Desktops: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC?
- 3/14/08 11:39 AM
Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 3/14/08 11:39 AM
How often do you clean out the dust bunnies inside your computer?
Once a month (How much did you find?)
Once every few months (How much did you find?)
Once a year (How much did you find?)
Once every couple of years (How bad was it?)
Whenever I feel like it
Whenever I start to hear strange noises
Whenever I do hardware upgrades
Never have (Why have you never cleaned?)
I didn’t know bunnies could live in my computer
If do regularly clean out your computer's innards, share with us how you go about it.
Thanks!
-Lee
DO NOT USE A VACUUM
by vpaul11 - 3/14/08 7:33 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
When cleaning out your PC's dust bunnies, DO NOT use a vacuum. The static discharge from the air going through the vacuum hose will destroy components inside the case.
Don't say I didn't warn ya.
What should I use to clean it?
by kitty900 - 3/15/08 7:19 AM In reply to: DO NOT USE A VACUUM by vpaul11I took a look at my 6 mo old Dell XPS, and the grates in the front are covered with dust. I am in a newly constructed house, and I am still collecting quite a bit of construction dust in my furnace filters. If I don't use a vacuum, how can I remove this? If I use canned air, it will blow it inside the case.
Real clean is not neccessary
by LionsMike - 3/15/08 9:24 AM In reply to: What should I use to clean it? by kitty900You can blow the dust out of the cooling fins with a can of compressed air, and then pick up what ever dust you can (your computer should be shut off) If you remove 85% or 90% of the dust, you have eliminated 85% or 90% of your danger. there are lots of little tricks like a small battery operated computer vacume which might even pick up some of the dust but one of my favorites is a turkey baster which you can use to blow or to suck up dust. I have seen people blow with their breath which contains a great deal of moisture and other contaminants; that is not a good thing.
Just be careful and be gentle and don't be too fussy. Get out any heavy accumulation of dust.
That's a confusing statement
by TreknologyNet - 3/19/08 3:38 AM In reply to: What should I use to clean it? by kitty900If you haven't opened the computer, and are sucking dust out of obvious filters, a vacuum cleaner is fine.
If you have opened the computer, then instead of squeezing into all the corners with the Kenny Everedge Krevice Nozzle, use a small clean/new paint brush to delicately flick the dust in the direction of the vacuum hose.
Dust is usually not a problem for me because I'm switching boxes and boards so often, the dust has no chance to settle.
One thing that should be maintained for cleanliness is any keyboard that rates in quality higher than "disposable".
If you're getting by with a 101 keyboard that doesn't have those pesky windows keys and is made with REAL switches (as opposed to a $6 dish sponge that doesn't let anyone build up a decent typing speed), you have a duty to keep it clean. If your computer is in a smoking household--no cigarette within 10 feet of the computer! I can make a small fortune recovering typist quality keyboards that have been filled with cigarette ash. Don't be afraid to run the normal vacuum over the top (not one of those USB things). If that suction is enough to lift keytops off your keyboard either it's clinically dead, or you're using a Karcher.
It is easy to un-confuse
by LionsMike - 3/19/08 7:07 AM In reply to: That's a confusing statement by TreknologyNetI made the mistake of not making it clear once.
If you can remove 99% of the dust in a half hour, don't spend an additional 7, 8, or 12 hours trying to get out the last 1%. I had one friend who had his computer shut down for a couple of days while he attempted to get out every little particle of dust. I had to come and reassemble his computer for him because he thought that any dust was a problem. I was sure that within a few weeks it would accumulate more dust than was left after the first half hour of cleaning.
suck up keyboard keys
by 583casper583 - 3/22/08 5:23 PM In reply to: That's a confusing statement by TreknologyNetI sucked up two keyboard keys with a vacuum about a week ago!
My vacuum cleaner is installed into the house so maybe because it was too powerful? My keyboard is fairly strong so I don't think its that.
The keys I sucked up are Screen lock and print screen, luckily I don't use these that often and they were from my secondary keyboard.
If I was to do it again I would put on the corner nozzle which is not big enough to let keys in.
dust bunnies
by Daniel F. Pinkerton - 3/14/08 8:05 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I don't buy the idea that dust bunnies (or even the cat hair that's everywhere else in my office) can get inside my intel iMac. All the vents are on the bottom, which is several inches above the desktop. Does my computer suck it in like plankton? Or is this just another reason to be glad I don't have a PC?
I don't smoke
by LionsMike - 3/14/08 8:08 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I am a non smoker and my house is heated with electricity. I do not leave my computer on 24/7, so I find that once a year is plenty. I also have two 80mm exhaust fans and one 80mm intake fan that do a great jub of cooling down inside of my 30 inch tall tower.
I have serviced computer in houses of smokers and advise them to open their case and clean out dust at least once every two months.
