PC cleaning tips

[Hellfire]

Was curious and thought I'd share and grab some tips for cleaning PCs/cases.

- Standard one, Compressed Air for loose particles
- One I picked up from my buddy Instg8r was a camera dust blower
- I find a nice fine paint brush is good for cleaning blades on fans and getting into the little nooks.
- Baby/Diaper wipes give a nice quick clean to external areas and pick up stuck dust.


Any tips you like to share too?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

you want one of these.....

It will replace your cans of compressed air in no time. Not only that, it doesnt lose pressure like the cans of compressed air do and its super powerful too!!

A regular leaf blower will also do a good job if you have one of those in the garden shed.

 

[Solaris17]

GooGone Does alot for stickers and shit people try to take off their machines. Has no issues with the plastic bodies of laptops either.

 

[micropage7]

all i need just 1 inch paint brush, small brush, micro fiber, patience and cold drink

 

[hat]

Shop vac and done. Yeah, it leaves a minimal amount of dust behind on fan blades and stuff, but I'm not exactly performing open heart surgery with them either...

 

[biffzinker]

If you want a squeaky clean case nothing beats carwash soap and water.

 

[delshay]

I use a real compressor, for PC case cleaning. I hold the PC case in mid-air (open part facing down) & blast air from below. This way the dust is falling towards the floor & not blown around the case.,

 

[cucker tarlson]

mattress pump, has several nozzles, big for the dust in the case, pointy to blow between the fins.

 

[Jetster]

I Just use filters. High humidity makes dust stick and a pain to get off.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I find a nice fine paint brush is good for cleaning blades on fans and getting into the little nooks.

I agree but it is important to avoid paint brushes with synthetic bristles (like nylon). Natural hair brushes are less likely to generate static electricity which might result in ESD destruction of your ESD sensitive devices. Alternatively, they make anti-static cleaning brushes specifically for ESD sensitive electronics. If you clean electronics with high-density digital components frequently, I recommend purchasing an assortment of shapes and sizes to keep on hand. Just remember, no brush is 100% static free. And all brushes (like static wrist bands) lose their effectiveness as they get dirty.

ESD is a concern with all blowers and especially vacuums so care must be taken to minimize any discharges. If you need to move in close with the nozzle, wrap your hand around the nozzle end, then with an extended finger, touch bare metal of the case interior to ground and discharge any static in your body and the nozzle. Keep your finger planted there to prevent further buildup of any static. On particularly dirty systems, I often then use the dusting brush to "sweep" the dust into the air flow and out of the case (or if bad weather, into the vacuum nozzle).

Do NOT assume any vacuum/duster marketed for electronics, even if they claim to prevent ESD, is ESD free.

Remember, a static discharge so tiny you (as a human) cannot see, feel or hear has more than enough potential (voltage) to scorch a Grand Canyon sized (microscopically speaking) trench through millions of transistor gates on your processor, memory modules or other ESD sensitive devices without you even knowing a discharge occurred!

I use a real compressor

Me too (weather permitting). Every professional electronics repair facility I have worked in has had compressed air. In one USAF air traffic control transmitter shop I worked in, it was even piped throughout the building. Nice!

But because the compression process squeezes the moisture out of the air which then condenses on the inside of the tank then mixes with oils in the air and rust at bottom of the tank, you must always - as in EVERY SINGLE TIME - use an appropriate inline moisture and particulate filter when cleaning electronics (or air-brush painting birthday cakes or faces!). You sure don't want to risk spewing nasty, rusty, oily water onto your motherboard (or birthday cake or kid's face!).

And as fun as it may be, never see how fast you can make a fan spin - you can easily exceed design limits and damage or even destroy the bearings. I use wooden glue/Popsicle sticks to hold the blades stationary when blasting. These are particularly nice with hard-to-reach PSU fans.

