or PC parts.

The less you handle your computer the better because cables can come
loose or you can damage with static electricity from your hands, a
brush, or even air from a can, compressor, or vacuum cleaner.

How do you keep the dust bunnies out?

Bring in only filtered air. Cover any vent holes with filter
material, and install 2 intake fans and cover each with a filter.
Foam restricts air flow too much, but vacuum cleaner filter material
works well, but the best material is pleated paper, such as for car
filters.

 

[Doug]

That's a very good idea too, but I think when I've got $2300.00 bucks into
a system, I prefer to have it (the air) filtered somewhere, somehow. Now
I know that some of the better sprayers as to what your referring have the
screen filters on them, I wonder if you modify it to have some sort of
paper filter to decrease the chances of moisture exiting the tip? Food for
thought....

Now for what I've done, I actually have a quick disconnect on the end and
have 3 different attachments that I use and the air is very precise if I
need it to be or I can have a broad spray for overall coverage and a general
purpose tip.

Now as another poster mentioned, you can put filters at the intake fans,
and I've done this before, but this still requires that you crack the case
and change them out every month or they clog and reduce air flow, and also,
right at the point that you install them, I think it causes restriction.
If you have a real bad dust problem, this would help, but if not, I would
just stick to the air method.

Regards to my fellow nerds!
Doug