21 replies to this topic

[stun]

Just wondering, what do you guys do for cleaning out your PC's?

I built my own PC like many of you have. I have used those compressed air in cans to blow out most of the dust build-up inside, but would it save more money to buy a small air compressor?

I can blow out the dust of the dust inside without having to remove any components, but what about behind the motherboard? Should I be taking it off every now and then to get at the dust behind it? Any other parts I should be taking off and cleaning?

Last question regarding liquid cooling. Do I need to be doing anything with the coolant on a periodic basis? I read some stuff about potential algae growth in the coolant and needing to put in an algicide to destroy the algae.

thank you

[Vulpesveritas]

when I have a desktop, I take compressed air to it about once a month. For laptops, it's about once every three months. Then i wipe off any non-monitor case surfaces with a microfiber cloth about every month as well, and use LCD cleaner and a separate microfiber cloth on the monitor for the same period of time.

Liquid cooling wise- you should check the liquid level about once a month and check the connection points to ensure you don't have any leaks anywhere. And then I would do my above listed things.

[Darkhammer]

I use my cheap *** compressor, The only problem with any compressor is there is a change that moisture will be deposited on the electronic parts while blow out your air cleaner, i mean your computer.

[Fresh Meat]

best thing to do is just put the whole thing in mineral oil. everyone is doin it

Edited by Fresh_Meat, 12 February 2012 - 04:22 PM.

[Barbaric Soul]

Fresh_Meat, on 12 February 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

best thing to do is just put the whole thing in mineral oil. everyone is doin it

That is not the best thing, and honestly would not work for me. The main problem with mineral oil is eventually it will be heated up to a point where it won't keep your PC cool. My computer right now has been 10 days and almost 15 hours without a reboot and has been running 4 cores/8 threads at full load running WCG crunching. That heat output for that long of period would eventually bring the mineral oil to the point of being too hot to cool my PC.

The 2nd most common problem is dust. Dust is going to get in the tank. Only way to get rid of it is to change the oil.

3rd problem comes when you decide to remove a part. You'll never get all the oil off the parts. Personally, I upgrade my computer on a regular basis and sell my old parts. Who is going to buy a PC part covered in oil?

[Fresh Meat]

I was joking, its the kind of thing you do with a comp you don't care about. Also scrubbing bubbles can clean you mobo no problem as for a hot mineral oil build you just need some plastic fish to ride the convection waves.

Edited by Fresh_Meat, 12 February 2012 - 11:56 PM.

[Gremlich Johns]

Fresh_Meat, on 12 February 2012 - 04:21 PM, said:

best thing to do is just put the whole thing in mineral oil. everyone is doin it

The only people I know of doing are the guys in tech show/podcast world. And then, they do it just to see what it was like so they could report to others.

Seriously, if you are going to submerse, you will need a radiator with a fan (like a minivan radiator on a converter for power), tubing, pump and filter to move the oil around if you are going to keep a submersed PC cool and clean. Plus, covered to keep dust out.

Edited by Gremlich Johns, 18 February 2012 - 12:48 PM.

[Cur]

I normaly just buy a can of compressed air and a pack of Qtips.

The compressed air gets out most of the crap, the Qtips get used rapidly for all the hard to reach places, like the CPU fan blades, video fan blades, around the fan grills for the PSU, etc.

For behind the motherboard just take the 2nd cover off you're case (so main guts and the metal plate the mobo is screwd into is exposed) then get the compressed air can and attach the... uh... straw thing? that comes with it, put the tip under one end of the mobo and blow, should force it out the other end or bottom. Tho its not normaly too bad as the PC case is standing up, and dust falls to the bottom rather than sticking up there.



I personaly will never like the idea of water cooling, water + electronics = bad. Its not that hard to get you're pc sufficciently cool by spending $50 on case fans. I have... 6 of the ******** in my case. one on the front, one on the side, two on the back, two on the top, and they're setup to maximise airflow within the case. They're 12" silent fans, you cant hear it, and boy does it do the job. Tho it does require allmost daily cleaning of the front/side of my case where the fans are, if you have pet cats you'll understand



Am i the only one that goes crazy on my keyboard when that needs a clean? About 1-2 hrs once a year, all the keys get pulled off, underside of keys and where they stick into on keyboard gets a good wash with metho, spacebar, shift keys re-oiled then everything put back into place.