 

[IceScreamer]

I agree but it is important to avoid paint brushes with synthetic bristles (like nylon). Natural hair brushes are less likely to generate static electricity which might result in ESD destruction of your ESD sensitive devices. Alternatively, they make anti-static cleaning brushes specifically for ESD sensitive electronics. If you clean electronics with high-density digital components frequently, I recommend purchasing an assortment of shapes and sizes to keep on hand. Just remember, no brush is 100% static free. And all brushes (like static wrist bands) lose their effectiveness as they get dirty.

ESD is a concern with all blowers and especially vacuums so care must be taken to minimize any discharges. If you need to move in close with the nozzle, wrap your hand around the nozzle end, then with an extended finger, touch bare metal of the case interior to ground and discharge any static in your body and the nozzle. Keep your finger planted there to prevent further buildup of any static. On particularly dirty systems, I often then use the dusting brush to "sweep" the dust into the air flow and out of the case (or if bad weather, into the vacuum nozzle).

Do NOT assume any vacuum/duster marketed for electronics, even if they claim to prevent ESD, is ESD free.

Remember, a static discharge so tiny you (as a human) cannot see, feel or hear has more than enough potential (voltage) to scorch a Grand Canyon sized (microscopically speaking) trench through millions of transistor gates on your processor, memory modules or other ESD sensitive devices without you even knowing a discharge occurred!

Me too (weather permitting). Every professional electronics repair facility I have worked in has had compressed air. In one USAF air traffic control transmitter shop I worked in, it was even piped throughout the building. Nice!

But because the compression process squeezes the moisture out of the air which then condenses on the inside of the tank then mixes with oils in the air and rust at bottom of the tank, you must always - as in EVERY SINGLE TIME - use an appropriate inline moisture and particulate filter when cleaning electronics (or air-brush painting birthday cakes or faces!). You sure don't want to risk spewing nasty, rusty, oily water onto your motherboard (or birthday cake or kid's face!).

And as fun as it may be, never see how fast you can make a fan spin - you can easily exceed design limits and damage or even destroy the bearings. I use wooden glue/Popsicle sticks to hold the blades stationary when blasting. These are particularly nice with hard-to-reach PSU fans.

A genuine question, have you ever encountered an ESD damaged component, what are the symptoms and whatnot? I always take precautions but personally never saw a component damaged by ESD, or at least I think i didn't.
On topic, for cleaning I use a real compressor and a thick brush, just make sure when blowing with a compressor make sure you stop the fans from spinning.

 

[Bill_Bright]

A genuine question, have you ever encountered an ESD damaged component, what are the symptoms and whatnot?

Not in many years. When I started out as a certified electronics technician way back in the 70s, ESD was relatively unknown (remember, it cannot be seen, heard or felt by humans). All technicians and engineers knew what those new fangled digital ICs were failing for unknown reasons. It was not until IC density levels increased, and after examinations under microscopes did the damage become apparent, and someone finally figured out what was causing it.

The problem was, as more transistor gates were being jammed into the same size ICs, each transistor gate was getting smaller and smaller. We (science) already knew that voltage will "arc" when the voltage value increases, or when the size/width of the gap between conductors decreases. Smaller transistor gates means smaller gaps, which meant lower voltages could more easily jump across (arc) the gap.

You never saw any ESD damage because it takes a microscope to see it. But think of a microscopic sized lightning bolt and you get the idea! Only with ESD, the gap between your finger tip and sensitive device can be less than 1 millimeter for the gap to be small enough for the arc to occur. And note those ESD arcs from our fingertips can exceed 30,000 volts and we, as humans, still cannot see, hear or feel it! - because there is next to nothing in current behind that voltage.

As for me personally, we started replacing all our vacuum tube radios with "solid state" radios back in the 70s. None of us were trained on ESD, or how to prevent it because it was a relatively unknown phenomenon that is not a problem with vacuum tube and "discreet" (not integrated) component devices. So we were zapping our own radios when we were doing "preventative" maintenance. Not good. Once they figured out what was happening, we installed ESD floor mats, bench mats, started using wrist bands, and all the techs had to take special classes on ESD awareness and prevention. After that, no more zapping our own radios.