Your environment is probably the most important factor in the frequency of cleaning. Fireplaces, coal or wood stoves, forced hot air heat, living in a dusty neighborhood, smoking, or just an old dirty house will increase the amount of airborn dust and therefore the need to clean your computer more frequently. Some heatsinks are more prone to hold dust than others so you have to look closely at that factor also.
Air intake filters help to reduce the dust that gets inside your computer but they also reduce the the cool air that passes through your computer the three case fans in my tower assure that dust does not move slowly through my tower.
HEAT IS YOUR COMPUTERS WORST ENEMY so keep the air moving through and make sure that it is cooling your processor and your video processor. plugged heatsinks just don't cool as well.
Secret Dust
by jmarkross - 3/14/08 8:19 PM In reply to: I don't smoke by LionsMikeMany people who claim to know--say household dust is made up (over 50%) of sloughed off skin cells. The more people in your household the more dust--and real sizeable dust. It is worth consideration...especially with a number of small folks who they say shed more quickly. Old folks like me...I don't even leave fingerprints anymore!
That Darn Cat(s)!!
by jmarkross - 3/14/08 8:11 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have 2 female cats who must be on my large table I use as my Command Central. They shed, of course. The grates on my Dell Tower catch a lot of the hair--BUT--it mats in there, and is not all that visible. I use those rollers that use sticky masking tape as lint pickup vehicles. I use these first--and often. If your fan seems to run faster--this is a clue to blocked grates (vents?). If I do this...both front AND back...the inside seems to stay pretty clean. Using something sticky to grab the dust boogers avoids the horror of using a blast of anything that can mean disaster!
On average every three months
by Dango517 - 3/14/08 8:35 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I monitor my system temperatures using SpeedFan software when I notice the temperatures climbing or remaining high I clean it out. The quantities of the materials I find are usually low but enough to effect the operation of the PC. In the Summer we might do it a bit more. I also filter the air flowing into the PC to keep dust out as long as possible. Furnace filter works well and can simply be cut and taped to the inlet openings.
Brief momentary stalls, hangs or crashes usually are indications of over heating. These occur most often after long term system operation or under demanding uses like gaming, scans, and I/O indexing of the hard drive. Check if dust is the problem first before moving on to more drastic and costly measures. Major crashes can occur with major dust clogging. If this is the trouble then the user is to blame and needs to do a better job of routine cleaning. How's your maintenance? 
Warning: opening the tower/laptop during the term of the warranty can void it. See the documentation that came with your computer for details or contact the machine's manufacture.
This thread is untracked
I clean out the dust bunnies every few months.
by rosie82 - 3/14/08 8:50 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I clean out the dust bunnies from my PC every few months. I learned to do this many years ago when a PC I then owned kept overheating causing it to freak out and freeze up. The dust acts as insulation, not allowing heat to dissipate from the components properly. The fans get all dust covered and do not move enough air over heat sinks that are covered with dust and so forth. Chasing out the dust bunnies simply prolongs computer life.
Once a month, only because of my boys. . .
by back_water_tech - 3/14/08 8:58 PM In reply to: Poll: How often do you clean out the inside of your PC? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I clean my pc's about once a month.
But I have two cats and they shed more than the vet tells me they should.
If you are a smoker, have little kids, or any pets, I would reccomend a monthly cleaning cycle.
I have heard that vacumes are bad, I've been working with PC's for years and I haven't had any problems. If you are worried about static, they sell cans of compressed air at most electronics stores (Wal-Mart also carries the cans)
Take the PC into the garage, take the covers off, and give it a good blow down. I personally use an air compressor (handy in the garage) and use a shop vac to get the trouble stuff off of the case.
I wouldn't reccomend using a vacume with a brush inside the case on the electronics. I haven't had any trouble, but there is a lot of static associated with vacumes. 
YIKES!!!
by BridgetW - 3/15/08 6:05 AM In reply to: Once a month, only because of my boys. . . by back_water_techI had my last computer for 10 years (running win'98), and only a few months ago did I finally break down & buy an new one (and only because the other one was soooooo slow!). Anyway, during the 10 years, I only cleaned it out ONCE; when I added memory. I was reading this weeks current c-net question of the week (concerning a noisy computer) and it FINALLY occurred to me that's probably why my last computer was SOOOOO LOUD! So, that leads me to my question. HOW do I clean out the inside? Simply take off the cover and blow (I'd feel better about canned air; I'm afraid I'd suck out something I wasn't supposed to if I used a vaccume)? Another post warned about possibly voiding your warranty if opening the cover during the warranty period. Problem is, this is a smoking house on a dirt road with 2 dogs a few blocks from the beach (lots of sand). SO...I don't want to void my warranty, but waithing a couple of years before cleaning doesn't sound like such a great idea either. What would you do?
Thanks!
Bridget
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