Real men do dust.....

[AllanL]

....well when it's that or watch the PC freeze up every 30-45 minutes. I wasted a large chunk of the past weekend and the last couple of evenings trying to track down the virus that was causing the old PC to freeze up whenever it got a fair bit of number crunching to do.

After various onboard and on-line virus checkers failed to come up with anything worse than cookies and adware, I decided to get the side off the old crate and lo, the toast-rack on top of the processor was bunged up with more fluff than an Aussie bird's belly button could hold. I'm going no further with that train of thought. So was the heat sink/fan on the video card.

Have you any idea how difficult it is to get an upright Hoover and a scrubbing brush and dettol inside a PC case?
(If you haven't heard the SB&D joke I'm not starting it here.)

SWMBO wouldn't let me dress up like Freddie Mercury in that Queen video either.

Still, the shiny PC is nice and quiet and cool now, suspiciously so come to think of it.....

[DelP]

As my old gaffer used to say when I was marking out and sawing dovetail joints..

'hmmm....you do it like that do you..?.........'

Derek

[Tako_Kichi]

Fluff and crud will kill a computer really fast. As you found it blocks the fins on the heatsinks and then temps soar! I have a computer cleaning tool set that attaches to a regular vacuum cleaner hose and includes a couple of small brushes and crevice tools. It's great for sucking the crud out of the fins and fans.

I tend to give my computers a good cleaning every 4-6 months or sooner if I have the side off to do an upgrade of some sort. My latest tower has a huge fan at the front which sucks air into the case, unfortunately (as it sits on the floor) it also sucks in any dust, cat hair or other stuff kicked up by people walking by. The case has a perforated metal door in front of the grille over the fan and I decided to fit a 'filter' behind the door in the hopes of catching the dross before it got inside the case. I had a sudden brainwave one day and decided to try a used tumble drier fabric softener sheet (don't use a new one as the chemicals will leave a sticky deposit in the computer case). I simply taped it over the area of the door (on the inside face) in front of the fan and it catches all the stuff that would otherwise end up inside the case. I set up a reminder in my computer software (an add-on for Firefox) to remind me to change the filter every two weeks and it's amazing how much crap accumulates on the filter in that relatively short space of time. My wife now saves all the used drier sheets for me when she takes them out of the drier after doing the laundry so I have a ready supply.

BTW, don't be tempted to blow the crud off the heatsinks and fans using canned air as this just blows the stuff deeper into the crevices or worse still blows it into the atmosphere for you to breathe in! Sucking is better than blowing.....as the Bishop said to the actress!

[jonesey2k]

Blowing air with your mouth also runs the risk of saliva shorting out some of the teeny weeny tracks on the motherboard

I myself use an old foot-pump for an air bed with a very fine nozzle to give a good blast Got proper filters on the front of my Coolermaster ATC 201

*Edit* Oh and Women's tights make rather fine makeshift filters when stretched across the front of fans

[DelP]

Women's tights make rather fine makeshift filters when stretched across the front of fans

Know what you mean jonesy ;-) ..even better when no-one is wearing them

Tights are also much better than service issue long-johns..except for when you're caught on the hop ;-)

Derek

[Quixoticish]

Blowing air with your mouth also runs the risk of saliva shorting out some of the teeny weeny tracks on the motherboard

Just let it dry before you use it and it'll all be fine. I've cleaned a motherboard in a sink full of water before with no ill effects. ;-)