Computer technicians have nightmares about the bad things found inside computers.
I keep thinking I should get a Flickr account and fill it with nothing but pictures of broken yucky computer hardware.
The old 2 megapixel digital camera doesn’t really capture the true filthiness of the thing. Some of the dust is so thick it looks like sprinklings of potting soil or maybe tailings from a tiny mine. It smells funky. Some of the dust-bunnies are so large they flutter in a breeze like scrubbrush tumbleweeds stuck on a wire fence. In the third photo, we think that black stuff in the lower right corner might be mold. No one wants to touch it to find out.
The funny thing is, a computer like this could come from the cleanest house. You just never know until you crack it open.
wow….
First of all, that’s an ugly wiring job, but that’s not the owners fault so much as it is the lack of confidence to look inside the case. Yet, I still assume that people understand the importance of cleaning the dust out. I suppose I assume wrong.
I had a friend who was having temperature issues with his P4 Canterwood rig. I said I’d take a look at it for him. I brought it home with me and opened up the case. He had one of the most poorly designed aftermarket heatsinks I’ve ever seen. It was solid aluminum in the center area (right up to the fan, and then had fins going off in 4 different directions. In a perfect, dustless, world it wouldn’t have been the worst heatsink ever, but one look at it and you’d understand why it was a poor design. I can;t find a picture of it as I dont remember the name of it. Anyways, his was packed full of dust, so I carefully dismanted his rig, piece by piece, and cleaned everything. After putting everything together again and cleaning up the wiring job, he idle temperature was 16 degrees lower than it had previously been. He was happy with the result
If someone came to me with a case such as this I would be quite tempted to just take all the hardware out, even the power/reset/LED buttons and cords so that there was no electrical component whatsoever. Then I’d take it to the nearest manual car wash and use a pressure washer. It’s either that or use close to a full bottle of isopropyl alcohol
Let me know what method you use.
O K So I’ll admit I have no idea how to clean out my computer. How often should it be done? How does one go about doing it? CAn I do it myself or should I have a professional do it? Let me know and if it’s a potential problem we’ll do something about it.
Thanks Mike
This is an extreme example of a computer that hadn’t been cleaned since it was purchased. This unit lived on a solid floor with no carpet. Any bit of dust or dirt that got near it was sucked up by the cooling fans and deposited inside.
If your computer lives on the floor, have it live on a carpet. Carpet has a tendancy to trap dust before it gets into the computer.
Since computers are air cooled, they need fans to move air through them to dissipate heat. This is what causes all of the dust on the inside. If you want to stay on top of the problem, have your computer cleaned once a year. If done professionally, this shouldn’t cost more than $30.
It is easy to clean your own computer, if you are so inclined. Here’s what you do:
1) Go to your local office supply store and get some compressed air. It comes in cans with a little plastic blower straw.
2) Unplug computer.
3) Remove the left panel. If your computer is older, this will probably turn out to be a U-shaped enclosure covering both sides and the top. You will likely need a philips screwdriver to do this.
4) Using the compressed air, attack all of the dust you see. Find the vents for the case and the power supply unit. Jam the plastic blower straw in them and fire it to get rid of the dust. If you are able, immobilise any fans you see with the gentle touch of your finger. This keeps the air pressure from damaging them.
5) Pay close attention to the power supply fan and the CPU fan. Be sure that the fins of the heatsink are mostly free of dust and the grime of the power supply fan is cleaned off.