Get The Dust Out!

This article reprinted with permission compliments of CalhounDigital.com

Getting the dust out of your computer should be a high priority, and re-occuring task that you keep up with on a regular basis.

Dust can and does KILL electronic components, and when it comes to your computer, there is no exception.

With computers, dust can cause several different kinds of problems, from heat dissipation issues to electrical shorts.

The dust inside your computer got there from various sources and mainly by two reasons, static electricity and air flow.

The micro miniature pins on electronic parts, such as integrated circuits, can be shorted from one pin to another by different kinds of dust particles, and humid dust collections. Having two or more of these pins shorted against each other 'can' render a component useless by causing irreparable damage to a micro-circuit, sometimes rendering your computer useless without hardware replacement.  And, when it comes to certain types of computer components becoming damaged, it can lead to a chain reaction of damages in nearby components, effectively killing your computer.

Heat Dissipation issues caused by dust buildup are however the top reasons that dust can kill your computer.

If you open up your computer case (preferably with the computer turned off and unplugged) you will see (sometimes after removing a shroud) a heatsink and fan, which cools your computer's CPU unit.  Dust can and does collect in between the cooling fins of the heatsink, and also on the blades of the heatsink's cooling fan.  This effectively blocks air from flowing between the fins and causes the heatsink to fail in doing it's job (Cooling your CPU).

When the CPU unit overheats, your computer will (depending on the model and the bios settings) shut down the computer after a few hours, minutes or even seconds, or (depending on the model) will burn out your CPU unit, effectively killing your computer.  A CPU unit can be replaced in many occasions, but in some occasions (depending on the type and extent of damage) the burned out CPU can chain reaction with the damage and bleed the damage over to your computer's motherboard, effectively killing your computer on a much worse (and more expensive) level.

Your computer's power supply is another heavy target for dust collection.  There is a lot of magnetic flux, fluxing around, as well as static electricity lurking all throughout your computer's power supply, these are two favorite attractors for dust particles.  And, due to the high voltage factors inside your power supply, the dust collection problem can only get worse.

This is one primary target to get cleaned up on a regular basis, because if the power supply malfunctions and does not utilize it's safety measures, the current and voltage going out of the supply and over the wires that connect to various components in your computer (Like: Hard drives, CD/DVD drives, Video cards etc) can receive too much power and get damaged or killed.  Cleaning the power supply is a little more difficult than the rest of the computer, but it should not be neglected by any means, as it is the main blood flow of the whole system.

Air Vents on your Computer Case

Air vents are some of the most noticeable places to collect dust, and can serve as an indicator for cleanup time.  The air vents on the back, top or sides of the computer are the easiest places to spot dust, and can be easily wiped off or vacuumed away (be careful with the vacuum however.. read on to find out why)

The air vents in the front of your computer are not so easy to clean however.  The front panel air vents are usually hidden behind the plastic cover-plate on your computer case, and to be able to clean these vents, you will need to remove the front cover panel of the computer.  Depending on the make and model of the computer case in question, this can be a daunting task to achieve, as many cover plates have wires and switches attached with limited wiring distance, and the cover plate itself can be very confusing to detach.  That said, cleaning in behind to cover plate is also an important task that needs to be done on every machine on a regular basis.

The Friendly Can of 'Air'

Even though it's not really air in there, the ever so useful and easy to find 'Air Duster' can be readily found at most department, hardware and drug stores.

This is THE tool you want to use to Blow the dust out of your computer by all means.  You may be tempted to use a vacuum cleaner or a standard air compressor, but DO NOT.

Vacuum cleaner hoses are usually made of rubberized plastic of some sort or another, and many have metal ends on them.  Either type of hose you may have,  this is a good way to kill your computer if you use it.  Though this may seem like the first choice and most handy solution its NOT.

Q: Why is that? A: When you use a vacuum cleaner and host to try to clean out the dust, the dust particles move quickly against the inner side of the hose and build up static electricity on the tip of the hose.  If you were to touch or even come close to one of the components inside your computer, this built up static electricity can discharge onto the component, effectively zapping it and killing it.  Remember sliding your feet across the carpet to give that special someone a good zap?

Air compressors have the same problem, except they also have the problem of blowing water droplets onto the components, which can cause shorts, and kill your computer.  The compressed air inside the compressor is already moist, but he expanding cold air condenses water inside the hose and blows it out the tip, a very bad scenario for a computer fix.

The canned 'air duster' products do not have air in them, but instead different types of inert gasses that are more easily compressed under lower pressures, and as well have anti-static properties.  Therefore the canned air duster should be your first choice.

"Ok so I'll get a can of air and blow out the computer, easy enough right?",

Well.. No!

There are a few other safety precautions that you should keep in mind when cleaning the dust out of your computer.  There is not only dust in that dust, but many other things that can cause health issues.

It is important to first take your computer into a well ventilated area (like out on the porch), and as well wear either a respirator (recommended) or at least a dust mask, or a 'scarf' of some sort.  This may sound like an overkill precaution, but after you become ill from cleaning out either your own or another persons computer a few times, you may then realize it is a good precaution to take, especially if you already have a respiratory problem such as asthma, or are allergy prone.

Oh yes, almost forgot... Wear safety glasses!

Final Notes

When cleaning out your computer & power supply, you will need to unplug many power cables from many devices inside the computer, as well as unscrew and remove the power supply and disassemble it's case.

When doing this procedure it is important to discharge any static electricity that may be built up inside your body on on your clothing, because you can give your computer an electrostatic-discharge (ESD) and zap it out of existence.

An electrostatic safety wrist strap (found at many specialty computer stores, or on the Internet) is highly recommended to allow you to effectively 'ground'  yourself to the computer.  Another method of grounding yourself is to always have some portion of your skin and clothing touching the metal of the inside of the computer case at all times while working inside the case.

SO.. GET THE DUST OUT! and have a happier, longer lasting computer.

Your computer will thank you for it!