Cleaning crud out of Tower Case

Forums › Desktop computing › Cleaning crud out of Tower Case - any downsides ?

mainlydata

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#77292 14-Feb-2011 12:19

I have a machine which over the years has become very dusty on the vents and inside the machine.

I feel I ought to get a can of compressed air and give it a really good clean inside and out but before I do that is there any downside to doing this (there's a part of me that's thinking leave well alone) ?

I guess what I'm wondering is ... is there a danger that blowing dust around will actually cause problems ?

Thanks

R.

gehenna

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#439219 14-Feb-2011 12:44

I usually just get the vacuum cleaner in there and get the majority of the heavy dust out that way, then blow the rest away with compressed air.

Just have to be careful is all, but no downsides otherwise.

kyhwana2

2566 posts

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#439220 14-Feb-2011 12:45

Nope, you'll be fine. Just make sure it's turned off first!

Use some compressed air, just make sure it's not too powerful that you'll blow bits off the board. That canned air stuff is fine.

You should definetly clean all the dust/etc out of your machine regularly.

richms

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#439238 14-Feb-2011 13:15

do it outside, then power it up outside sine a massive wad of dust will probably come out as soon as it is powered on.

Richard rich.ms

Dreamy

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#439239 14-Feb-2011 13:18

Make sure you use the can right-side up, not tilted or upside down, and never shake it, otherwise you could get liquid coming out. Also, the more you use it, the less pressure you will have and you'll have to wait for it to warm up again. But no downsides, and cleaning the crud out is a good idea.

The price of compressed air cans here is robbery. I bring them back when I go to Canada, and get 6 cans for $15CDN, compared to ~$20-25NZ each can here. Painful.

~~Dream.Catcher~~
iPhone 4s 16 GB, Ipad2 32gb
windows 7 computer

mainlydata

60 posts

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#439311 14-Feb-2011 16:00

Thanks very much for all the advice. Will put it into action.

For future ref I've just bought a can of air from Dick Smith. They have 250gm of their own brand at $20 or $300gm of 'CRC Air Brush' for $30. Can understand why dreamy buys them in Canada !