After you clean you're own keyboard once you never look at you're work keyboard the same again after realising the ammount of crap that gets stuck under there o_O

[Lincoln Zhukov]

Every 2 weeks with wet cleaning cloth and compressed air Don't repeat my mistake, don't buy Sunbeam Acrylic Cases...

[retroboy]

as far as I know dust only builds up in fans and air intakes.
you wouldn't have to worry about cleaning the back of the MOBO

[Stahlseele]

Cans of pressurized Air.
Perri Air!

[Seth Deathstalker]

Stahlseele, on 21 February 2012 - 12:33 PM, said:

Perri Air!

Spaceballs

Edited by Seth Deathstalker, 21 February 2012 - 01:44 PM.

[Stahlseele]

Yes.
He still owes us part two <.<

[Seth Deathstalker]

Most definitely he does!

[CeeKay Boques]

Got a small 1.5 hp air compressor, Its loud, but I don't deal with freezing cans, or wasting money on them. I can spray where I want, how much I want. I take the fans off the Video Card and blow in there as well. However, it does double duty as a tire pump and airbrush unit, so you may not get your $89 out of it. That's about 20 cans of air.

[Benjamin Larson]

One trick I learned from using a Macintosh laptop (a G4 dinosaur) is that Acetone-soaked Q Tips are great for cleaning the excess buildup from your fingers off of keyboards- but be ready to see some baaad stuff man. Just be damn careful that you don't spill any onto other electronics.

I think you can also subsitute rubbing alcohol for the acetone to better clean other electronic parts, but I'd check with the manufacturers about what you can (and cant) do.

[Gremlich Johns]

Benjamin Larson, on 21 February 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

One trick I learned from using a Macintosh laptop (a G4 dinosaur) is that Acetone-soaked Q Tips are great for cleaning the excess buildup from your fingers off of keyboards- but be ready to see some baaad stuff man. Just be damn careful that you don't spill any onto other electronics.

I think you can also subsitute rubbing alcohol for the acetone to better clean other electronic parts, but I'd check with the manufacturers about what you can (and cant) do.

clean your keyboard with an acetone or non-acetone cloth when your system is off. q-tips are too dainty.

[T0RC4ED]

I use an air compressor at low pressure to clean my desktop and laptops. There is a possbility of getting some moisture on the equipment but as long as you keep the pressure low and the tip of the air hose a foot or so away from the components you shouldnt have any problem. If your realy concerned with dust on the back of the motherboard you could shoot some air down the back of it. I have seen some pretty big dust bunnies come out of the back, but its usually on systems that are poorly maintained. Rubbing alcohol and a tooth brush are good for cleaning grime off circuit cards of all types (make sure the machine is unplugged with batteries removed if applicable and also make sure the machine is fully discharged). Ive had to do this on machines that their users smoke next to them.
On the topic of biologic growth in liquid cooling systems you will find that some coolants have chemicals added to them to prevent this so normal coolant refills/replacements should keep the problem in check. DO NOT USE WATER in a liquid cooling system unless you designed the system with that intent. The use of normal water/ distilled water/ purified water can lead to bilogical groth and corrosion as well as the fact that its water which when combined with contaminants becomes conductive. Most coolants are non conductors so a leak could be a problem but not a disaster. Having never had any issues with my liquid cooling system Im unable to report the actual results of a coolant leak. I hope this is useful to anyone who reads it. I am a computer tech with many PC builds and countless pc repairs. Feel free to message me with any questions you may have.

[Gremlich Johns]

@T0RC4ED put a moisture trap on that thing

[Chas]

Honestly, I'd prefer just to use compressed air cans if I can. I just don't want to have to worry about the moisture issue with a compressor.

One thing: DO NOT DO THIS WHILE THE COMPUTER IS RUNNING! You can severely damage your fans if you do. I've seen guys literally shear blades off their fans trying to blow out their machines while the fans were running.

Shut your machine down. Place a finger behind a fan blade to keep it from rotating and blast the fan.

Wipe down the fan, the and the inside of the case with a tack cloth after blowing it out.