So to answer your question, since I started maintaining computers in the late 70s, no I have never seen any ESD damage because I ALWAYS take the necessary precautions to prevent it. But as a computer tech, I have had many computers come into the shop where the CPU, GPU, RAM, or motherboard itself failed. And after talking to the user and learning how they tried to replace the TIM (thermal interface material), replace a graphics card, install the mobo or add RAM, and questioned how they handled those devices without taking any ESD prevention precautions, I assume with pretty good certainty they zapped the devices themselves with ESD.

Speaking to everyone: Have you read your motherboard or graphics card manual? ESD (or simply static discharge) has been addressed in those forever - typically in the first couple lines of the installation precautions. But who reads the manuals?

 

[Vya Domus]

A genuine question, have you ever encountered an ESD damaged component, what are the symptoms and whatnot? I always take precautions but personally never saw a component damaged by ESD, or at least I think i didn't.

Things is, even if there is some sort of electrical discharge, it's really unlikely that it would be enough to kill anything. Electronics are pretty resilient these days.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Shop vac and done. Yeah, it leaves a minimal amount of dust behind on fan blades and stuff, but I'm not exactly performing open heart surgery with them either...

This makes me nervous. Shop vac's can and do build up static in the hose. It's too easy to touch something with the hose.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Things is, even if there is some sort of electrical discharge, it's really unlikely that it would be enough to kill anything. Electronics are pretty resilient these days.

Sorry, but totally false. They certainly are more resilient today than they were years ago, but ESD damage is still a very real possibility. ESD is the primary reason we should never ever touch the electrical contacts of a RAM stick or graphics card, or the pins/pads of a processor, or of the processor socket.

Now if your motherboard, case, and PSU are properly grounded to Earth ground, and you don't have any exposed CPU pins or pads, or exposed RAM or graphics card connectors and reach inside without touching bare metal first, there is a pretty good chance the discharge will be shunted to ground (or the PC case) without causing damage. But it would be foolish (and perhaps expensive) to ignore or even minimize the possibilities of ESD damage. And frankly, it is never wise to assume those shunts are working properly, or that there is a proper Earth ground anyway - especially outside of a professional electronic repair facility. You certainly should NEVER EVER assume that 25 cent, mass produced power cable that came with your PSU is providing a good ground. Or that your wall outlet is properly grounded either. In fact, you should unplug your PSU from the wall before doing maintenance on the computer anyway! So touching the bare metal of the case interior to put you and the case "at the same potential" is still the best precaution and prevention for ESD damage.

This makes me nervous. Shop vac's can and do build up static in the hose. It's too easy to touch something with the hose.

Any vac can. That's why I said above to wrap your hand around the nozzle end and plant an extended finger on bare metal of the case interior. If that is not picking up the dust, use your anti-static cleaning brush to sweep the dust into the vacuum.

I much prefer to lug the computers outside to blast with my air compressor, than use a vacuum. That said, I have breaking down and lugging my computers outside. So I never buy cases without removable, washable filters. At least now, I don't have to lug them outside near as often.

 

[Vya Domus]

They certainly are more resilient today than they were years ago, but ESD damage is still a very real possibility.

I know it's possibility, it's just a very slim one, even you admitted that this has never happened to you. By your description even with all the precautions taken in this would be an incredibly common occurrence, yet , it's not.

ESD is the primary reason we should never ever touch the electrical contacts of a RAM stick or graphics card, or the pins/pads of a processor, or of the processor socket.

I think you're just falling into a trope here due to your profession. You are not wrong, but you're advocating for crazy levels of care while handling electronics which creates this really unnecessary paranoia that you're bound to brake something, at all times, guaranteed. By all means people, touch your RAM sticks all you want. Seriously, this is extreme.

 

[Vayra86]

Shop vac and done. Yeah, it leaves a minimal amount of dust behind on fan blades and stuff, but I'm not exactly performing open heart surgery with them either...

