Be Cool, Dust Free Computer Cooling

In one of my last blogs I have written about Computers & dust. Meanwhile I have heard a story about a fire that occurred because of dust! The computer was completely obstructed by dust & the combination of Dust, High voltage & heat did the rest, it seems that the PSU (Power Supply Unit) erupted in flames & half the house was destroyed before the firefighters put the fire down.

Today I will address desktop dust preventive maintenance and planning.

First & foremost always buy a computer case with dust filters so the only thing to clean is

Removable Filter

the filters! In this case you will not have to access the computer inner workings often. With or without filters you have to clean the Dust on a regular basis. The frequency of this intervention changes from user to user and is determined by a handful of parameters;

  • How much time the computer is On. If it’s working 24/7 or if you access it only a few hours a day can make a tremendous difference.
  • How much rugs & carpets you have in the house. Wall to wall and/or thick carpets collect a lot of dust, no amount of vacuuming will get rid of it all, when you walk on them, the dust raises from the carpet, and it’s drawn by the computer intake fan.
  • Computer distance from the floor. If the computer is placed on the floor or on the table will make a big difference in the amount of dust the drawn trough the computer.
  • House pets. Yes! Cats & Dogs, they shed their fur and the hairs get in every nook & cranny. Cats have finer hairs than dogs so they are a bigger hazard to cooled household appliances and the number of pets also mater. Pets hairs are the worst parameter since they clogs the filters or the CPU cooler fins and collects normal dust particles even quicker.

The solution to dust is simple & effective; clean it often!

Tools;

  • Simple house Vacuum.
  • 1″ Fine painting brush.
  • A standard Philips screwdriver will open most cases.

Disclaimer;  The author of this blog will not accepts any liability for any system down time or breakage or bodily damage caused by unprofessional handling when implementing this blog instructions. I advise strongly to use the services of a certified professional to apply these blog instructions. Always unplug your computer when servicing it.

If you had a good computer specialist advising you when purchasing your computer, he made sure that you bought a computer with a filtered case. So if you have a filtered case the only thing to do is clean all the case filters. If the filters are removable, just gently detach them from the case & clean them with water. Be sure that the filters are completely dry before returning them in place. If the filters are not removable just vacuum them, it’s even better if you use a fine brush to help detach dust particles when vacuuming the filters. Even with filters the case is not completely sealed and a certain amount of dust will always collect inside the case on the fans and especially on the CPU cooler block fins. You will have to clean that yearly or biyearly.

If you case do not have filters, the fans will have to be vacuumed; it is always easier to use a fine brush to help detach dust particles from the fans ailerons. The CPU cooler cleaning is much harder; the CPU fan will have to be detached from the CPU Cooler block to have direct access, so the dust can be thoroughly cleaned. Not detaching the CPU fan can cause wear on the fan motor when using the vacuum cleaner & in some instances the fan ailerons can even broke. It is also recommended to clean any excess dust everywhere inside the case.

A computer should be cleaned in accordance to the different parameters mentioned above. For cases that fit all of the parameters, i.e. if the computer is working all day long, the environment contains carpets & cats, and the case is on the floor; the dust should be cleaned monthly or at the least bimonthly. In other cases & according to the parameters mentioned above, the cleaning should take place every tree month, every six month, but not least than once a year.

That’s all. Clean your computer to avoid any undue wear & tears as explained in my blog about dust. Better yet change your case to a professional filtered case, you can find them at very affordable price like the one described on my review blog. Always check that when acquiring a new desktop.

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