Cleaning inside the computer

[Harrison]

Do you clean the inside of your computers? And if so how often? and what do you use?

I like to make sure my PCs are dust free and generally dust the outside of the case once a week and use a hoover on the fan mounting points to remove any dust build up that always occurs. And every couple of months I like to take the side of the case and hoover out any dust that has collected in the case and on the fans themselves.

People online go on about using compressed air to shift the dust inside a case, but I've always just used the fine nozzle on the hoover.

So does everyone else keep their computers dust free? or are you like most and never open the case so it is full of big clods of dust building up on the floor of the case, around all the fans and heatsinks and clogged up in all of the intakes and case ventilation holes?

I suddenly thought about this because a friend rang me today and asked if I had time to look at their family computer. They had been using it last Friday night and suddenly the computer display shut down and the monitor went into standby. They tried rebooting and after a few minutes the same happened again.

They dropped the PC off this afternoon and I quickly tested it by hooking it up and booting it. Everything seemed to running fine, then after a few minutes of leaving it running I noticed the back of the case was getting very hot. I opened up the case and instantly saw the problem. There was so much dust inside the case it had clogged up the fan on the graphics card and stopped it spinning. I freed it up but it keeps making a noise every so often like the fan is on its way out, probably after a long period of the motor trying to run with the blades stuck.

So the moral of that story is, keep the area your PC is in dust free, clean and dust the outside of the case regularly, and when possible give the inside a quick hoover out too. It will extend the life of the components inside the PC for much longer.

[AlexJ]

Well my desktop is run open case most of the time, and anyway with a perspex window when it is closed, any dust looks unsightley so is quickly removed.

[Harrison]

Do you run it open due to overheating?

Normally with a case if the fan setup is correct it will only work properly with the case closed as the fans will create an air pressure difference inside the case to force the air to circulate.

My main system also has a clear side and I'm the same. Any dust on the inside is instantly noticeable and gets removed.

[AlexJ]

Do you run it open due to overheating?

Normally with a case if the fan setup is correct it will only work properly with the case closed as the fans will create an air pressure difference inside the case to force the air to circulate.

My main system also has a clear side and I'm the same. Any dust on the inside is instantly noticeable and gets removed.

Not to do with overheating - it's just always changing and messing around with it. But yeah the pressure thing is definately noticeable. When I had finished building it, the machine was really cold inside. Now with the case off it's at room temperature.

[Stephen Coates]

Mine went for about 6 or 7 years without being cleaned.

Well, the fans, PSU and processor/heatsink had never been cleaned. I had cleaned out other bits of dust before.

I did clean out the PSU, processor, fans and heatsink early last year mand they were covered in dust. Certainly not enough to make it clog the fans up but enough to make the fan blades and processor's packaging look grey instead of black. It is now all lovely and clean.

[rayzorblue]

I cleaned mine a little (blew the dust out lol) when i put the new dvd burner in but i have never opened it specifically to clean it. Although i did always take a hoover to the grill on the side of my gamecube whenever i was cleaning.