Worst idea in the world.

I think you're just falling into a trope here due to your profession. You are not wrong, but you're advocating for crazy levels of care while handling electronics which creates this really unnecessary paranoia that you're bound to brake something, at all times, guaranteed. By all means people, touch your RAM sticks all you want. Seriously, this is extreme.

ESD is real. I've had two PCs that I used to vacuum clean monthly, and the nozzle NEVER touched a component, but static charges did their work. Both PCs died, slowly but surely. It started with HDD read errors, and ended with complete lockups even after swapping the HDDs. 100% certainty is hard, but it just doesn't happen with recent, well running equipment that several parts die in short succession. The other rig started throwing memory errors after some time as well. In all the rigs I've taken precautions for, not a single component has failed - sample size 24.

So, doing whatever you can to avoid ESD is very much recommended. This includes disconnecting and a long power down for the PC, wearing a short sleeve T shirt and no fleece vest when you start doing work, for example, and grounding yourself on a radiator tube or something likewise prior to touching components or wearing a bracelet connected to the box. Simple measures really.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I know it's possibility, it's just a very slim one, even you admitted that this has never happened to you.

Come on! Not cool!

For one, I did not say I have "never" seen it. I specifically said since I started working on computers I have not seen it because, "I ALWAYS take the necessary precautions to prevent it."

You are not wrong, but you're advocating for crazy levels of care

Oh hogwash! I don't use a wrist band. I don't have a grounded mat on the floor or a grounded mat on my bench and my bench is not grounded to facility ground. And, other than normal air conditioning and heating, I don't use environmental controls in my computer room. That is, I don't maintain perfect relative humidity in the room. Those are crazy levels - but levels I would expect to see in a professional repair facility.

By your description even with all the precautions taken in this would be an incredibly common occurrence, yet , it's not.

Wow! You just twist everything around to say what you want, huh? Shame on you! That is NOT how I described anything. "Very real possibility" does not mean anything close to "incredibly common occurrence".

You go ahead and minimize the threat all you want. Me, because of my profession (as you noted) I will continue to advise folks to be aware of the very real threats and to take the necessary precaution to touch bare metal of the case interior and to only hold sensitive devices by the edges, not the electrical contacts.

Sorry but you have just demonstrated your own lack of education and experience with ESD. You need to educate yourself before giving out such dismissive information. Understanding ESD and EOS Failure in Semiconductor Devices.

ESD causes more than one-third of the field failures in the semiconductor industry.

I could cite many more sources but you can do your own homework to see how ESD is a $5+ billion annual problem.

ESD is real. I've had two PCs that I used to vacuum clean monthly, and the nozzle NEVER touched a component,

Any destructive discharge would happen without actually touching a component. It is the arcing or sparks that jump across the gap that cause the damage.

The potential damage from the nozzle actually touching something is just the physical damage from the hard metal or hard plastic nozzle banging into something should you slip, breaking a component or scratching through several motherboard circuit traces. With compressed air, you typically can hold the nozzle several inches away eliminating any possibility of sparks.

 

[Vya Domus]

ESD is real. I've had two PCs that I used to vacuum clean monthly, and the nozzle NEVER touched a component, but static charges did their work. Both PCs died, slowly but surely. It started with HDD read errors, and ended with complete lockups even after swapping the HDDs. 100% certainty is hard, but it just doesn't happen with recent, well running equipment that several parts die in short succession. The other rig started throwing memory errors after some time as well. In all the rigs I've taken precautions for, not a single component has failed - sample size 24.

I don't argue with any of that, but at the same tine that doesn't prove anything ultimately. You gotta admit you're just speculating there about the cause of failure.

For one, I did not say I have "never" seen it.

since I started maintaining computers in the late 70s, no I have never seen any ESD damage because I ALWAYS take the necessary precautions to prevent it.

Eh, OK. I mean your comment is right there, you wrote it. If you meant to write something else, well, you should have written something else. There isn't much that I can understand from there other than the fact that you claim you've never seen it, be it for whatever reason. By the way to say that you've never seen because you've definitely done everything right is awfully optimist of you to say the least, but whatever I'll give you that.

Sorry but you have just demonstrated your own lack of education and experience with ESD. You need to educate yourself before giving out such dismissive information. Understanding ESD and EOS Failure in Semiconductor Devices.

Surely , being as educated as you are you'd be able to see why those statistics which are in relation with the manufacturing of ICs and their environment wouldn't hold up well in the world of consumers handling the end-products. I don't know why you struggle so hard to prove to me something which I already know, despite your apparent conviction that I am uneducated because I am actually yet to disagree with any technicality that you've pointed out. I am simply unsure most of those concerns are relevant enough for the average Joe.

Want to clean your PC ? Open it up, touch the metal case of the PSU and use canned compressed air to clean the dust. Just leave it at that, is there a 0.01% chance something goes wrong ? Yes, so is the chance to spill liquid inside of your PC or some other obscure mishap.

 

[jboydgolfer]

been cleaning computers/electronics for a Long time, & hands down the easiest way IMO, is to use a shop Vac, set to blow, and a paint brush. Just use caution on the fan blades to not break them , or spin them up too much. If you hold a paint brush to a case fan, and just lightly touch it to the blades, then direct air flow at the fan blades, they will spin a bit, with the brush touch/dusting them off.

 

[AsRock]

GooGone Does alot for stickers and shit people try to take off their machines. Has no issues with the plastic bodies of laptops either.

Mr Clean is good for cleaning the out side case and make it shine once again, even good on 20--50 old hifi gear too, just remember to use 5parts water.

Spoiler: Some pics

 

[Bill_Bright]

If you meant to write something else, well, you should have written something else.

I did write something else. And you (this time, thank you) quoted the rest of it instead of picking out of context only what you wanted to read.

those statistics which are in relation with the manufacturing of ICs and their environment wouldn't hold up well in the world of consumers handling the end-products.

LOL There you go again - picking out of context. Did you actually read the article? Or do your own homework as recommended? No. Because you just assume you are right and so can't be bothered to verify your facts.

That article and those statistics are NOT just in relation to the "manufacture" of the ICs. That article talks about ESD damage occurring where "people" handle these devices in all sorts of environments - including the "application" of the IC - which would include assembling the computer on your dining room table! Or users swapping out RAM or graphics cards.

 

[Devon68]

Well I use my hands to clean my PC. And in my hands I have a small brush. Clean it 1-2 times a year. Simple and it works.

 

[Bill_Bright]

And in my hands I have a small brush. Clean it 1-2 times a year. Simple and it works.

And depending on how dusty it is in there, that may be more than enough. When I had kids and dogs running around stirring up dust, dander and hair all the time that the case fans loved to suck through every crack in the computer cases, cleaning was a much bigger pain. Now that it is an "empty nest", computer cleaning is pretty simple.

 

[Vya Domus]

That article and those statistics are NOT just in relation to the "manufacture" of the ICs. That article talks about ESD damage occurring where "people" handle these devices in all sorts of environments - including the "application" of the IC - which would include assembling the computer on your dining room table! Or users swapping out RAM or graphics cards.

From the article :

ESD damage occurs when people, robotic arms, and other equipment in manufacturing environments handle devices.

If a device is exposed to a weak ESD pulse and is partially damaged, it may continue to function well enough and pass production automated test equipment (ATE) tests meeting datasheet specifications.

The article is clearly focusing exactly on what I said, namely the effect of ESD during production and manufacturing. It's starting to get painfully obvious who is "doing their homework" and who isn't. As is the case with most of your opinions it seems, you eventually twist around ideas and facts just so they can fit with your narrative even if they are completely unrelated to the point you want to make. But I digress, I'll stop here with this bizarre, off-topic discussion which clearly has no end.